Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 06082019 20240714

Covering your expenses . He worry about it all the time call 2027488000. If you worry about that sometimes call 2027488001. If you are lucky enough to never have to worry about your income exceeding your expenses, call 2027488002. You can always reach us on social media on twitter at cspan wj, and on facebook at facebook. Com cspan. New gallop there was poll that came out earlier this month that was taken back in april. That poll shows that american optimism reached levels not seen in more than 16 years. They wouldcted that be financially better off. Now, one of the questions that they asked was how would you rate your current year of financial situations as poor. Ent, good, or only a majority of americans, 56 rate their current financial situation as excellent or good while only 29 rate it as only fair or poor. Rating hasve increased 10 Percentage Points since 2015 and is financial situation is getting worse better or worse. Here is what americans said. Americans said that 57 of americans say that their financial situation is Getting Better as the years go by instead of getting worse. This poll shows that despite everything that we are hearing in the news with the job reports and the possible trade wars. Americans team to think their financial situation is Getting Better. About yourworried income exceeding your expenses all the time we want to hear from you. You probablyworry like most americans we probably whereabouts sometimes. And coming with us we have eric from the wall street journal who l talk to us we are growing jobs at a slower pace which suggest what we are just talking about, and economic slowdown is going on. 3. 6 isbrake job is at the lowest in 50 years. Host economists thought that would be 380,000 jobs in may. What it was the difference and why was the number lower than what they expected. Guest several different factors were at play. The Global Economy may be weighing on the minds more than economists thought. There have been gyrations. From washington and beyond, for a number of months and years. And people have looked past that. Month, maybe they are starting to show a little bit of work and concern. Stateher thing was that and local governments cut jobs, and that was a surprise because some economists projected that there would be an increase in the number of government jobs but they were cut. Host how much of an effect do these talks of trade wars and tariffs, how is that affecting the job growth, or is it affecting it at all . Are somethink there signs that businesses are being cautious. We talked to a few businesses that had some exposures. Factory in to is a ohio that makes lights for computers and medical devices, and they said that tariffs will turn the tears are going up in price and they are able to pass that on to their customers, so what they were doing so they were hiring temporary staff for what they need now because i do not to commit to making the longterm hires. The financialith markets being a little unstable, and global concerns, employers will say, maybe i will wait a couple of months and see if this clears off and then maybe i will go back to hiring. Some of them last month said that i would hold off her now. Particularhere any sectors in american employment the showed increases over ordinary, or are there any sectors that were affected where we did not see as much growth as we should have. Guest certainly. It continues to be the health care industry. That sector keeps growing, and it is obvious why. We have an aging population who needs more health services. If you want to know where to go, head to the health care field. On the others, one of the other great thoughts over the last couple of years has been manufacturing. This gets back to what we were talking about before. We were adding 15 or 20,000 manufacturing jobs in 2017 or 2018, and that slowed into a crawl. Were a few thousand last month and then they fell. And you factoring is the one industry most exposed to trade because they both need parts imported from mexico, china and other countries. Any u. S. Businesses ship their products overseas once they are assembled. Host the Unemployment Rate stayed at 3. 6 , which is the 50 year low. Is the nation at full employment . Close,it has got to be right . Are always people moving between jobs, there is a natural turn, so we should be close, but the question is, if we have such low unemployment why are not be why arent we rising faster . Consider that inflation and that prices are not too bad. That is pretty good historically, but thinking back to other times when the unplaced was low, like in on the Unemployment Rate wears low, in the 1990, wages were rising at a faster rate. I think there might be some slack, some people on the edge of the labor market, but i think that is dissipating. Reporthat does the job tell us about wages in a tight labor market. We saw that the average Hourly Earnings were up 3. 1 . What does this job report tell us about wages . Guest it is telling us that the labor market is healthy enough to produce pretty good wage growth. If you are getting 3 wage growth and more than 2 wage growth when you factor in price changes, that is historically strong. But, i think there is still room to have wages go up a little bit more. Continues at the pace that it has been. Is aboutws down, that as good as you would get. Host we would like to thank eric for calling in this morning and talking to us about the may jobs report. Thank you for your time. Guest happy to join you. Know what we want to you think about your personal financial situation this morning. Are you worried about your income covering your expenses. If you are worried about this we want to hear from you at 2027488000. If you worry about your financial situation sometimes, call at 2027488001. Worry aboutt never your financial situation we want you to call in at 2027488002. From toledo. O lee good morning. Caller good morning. Your are you worried about financial situation sometimes . Caller yes. Thank you for the question. I am retired and on Social Security, a former employee of the General Mills cereal division, and i have some concerns because of the Public Policy and the politics that goes on in washington, d. C. That is a that concern all the time. I spent time working and many fat in manufacturing and teaching, and now after 45 years , we have people in washington, d. C. , our politicians really on the right side of the aisle that our benefits. Cut we worked hard and earned. That is my concern. Dot let me ask you this, you see yourself as having to take on a side gig or going to back or going back into the workforce to make things meat. Caller that is a great question. Right now i am doing publishing work. I do planning and development work, some side consulting. It is my hustle. I have been in detroit working for a long time, almost 20 years. Have to do that. But as far as going to manufacturing, i might go back to the colleges. But i am thoroughly enjoying my retirement playing golf. I am still concerned with those folks in washington, d. C. Even when i pick up those extra gigs as you asked. Host i know some people, especially around our age are thinking about watching our parents retire and looking at their retirement and not seeing that type of retirement for ourselves. Do you think that you will be able to stay retired, or do you see your situation getting worse and having to get back into the workforce . Caller right now that is a question. I am getting married to a nurse august 17 of this year. Is in a good position and i am in a good position. For your question, we do not see that problem right now. Host thank you and congratulations on getting married. Caller thank you. Have a great day. Host steve from anaheim, california. Good morning. Caller good morning. What is your financial situation . Do you worry about your income exceeding expenses . This is the fourth time i have had to retrain for a job. Host it is hard for its for us to hear you, could you speak up a little that . We can hear you now. Is i startedoblem in the computer industry, and that was shipped over to china. And then i had to deal with the influx of illegal aliens in the going down. He wages i got a job working on the docks unloading containers from all of the ships coming over. That is going to be automated. Again,ain, here i go taking into my retirement. Im going to get retrained to go for another job. I worry about it all the time. Host before i let you go. How many distant industry Different Industries have you had to work into make things meat. How many times have you been retrained . Caller we trained into manufacturing, trucking, i wasuction, and now working on the docks and working the forklifts. And now that will be taken away from me as well. It is a constant thing for people who work. You always have to rely on what policy the government decides to pull, or how the corporations decide to cut wages. Host do you see yourself ever being able to retire, or do you think you will have to continue working for the rest of your life . Caller i am going to have to work for the rest of my life. Even though i have put money away, it is not going to be enough, especially when prices or wages will go up. But the threat of your job being taken away the next day, and you have to fend for yourself, so there is no medicare that will take care of you. You will have to go through the rest of your life as a workingman. Host are you able to save anything for retirement or is all of your income going toward your monthly Living Expenses . Caller i put some money away in roths and stuff, but most of it gets eaten away because i am at the stage that i am in the group that gets affected by more than other group or demographic. Host thank you. Let us talk to jessica from nevada. Good morning. Caller good morning. How are you . Host good. Go ahead. Caller i am definitely worried about the future. I am on disability and have some unfortunate athletic injuries that left me on disability at 60 years old. My husband is making minimum and here inps, nevada the minimum wage is eight dollars. I was talking to my cousin this evening and she is in california. She indicated that on her trip to yosemite, they talk to inmate a waitress that was making minimum wage that was like four dollars an hour or Something Like that in montana. And i thought to myself, my gosh, here i thought that minimum wage in nevada is really small. But, it is breathtaking. When you stop to think about the future, you just have to i am trying to think positive and trying to think of an invention, write a song or something. I have got to pull a rabbit out of the hat. I do not know how we will do it. Host do you see yourself and your husband ever actually being able to make enough to afford retirement . Or do you see as being able to public cover your Monthly Expenses . Caller praise the lord i am hoping and praying for miracles. In the interim, no. In reality, no. The reality and the stone cold facts are, we always have an expense at the house. There is always an expense that eats away at staff, and stuff , and it seems like we are constantly swimming and just barely keeping our heads above water or overspending for the year. Host what is the greatest expense you guys see every month . Medical, paying for your townhouse, what is the greatest expense, where is your money going . Caller we are blessed. We havea townhome that already paid off. The situation is that these expenses. I am trying to do everything right to retire. First, pay off your townhouse, forget the right of, just pay off your whatever it is, your home, apartment, condo, whatever. Own your cars. I have always been taught to own your cars. Pay cash for things. , but try not it is to expense over what you make each month, or per year. And we is really hard, are constantly swimming. Swimming with the sharks, my friend. Host let us talk to walt from pittsburgh, pennsylvania. Good morning. Caller good morning. I am worried sometimes. It really worries me, i worked 49 years to get Social Security and it has barely budged. The money is going everywhere else. Right now things are decent. My fear is, and i hate to say this because it is kind of political. If the democrats take over the the minimum wage goes up to 15 an hour. I am not going to get 50 , im only going to get 10 . It means i have to pay more for everything. After all of these years of working, i have a pension and Social Security. Social security has barely budged because medicare has gone up a lot since this obamacare when he took all of the money out of it. People have to watch what is going on because they hear all these things that will get for free. There is no free lunch. Your children will be paying. You want to vote these guys in, watch what you wish for, you may get it. Host are you already retired . Are you . Caller i am 72. I started working and paying Social Security when i was 14. Greatestt is your expense . Medical, food, real estate, where is money going . Caller right now it is going for everything. Right now, getting older, dental work. I know we will need false teeth and staff. Sooner or later, when you go to the dentist, the doctors are covered better you are better covered with a doctor than a dentist. I have guys i worked with years 60t were paying 130 a month for dental. They were barely getting any kind of good coverage. That is the one thing. People always talk about doctors, and they are high, but dental work is even higher. It is crazy that we have to pay almost 2000. Host is the situation getting bad enough where you might have to go back into the workforce . Caller i hope not. I have a sciatic and pinched nerve in my neck. When you get older and get so many physical problems there is not much i can do. I cannot stand all day, i cannot do all the things i worked in every and heavy machinery lifting things. That did not cause it. This happened three years ago when i was done with all of that. It is just one of those things that happened. I talked to doctors and other people who have it. You get up one morning and your knees buckle and you have a pain. It is just something that happens. That is going to be the biggest. Theydouble minimum wage are going to double my Social Security . That is what bothers me for the future if this group of people get in. I tell you what it is ridiculous. They will promise everything. Never watch debates, but i will watch the democrat buried. Earlier this week, the brookings institutions talked about the financial challenges facing todays americans. Heres what he had to say. [video clip] the fact is the world has been changing. We need to catch up. People and our are living longer but Health Care Costs more. That means that if you live longer, youve got to think about working longer, you have got to think about saving more. Theddition, it looks like stock market returns, the returns in the savings in the asure are very likely not great as the ones from the past. And so, that means that the dollars you set aside today are actually you cannot count on them as earning as much as the dollars that our parents set aside or their employer set aside. We have moved from a society in which the dominant form of retirement was a pension, in which you and i did not worry about our retirement, the employer did. The employer had to make sure that you were set for life. We are in a world in which most of us, although there are 70 Million People who have a pension, most of us have to decide how much to set aside. Tot of us have to decide how invest money. Most of us have to decide when we retire will be a paycheck for life and make sure that we do not run out of money, or are we going to run the risk of playing the market . [end video clip] host let us look at some of the tweets coming in. Are onesays americans big incident away from destitution and do not realize or care. It is called whistling past the graveyard syndrome. Another one says that i am glad that during my working lifetime the bottomline goal was to be paired prepared for a financially independent retirement. Now retired and debtfree my desires have led me to get an rv. Another says the fact is most of the jobs are lowpaying with no hours and benefits. Im working two parttime jobs that give me less than 20 hours. My lady has not found a fulltime job in over five years. Republican owned corporations have destroyed america. One last one, my concern is that they will get their foot in the door and destroy things again, if you worry about your income exceeding expenses we want to hear from you at 2027488000. If you worry about that sometimes call 2027488001. And, if you never worry about this, we want to hear from you so we can figure out how you did it at 2027488002. Let us talk to mary from philadelphia. Good morning. Caller good morning. I have always worried about my finances, after looking at the school,on of in high and you need to realize that Social Security benefits is not enough for you to live on. I think the maximum amount for anyone would be 2000 a month. In this day and age, you have to have a supplemental income. When i started with the state of pennsylvania, they automatically took out, with me adding to my pension, a 401 k . Savead to automatically for your retirement from day one, and that is when i started in the 60s. People need to realize that it is impossible to live on Social Security. When you hear politicians stating that they are going to take away your Social Security benefits, no, you need to make sure that that is always in place, because just think about it. 70s, noare in your one is going to hire you because you become a liability to employers at that point. And, it is going to be impossible for you to find a job. You need to be putting into a 401 k , or savings account to add to your Social Security. Retired . You already and how is that working out for you. I heard you say you used to work for the state of pennsylvania, were you able to get your retirement and make things meet . Years, i worked for 45 and the majority of my money for my pension and Social Security, i pay in taxes. A pay it for my medical care. People need to realize that your taxes do not stop. It is based on the income that you receive. The 25 taxare in range based on your income, they are going to remove 25 of taxes from you, no matter what your income is. Your taxes do not stop. With the high cost in philadelphia, i am paying mostly my pension, i Social Security in taxes in the city of philadelphia. Thate need to realize nothing stops, and you need to make the money while you are young, because it is possible it is impossible when you get old. Host let us talk to freddie from los angeles. Good morning. Caller good morning. This is not even a political question, one of the most fundamental things in life. 30 andreach the age of you do not realize that you are going to have to work in order to live, you are in deep trouble. I assume that is why this country is in deep trouble. Have forgotten the simple principle. Of course you are worried about whether the income has covered your expensive. Maybe you have to lower your expenses or move into an area that is cheaper to live, or get a second job. It is a fundamental part of life. Life is not a guarantee, it is a game of survival. Terms, it in economic is income what you need to do to have a survivalablity. I do not have any pension plans, i do not have much of any savings. My goal is, i do not know if i will succeed, i will work until the day i die. If i do i will be happy with myself. Political issue, this is life, dont people understand . It is very obvious. Host do see these things happening for you in the future . You say you intend to work until you die. You having to work multiple jobs now, or do you see any change happening for you . In this poll it says that people are getting more positive, you do not sound positive about yours. Caller to tell you the truth, i am. Not necessarily because i have any major idea what will occur, who knows what will happen. All i know is that i am happy with the job that i have, i am happy i am collecting Social Security. Due to the bad financial handling, i know the rates will go down five to 10 years from now, but what ever is occurring, including maybe having to move out of los angeles because los angeles is getting ridiculously expensive. These are the decisions people make in order to live. This is fundamental. My going to make enough income . That is life. We live in a universe of scarcity or their is no such thing as economics. People should know that. Host how concerned are you about having to move out of your home and moved to somewhere cheaper to be able to survive . I know a lot of places people live in cities which are expensive, if you move into other places you do not have the same kind of services what if you lived in a major metropolitan area. Host that it caller not is totally true, and those are things that you have to consider. These are decisions that you have to make, you have to look at the pluses and minuses. Hopefully i can live in los angeles for the rest of my life, because i like los angeles. Right now i am doing better nutrition rise need tuition wise and things like that. I am saying, do not pretend that this is a mystical thing. This is life from day one. You live in the physical universe and these are things you have to consider. If you live by yourself on the island, you have got to climb down the tree to not down the coconuts. This is what life is. Host let us talk to brian from iowa. Good morning. Caller good morning. Host go ahead. So fred from california was the last caller. I know what he is trying to say, know, is true, but you and 2019 we should not be aspiring to work 40 or 60 hours a week, or two or three jobs. Both parents working, and not having enough money to make ends meet. Ad, if that is the idea of great life, just work your but off, i think fred from california said he did not have a pension and did not have much, but he is willing to work until he cannot work anymore. And then he will collect Social Security and how much will that be . Will it be enough . I worry about my mother. She is 77 years old. When her husband dies, my stepfather, she is going to be living on 2000 a month. And i worry about my mother. I am on Social Security disability, because i became disabled when i was 21 years old. I was in a car accident. I am living on about 950 a month before rent, utilities, food, you name it. So people on Social Security disability need a raise and people on Social Security need a raise. Thank you for letting me call in. Host let us talk to kay from new york city. Good morning. Caller i appreciate you taking my call. I am a little nervous because my situation is complicated, so bear with me. I worked my whole life. Rural from poverty, in a community and grew up on a farm. I worked fulltime and went to college full time. And then, i worked fulltime and went to law School Nights fulltime. In the 70s in the 80s i was doing ok. 89 1989, that is when corporations started these downsizings and mergers. My career was completely derailed. In 1989 that was the last time Corporate America offered me a fully defined benefit pension plan. After that, corporations hollowed out the middle income workers. Now, they are so greedy that everyone is either entrylevel earning very little, or all of the money goes to the handful at the top senior executives. Maximum to mythe 401 k , that this multinational Noble Corporation that i worked for had a very poor 401 k . They had no guaranteed match and they would return money to me that i was trying to put in tax free for my savings. 401 k s are a giveaway to wall street. And youe high fees, cannot begin to save what you need for retirement with a 401 k . You need a fully defined and if it pension plan benefit pension plan. Triple, i was earning what i was earning when i got another job in 2003. I came in at one third of what i had been earning in 1990. And, all i planned was to work for the rest of my life, but that plan got blown because i developed a medical condition that required that i received an administrative termination from my employer because i became disabled. At the same time, about two years before, my husband died. Expenses, idical had an employer plan. None of the dock errors none of the doctors, and i am stuck in manhattan by myself. I had to pay his medical expenses and his debt. None of the doctors were in network under my plan. I had to go under my network. The cost to bury my husband was 30,000 and i buried him in a pine coffin. Host do you see your situation getting any better in the future . This poll was talking about how Many Americans see their financial situation Getting Better. See yours Getting Better . Caller no. My medical expenses out of park it under medicare outofpocket are triple my Social Security income. What little i was able to save, i kept losing jobs because we stopped enforcing our nhs laws and the corporations kept merging. Each time they merged, i would lose my job and then spend what i had saved until i could get my next job. And then, i had to go through so much money with my husbands illness, and now i am ill and im spending triple in what i receive in Social Security. All of the dock errors in manhattan doctors in manhattan have opted out of medicare because the rents are high. Worked required that i 10 or 12 hours a day at a computer. Having threeund up eye surgeries. My eyesight is very poor. I have this medical condition with pain all over my body, and i have been bed ridden or housebound for over two years. And i am just barely able to start walking a few blocks. There is no hope. I am going through all of my savings on medical expenses. Food has just gone off the charge. I. E. One cup of noodle soup i. E. One cup of noodle soup for lunch and dinner. I am barely able to make rent on my oneroom apartment, and i am a rent stabilized, which is unfortunate. But, i do not see i feel like i did everything right, but there is no end in sight. I will end up in medical bankruptcy. Host let us go to david from oregon. Good morning. Caller good morning. How are you doing . I appreciate all the good work ceased and does for us. I listened to everybody who came on earlier, especially the guy from california. I am kind of like him, i worry about retirement. I am nearly 60 and i worked hard all of my life. Yes, especially five years from now, we would be able to make ends meet. For those of us who are approaching seniors. Put our stake into Social Security. A lot of people do not realize about our Social Security system, but we are really acing. If you remember roosevelt in the late 30s put together the Social Security program, and what happens, and this is a major frustration these days, our politicians tell us on both sides. It is not just the democrats or the republicans. Theyears we were told that would tell us anything that they wanted to say. Whatever it takes to get elected, they will say it. Back in the 1930s the Social Security program was put together. He turned us around after the depression, he made promises in order to make us agree to the program, probably the most Wonderful Program implemented. People do not believe that the promises, he said that participation in Social Security would be voluntary, that participants would only have to pay in 1 of the first 1400 of their income into the program. After they got it approved, it 7. 65 on the first 90,000 that you make, and that is fine. Employers match it. Do you realize, that is 14 every payroll going into your Social Security. You do the math on that, and there should be all kinds of money for our retirement, 14 in per month. Unfortunately the government is running it, and that is scary. Moneyshould be plenty of there, but what happens, that promise was broken. The money that was put into the program that was supposed to be deductible is no longer tax. Bull. The government is using it. Host do you see our financial situation Getting Better in the future or do you see it getting worse people who have put money into Social Security and 401 k s especially now that so few people get pensions . Caller we have all counted on Social Security. I do not see it getting much more optimistic, because of what the politicians have done with our Social Security programs. President johnson took over, most people do not realize this, under president johnson, he made it to where Social Security could be moved into the general fund and they spent all of the money. Combined by the payroll the employer and workers, they put it into the general fund and started spending it. Since then, all of the people who have paid and are being told that it is going to go bankrupt. And it did not stop there. It was not just the democratic party. It was the republicans two. They make these promises and now they are calling it a handout. It was never supposed to be a handout. 14 between the employer and worker. You run the math on 14 would yield you in retirement if you were doing yet. You would be independently wealthy when you are doing with tire meant age if you start at 25 years old. Ours had better wake up, government lies to us to get elected. Both sides lie to us and tell us things like Social Security, and as soon as they get elected, they spend it on all kinds of things, noncitizens of america host let us go to carolyn from illinois. Good morning. Caller good morning. Host we can hear you. Are you generally positive about your financial situation . Or do you think it is getting worse . Caller i am not positive. I am worried and disabled. Is extremelyn difficult. I worry about expenses every day. Electric, expense is and food, and things like cable, which i will be just computer discontinuing. It is amazing how hard it is to make ends meet. I would like to make a comment about people wanting to work when they are disabled. They want to work, but the issue is finding somewhere that works for them and finding a job that works for them. Theviduals that employee in general workforce need to change their mindsets about people with disabilities. They need to focus on the abilities of people and where they can put them in that niche to make it work for them. I have been disabled most of my life and people always look at my disabilities. If you want to hire somebody, focus on what they can contribute like you would with anyone else. You focus on what they can contribute to your company or your business and that is what the focus needs to be. Do not focus on what they can to do, but what they can do. That way they can contribute to the workforce and society in general. Everyone wants to focus with people on disability get, and they say that the government gives them everything. I government does not give you everything. You are on a very limited income and there are very few people who can live on what people with disabilities live on and make the sacrifices that they make. Lifee no social life, my is paying Monthly Expenses. That is ok, that is a sacrifice i have made. I am not whining about that. Do not be so judgmental and allow people to contribute and allow them to focus on their abilities and not just the people who are disabled, but anyone. Host let us talk to richard from mississippi. Good morning. Caller good morning. Start, i am from holly springs, and i do not know where that is . So where is it. 20 caller it is about 20 miles east of brookhaven. Host ok. Go ahead. Caller they do not seem to realize on the Social Security problem, there are about 50 million seniors depending on Social Security and they keep saying you are having to go into your savings. I do not know of a soul working to put innough money any kind of a savings for future retirement. I do not know of a person. It is something that so many people had buried her had better be aware of. I worked for a major oil company, and i retired in 1985. I am 80 years old. I thought that i was set for life, but they do not read the fine print. Most retirement plans end in 20 years. After 20 years, all you have got is Social Security. Social security has failed so much in keeping up with the cost of living today that seniors on Social Security are really in bad trouble. Obama took billions out of medicare for his obamacare. Right now the republicans are working on a bill to cut Social Security, not just for future retirements or raising the age, they are working on a bill to cut Social Security that people are living on today. I do not think these politicians have any idea how hard it is for seniors. Host what do you see yourself having to do . Do you see yourself having to go out and enter the workforce and get a side job to make ends meet. Caller there is no way i can do that. I am 80 years old and disabled. I have had replaced knees, i just cannot if i get up in the morning it is all i can do to get out of bed. I also have skin cancer, lymphoma. The medication to treat it is 3800 a month. Pay treatments because 2687 dollarsne is a month. That is more than i make on Social Security. It is almost double that. I am just having to go without treatment. Even if i am on medicare, i cannot afford the copay. Host let us talk to manny from florida. Good morning. Caller good morning. I am really enjoying the conversation. The point i wanted to bring up is that we should start teaching people in high school. The first thing kids do is buy an expensive car, or things that go down in value instead of buying things that go up. I know there are a lot of different situations. Ofpoint is that, instead renting, we should buy a house. Buy a duplex, live in one side and someone else in the other side. You would rented and they would pay your house payment and so forth. It goes back to the choices we make. I used to be in the corporate world. I laughed because my network might my net worth was not growing. I went into my own business and became successful. I think people should think about their life, what they want, make the life plan, and how you would make it happen. , i used to read entrepreneur magazine and there was a man who got transferred to california and he was making 100,000 a year. He was there for six months and his new boss not like him and he got fired. He only had 400 in the bank because he was living up to the standard of his neighbors. He went down to the hardware store, bought a bucket, mop, and some cleaning supplies and went doortodoor washing windows and started making 200,000 a year. My point is that we need to figure out how to do stuff. I just hear people complain all the time, it is your life, take control, do not drift. Host are you retired now . Iller i am 77 years old, still own two businesses because i enjoy it. I enjoy being with people. I think it helps you live longer. You are one of the few people who have called in and say that you do not worry about your financial situation right now. Do you see many people around you who are in the same situation . Or are you one of the rare ones . People thate many are in my situation. But it goes back to the way you think, in my opinion. I do not by new cars. I do not buy new cars, i buy a car a couple of years old. It goes back to the way you think and accomplish your goals. Enjoy life, that is it. This is the real thing. When i was in the corporate world, and i was very successful, they kept moving me and i could not get ahead, so i quit and took the knowledge and went to work for myself. Callerhat is talk to a from san antonio, texas. Good morning. Caller good morning. How are you doing . Host good. Caller are the is there an echo . Ok. Student working on my second bachelors, i finished my first in community health. It was troublesome for me to find a job, partially because i got a major in community health. I went back for a second bachelors in biology and i am working two jobs. I worry a lot about the future and how i will pay off my Student Loans and whether i will find work after school. I plan on going to dental school, and i also think if i will be able to open up my all this . To pay offto be able the massive amount of Student Loans . It is one of those things that is always weighing on my mind. Caller manages host manny just said that people had to make Smart Financial decisions. You think you are making Smart Financial decisions now as you deal with school loans and the expense of starting a career . Caller i think so. My parents have been helping me out. I have a good support system in that regard. I also realize that i do not to lean on my parents and incur more debt for them. That is why i picked up two jobs and i am working as much as i can. I am making im putting at need in myf what i savings. Like5 is on extra savings my significant other or social events. Manage my to find and expenses and keep up in terms of buying food and things like that. And not go into that savings pool that i tried to put aside. Cassie,t us talk to from virginia. Good morning. Caller hello. I worry sometimes. I am on Social Security and approaching 70. I own my house, but i have to pay a big real estate bill now that i am not working. I just have to save for that. I have a used vehicle. I also have a small pension from the Telephone Company which helps. I think people i understand with young people, i had a parttime job when i worked a fulltime job when i was young. You have the energy and resilience when you were young. When people get older and have to go back into the work lays, that is probably difficult. Company a construction until my husband passed. You have to find your talent. I have a talent of going to thrift stores, goodwill, and flipping things onto ebay and making a bit of money on them. People can create things and sell them on the internet. If you have access to the internet, you are good to go. You have to sit down and say what can i do that i can make money at. I grow a lot of my food. I have fruits, thats debose, and i put them away. I have fruits and vegetables and i put them away. I watch movies and i do not do fast food. You have to pick your battles. Host what is your greatest expense, is it medical, taxes, real estate. What is affecting your income the most. Caller on a month to month basis, probably my insurance, which include medical, auto, and home. Those are necessary. Your own Social Security, so the increases that Social Security has gotten is not enough to counteract the rising in those expenses . But i understand what is going on politically, so everybody has to be aware, and wary of what is going to happen with our Social Security. You have to remember that the government is giving us that payment every month, and if something changes about it or it stops, we have to be prepared for that. I have a reasonable savings account, i think Everybody Needs a little bit of savings. I took a little bit away every month just because, and when you make a habit of doing it, it is a necessity. Some people cannot do that. Some people live from paycheck paycheck, and i have been there. I understand how that works. Host let us talk to bill from connecticut, good morning. Caller thank you for cspan. My situation is dire. I am 71 and kind of crippled. Downjust going to go bankrupt. It is a matter of time. Share toud to take some of my cats cap food. The biggest problem is, in the media covers it up. The biggest enemy of the seniors is the United States military budget. For,l security was paid all that money, Social Security pays for mostly itself, and there should be a surplus, but it was stolen by the chicken hawk politicians. My point is, what do we need to countries, the military spends more money than is of the 10 countries it totally ridiculous. And not like Social Security and Social Security is paid for and does not come out of the budget. Soldiers. Ry has just stolen, dont get me wrong. That is the big problem. One of the problems. Hole. Rse, i dug my own i have to live with it. What can i say . Host lets go to michael who is calling from illinois. Michael, good morning. Caller good morning. My situation is this. I think this conversation is a because theuous bulk of the country is not making it. I had to retire a year and a half early because of a sick spouse. Then, she goes into the hospital and dies prematurely. Then, her kids wanted the money and ended up biting, hiring lawyers, losing more money, and selling the house to pay them off. I have been trying to find a parttime job. Im 69 years old. Theres still a lot of discrimination against older people. Thesehen you get one of parttime jobs, what happens to you is, every time you make an extra dollar in income, they tax more of your Social Security. I agree with the other fellow, it is the military budget and they are giving too many benefits. I was in the service, too, and i never asked for anything. I served the best i could and left. Most of us are not making it. Host thanks for all of our calls on the subject. We will return to the subject later on in the show. Coming up, we take a look at a new report on former members of congress who are now lobbyists. We do that with karl evershillstrom. Weekly spotlight segment with aviva stahl. We will be right back. Announcer george will offers his thoughts on american conservatism. He is interviewed by National Review Senior Editor joseph goldberg. Im a nationalist, superior in the sense it embodies market made by a philosophy that is right. Everyone ought to aspire to it. Im a nationalist. I want to make it available to can,e, help them where we and we have a lot of experience with Civil Society of a democratic society. I am mild nationalist. Announcer watch afterwards, sunday at 9 00 p. M. Eastern on book tv on cspan2. Watch live coverage of the 2020 democratic president ial candidates and iowa this weekend on cspan. Tonight, cory booker in iowa city. Live on sunday at 3 00 p. M. Eastern, democratic president ial candidates in cedar rapids. Buttigiegnclude pete harris, and kamala beto orourke. Watch the 2020 Democratic Candidates in iowa this weekend. Watch anytime on cspan. Org or listen with the free cspan radio app. Washington journal continues. Host we are back with karl evershillstrom, the money in politics reporter for the center for responsive politics. He has a story out about the revolving door between congress and the lobbying industry. First of all, thank you for being here. How many former members of congress end up becoming lobbyists . Guest many. After every session. 2000session, we saw nearly former members of congress become lobbyists. Sort of, this is through the door that tracks perpetual movement of lawmakers between the public and private sectors. Host which class of congress are you talking about, the current crop there now or previously . Guest this is members of the 1 15 congress, so those who Left Congress as of january 2019. We found that, of the two dozen that went on to go to lobbying firms, only two of them so far, as of may 2019, have registered as lobbyists. Host are they required to required as lobbyists . What is the law and how is it important . Guest the 1995 lobbying disclosure act requires that those engaging in lobbying where they may contact with government officials and to spend more than 20 of their time on lobbying for client must register under the lobbying disclosure act. However, we are seeing a lot of x members not registering ex members not registering, despite going to lobbying firms. They might say they dont spend 20 of their time officially lobbying, or they are not making contacts with government officials. That is what we call a shadow g, where you engage in activities normally consider lobbying, but you are not registered to lobby. Host is there a Government Entity that watches that, and is there a punishment for not registering, and has anyone ever been punished . Guest they have to file under lobbying disclosure acts with the house and senate, and then we take that data and put it in our website and make it more accessible. By the attorney general of washington, d. C. , however, most experts would agree the enforcement is lax. We have only seen singledigit Enforcement Actions under the lobbying exposure act passed in 1995, and most of them are financial settlements. Fores not a huge penalty skewing the lobby disclosure act. Theres also a lot of evidence it is hard to enforce, based on the way the law is set up. It is hard to figure out if an individual is spending 20 of their time lobbying or tracking which members they are actually meeting with. Its a difficult law to enforce. Host what is the problem with a former member of congress becoming a lobbyist . Whats the problem with a former member of congress becoming a lobbyist and not registering . Whats the harm . Guest our organization advocates for Greater Transparency within the world of money and influence. So, when a former lawmaker goes to a lobbying firm but does not disclose their activities, the general public cannot make connections on whether they are what kind of connections they are making with former colleagues in congress. A lot of times, you see lobbying firms wanting to take on former members because they have those connections with their former colleagues in congress. Or, former government officials who can more easily get meetings with those in power and push policies at the lobbying firms that clients want. Host if you want to join this conversation, we are talking about the revolving door between congress and the lobbying world and in the United States. If you have a question for our guest or if you want to talk about this topic, we will open the phone lines up to you. We opened it up by regular lines. Republicans, if you want to Say Something, you can call 202 7488000. Democrats, we are opening the lines at 202 7488001. Independence can at 202 7488002. Keep in mind, we are always reading on twitter, at cspan facebook. Com cspan. How much more can you make, has a former member of congress, lobbying, versus being in Public Service as a member of congress . Is that a big financial difference . Itst the evidence points to being a huge financial difference. On salariescap out decided by congress itself and has not moved much over the course of time. Some lobbyists reports making millions of dollars for their work. There is an incentive to use your connections in developing congress to go into lobbying. It is also a big pay difference for the top aides. They can potentially make a lot more money working at lobbying firms. Using their connections they built up in congress to push policies from different clients, such as corporations and special interest. Guest are there fashion line host are there host are the rules that say members of congress have to wait a certain amount of time before becoming lobbyists or can they resign from congress and signed up for a lobbying firm the next day . Guest there is a coolingoff period. Members of the house must wait one year before lobbying their former colleagues. Members of the senate must wait two years before lobbying their former colleagues. However, there is nothing to stop them from going to a lobbying firm. This has to do with registering and making contact with members of the house or senate, whichever side you are on. To work as ahave lobbyist to work at a lobbying firm, or are there other jobs they can take and not be registered as a lobbyist . Guest a lot of these individuals, former members especially, will take on titles like Vice President of Government Affairs or strategic advisor, or Public Policy advisor, where it is a bit obvious that they are engaging in Public Policy work and lobbying related to Public Policy, however, their title is not lobbyist. Under that, legally, they can help their colleagues at the lobbying firms reach out to members and reach out to government officials without making the contacts themselves and without having to register as a lobbyist. Some of them will make contacts with government officials, but they will say they are not spending enough time enough of their time lobbying to have to register. Host lets talk to james who is calling from jackson heights, new york. On the independent line. James, good morning. Caller good morning. How are you . Host im good, go ahead. Caller i want to thank karl. I appreciate your poise. In this reporting, i think this is a really important subject matter. One of the things i am interested in is the 14th amendment, equal protection under the law. What we have seen is that there have been laws put out by notress that effectively do favor groups. In fact, studies show laws disproportionately disadvantaged for people. Are classes being established by that money and politics are creating discriminated classes that pertains to equal protection . Guest certainly there is a lot of frustration with the way our government works, currently. A lot of people share the thent that they policies being enacted by congress are not the will of the people, that it is special interests and corporations and other groups who are really pushing legislation and getting changes done. That is definitely a rising theme of frustration you see for people, which is why i think youve seen these proposed bans on the revolving door from lawmakers. Host we saw two unlikely lawmakers talk about this issue, at least on social media last week. A house democrats, alexandria cortez and senator ted cruz both seem to come together with the same idea on twitter about stopping lawmakers from the revolving door into the lobbying world. Do you expect congress to do anything about this this calendar year . Do we see any bills we should be watching coming up . Guest i do not see congress doing anything about this. I think you knew the answer to that question, but really, it is and cruz arertez bringing attention to this, the revolving door issue. However, a ban on lobbying is as unlikely to pass, according to many experts in the lobbying world, as anything out there bear there. As a couple reasons for that. Havene, lobbying bands been proposed many times over the last decade. Michael bennet, who is a president ial contender in the senator from colorado, has proposed the same legislation every cycle since 2010. And mike braun, senators, proposed the same thing. There has been no movement on any of those bills whatsoever. Host weve seen this issue also come up in president ial campaigns. Sident trump has president obama talked about closing the revolving door. To do you see this becoming a president ial issue in 2020 or is this something politicians like to talk about but dont action is taken . Guest i would say both. It is an issue that would be brought up because it has been brought up over the last 15 years in president ial campaigns. You saw president obama made it a big focus, he would make the government less dependent on lobbyists and special interests with introducing his own rules with restricting lobbyists within his administration. Emil trump did the same thing in 2016. He introduced his own rules for lobbyists in his administration. Ultimately, neither of them were door. O stop the revolving Administration Officials still went on to lobbying jobs and lobbyists were still part of the administration. But, i think you will see a renewed focus. You seen Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bennet introduce legislation to attempt to stop the revolving door. Even though it is not Something Congress cares as much about, it is something president ial candidates are going to push as a talking point. Host lets go to elizabeth calling from lutherville, maryland on the democratic line. Elizabeth, good morning. Caller good morning. How are you . Host just fine. Go ahead. Caller i dont believe former members of congress should have the chance to lobby, and i think the president i want to vote for cory booker and carolyn kennedy, and i think they should run. Caroline kennedy should be in Political Office in 2020. I think they will have the most effect on changing everything for this country. So, that is my comment. Basically. Guest another thing about the lobbying ban, when i talked about it being unlikely to pass, it is also unlikely also iers a ban on lobby lobby years would face serious lobbyers wouldb face serious challenges. There are a lot of hurdles with banning lawmakers from lobbying. Host is lobbying a bad thing . Is this something that shouldnt exist . What is the what good does lobbying do . On who isdepends lobbying and who you ask, frankly. Fromone lobbies corporations to unions to Interest Groups to political groups. They all lobby. Frankly, members of congress and their aides often request information from various industries that would be affected by a certain bill or the government will reach out to industries affected by certain policies. Lobbyists will reach out to lawmakers to influence their process as well. But, certainly, lobbying is something that is going to happen because members of congress do not write bills by themselves. Get help from various groups with knowledge of the topic. Host lets talk to frank calling from northport, new york on the independent line. Frank, good morning. Caller good morning. First of all, i want to comment on your prior segment. Callers called in regarding military spending, and i couldnt agree with them more. I think it is perverted, the amount of money we spend on military. The other thing i want to comment on is, and you already brought up Elizabeth Warren, but i know she had the bill, the anticorruption bill. Out of all of the folks up there on washington, in washington, she seems to be the most passionate about taking money out. She is the only one i really trust, and i guess i wanted the gentleman to speak a little more about her bill i forget the total name of it, whatever act, Public Integrity act. Thank you. Guest warren has introduced a lot a measures related to money and politics, related to reducing the influence of money in politics and lobbying politics. We have also seen that be a big focus from most of the democratic field. They have all said they will reject corporate packs, they will not want super pacs, for the most part, so this is a growing movement and a growing trend among democratic president ial candidates and Democratic Candidates overall to try to fight the influence of money in politics. Guest Matthew Iglesias had a suggestion in an article recently. His suggestion, and i will read a little from what he said, today, a house member earned 174,000 per year. A bit less than the average doctor. That is certainly not a poverty wage, but also not an elite salary. Newly elected members are ically financially, it makes more sense to join the outside pressure game and make a lot more money than staying inside. He thinks we need to pay members of congress more, and that will slow the revolving door down. What do you think about his idea . Guest it is definitely a controversial idea. A lot of people would scoff at that idea, but i think there a lot of experts would agree that, based on the massive discrepancy between how much lawmakers get paid and how much lobbyists get paid, evening the gap would provide and provide incentives to not go through the revolving door. Lawmakers also have to travel back and forth to their district, to homes, so it definitely i definitely would say they are so much better off as lobbyists. Increases in pay might have an impact on stopping the revolving door. Recently, seeing the house leadership discussing the idea of reaching ways is wages for members of congress. Host you think we will see a bill for that anytime soon or is that too sensitive around president ial elections . Guest it is tough to say. Like a risky seems thing to push around president ial election time. So, they are going for it, we will have to wait and see what happens. Host lets talk to remi calling from brooklyn, maryland on the republican line. Good morning. Caller good morning. Karl, i appreciate you coming on here and bringing clarification to what the relationships are between politicians, corporations, and lobbyists. I think that is where people are in the dark a little bit because we dont really understand the politicians, where they are coming from, when in fact the corporations to lobbyists work the politicians to appoint to a point where we see more and more density in clarification as far as where does the money come from to corporations, to the politicians via the lobbyists, that they can live these lavish lifestyles. I think that is what is confusing people today is that we would probably like to see on this program a little more from the corporate side to help understand what our politicians are or are not doing our best benefit. I would love to hear comments that short comments on that. Guest thank you. That is one great thing about our website. You can look and go through every Single Corporation or special Interest Group that is lobbying and see how much theyre spending, see which lobbyists they are taking on. Then, you can look through the lobbyists themselves and see, where did they work . Did they work for a former member, where they former law er or were they a former so people can make an and make an informed decision. Host our lawmakers spread out across the area or are there certain big lobbying firms we can look to that pickoff members of congress . Guest if you go to k street, that is where you will find the lobbying firms. A lot are law firms, but we have seen a decent amount of former members set up their own lobbying shops as well. One big example would be a person in d. C. A firm in d. C. They took on three former members of Congress Last congress already. Theyre definitely a powerhouse. Generally, we see the same sort of major lobbying firms having a lot of power for the last decade or so. But, there are definitely new ones popping up, especially those associated with a former Term Campaign or trumpet ministration official. Host lets talk to john calling from maryland on the democratic line. John, good morning. Caller good morning. Thank you for taking my call. I want to say that we talk about ted cruz. Moneyuz gets lots of from koch brothers, but the point im trying to make is that lobbying is not a bad thing. It is like you are hiring a lawyer. And you want to sell your product and you know there is something against you, you hire the best and brightest to do the job for you. About they has issues way they deal in the United States. They hire people so they can get their job done. But, the point im trying to make care, no matter what we do, we can talk as much as we want. Money talks. If you go back to obamacare, and obamacare came in, a Pharmaceutical Company was inside of the capital telling lawmakers to get rid of this, put this, do this, and that is the reality. Thistter how we voted, corrupt thing will never stop. Thank you for taking my call. Guest thank you. That is very true. Spike in lobbying spending around 20092010 around the passage of the Affordable Care act. At the legislation the legislation was so big an effect so many industries, lobbyists and pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, health care, all of the industries made sure to spend big on lobbyists to make sure they were part of the conversation. We had not seen lobbying spending reach that level ever since. Host lets talk to harvey calling from amherst, virginia on the independent line. Harvey, good morning. Caller good morning. Good morning, america. Thank you, cspan, for taking my call. Is is, greatest interest what is the peoples representation as far as lobbying is concerned . Representative representatives and senators are not serving their constituents. One of the things President Trump said in his campaign was that he was going to allow churches and pastors of churches , and those who speak for the churches, to address and endorse certain candidates, which would offsetting a bit, in do theer side, who what president eisenhower said, beware of the isitary Industrial Complex actually a militaryIndustrial Complex as far as companies and lobbyists and everybody is concerned. This nation is a divisive that , anded to come together the basic foundation of this nation was founded on the parishes. We had a democracy prior to revolution, and what we need now is the churches to speak out, inause the churches 1735 in lancaster, pennsylvania, gave permission for a town council and that town council was the type of government we have today. Host your response . Guest what he said about trump, i think i could expand on it a bit. Trumps Administration Trump should ministration, like obama said, would strut trumps sministration trump administration, like obama, said they would stop the lobbying firms. We saw a lot of Administration Officials not Pay Attention to that or find ways to get around that highprofile that. A highprofile example was ryan, who was the interior head and went on to a lobbying firm shortly after. That is not necessarily a trump specific problem. We saw it under obama as well. It is a problem with shadow lobbying and how difficult it is to enforce the lobbying laws we have on the books. Host is there any limitation to spouses or sons and daughters of lawmakers becoming lobbyists and lobbying inside of their own houses . Is there any limitation on that, or is the limitations literally on just lawmakers themselves . Guest the limitations are mostly on the lawmakers and government officials. There are some limitations on Staff Members of lawmakers. But, generally speaking, limitations are focused on those who are working in congress. Host lets talk to tony, calling from madison, wisconsin on the republican line. Tony, good morning. Say that want to lobbying needs to be called bribery. Former members of congress [indiscernible] the lobbyists dont work for the American People, they work for corporations like big pharma. Politicso put money because it corrupts our congress. Thank you. Guest thats a good example of why we see democratic president ial candidates push these money in politics reform angle, as something that has a growing frustration for americans. Host lets talk to michael calling from virginia on the independent line. Michael, good morning. Caller good morning, how are you. Host just fine. Go ahead. Caller i have two things to say. The gentleman in front of me brought one thing up. Why dont we just change the name from lobbying to bribery . If theer is, congresspeople are not faking 66 out ofey, how come and 41 of the house are millionaires senators are billionaires, and 41 of the house are millionaires. Dont tell me they need a raise. That is ridiculous. Like i said before, that payhy i think having a raise for lawmakers would be a hard sell. One thing about the pay raises, some people believe that it the urge from you know, rely on special interests and things like that and to take lobbying jobs in the future. Another thing is that, on our see what allcan lawmakers are invested in, so a lot of lawmakers who have been in congress for a long time become millionaires via their different investments, so on our website, you can track and see what they are invested in and if there is potential conflict of interest there. Host last question, what is the next thing we should look for in tracking this move between lawmakers and the lobbying world . Is there anything coming up we should keep our eyes on . We keep our eyes on opensecrets. Org, but is there anything we should look out for . Guest we will continue to hammer home on the revolving door and on chapel shadow lobbying. We see this constant drop in lobbyist registrations ever since 2007 when there were nearly 15,000 extra lobbyists. There is now closer to 10,000 and the number continues to drop. We will continue to talk about shadow lobbying, talk about undisclosed lobbying that, frankly, the American People accesscess to and to, that information. Host we want to thank karl evershillstrom for coming in and talking with us. Karl, thank you so much. Coming up, we go back to our question today, are you worried about your income covering expenses . We want toe get as many calls as we can. The numbers are on your screen. If you are worried about it all the time, 202 7488000. Sometimes, 202 7488001. Almost never is 202 7488002. We are waiting on your call and will be right back. Announcer sunday, on American History tv on cspan3, we continue our coverage of the 75th anniversary of dday. At 1 00 p. M. Eastern, listen to past american president s who traveled to Normandy Park speeches to honor the fallen, starting with jimmy carter in 1978. He is followed by Ronald Reagan in 1984, bill clinton in 1994, george w. Bush in 2004, and barack obama in 2014. Then, at four clock p. M. Eastern on a reel america, the 1944 film dday to germany. Use athought we could shepherd is a part, but but we found it was badly destroyed by the germans themselves and they destroyed the docks, which we thought we could use. It took them, if i recall, almost two months before we could bring the ship and. Announcer thats at 630 time, john ron explain how his company was diverted to omaha beach, the constant artillery fire, and the cries of the wounded. Most of it was medic, but if you was manan and that type thing. The cries of the wounded and dying were sort of hunting, but they were drowned out by the rifle and machine gun fire coming in from our right. Announcer at eight 00 p. M. , President Trump and Melania Trump 8 00 p. M. , President Trump and milani jump Melania Trump are at the normandy american cemetery. Announcer washington journal continues. Host once again, we will open the phone lines, go back to our question of the day. Are you worried about your income covering your expenses . There was a pull out earlier this week that talked about poll out earlier this week about americans talking generally better feeling generally better about their financial future. Are you feeling better about your financial future . The job reports came out earlier where 75,000 jobs were added in may, but hiring is slowing, even though the Unemployment Rate is still at 3. 6 . Some of this concern comes around the talk of trade, trade wars, and tariffs. Just last night, we want to make sure we bring this up for our viewers, last night, the u. S. Government canceled plans to impose tariffs on mexican goods. We have this story coming in the New York Times this morning. President trump backed off his plan to impose tariffs on all mexican goods, and announced via twitter, via friday night, that the United States had reached an agreement with mexico to reduce migrants from the southwest south border. The president parsed threat that he would impose crippling tariffs on the United States largest trading partner walked both countries to the brink of economic and diplomatic crisis only to be yanked back from the precipice 90s later. The threat had rental Companies Across north america, including automakers and agricultural firms which build supply chains across mexico, the United States, and canada. Businesses warned tariffs would increase costs for american consumers, who import everything from cucumbers to refrigerators from mexico and retaliation from the Mexican Government in the form of new trade barriers that would damage the retaliation wash economy. Damage the united economy. President trump tweeted about this and we want to bring you his tweet. Im pleased to inform you that the United States of america has reached a signed agreement with mexico. Tariffs scheduled to be a limited on monday are hereby indefinitely suspended. Mexico, in turn, has agreed to take strong measures to stem the tide of migration through mexico and to our southern border. This is being done to greatly reduce or eliminate illegal immigration coming from mexico into the United States. Details of the agreement will be released shortly by the state department. Thank you. All of this, we are talking about this because we want to know how your financial situation is going. Are your incomes exceeding your expenses . Lets go lets talk to chuck calling from colorado. Chuck, good morning. Caller good morning. Thank you very much for accepting my call. Thank you for cspan. You are a national treasure. I wanted to correct the caller from florida who said that it was lbj who turned Social Security into a slush fund. That was actually Ronald Reagan. Ronald reagan also gave us the trickledown tax cuts that are still in fact in effect and have been ever since reagan. Deal, and heew used an economic system. Most people arent even aware there is another economic system, but the thing about Social Security that has everybody fearful, republicans like to give these trickledown tax cuts and say, we have to take the money from somewhere, so we will reduce Social Security and medicare. The thing is, entitlement spending and Discretionary Spending are the two types of spending congress has. The republicans like to play word games. Gamblers use the term were trapped word trap. Its a way to trick someone. They use this entitlement spending is a way to give a negative it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It is really just a term that means mandatory spending. Itlement spending mandatory spending, entitlement spending, and Discretionary Spending. The people talking about the military budget being off of the wall are all correct. Us the new deal and republicans fought him all the way. In fact, the only way we got Social Security was a deal called the businessmans cpoup coup, where a bunch of moguls of the day, backed by the republican party, decided to change out fdr for a strong authoritarian type. They went to the highest decorated marine who wrote a book called war is a racket. These guys came to butler and wanted him to round up the bonus soldiers who were camped out on the white house lawn. They were the world war i soldiers, the vets. Host can you rep. Quigley . Wrap up quickly . Guest Smedley Butler spilled his guts and told fdr about this impending coup detat. That is how we got Social Security. If you want to research this, it is called the businessman screw or white house c coup or white house coup. Host phil is calling from st. Charles, missouri. Good morning. Caller i am hearing everybody talk about, well, i need Social Security, my Company Fired me, im living in a big city and it is so expensive here. Out,r all of this coming but that is all a choice, right . My thought is that people should read the book oak a rich dad, poor dad. It is two different ways of thinking. One person said i will let everything happen to me and the other said im going to make things happen for me. In an expressive place. It doesnt cost me much to live. I pay cash for my cars because that is what i can afford. I dont let myself become disabled. I work out and take care of myself. I eat right. I squirreled away money. Could onlyyounger, i put away about 20 bucks per month, but when i was 20 putting it turned intoh, 20,000. I replaced myself with investments and assets that i bought along the way. If youre older and you relied on the system, well, im not going to be able to help you. But if you are young, im talking to you, you need to start taking care of yourself, investing in things that will grow, and also, dont rely on other people. Dont rely on Social Security. Host lets talk to renee calling from illinois. Renee, good morning. Caller good morning. Dont feel as though i worry all the time, only because that is counterproductive. I need to focus on the next best thing i can do. Im old enough to realize that, if you are not born into wealth and you dont win the lottery, it is a long game and, from one day aid to the next one decade to the next, if you put stock in the political process, you see mostly disappointment. Even if you feel you have tried to Pay Attention and be in the moments, it is a formula that, once you reach a certain age, cannot be reworked. It seems it is a tunnel going into towards retirement. The uncertainty of it is pretty anxiety ridden. When you look over the course of your life and realize how so many impacts you cannot control, say for the sake of discrimination or age discrimination, gender, or race, how do you factor that in . Those are some of the great unknowns. Then, you reach toward retirement and you kind of cross your fingers for the best. There are a lot of people from one individual to the next, and it is difficult to compare circumstances. Thatnk the masses, because is a formula, i said, if you are not born into wealth and dont win the lottery, that is the game we are playing. Host in april, in washington journal, charles from the Income Security Team talked about the challenges placed on american pop income and savings. Here is what he said american pop income and savings. Heres what he said ame ricans income and savings. Wages have not been growing for the last 20 years. Just a lot of stagnation in that regard. They have gone up somewhat recently, but there are a lot of demands on people polish income peoples income. They have to pay for their children, pay for housing, is often what remains there is not a lot to say for retirement. It is something you have to take a look at. Health care continues to be an area where a health shock can really put a family at risk of losing everything. In fact, very often we have done work in the past, looking at hardship withdrawals. A family will have a major illness and they have to take money out of their 401 k to pay the doctors, so you are right. There is a lot of stress here, and it is very difficult for a lot of families to save for retirement. Host lets go to jimmy calling from reynoldsburg, ohio. Jimmy, good morning. Caller good morning. But i wantice day, to back up a minute to talk about this tariff in mexico. To anedly, they came agreement. I guarantee we wont see a real agreement signed by anybody. The news has become almost fanta civil fantasy. If there is an agreement, it will be so vague that it is irrelevant. Getting back to it, it is almost comical thats now we are superficially holding interest. Ates down in a booming economy every economist out here knows, it is almost ludicrous. There is no sense of inflation out here. A consumerbased economy, and a lot of these young people dont know anything or dont know anything about history. They dont remember the 1929 depression. This is a consumerbased economy. Think about it. We dont manufacture anything. We are in a bad turn downfall, with most of the public living off of the income they make that week. We have given away our retirement. They talked us out of that. Hey, you dont need retirement. All the companies are off of the hook. I remember when a company paid for your retirement. They talked us out of that and out of this. Downfall this a time, they will call a recession, and it will be a depression. We have no way to get out of it. People living paychecktopaycheck now, they will really feel the wrath of the income disparity when we hit a downfall this next time, because there is no fallback. Host lets talk to dorothy calling from raleigh, north carolina. Dorothy, good morning. Caller good morning. I want to agree with a couple of your callers and i want to talk about [indiscernible] it is the income tax a told us they give us. I didnt get one. I ended up having to pay more. When they took those exemptions off, i couldnt use those for my deduction. I ended up paying more taxes, and i only get pension and Social Security. I wanted to say that they told us about who would get you all would get a tax cut, and i want to ask the public, why would billionaires and millionaires need a tax cut when they got all of the money . Tax cuts did not make them higher. They had the money to hire as many people as they wanted already. They have all of the money. The people that needed a big tax that are the People Living week to week in paychecktopaycheck. He needed a really large income tax break. Not billionaires. They have all of the money. They dont need any money. They never did. I think that was a bad move when they gave 80 or 90 80 or 90 of the tax breaks to the people that didnt need anything and only gave us what, 20 . You had a gentleman on here not too long ago when i called and about paying more, and you know what he said to me . You should have more money taken out of your pay. If i have a tax break, why do i need more money taken out of my pay . Later on today, democratic president ial candidate cory booker will be interviewed on the Political Party line in iowa. Watch come alive, at 8 45 p. M. Eastern on cspan, online at cspan. Org or listen live on the cspan radio app. Also, the Iowa Democratic party holds its hall of Fame Campaign from 19 of remarks the president ial candidates in in Cedar Rapids Convention iowa. Watch live on sunday at 3 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Org or listen live on the cspan radio app. Keep those in benton mind those events in mind. Lets go to rick calling from louisville, ohio. When you wake up in the morning, if you live in the midwest, michigan, ohio, illinois, pennsylvania, nebraska, west virginia, when you wake up in the morning, you are being lied to. They are being brainwashed you are being brainwashed and desensitized. It is coming from new york, connecticut, california, and texas. , tdf, radio a tv, radio, internet comes from these three states. These three states are sitting on trillions of 15,000,000,000,000 dollars in Silicon Valley in military bases. City andork connecticut is ruled, the Federal Reserve and the , and Goldman Sachs and citigroup and jp morgan all use Financial Instruments that are fraudulent, that are basically criminal, to extract money from people in the midwest. Through war, financial engineering. That this isous taking place, that you can actually use the term hitler to look at pelosi, schumer to look host lets go to jimmy calling from evansville, indiana. Jimmy, good morning. Jerry, sorry. Caller yes. Jerry. Thatt to let you know liberal spending policies of george w. Bush and barack obama have added 15 trillion to the National Debt. Now, congressmen and senators will not talk about the interest on the National Debt around 300 billion plus, each and every year. They dont talk about that. Talking about Social Security and that is affecting our Social Security down the road. It will affect our Social Security. Thank you so much, and have a great today. Host lets talk to mary calling from oldman, florida. Arey, good morning. Mary, good morning. Caller i just want to get back to being poor and not having any money when you are retired. I lost my vision completely when i was 59 years old. Let me tell you, i got approved for medicare within one month. I was one of the lucky ones, but i didnt have any money coming in until the following january, six months later. They told me to get medicaid because i had two young girls living at home with me. So, i called medicaid and they laughed in my face. I will never forget it. A housegoes, you have and two cars, and i did because i had kids, and i couldnt see my children walking in the kitchen. I didnt know which kid was which. They told me that, and i didnt have any food for two weeks at the end of the month. I cashed in everything i owned, everything. I almost lost my house. I had no insurance because, you know that culver thing . They wanted 500 per month for that. How am i supposed to pay for that when i dont have any money coming in . Then, they didnt initiate it until march and they wanted me to pay the january and february, and march thing all at once before i could get it. Yet, we have money to pay for these immigrants coming illegally. I love immigrants. My grandfathers and grandmothers all came from greece, dont get me wrong. I think everybody should have a wonderful life, but we cant be responsible for everybody and everything. We are not the world. We have a constitution for the United States of america, not for the world. I want to thank you very much for having this show. Host do you see your situation getting any better in the future . Do you see any possible change that will help you . Gone, my children are and they are not making enough money to live. One lives in california and one lives in boston, the most extensive places. They make good money, but im poor. You know what im saying . It, im paying my bills, but dont go out of this house. I go out of this house to go to the doctors, and that is it. Host lets talk to frank calling from new york. Frank, good morning. Caller hello. I would like to Say Something program, which is, hello . Host we can hear you. Keep going. Caller ssi is a minimum income orgram for people over 65, disabled. That it isn is future because we dont talk about the National Debt crisis that is besetting this country. Ssi is the basic safety net, but youproblem with it is that are not supposed to have more than 2000 in liquid assets to be eligible. I would like to suggest they should lift that amount so people would have an incentive to save more. Right now, people are being deceived about saving for retirements. They are told to save, but to be eligible for ssi, you have to be you have to have all of your savings be liquidated. They should increase it to maybe 20,000, 30 thousand, 40,000 or Something Like that. 30,000,nced 40,000, or Something Like that so people would have an incentive to pick up the benefits. Host are you using Social Security right now . Howt i dont know revelatory i want to be about my financial situation. I want to talk about this subject. I do believe that they should increase, hello . Host keep going. Ifst im suggesting that, they would increase the amount of the benefit, of the assets you can have, people would have an incentive to postpone picking up this benefit. Host lets talk to sherry calling from iowa. Sherry, good morning. Caller good morning. Host go ahead. Caller hello. Host go ahead. Caller yes, my thing is that i retired when i was 61, unfortunately. I had become disabled from a car accident and i was almost killed. I was unable to work up until that point of getting the full benefit. And, so, any money i made prior to all of those years of working all my life are not counted for because you have to be able to work up to that point. So, all of the money you earned through that period of time is gone. 629 to live whole on per month. Then, they turn around and take insurance from you for medicare. B is not, it is free, free and you have to pay for that, and it is over 100 per month. They didnt let me know they were doing this, so when i got a letter the following month, they said we gave you part b. That was 134 per month and took it for three months. I had other insurance, and i was so upset that they left me 200 something dollars to live on for that month and a half. I dont understand. What happened to the money we made prior through all of our working years . Host lets talk to chadwick calling from denver, colorado. Chadwick, good morning. Caller good morning. Good morning ladies, and gents good morning, ladies and gents. Medicare is a prime example of how the Public Sector is not working. We have 72 welfare programs. This 14 the government is taking out his money you could manage yourself. This is money that the government is mismanaging. Private investors and people that manage their own money, they do better than people you have been the government and Public Sector. This was not the political mandate people had in mind. It was just some more democraticsocialist and, but what we are facing today, yes, you start to get more government is the private sector. We had to take money in our own hands and invest it and make decisions with our wealth. Host thank you for all of the calls that came in today. Coming up next, aviva stahl will talk about herpes in the nation about the treatment of patients in super max prisons in therado her piece in nation about the treatment of patients in super max prisons in colorado, and later, Luke Niforatos discusses marijuana legalization. Later, ensuring protections stay in place. Wen the nightmare that we in planned parenthood are preparing for every day. I come from the world of Public Health where there are natural disasters, disease outbreaks that we prepare for. While this is an emergency and a Public Health crisis, it is manmade. There are 16 cases right now that our one simple way from the supreme court, and any of them being heard could lead to roe being further chipped away or completely overturned. Nowwhat we are focused on is fighting through the courts, working with our legislatures in states and on the federal level to ensure other types of protections for roe. Seen this year, even though there have been terrible attendance inthe vermont, new york, illinois, in nevada recently that codify roe in some cases and also that extent reproductive rights to human rights, to be the reproductive rights that they are, to protect doctors from criminal basin and women from seeking health care. That is what we are focused on, proactive, protective legislation that can in the states and in the federal government, too. And we, at the planned fund, look toion protect rights and freedoms, including Reproductive Health care, which is health care. Washington journal continues. Host were back with aviva stahl from the nation and her stories and our spotlight on magazine segment, cover story on nation, gag order. Aviva, good morning. Guest good morning. Thank you for having me. Host talk about your piece in the nation and why he decided to write this. For the prisoner adx, the federal government super max , they are living under medication restrictions that effectively cut them all from the outside world, and what interested me about this was just knowing there was a place in the prison system that the public would not have access to, that the press did not have access to, because no one in this unit couldnt communicate with anyone in the outside done, and i wonder what is when it is unshackled from bureauscrutiny, when the of prisons know that the press cannot find out. Host so what did you find out what is happening in this super max prison . Guest i found out in the specific unit, men were going on Hunger Strikes regularly. And my main source, mohammed over 100as forcefed times during his 10 plus years in the unit. Others were also forcefed. Forcefed,u say explain what you mean by that. What is being forced that . Forcefed . Guest you might have heard about forcefeeding when there was a Hunger Strike at guantanamo, but what it is is for you to be brought into another room apart from his cell, and he would be strapped into a forcefeeding chair. It shoulders would be pressed behind him with his arms behind his back. He would be in shackles, and he would be strapped into his chair , around his arms, his legs, his would cometwo orders next women measure of the tube to make sure it is the right length. And then they would put some lubricant on the tube and inserted into the prisoners goes into his stomach. It is not always go right away, so sometimes it takes a few tries. Finally, some liquid nutrition, on it. Sure, would be host remind us who Mohammad Salameh is. Mohammed salome was convicted of being involved in the 1993 World Trade Center in aks, and he was held variety of institutions, but not adx. He was not perceived as a security threat. 2001, after 9 11, he and a bunch of other people convicted of highlevel have beenoffenses transferred to adx really without explanation, not that they were suspected of being involved, they were just transferred there, and in 2005, again without knowing where understanding why or even being told why he was put on these special communication restrictions that cut him off from the outside world. Ast now explain to us what special administrative measure is, a s. A. M. We see that reference over and over. What is it, and why is it being used . S. A. M. Is the restriction that cuts the prisoner off from the outside hrld, so s. A. M. Turns the unit into a black box. No one can go in, and no one can go out. I will tell you a little bit about the restrictions. When he was first put on s. A. M. In 2005, he was only allowed to conduct with immediate family members, with his parents and siblings, and his attorney. He was not allowed to commit it with anyone else, including other prisoners on the unit. Allowed to have papers that were older than 30 days. He was not allowed to listen to news, radio, reach out to elected officials. He wrote a letter to the president that was denied. He was not even allowed to contact attorneys by himself. He basically had no indication with the outside world. The other good thing to know about s. A. M. s is they are placed on individuals at the sole discretion of the attorney general. Prisonersh they place under these really extreme conditions of isolation, and once you get on the, it is very difficult to get off that, we know very little about how or why people are placed on them, what the measure the doj uses, the department justice, uses to decide who is dangerous. Our viewers remind that they can call in and join in on the conversation. We will open about regular lines for this. Republicans, you can call in at 202 7488001. Democrats, you can call 202 7488000. An independents, you can call 202 7488002. But we are also opening up a special time for this conversation. If you have experience with the prison system and you want to talk about the story better than order,ion, under got you can call in at 202 7488003. Viva, who decide who gets these special Administration Measure provisions . Made . Is that is it made in the super max prison, the attorney general, the president . Who makes that call . Guest basically the power to put someone on s. A. M. s is just the attorney generals office, so they are the ones who make the decision. When someone gets their s. A. M. s order, in 2005, the only explanation he received was his crime and conviction. That was the only proof of his dangerousness. Years prior to when he was actually placed on s. A. M. s. Arereason why s. A. M. s supposed to be placed on individuals are the potential danger they could place on the public. Iur first place in 1996, and believe it was 1998, the first person it was used on was a gang leader who had put on hits on individuals from prison. That is hypothetically who the for,s are to be designed people using their contact with the outside world to put a danger on the public. But in reality, for mohammed salome, there was no ofdence c so there is a lot home known about the restrictions to begin with. Host i want to read a little bit about your article about s. A. M. s. s do not just wally the men from the outside, they also while the outside world from what is happening in the prison. Even parents in a touch with s prisoners can be incarcerated for repeating anything the prisoner told them, from accounts is trivial as what the prisoner had for breakfast to abuses at the hands of guards. So how were you able to get the information about the super max prison, especially concerning a lot of these inmates have the s. A. M. Measures against them. How were you able to get the information out . Right, well, it is impossible to report what is happening on each unit now, because you cannot speak to them now or their family members or attorneys, so when i decided i wanted to do a story about this, i sent out a letter to my and asked the inside if they knew anybody on the unit who has since been transferred off, and that is how i got becauseed to salameh, he heard i was interested in this topic and was willing to tell his story. But it is not just a human and civil rights issue for the people on the inside, s. A. M. s, it is a civil rights issue from the glare, but i think the fact that it prevents us, the public and the press, knowing what is happening on the inside is also really important to note. I think it is important to understand that when we knew this was happening at guantanamo at the time, when there were Hunger Strikes and forced feedings at guantanamo, we know about that, but we did not know that was happening on h unit. And i think the issue with s. A. M. s and what is happening is also an issue with people and the press living in world to be concerned about, because it is distorting ou understanding of our country and ourr understanding of history. Host how long are the Hunger Strikes going on in the h unit . Do we have any information about how long these last and what is going on there and how my prisoners are on Hunger Strike because of these s. A. M. s . Guest right, for example, mr. He went on Hunger Strike five times over a decade, and they lasted from a few weeks to a few months. Most of the prisoners who had been on h unit, all had been on Hunger Strike, for sure at least part of the time during that 10 years, mr. Salama was on h unit, the majority of people have been on Hunger Strike, and i am not sure, but it is very possible that the majority of people were also forcefed. And i think during the time mr. These hungerhere, strikes and forced feedings were so routine, it points to how extreme the conditions were and how desperate they are. Was lets let jay ray, who calling from georgia on the conversation. Jerry, good morning. Caller good morning. Host go ahead, jerry. Guest hello . Host jerry, we can hear you. Go ahead. Ok, i agree that nobody should be treated in that manner, but the example she gave should have been put to death. He is responsible for thousands of americans deaths. Happen, give him the death penalty. Host go ahead and respond, aviva. Guest um, my story is not about mr. Salomes crime, it is about wha conditions he experienced on the h unit. According to the American Medical Association, the forcefeeding of them of an consideredisoner is unethical, regardless of who the prisoner is coming it is unconstitutional, point to the doctors themselves. It is important to note that according to the experts i spoke to, the forcefeeding as it is dx can andat 8a sometimes does amount to torture under international law. I think that is important to toe, and we are opposed torture, then we are opposed to torture. Who isets talk to ali, calling from chattanooga, tennessee, and ali has experience with the prison system. Ali, go ahead. Caller yes, when they that is bothering me as she is sitting here running her mouth, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Thing, youdoing this have got to be 100 . There are people in leadership who do not care. They do not care. He is not the only one going through something, and we have got to realize we put god first and let god do his thing. We can talk all day long, but nothing is changing. Nothing is changing. Ift now, aviva, do you know forcefeeding like this is happening anywhere outside of super max prisons, or is it just in a block where you see this going on. Guest it is definitely happening in other prisons. There were also Hunger Strikes tengion centere a few months ago where detainees were forcefed. There is not a lot of data on how frequently it happens and very staggered reporting, so it is hard to know how frequent it is, at least from the federal bureau of prisons, the federal prison, it seems like in the h unit is where it happens the most. Host now, were getting a lot of callers tweeting and saying maybe these terrorists do not deserve bearable conditions. The things that they are going on Hunger Strike for. Now, are there International Laws or domestic laws regarding treatment of inmates that would be applicable here, or are there First Amendment rights issues where being cut off from the rest of the world through these s. A. M. s orders would apply . Guest well, according to the uns special counsel on torture, being placed in solitary confinement for more than 18 ors could amount to torture at least cruel and degrading punishment, which is a lesser form of torture. Unitnk the conditions on h are arguably a form of torture, and people can be on h unit for a decade or more, so they are on these restrictive conditions were a very, very long time. People who whether commit terrorism offensive diverter to be in unbearable conditions, i am someone who does not believe they should not. I do not know what to tell you sayt that except to s. A. M. s are not just an issue of civil rights for People Living under them but they are also preventing us, the public and the press and the to find out what is happening on the inside. Bureau ofnd the prisons can live without any orr of scrutiny the public finding out what is happening, at least several times, so for the 11 years at mr. Salameh was on h unit, the staff knew they could treat him in any way they want, and the press and the public would not find out i think if you are someone who believes in free speech and the free press is important for Holding Government institutions accountable, then i think s. A. M. s are really concerning. Host i want to read a little bit of your description of the prison that mr. Salameh was in. According to experts, the adx subjects, prisoners, forced to and extreme isolation sensory deprivation than any in the country. Architects designed the presented at her those locked up from plotting an escape. The cells are made entirely of concrete with narrow windows that barely let in light. The Outdoor Recreation cages, each about five steps long and 10 steps wide, are built in an enclosure that resembles an empty swimming pool. Every prisoner spends 12 to 24 hours per day alone. How are you able to find out this information about this prison . Were you actually able to go inside . Where are these descriptions from people who are no longer there . How are you getting this information . Guest from a variety of sources. Warden, ite from a have written things from former prisoners, i have interviewed people who have spent time there. Unfortunately, it is difficult for the press to get into 80 x. I think there has been one reporter who has gone and since 9 11. Routinelyx even eugen denies you and experts from. Eing injured host lets talk to leah in pennsylvania on the democratic line. Leah, good morning. [no audio] good morning. Host go ahead. To say i am just calling these people should not be forcefed. They should not be bothered with it at all. Just lock them up, you know. I can hear myself. Now i am confused. Host turn your television down for us. Caller ok. They had heard people by murdering the people they have, and, you know, it is just not right. Host go ahead and respond. Guest well, as i said before, according to the American Medical Association and the World Medical association, what is happening on h unit is unethical. And i will tell you one thing about mr. Salamehs experience, one day in 2006 when he was on Hunger Strike, was brought in to be force fed, he was given a share, a tube was inserted in a nutritionistthe of one supplement into a tube, and mr. Salameh started vomiting. Instead of stopping, the assistant continue to feed him, cartone him carton an after him 16 carton fed Thomas Quinlan of about a gallon, only to have him throw them all up in term. A doctor looked at the medical records and saw that he had been forcefed 16 cartons only to vomit it up, he told me there is no medical rationale for the procedures to happen, and it seems like they were doing this with the intent to harm him, with the, intent to cause him pain and suffering and that, under international law, means that what happens announced to torture. Thing mr. Salameh told me once was that he would rather be waterboarded than forcefed, because it leaves people understand that waterboarding is torture, but people are under the impression that forcefeeding is done for the benevolence of the person. And i think we understand that waterboarding is torture, and what happened at abu ghraib and the black sites and elsewhere was unamerican and immoral, we have to understand that at least sometimes adx is equivalent. Host is there another option for prison officials when someone goes on Hunger Strike, other than to give in to their demands, other than forcefeeding . Guest well, i think that a lot of times that negotiations with the prison staff, for example, in california, in 2013, Something Like 30,000 prisoners went on Hunger Strike to demand conditions, and eventually, the department of corrections didnt come to the table, and a lot of people ended up getting out of solitary confinement. Circumstances where forcefeeding is prohibited, doctors, with special plans for the prisoner to discuss how the new version will proceed. Host lets go to rick, who is calling from annapolis, maryland, on the republican line. Rick, good morning. Caller good morning. Can i go . Host yes, we can hear you. Go ahead. Caller ok. I would like to thank you for all you do. I just cannot thank you enough for looking out for terrorists. I do not know what we would do without people like you, these for terrorists starving to death and these terrible conditions and so forth. Did was try toy kill americans. What is wrong with killing americans . What you need to do is get on the next plane and get the hell out of host all right, lets go to ron, who is calling from west chesterfield, new hampshire. Ron, good morning. Caller good morning. Thank you cspan. You guys rock. I love the show. You guys have the greatest guests, and i thank your guess right now for appearing. Listen, i have to kind of agree with the republican caller who just called a little bit. When it comes to torture overseas, these are enemy combatants. Mean, i understand the geneva convention, and i understand, you know, not want to torture anybody. I do not like torture, and they should not be tortured overseas. But we live in, more generally speaking, a prison society, and i am talking about the prisoners that we retain. We have more prisons than we have schools, more prisons and jails and places of incarceration than we have schools. Of anything,many churches, schools, there are bound to be some bad ones. Not everybody gets treated well. Basically, we need to change our criminal justice system. Not all of these people that are in there are bad and deserve to be in there, it is just a matter of society, you know, they were just unable to make it outside the way the outside was, so now they are in there, and some people are getting tortured. I mean, they get tortured by their own peers. Until we decide to start investing in the general public, and best in their health, invest in their education, give them a base for which they cannot fall that will never happen while the republicans are in office, donald trump, you know, they are going to keep people down. Everything is going to the top 10 of all the money is going and the rest of us are scrapping over the last 10 of the new wealth. But 90 of the new wealth is going to the big people, the bigmoney people, and so that leaves people wanting to steal and things like that to try and eat. And it is just ridiculous. Host aviva, where is mr. Solomon now . Mr. Salameh now . Is he still in h block . Guest no, he is in kentucky. I just want to respond to the last caller, if that is ok. Host go ahead. Guest one thing that i think is important to know, as an attorney that i interviewed, he has clients both at guantanamo and clients on h block, which block are not enemy combatants. They are american prisoners on american soil. She told me when she goes to visit her clients on guantanamo, she interviews them, she takes notes, she has the note to the government censor, and a few weeks later, she gets the notes back that she can release to the public. When she visits clients on the h unit, she takes notes during the interview, and they stay in her briefcase forever. They can never be released. That means to some extent, when it comes to prison conditions, there is greater for his guantanamo that it comes to h unit. And if you are someone who is concerned about the conditions americans are facing and conditions in prisons, that is something to notice and to be concerned about. Who isets go to maxine, calling from new baltimore, michigan. Maxine, good morning. Caller good morning. And thank you for taking my call, and happy birthday to cspan. Gracious, my goodness what in the world is wrong with you . Dont you realize that these terrorists have forfeited their right to be called human beings . They are not human beings. Therefore, they are not entitled to human rights. You know, i cannot believe that you are so naive and so suckered by these bleeding heart comerists that you would and put your face on national tv and spout this garbage. Host go ahead and respond. Guest [laughs] i am someone who believe that human rights are inalienable, and they are absolute. I think if we learned anything from the second world war, it is that human rights need to protect everyone in order for them to protect everyone. Anytime we have one person or one group of people deciding these group of people deserve human rights, these group of people do not deserve human rights, were walking a dangerous line. I really think that any scholar of history, i think history shows us that. Important. T is saying that someone like mr. Salameh has human rights. I am defending my human rights also. Host have you heard from anyone in response to your article . Guest just saying you are following protocol, essentially. Host and have you heard from lawmakers or outside groups to ask for any changes . Guest not as of yet, but i guess we will see. Host well, we would like to thank aviva stahl from the nation for coming on today and talking about her story in the nation, gag order. Aviva, thank you so much for being here. Guest thank you so much for having me, and have a great day. Host coming up next, we will talk to Luke Niforatos about his organization, smart approaches to marijuana,s attempts to oppose the commercialization of marijuana and the United States. We will be right back. This weekend, booktv will have live coverage of the 35th annual craters road lit fest in chicago, the largest literary showcase in the midwest. Starting today at 11 00 a. M. Eastern, each ring louise schneider, andy parker, history professor kathleen bello, historian and alisa cox, and on sunday, our live coverage continues at 11 00 a. M. Eastern late editor josh. Evine, bill airs watched the 35th annual pr inters row lit fest on booktv on cspan2. On q a, blues musician Darrell Davis discusses his book. Daryl he walked in the room first, and he was wearing military camouflage and the initials kkk ride on his chest. Embroidered on the beret on his head were knights of the ku klux klan, and the on his hip was a gun on his holster. Behind him was mr. Kelly in a dark blue suit and tie. Ight turned the corner and saw me, he froze, and mr. Kelly bumped into him, because he has stopped short. They looked all around the room, and i knew what they were thinking, either they had been given the wrong room number, or this was a setup, this was an ambush, so i went like this, to display my hands, nothing in them, and i stood up and approach them and said hi, mr. Kelly, my name is daryl davis. Come on in. P. M. Y night at 8 00 eastern on q a. Washington journal continues. Luke were back with niforatos smart approaches to marijuana, and he is here to commercialization and normalization of marijuana. How are you doing . Guest good morning, jesse. How are you today . Host i am good. Explain to us what your group is and who is involved. Guest our organization is called smart approaches to a. M. , and we were by as well asd Patrick Kennedy of the kennedy family. They were very concerned after colorado, where i am from, and washington legalized marijuana at the ballot, and they sell this as the inception of the new big tobacco, but this Marijuana Industry was going to grow internal much more addictive products, they were going to of issuess, do a lot that were selfserving and cause a lot of harm to the public. Unfortunately, about five years and, we are seeing that this industry has turned into big tobacco and is now invested in by the tobacco. Our organization is focused on the science side of the science side of this. We want science to leave the day. We do not want to bring back reefer madness. That is what we have some of the leading researchers on marijuana on our Scientific Advisory board, from harvard, princeton, the university of colorado, all doing this today to find out what the harms are of marijuana. Our organization wants to reduce marijuana use. We see this as something that is harmful in society, but we also want to prevent the commercialization of this drug, because what happens in this country when we allow a legal dr ug is weve build huge businesses around this. When you think about big tobacco and pharmaceutical companies, those industries, you look at the Opioid Epidemic, we have hundreds of thousands of people dying as a result of our commercial drug industry. We are at marijuana, asking the public data you want another commercial truck industry layered onto the Drug Industries that we already have . So we are working the federal level, to write Public Policies that focus on Public Health first, and that the state level, we were with policymakers as well as the public to push back against any pushes to legalize. Let me be very clear. A lot of people think this is a question between should we legalize marijuana or should we throw anybody in prison . We call that the false dichotomy. We project that dichotomy. There are lots of options to reform marijuana laws and many pushes forganization pure it we do not think anybody should go to jail if they have a joint in their pocket. We are pushing for the criminalization, which makes it more like a traffic ticket versus going to jail on your first marijuana offense if you are possessing it. We do not want to legalize production and sale of marijuana, because then you get big tobacco 2. 0. That is where we draw the line there. On the medical front, we push research, we signed a bill to have more medical research done. We want to go through the scientific process. Weis very key that understand, and we have done a lot of polling across the country. Most americans do not think that somebody should go to jail for having a joint, but none of them want a pot shot in the neighborhood, and nobody wants gummi zan kennedy is laced with very high potency marijuana the country. Ross so we are looking at states like colorado and seeing the results are not going so well, but they think there is no other options, is a thirdt is there option on the table. You do not have to legalize this all the way. Host ok. In ont to get callers this conversation. If you support legalizing marijuana, we were you to call 202 7488000. If you oppose legalizing marijuana, what you call 202 7488001. And keep in mind, we are always reading on social media, on twitter cspanwj and on facebook at facebook. Com cspan. Now, luke, your organization has lived through colorados move toward legalization. How has the legalization of marijuana affected colorado specifically . Guest yeah, so our organization is based in d. C. , but i am actually from colorado, and i am actually raising my twoyearold daughter in the state with my lovely wife, who i think are watching today, so hi, everybody. The experience in colorado has not been a good one. You look at every promise that was made when we legalized it as a state your day told us this was the official justice. Formarijuana arrest rate African Americans is twice that of white in our state your we still see arrest rate disparities. It is not solve the social justice issues in the state. You look at schools, that Legal Marijuana would bring all this money to schools. U. S. Governor john hickenlooper, who is running for president , he will tell you, and im quoting, the money from marijuana is a drop in the bucket. We are not getting the Marijuana Tax revenue. The highest percentage in the budget of any state that legalize marijuana is. 7. 8 of their budget. We are talking about a small amount. More people are dying on the sincein colorado legalization. We had a 151 increase of marijuanaimpaired driving deaths, because marijuana impairs your driving ability. Youth. Colorado is the number one state for firsttime marijuana use for two years in a row. That is according to the National Surveys on drug use and health, the foremost credible survey on this subject. You look at every indicator, and it is not going well in colorado. I will finally say this about my state. I love my state. It is beautiful. But we now have three different Foreign Countries cartels that have set up shot in our state since legalization. So it is not preventing this underground market from happening. You look at the policy on its merit, and it is a failed policy. We have to look at better options, which is why our organization is advocating for options like alternative to incarceration, more research, but not allowing this brandnew industry, which, by the way, the pot industry in colorado is making a ton of money. Our state may not become a but the pot industry is making billions of dollars. They were able to successfully lobby for a whole laundry list of selfserving regulations. The biggest one they got was an exemption from the Colorado Clean indoor air act. Yes, the Colorado Clean indoor air act. They can now smoke pot in our restaurants, hotels, and lounges in the state of colorado. They just signed that into law. We are talking about a big tobacco like industry that i just do not think the rest of the country once you have. Theresa, who was calling from harvard, massachusetts, join the conversation. Good morning. Caller good morning. Hi, luke. This is t theresa. One of the comments i want to make us here in massachusetts, which everyone knows is legal here, 80 of our sales so it is very easy for young especially to obtain marijuana, and it is very cheap, and many of our schools, out of on the, they are driving roads. They think it is no problem at all. How do we get the message out to the rest of the country that has not legalize marijuana yet that it is very dangerous to young verye, that it is harmful to the brain, they absolutely should not drive. Stateuld get it in our but especially outside of our state, we see a lot of negative harm to kids. Host go ahead and respond, luke. Guest th theresa, thank you for your question. I have been in massachusetts a lot for the past few months, and i echo your concern. Science and Public Health or being put on the back burner on this topic. People leaving this topic are marijuana issue professionals. These companies have billiondollar ad budgets, and they are able to put up billboards in all of these states saying marijuana is no big deal, no worse than alcohol, comparing it to other things that it is harmless, and toortunately, the message our youth and the general public is marijuana is no big deal. And the science tells the opposite of that. The atlantic journal, which is the foremost institutional marijuana impact on the brain, they found the new marijuana today, which is 99 potency come over the marijuana of the onestop days, which is 3 potency, versus the marijuana of the woodstock days, which is 3 potency if you look at the absolutely impairs your driving ability. Impairment on the road is rapidly rising in everes every state that it i legalized. It is invested in by marlborough and philip morris. They are advertising these two kids. All laced withs, very high potency thc, so kids are getting into that. I share your concern. I think science and Public Health need to leave this discussion for policy, not profit, the only ones who will are wallt of money Street Investors and Silicon Valley investors, not the rest of us. Host luke, in how many states as marijuana legal, and how many states have it been decriminalized, and in how many states is it fully illegal . Guest so only about nine states in the country have legalized marijuana for recreational use. All of them at the ballot, so that people have voted on that. In terms of decriminalization, i think about a dozen states in the country have decriminalized they come up in other words made it like a traffic ticket but kept production and sale illegal. Most states in a country do not have Legal Marijuana. Legalization of marijuana for commercial sale and production is still a very much small, minority of this country. Over the last three years, only two states have legalized marijuana. So i think were starting to see this momentum go the other direction, because it has been a bad few years for the Marijuana Industry. Host lets go to sharon, who is calling from minnesota. Sharon, good morning. Caller good morning, jesse. Thanks for taking my call. I have three comments here, one, the last caller, she wanted to know about the young ones in the message, do not get in the car and drug and drive. We want to get the message that alcohol has been gotten. Really . Next comment. You say you want to listen to the science . Coming from typical a conservative, because you do not listen to science in any other aspect. Number three, i want to know who is, it is Law Enforcement against prohibition, and there are many of them out there. I want to make one other statement. Ago, i was diagnosed with an eye disease. I live in minnesota. I do not get marijuana. And wasven this disease legally blind, however, i would have been completely blind 25 years ago had i not continue to smoke marijuana. And i am going to continue to smoke marijuana. Thanks. Host go ahead and respond, luke. We are actually nonpartisan organization, and like i said, we were founded by a former Obama Administration senatorand former Patrick Kennedy, a democrat and a member of the kennedy family. This is a totally nonpartisan issue we work with the naacp, hispanic caucus, the black caucus, we work with folks on every part of the spectrum, politically speaking. We work with them all, because at the end of the day, Public Health and the impact to our community is not a partisan issue, that is a human issue. We are all on the same side of this. I respect your opinion, and i think if you found something that helps you, i want you to get what you need that helps you, but what you are referring to is really more of a medical component of this drug, which we should look at, research, and i want to see the science validate that to give you a highlyregulated and good Prescription Drug to give you what you need, but that conversation is separate from the conversation of legalizing marijuana for rent regional use, which is i think what the country is looking at. Important to distinguish this drug from recreational legalization. That is important. Host lets go to heidi, who is calling from california. Caller good morning. I voted for prop 64 here in los angeles, and i have just been so upset by what has become of our state here since then. One of the reasons i am going to focus on is the homeless issue. Luke just said that cannabis can cause psychosis. It can also cause adult schizophrenia. Increases the risk for adult schizophrenia, and schizophrenia increases the risk for homelessness, then cant we say that cannabis increases the risk for homelessness . Host go ahead and respond, luke. Guest thank you for your comments. We have seen homelessness increase in most of the states that have legalized marijuana. My mom actually works for Colorado Coalition of the homeless, the largest nonprofit taking care of the home is in this state, and they are overwhelmed. Absolutely we are seeing a homeless issue i do not know if we can draw the line directly between marijuana and homelessness, but we do know in the states that have legalized marijuana, they are seeing a significant rise. We have to look at it. It is another one of the failed promises of the industry that you legalized marijuana and you will basically pave your streets and gold with all of the tax money. It is just not happening. A lot of the services, social services in these cities are not keeping up with it. Host we were talking earlier about lobbying. Are you keeping track of the money going from the Marijuana Industry to politicians, to lobby to get these new laws passed and get these regulations . And what are you finding out . Guest we sure are. That is a great question. If you go to our website, learn. Org, we have a whole map of the United States. You can click on your state and see how much the industry has given to your representative, who gave it, and when. We are trying to empower the public with this information so they can track the representatives and hold them accountable to the people that they are taking money from. We are seeing the industry is pouring unprecedented amount of money. It is on the hill, in d. C. , a lot of money being put into this push to try to get access to the financial system,. This push to try to legalize marijuana. Of the topired some lobbying firms on k street to push their initiative forward. We are a small nonprofit. We are trying to keep up. We cannot keep up with big k street firms, but even if we did, they are buying up most of them now. We are seeing a big powerplay. A lot of that is the influence of altria. Altria has now made a 4 billion investment in the Marijuana Industry. They have also made a 14 billion investment in juul, which is the Vaping Technology that all of the kids are getting into today, so they are doing a significant amount of lobbying around us today, because they see marijuana at the new frontier for big tobacco. We are kind of the david in the david and goliath scenario, but we are trying to empower people with the data and the information so that they can speak up and be heard by the representatives. Host lets go to sandra, who is calling from eastpointe, michigan. Sandra, good morning. Caller yes, hi, the thing that gets me so upset is that alcohol abuse is worse than anything than worse than pot, worse opioids, and it is always Healthy People like you who, you have no idea what people go through, like the woman i called about her eye problem with her eyes. The backlashids, from opioids, people who are terrible,from chronic, painful diseases that nothing can be done about, you know, they are being taken off of their pain medication. People are committing suicide, because they have no quality of because their doctors are scared to give them their pain medication anymore, and it is always people who abuse drugs or abuse these things that make it hard for people who really suffer, because people with chronic pain are now made to suffer because of these people who abuse drugs. So that is all i have to say. Thank you. Host go ahead, luke. , sandra, ira, yes think you speak to an important issue that is facing americans across this country right now. We are in the midst of an Opioid Epidemic. Not just an Opioid Epidemic, but sabet, says we addiction midst of an epidemic, tobacco, drugs, alcohol are proliferating are society right now. A lot of people are hurting, and i hear that in your voice, and i care. Absolutely, you are right, alcohol abuse alcohol is killing more than 100,000 americans every year. I do not think people know that. Alcohol is responsible for a major body count in this country. So our regulatory system around alcohol and tobacco is not going well. We do not have it figured out at this point. So did think about layering on another drug on top of tobacco and out when we are already i thinko many lives defies comprehensio. The journal of american medicine just did a Research Study that found that in places where the older you would epidemic are the worst, those are actually the is legal. Marijuana in other words, they are saying there appears to be an exacerbation of the Opioid Epidemic in places where opioi marijuana is legal. Worse. T want to make it i appreciate you sharing that, i really care, and i want to come up with the right solutions from a Public Health perspective to help us out. Host lets go to paul, who is calling from derry, new hampshire. Good morning. Caller good morning. I want to thank luke for the efforts. I was about to go outside and do some work, and i was just drawn to the program. The woman from minnesota who called earlier who somehow stops at the idea that a conservative can actually practice good science, when in fact most of the progress of science is completely permeated with confirmation bias. That is a completely different story entirely. We spent millions of not billions of dollars in trying to get rid of cigarette smoking and to educate people as to what the Adverse Health effects are, to great success, i would say. By the same token, i have actually read scientific articles that suggests marijuana which is the exact same as the smoke, is retained in the lungs for a long period of time. Consequently, you are exposing yourself to the same thing we have spent billions of dollars trying to get rid of in terms of the Public Health hazard. I want to get a comment of that, if you have heard that before or if there is any work being done. Thank you. Guest thank you, paul. I have actually spoken with a number of people who happen tobaccoes on the antito back t site for many years, and they are saying with this push of now legalize marijuana, all of the gains we got against tobacco are being rolled back. It was all for nothing. Unfortunately, there is so much misinformation being put out right now. People do not think secondhand marijuana smoke is the same thing as secondhand tobacco smoke, and it is. The American Lung association tells us it is just as carthage and against tobacco smoke is. Science must prevail. We must listen to our Public Health professionals and our scientists. The thing with any Public Health issue, we have got to let science rule the day. Absolutely on the tobacco front, it is very much like this, and these Tobacco Companies that we spent a long time putting under wraps and get them out of our political innerworkings in d. C. Especially, they are now rising again and getting a renewed life and new profit margin is because they are all in on this hot industry. Should beo legalize characterized as forprofit. It is not about the little people. It is very important that we wake up to that now before we let big tobacco 2. 0 happen all over again. I was not around for big tobaccos rise over the last hundred years and the millions of lives we lost to figured out it was damaging, but i want us to stop this before it gets out of hand. Host lets talk to woody, who was calling from michigan. Woody, good morning. Caller good morning. Marijuana has been around for about 10,000 years, and if you have not done the research now the government did some research. Panama canalthe military investigation into the effects of marijuana. I believe it was 1921 to 1929. And the laguardia commission, the effects of marijuana, 1939 to 1944. And then the Shafer Commission on the effects of marijuana, 1971 and 1972. They got results, they found out there was no major harm with so they kind of did not let the public know about it. You know, the Johns Hopkins school of medicine in the american journal of medicine, internal medicine, and the Rand Corporation old it studies, and that marijuana helps people reduce the amount of opioids they are using. Is theot the problem, it solution. Guest if it was the solution for the Opioid Epidemic, i would be elated, because i think we do need a solution to the Opioid Epidemic. Unfortunately, there is no easy button you can hit, and marijuana certainly is not the easy button. The research we are seeing, i was not around for these commissions. I would have to look into these commissions you are talking about. But allah know if the American Society for medicine, the society, the journal of addiction medicine, journal of society, lancet journal society, all of the Major Research institutions, Public Health associations and medical help associations also marijuana is a harmful and addictive substance, and they oppose the legalization. The fda has already approved a couple of marijuanabased medications for the public that you can get a prescription for, and we support the process through the fda. I think it is important that we theot complete, again, medical aspect of marijuana with the recreational aspects. There is no reason why we should legalize and commercialize another drug if we think that maybe it has medical value. Those medical values should be looked at on their own merits, by science, not by a forprofit industry. Host lets talk to michael, who was calling from coral springs, florida. Michael, good morning. Caller good morning. Thanks for having me on. I have always been a big libertarian. When it comes to smoking marijuana, i would rather see that isbuy something regulated, inspected, and healthy, rather than going to a criminal and buying a bag of poison. But just what we are going through right now with the opioid bank, it seems to me that when people get involved with a particular drug, they lose their own sense of responsibility. People could just smoke marijuana and it does not work out and then they stop smoking it. But look at what happened with opioid abuse. People abuse the drugs that they legally take, and then they are suing. They are suing everybody. They are suing the companies that make it, they are suing the stores that sell it, they are suing the doctors that prescribe it, they are asking the government for a percentage of government expenditures to be spent on them. I dont i am worry that in 20 years from now, those people who are consuming medical marijuana at will, wherever they want, whenever they want, will lose that sense of self responsibility and blame the rest of society for whatever ills they get. Ills will not fall on everybody, and it might only be a minority of people. I do not think it will be the majority. I think people who smoke at night, like having a cocktail or things like that, but when we throw our senses out the window like when it comes to opioids in line host go ahead and respond to that, lukehost . Guest i want to comment on the libertarian side of this. From the libertarian perspective, i get it. People think what people are going to do in her own home, what business is that of mine . Unfortunately, if that were the case, if that were that simple, i would agree, but anytime you this is forand marijuana or any drug, it impacts the society and other people. A perfect example, if you use marijuana in your own home and you get out of drive and you crash and kill someone or their child, which we have seen happen, that is not a libertarian issue, that is a societal issue. Drugs have been proven over the last two centuries to not be a libertarian kind of individual rights issue, they have been proven to be a societal issue, which is why our country overwhelming supported. Nd adopted th act that is an important side of that. At the same time, then you have to throw people into prison, and we should look at alternative incarceration. Important. T is the other aspect, the self responsibility of the pharmaceutical industry, a lot of people think, and im sure maybe more people will call in and say well, you must be funded by big pharma, because you want to keep opioids out there and not marijuana. We do not take any money from big pharma. The formula is actually in the Marijuana Industry. But the company who brought oxycontin and healthy Opioid Epidemic, unfortunately, in the wrong way, he is now the ceo of a marijuana company. Is the industry is involved in this. The pharmaceutical industry is involved with this. If we legalize this, and 50 years, it will be the same thing as abuses with the Marijuana Industry. To formally want people a action lawsuits to get this industry under wraps . I do not think so. I think it is very important to look at these cases, these files going on in oklahoma, for example, in the therapeutics and Purdue Pharma and look at that and say do we want to replicate that model in 50 years with another drug industry . Host we would like to say Luke Niforatos of smart approaches to marijuana for being with us today. Luke, thank you for your time. Guest hey, jessie, thanks for having me on. It is always a pleasure, and i love your show. Host appreciate it. We would like to thank all of our callers and all of our viewers, and we will see you tomorrow for another episode of washington journal. Join us tomorrow, please. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] coming up on cspan this morning, attorney general william barr at the fbi National Academies Graduation Ceremony in quantico, virginia. Former u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. Nikki haley speaks at the Susan B Anthony campaign for life kayla and washington, d. C. Women lawmakers recognized the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote. This weekend, book tv will have live coverage of the 35th annual festival in chicago, the largest literary showcase in the midwest. Starting today at 11 00 a. M. Eastern, featuring a journalist, gun reform advocate, university of chicago history professor, ourorian and on sunday, live coverage continues at 11 00 a. M. Eastern with slates national editor, education and ast, a journalist, university of chicago professor. Watch our live we can coverage of the 35th annual festival from chicago, starting today at 11 00 eastern on book tv on cspan2. Tonight, democratic president ial candidate senator cory booker will be interviewed on a podcast in iowa city, iowa. Live coverage starts at 8 00 eastern on cspan. Monday, the House Rules Committee debates and votes on the resolution that authorizes jerry nadler to pursue federal Court Enforcement of subpoenas for attorney general william barr and former white House Counsel don mcgann. That is monday at 5 00 eastern on cspan3. Attorney general barr was one of