Testify today. Before the hearing we will discuss the Postal Service with kevin gosar. Washington journal is next. Former Vice President biden. I am proud to carry the banner of our party into the general election with great honor and humility paid i accept your nomination for president of the United States of america. That is joe biden from last night. Hey did not mention the president by name, but he criticize the president on several fronts. He expressed aspects of what he would like to accomplish if he becomes president. For is washington journal today, august 20 first. Today we will take you to the Senate Hearing featuring the post mentor postmaster general. Heres how you can call us and let us know your thoughts, 202 7488000 if you support joe biden, 202 7488001 if you support the president and if you are undecided give us a call at 202 7488002. You can text us if you wish at 202 7488003, and you can tweet cspanwj. One writer says he gave his remarks absent a crowd because of the Health Concerns driven by the pandemic. He outlined his solutions to the pain of those struggling without a job or fearful of losing one. He offered an attempt and directly address those left behind by the deaths of covid19. His post roys while speaking about the president. And he said, quote, he keeps waiting for a miracle, never uttering his name, but i have news, no miracle is coming. The full speech available at our cspan. Org. Here is a portion. Biden as many have said, america is at an inflection point, a time of peril and also extraordinary possibilities. We can choose a path of becoming more angry, less hopeful, more divided, a path of shadow and suspicion or we can choose a different path together to take this chance to heal and reform and unite, a path of hope and light. This is a lifechanging election. This will determine what america will look like for a long time. ,ompassion is on the ballot decency and science and democracy. What we stand for, most importantly who we want to be is all on the ballot, and the choice could not be more clear. The wall street journal highlights that mr. Bidens remarks ended the convention in which his eye lies allies portraying the present as failing to meet the challenge of a president pit they depicted mr. Biden as empathetic and thoughtful and someone who would be a more conventional leader of the country. His acceptingon the nomination, and you can let us know on the lines if you support joe biden, it is 202 7488000, if you support andpresident , 202 7488001 if you are undecided, 202 7488002. We will do this for about an hour and a half today, starting off with diane from michigan, a supporter of joe biden. Good morning. What did you think of the speech last night . Waser i thought it wonderful. He shows a very human side of what government can be. We are not a business. We are people and the leadership is there to look out for the country and the people. I also would like to, with the postal hearing today, we need to protect our institutions. This administration and the president has been tearing down one after another after another. Biden, did youoe find more policy in the speech, more of the broad ideas of what he would bring to the presidency if he should become president . Caller he put his platform out there, so it is not hard to find what that is. To me it was his introduction to us as the people to what he would be like as president that i thought he sounded every president ial. He sounds capable. He gave a speech that i do not think trump would be capable of aspectoth from his moral and even being able to get it. I do not think he could pull it off because that is not him. From jeffrey is up next newport news, virginia, also a supporter of joe biden. Good morning. Caller good morning. Taking my call. I am a supporter of joe biden because i have no other choice. I believe he would bring back the actual professionalism of the office. He is a career politician. Whether is a Business People want to believe it or not. I believe as usual this time of year we hear about all of the good things that we are looking to do for the country, all the bad things that the current president has done for the country, but we are going to be hearing things that will not come true. I think it is more of a mixed message, and i am kind of disappointed at the whole visual of this convention. You if i may ask, you said had no choice. What did you mean by that . , so as he is the nominee i have to vote for him. I cannot vote for trump. I am not a republican. I do not believe in republican. Iews democratically i have to be able to support whoever the democratic nominee is. Host was there a democratic nominee that you purport preferred . Prefer Kamala Harris age, because she is a lot younger than biden and also she actually knows about , our justice system. She worked within the system so she knows more about criminal justice, the justice of peace, basically i felt she would be the one to take a, quote, unquote, progressive direction to the country. Mr. Biden is a lot older. I do not want to despair his age, but he has been in politics for a long time. He will bring back to the presidency, like i said, professionalism of the office which is to not try to run the singlehandedly, but to use the tools that are used in politics. Host you talked about the visual aspects of this convection convention. What did you mean . Caller im not one hundred percent into this mask thing. To me this is a nefarious message. Them of people have let mass media take their Critical Thinking away from them. I understand we are in an environment now that has a but you have to think. Anyone who stands in front of a microphone with a mask on on television, to me that is nonsense. Host i will leave it there with you going on to seattle, washington. , also a supporter of biden. I was glad to see trump elected as president because i is a democrat. Now they have no excuse to do what needs to be done. Someone who isr ready to care, criminal istice reform, even if it executive order. We want a president that is strong and does what he says regardless of how it is done. Care. You mentioned health what would you like to see done . All, i medicare for would like to see criminal justice reform, i would like to see all of it done like trump is doing. Host lets hear from a supporter of the president. I am just tired of the lies. I just have to go with trump for the Democratic Party is so full of it. I mean, the lies, it is a bunch of bull. Her, one of the White Supremacists that took over the demonstration was also part of the wall street movement. It is on film. He is working both sides. Host since you support the president , what is it about joe biden that you cannot support specifically . I think he really handled his children the way he should have. His boy now that he has that is alive is a womanizer, and he has a drug problem. It does not make sense. That lady from florida that rigged the primary for Hillary Clinton lost her job and that got hired by Hillary Clinton. Host that was joe from maryland. You can three lines. You may support joe biden or you may support the president and perhaps you are undecided. You can give us a call on the line that best represents you. From facebook, this is renda. She says i do not hate him, but i dont think he could lead like a president hold on, i am sorry about that. Also, off facebook saying i loved the speech. Unity ofa message that all americans, i love your plans for health care and education, elderly care and increasing the solvency of medicare. Again, that is from the facebook page. If we want to post their, you can do that. Texas, ato carry from supporter of joe biden. Hello . One more time. Lets go to bertha from virginia. A supporter of joe biden. Caller yes i am. Trump. Disgusted with but they were talking about the Postal Service, he know good and well, i am 65, why would he want to und the Postal Service when he know a lot of us it our medications, our checks monthly, and i think he did that is to make sure he get back in office. I am so glad it specifically about joe biden that you support . Caller that he went to get us together and lord knows he got to take care of covid19 and i think he can do it. I think trump have killed so many people could we got to get that under control. Host what this joe biden bring as far as getting it under control . Caller i believe he can bring us together. He is not for himself. He is out for us. That tells me that at least give him a chance. He was in there with president ins and outso the of congress. We got to get more democrats and the senate. Go to theou Washington Post this morning they have a fact check section piled by clint crisler glenn kessler. Five million americans infected by covid, more than 170 thousand americans have died. He writes that the claims are accurate when using raw numbers. The virus. However to measure countries on a level field experts look at cases per capita, according to one tracker the United States has the fifth high risk highest mortality risk, when looking at the 20 countries peru isy most affected, higher. Lets go to rebecca from california, undecided. Caller yes, i am undecided if bideny concern is wins, he gets up there to get the speech, he rips off his mask and its really Hillary Clinton. We could be getting Hillary Clinton back. That is my concern. I feel she just will not go away. Host what makes joe biden and Hillary Clinton similar . Caller mainly because they have rubbed elbows together too many times. Theres a lot that goes on there that does not get out into the public. It has more to do with their personalities and their history. Thank you. Policies, would you say they are exactly the same . Talking moree personality and policy in this campaign, or personal lives, going way more that way than policy. I am still waiting to hear policy. Ys they are too busy back biting each other. My concern is the weasel clinton. She is going to get back in there some way. That is it for me for today. Host that was rebecca from california talking about last speech from joe biden. All of it is available at cspan. Org. The Republican Convention will be next week. You can see that also on cspan. You can comment on it as well and on washington journal we have drew from new york. We have three voters in our home, to registered as and wee republicans, intend to continue voting as as we have done since kennedy. We vote for whoever we feel is the best person, and in this case it is joseph biden. The reason is he is honest and the fact that he will bring the country together. We hope that we go back to fiscal responsibility with concern about social issues and loving one another as brothers and sisters. Host if i may ask, are you the more moderate or the mark rutte progressive in your family . Caller i think we are for whom ever we feel is going to do the right thing, i am perhaps the middle one in the family. Host i asked because i think one of the things that came out this week is if joe biden becomes president he will have to take his policy ideals being pushed by more progressives to may become to their way of thinking. You think he is able to incorporate those things . Old, and im 89 years biden will have to straddle middleoftheroad. He cannot go to farleft or to to be the moderate considered person in order to hear this country. Ost thank you from san jose, california, a supporter of the president. Caller good morning. I think we all have to realize the Democratic Party of today is not what it was under kennedy. It is truly a socialist party. What scares me is that if they ever do get in power all three branches of government, they will take action to secure that millionrever, making 11 illegals u. S. Citizens, doing away with the filibuster, abolish the Electoral College, making the district of columbia estate, lowered the voting age to 16. Ofse would be the actions what a third word third world nation to do, the things they do to secure power, and it scares the hell out of me. It scares me that they tried to impeach a duly elected president over this russia hoax, but they did not even use the hoax after complaining about it for two years. Host as it stands right now as far as that reelection possibilities, where do you think that is . Silent i think the majority will come through. Joe biden will not talk about his socialist platform. He talks in generalities. If people knew how far the progressives want to push him and the deal he has made with Bernie Sanders, they would be shocked. He does not talk about it. Everybody knows he is losing it. That is what he spent so much time in the basement. I cannot wait for the debates. Host did you watch it last night . Caller yes. He is very good at using a teleprompter. Host that was steve from california. He mentioned the filibuster and the future. In row call today, this is a look at what the Senate Minority leader thinks what happens if joe biden becomes president. On the day the nominee delivered the speech, Chuck Schumer made clear that eliminator on the eliminating the filibuster would be on the table. He noted that if we get the majority, which god willing if we do and biden becomes president , then nothing is off the table, and what we will do it takeswill do what to get this done. That someul republicans might work with us but we will have to get it done whether they work with us or not. Have a supporter of joe biden, derek. Caller good morning. Truth andtells the trump is a liar. Why does he continue to keep saying that there is a conspiracy against him . There is no proof. He continues to keep saying that. They allow him to keep saying it. We know this guy lies print the only reason why is he is hoping to win is so he does not go to jail. Nobody talks about the deficit, the largest data deficit ever mounted by one term president. It is because he gave these big tax breaks to the big corporations. That is why you have the guy in charge of amazon who does not make does not pay one dime is this guy lies that he lies about everything. Everybody he hangs around goes to jail. Birds of a feather flock together. Host you said joe biden tells the truth. Give me an example. Caller he is honest. Most of the time he is honest. You check him out, when i say honest, he is not a guide that they are out to factcheck. Not need half a brain to know when this guy is lying. Here is joe biden again from last night, one of the scenes he addressed during his speech on the issues of racism. Biden Vice President will we be the generation to finally wipe out racism from our National Character . I believe we are up to it. I believe we already. Just one week ago yesterday was the third anniversary of the events in charlottesville. Remember what you saw on television. Torches,those lighted the antisemitic bile heart across europe from the 30s. Remembered the clash that ensued between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it. Remember what the president said when asked, he said there were, quote, very fine people on both sides. That was a wakeup call for us as a country and for me a call. O action at that moment i knew i would have to run because my father taught us that silence was complicity, and i could never remain silent or complicit. At the time, i said we were in the battle for the soul of this nation. And we are. One of the most important conversations ive had this entire campaign, and it was with someone who was much too young to vote. I met with gianna floyd the day before her daddy was laid to rest. She is an incredibly brave girl. I will never forget it. When i leaned down to speak with her, she looked at me and said, daddy changed the world. America is ready to lay down the heavy burden of hate at last, and then the hard work of rooting out our systemic racism. Glenn kessler also highlighted a part of that speech in his story this morning saying joe biden has frequently suggested that the president said White Supremacists where very fine people but the reality is complicated. The president was criticized for not speaking more forcefully on the day of those clashes. Then in another statement the president actually condemned hate groups, those who cause ku klux, including the and and other hate groups, he added that the president muddied the waters a day later by also saying you had people, and i am not talking about the white nationalists because they should be condemned, but many people in that group, some very bad people and that group and we also had very fine people on both sides. That analysis goes on. We have a supporter of joe biden from illinois, cecilia. Caller i want to first say that san jose needs to stop drinking the koolaid. In january i said it should be joe biden and Kamala Harris because i think both of them are genuine and they both care about the people and they are both willing to invest in the people course nation, and of joe can get this economy working for everybody again, not just. Or the rich people i think he will work hard to eliminate systemic racism and entrenched sestak was him sexism we have in this country. I was just going to say ive been hearing a lot from people on cspan on facebook and they are all talking about how joe is just another millionaire, in it for the money. , but theillionaire only reason we know that is trump, joe biden, unlike posted 21 years of his tax returns. If you go to the washington times, there is a box there to highlight some of the career of joe biden. The judiciaryn of foreigne and the , and hes committee oversaw the confirmations of. Ome Supreme Court justices he helped blocked the nomination and itrt bork in 1987 goes to a section of his services Vice President , saying he saw the implementation of the economic stimulus package in 2009 and he ran point on the ukraine policy any time of tension with russia initially imposed the rage that killed osama bin laden. He said he was absolutely comfortable with samesex marriage, and he was awarded the medal of freedom by obama in 2017. This is tony from washington, d. C. , undecided. Caller i have heard a lot of people going off on rants and sometimes i have a hard time to washington journal these days. I have been reflecting on this, when folks call in, sometimes it seems like people on the right get to just go off for like two minutes, three minutes on and on. But when you get democrats or progressives who want to express their thoughts, for whatever reason you grill them about why they feel the way they feel. Nevertheless host i interview both sides. Caller i hear that all the time. Sometimes i feel like there is a conflict of interest because it seems there is a financial interest in the stock market, people want the status quo to remain the same. At the convention from last night, i think it was , very emphatic and reflected on empathy and reflected on looking forward. Joe biden extols those virtues. Has nothat trump fulfilled his promise in the least. He created the swamp on steroids from the top to the bottom. Oft what was the highlight the speech last night for you . Caller the highlight was that he laid out his plan for the future, what his specific intent was to try to correct the state of affairs in this country. Much and nothat for much more than what he stated. I simply ask that people try to keep their word, that they be committed as joe biden has seem to be all these years. Tried committed lee devotedly to do the things that people want done. I do not see him going off on the golf course, spending all his time trying to tear things down. Oft lets go to a supporter President Trump, wanda from pennsylvania. Caller hello. My one concern is when i heard what was going on here with joe biden. I do not understand when we came in here if it was under obama all or plan, but we brought of our medications from china and all these other places even a little box of aleve comes from another country. I do not understand why we are not doing these issues. The obama care was going to answer everything. It does not. If you do not have the right insurance, you cannot use a good doctor. We have to pay insurance now every paycheck. Our deductibles are so much higher. I did not hear anything about fixing those problems. I know he is a polished politician. He knows what to say and what not to say. Trump is not polished. He just says what he thinks. He knows we know what he thinks mostly. These folks that are talking about voting democrats because i am a democrat. Can we not think for ourselves . A specific reason you would not vote for joe biden . Aller i think he is sneaky i have seen Different Things going on that are not true in the government like one thing this illness. Our numbers are not correct. Panic whenusing a the numbers are not exactly what they are. I know people have died, but they do not tell the whole truth. A lot of this came, i seen it when hilary came back, she got rid of all of her email and nobody questioned at. I am sorry, but when i voted in 2016 if i have not read my ballot, it had changed from my republican vote to a democrat which was Hillary Clinton. I said, do you see what i said . The president outside of scranton, pennsylvania, yesterday, at a stop bear to do a couple of things. It was during that time that he spoke about the record of joe biden. It will be very interesting to see how he does. I hope he does well. I really hope he does well, but i want him to tell the truth. He is going to do a lot better if he does. But hopefully not well enough. Wart now we are leading a that is incredible, we are leading in so many poles that they refused to put out. We are doing so good in this state, in north carolina, in florida, in michigan. Fantastically in michigan, great in new hampshire. These are real poles, not poles where they do registered voters. Do what is called likely voters, not registered ,oters, many of whom have died many of whom are not going to vote, and you want to do and even count. They do many, many democrats, very few republicans. Paulyou look any say that is true, we are up by 10. They did it last time. From michigan. Ve a supporter of joe biden. Caller donald trump is out there and people are saying that joe biden is not coherent. Whois not coherent is a man went to put people on juiced up medicine like he is. For a man of his age, he is trying to do things that may be a 30yearold or a 40yearold would do. The rightis acting age he is. I have been in the medical field and i know when a person has asheimers, but joe biden is coherent as any of those people out there with those wild conspiracy theories sees theories. I am a younger woman and my know is, i would like to why do they drink the koolaid . Everybody sang the same thing. Is corrupt. Old, as 70 seven years far as joe biden, do you think he has what it takes to manage the office of the president . Does. i think he [inaudible] my thing about it is people need to just stop drinking the koolaid and stop following trump because like most people say, they laugh about it and say just running around saying and doing anything. I thought this was the democrat line. Host this is the supporter of joe biden. I do not know if that identifies you. Years i have been a democrat, so maybe even longer than you. I am not a democrat or republican or an independent in this case. I am just the host. Caller you better record yourself in the mirror because you look so bias most of the time. Yesterday i recorded the tallies pretty had 21 biden calls and seven trump calls. I do not understand. I do not see how that could be fired. There. You have a dedicated line for each one. It must be how you decide how to pick. Host we feel the calls as they in. Into come you called in on the line that supported joe biden, so you understand that. Since you identified as a trump supporter, go ahead. Somebody hung up on me when i called on the trump line. Host that is not true. Caller it is true. I recorded it when it happened. Aboutsince we are talking the speech from last night, that is the topic we are focusing on, what do you think about that event . Caller i would just safety think there could be a bigger truck than the whole family . The message is only as good as the messenger and i think some of the messengers, and you for one of them, you guys are so biased on there. A supporter of joe biden, this is bob from tennessee. Caller good morning. Last time i voted for donald democrat i am neither or republican, but i am not voting for him again. That there is love and fear in the world, and love brings us together and fear tears us apart. My feeling is that President Trump is using fear to try to control his way to another presidency. I do not think it is going to work. I am not sure but i think joe biden has the right idea which is to pull everyone together. As far as specific issues, health care is a real one for me. I have a disabled wife. I am concerned about the scattered shot to destroy obamacare which basically could not get health care until that came on because of the pain 16 preexisting conditions. I thought i would give the guy i shot, but he has not followed through. He was going to get rid of that National Debt in eight years, foure has added about dollars four between dollars to the debt and he is digging a bigger hole from day one. Number one, he does not follow through on what he says he is going to do. Hard to do that. Busy ande is too caught up in these adolescent bickerings. With dou said joe biden a good job by bringing people into the club. Do you think he will be able to keep all this people happy . Toler you would not be able keep everybody happy. I think he has a good shot at it. I think he would do a good job, sort of bringing people together. Is he could work across the aisle. Host we saw a lot of republicans during this week to give testimony to joe biden. If you want to see those speeches they are available on cspan for the Republican National convention is next week. Thatan call to respond to also. A supporter of President Trump from spokane, washington, larry, go ahead. I voted democrat for a few years. My parents did also. Thingst like some of the that President Trump says, but i love the things that he does. He has made a lot of promises to the American Public. He has fulfilled way more promises than i have ever seen any president do. All my family are in the stock market. I am in my 70s. I have watched joe biden for 47 years and i have watched what he does, and i have watched what his family does, and i am disappointed. I am sorry to say that he has been i have watch the way he has voted over the years. I am in my 70s. Voted, the way he has seems like he wants to vote the wrong way on everything that i believe in. Trump. Y love i do not like what he says but i love what he does. Host that was larry from spokane. Bidenser mentioned joe family, and parts of the events from last night featured his kids, including hunter biden. Joe biden is our dad and we want to tell you what kind of president he will be. He will be honest. He will beten and there when you need him. He will tell you the truth even when you do not want to hear it. He will be rock steady. Hey will beam with pride every time you succeed. Hey will make your grandkids feel that what they have to say matters. Up no matter how many times he is knocked down. Youill be the best friend have ever had. If you give him yourself a number he will call it. He has been that way our whole lives. We think he will be a great president. Beau is not with us and a longer. But we can still hear his strong voice just like it was yesterday. If he was here, we are pretty sure we know what he would say. We wanted to give him the last word. And moments both public and private, he is the father i have always known and the grandfather father, myren, my hero, joe biden. Here is sergio from new york, a supporter of joe biden. Caller thank you for taking my call. When we look at this election, when all of the smoke clears, what we have to do is make a whosion between a man thinks that putting children in cages is ok, who lies every day, a man whose circle including mr. Bannon have been criminally charged and convicted of crimes wesus, the big decision, are going to vote for a moral man like joe biden or an immoral man like donald trump . What is it about joe biden that you are supporting . After the two thousand eight recession, it was joe biden and president obama who brought this country back. If you think about it, they brought it back with basically a middle finger from republicans. President trump inherited the work of joe biden and president obama and he has been riding on the coattails for the last three years. Helphas he really done to the americans . A tax cut for corporations and the 1 that was great to add to but to help middleclass working people, that costs too much money. It is really a question of morality versus immorality. Host thank you. , not cnn, just so you know. I just wanted to point that out. This is valerie from michigan, a supporter of the president. Really i am not political. I have never voted in my life. I am 46. I have been watching everything since trump took office, all of the conspiracies about how trump was in collusion with russia. I didnt really buy any of that. They did not really come up with anything on trump. I have watched and listened to everything he promised, and he has held up to everything other than putting clinton behind bars. Joe i watch, i have watched biden do nothing for 47 years, and then i watched him on a commercial, are maybe on the ukrainere he went to about his son, hunter, and how he said you are not getting a billion dollars. Dont people see what is going on . Host you said that the president kept all of his promises. What is one promise in your mind that he has kept . Caller our economy was going working, and then all of a sudden this pandemic. He closed our borders people told him not to. He is telling people to put masks on. I do not understand what else we could do to stop the pandemic. I do not understand what joe biden could have done. Host d think the president should have taken to wearing a mask himself more often . Caller when he is not wearing a mask, he is not around anybody. That is the only time i see him. Of course i am a private citizen. I am confused because i see negatives on both sides. You got to choose the lesser evil. I watched joe biden being a typical citizen, and he seems to be arrogant. One time he was talking to one of hise gentlemen on one rallies last year. He was like do not vote for me, do not vote for me, if you do not like me, do not vote for me. That is not how you treat somebody. From that was valerie michigan. Steve bannon, this is on the news from yesterday, saying that the acting u. S. Attorney fort new york says that steve bannon arrested thursday morning by agents of the u. S. Postal connecticut. Lawenforcement said the indictment was sealed on thursday saying steve bannon pleading not guilty thursday after prosecutors announced that he and three others were indicted for allegedly defrauding donors for a Fundraising Campaign for building a wall. We have a supporter of joe biden from florida. Caller i just want to make a quick comment on the previous caller who said she was 46 years old and she was nonpolitical she said she has been following joe , and she wasyears following the republican points on fox news, so people please, whatever you say, whatever you say, the cover will be removed. Biden andlower of joe debatesthat during the i was not that fond of his performance. Much boning against President Trump, but after that and joe bidens speech, it sincere, and i will now say proudly that i am voting against donald trump and voting for joe biden. Host when it comes to the speech, where their policies there that are causing you to cast your vote for him specifically . Caller yes. Him taking on the Health Care System that we have today. He said he will rebuild the Health Care System back. I have health insurance. Ice i pay a 6,000 deductible and on top of that they take a premium out of my check. So if i get sick and go to the doctor, i have to pay out of my pocket up to 6,000. Most people if you do not have an Underlying Health conditions, you do not even reach that deductible. Insurance is health from your employer . Caller exactly. And before the Trump Administration took over, i would just go to the urgent care 30 and i was fine. It really stresses you out. , and that is not just for me but that is for all of my family members covered under my insurance. Host that was michelle talking about health care. You can add your thoughts to the. Ix we have gone just about one hour. We will go one half hour more. A two hour program today. At 9 00 if you are interested in issues concerning the Postal Service, the postmaster general expected to appear before the Senate Homeland security committee. You can watch that at 9 00 on cspan. He will also appear on monday on the house side. That will be at 10 00 in the morning. Cspan2 is where you can watch it. We willnext halfhour continue on your calls. If you support joe biden, 202 7488000. If you support President Trump, 202 7488001. If you are undecided, call us at two mac. A fromve a supporter tennessee. For taking myyou calls. Country to get together. I am ready for our country to stop trying to get the civil war going again. I am ready for our country to move forward in a positive direction so that all of our citizens can feel valued. Allow really for us to what america has stood for for so long to actually take place. Immigrants,ntry of and no one should feel as if they do not matter. I believe that we are going to be headed in the right direction. Host ok, i was going to ask, how do you think joe biden accomplishes those things . Espouses everything about that. He lets everybody know. I see you, i hear you, now, tell me what you think about health care. Carethe Affordable Health act as it is now, what can we do to build up on what we have and how do we change it . Because we want everybody to stay healthy. We need people to be able to have access to the mail system because everybody cannot use the highpriced ways of shipping things or whatever. Mailin ballots, you know . We need access to the u. S. Postal system. Host thats agnes calling in. Those topics will be covered on the hearings we told you about. If you want to find out more on what is going on with that. This is a supporter of joe biden in denver, colorado. You will see headlines, papers there, talking about joe bidens speech from yesterday. David, good morning. Caller good morning, pedro. First time is the was able to sit down and watch the full night of coverage. Most, what spoke to me the is that 13yearold boy who was to work on hisen stuttering issue. Biden inspired him by directing him to a great poet, robert frost. There is no way our current president , a, would reach out to someone with that kind of disability and inspire him to be atter and to be able to cite Great American literary figure. Highlighting that 13yearold spoke to me. It is why i can affirmatively more am voting for biden than i am voting against trump. And one last thing i want to the chance tolove talk to all americans, including Trump Supporters. One thing i want to say to the Trump Supporters who constantly call cspan and say they are not getting fair coverage. You have the Supreme Court. You are getting the federal courts. You have fox news. You have all kind of right wing outlets, and i am constantly tired of hearing your grievance and hearing your crying. Host ok, that is david in denver, colorado. Just to clarify, and i dont know if you meant this or not, we are not a Government Entity and funded by the cable industry. We are not a Government Entity. And now, in nebraska, mark. An undecided voter. Caller hi, pedro, thanks for the opportunity. My comment is more not supporting either individual but more about the politic of where we have got to an america. We have conventions with no delegates. We have no competition for the presidency within the republican party. Our competition in the Democratic Party is only by the dnc handing out the money. Very smart, intelligent people, and before they ever get the chance to expose their ideas. This is a country by and for the andle, not the government two parties deciding who we have to vote for. Neither party this year has done anything at all to show us how they are going to straighten up the problems of this country. Lookings has got us not the way we should look. Host so, at this point, you are undecided. You do not know if you are going to vote for either of the two on the ticket. Caller i have not voted for either for any president since the Electoral College started seating the president s back in the carterreagan years. Nobody is talking about the delegates. Nobody is talking to anybody in Electoral College. These are the people who have the final vote. If we understand how it works in america, we have a populace vote. We have delegates who are set forth by the strength of each state. Those delegates then nominate who they want to run. None of that has taken place this year. It has been totally sidestepped because there is no competition against trump. The competition against biden was decided by the dnc. Host we will not see the electoral votes until the national or popular votes are cast and depending on what happens in each state. Caller exactly. That is what ends the argument you are having today. We are not talking about Child Development or the debt. We are not even talking about the countries who hate this country because of all the weapons we have sold over the last 30 years. Host that is market nebraska. Again, a matter of the Electoral College come up frequently on this network and around this time of year as far as election cycles are concerned. You can learn more about the process and how it works from many segments weve done on this program, and other elements, too. If you want to go to our website, you can do that at cspan. Org. Senator tammy talked about why Joe Biden Tammy Duckworth talked about joe biden and President Trump. [video clip] militaryows the fear families live because he knows the dread of never knowing if safe. Eployed loved one is he understands their bravery because he has had to muster that same strength every hour of every day overseas. That is the kind of leader are Service Members deserve, one who understands the risks they face into actually protects them i doing his job as commanderinchief. Instead, they have a cowardinchief, who will not stand up to vladimir putin, read his daily intelligence briefings, or publicly admonish adversaries for putting counties on our troops heads. As president , joe biden would never let tyrants manipulate him pervert ourt, military to stroke his own ego, turn his back on their own troops or threaten americans peacefully exercising their rights. Joe biden would stand tall for our troops and stand strong against our enemies, because unlike trump, joe biden has common decency and sense. He can command, both from experience and strength. Donald trump does not deserve to call himself commanderinchief for another four minutes, let alone another four years. Our troops deserve better. Our country deserves better. Host here is mac, in ohio, a supporter President Trump. Caller thanks for letting me be on. The positive about the Democratic Convention being held first is that they have their brainwashing communist propaganda exposed. We witnessed a fundamental transformation by the communist left. It eliminates conscience. Last night, joe did not admit that he is going to eliminate the tax cuts and raise taxes, which means all americans. He said he is going to do this, he is going to do that. Everything trump has already said and done. Joe, come on, man. Really . Another thing about joe, he went to china and came with 1. 5 million, you became property of communist china. As rest as well as the rest of the Democratic Party has become. The United States is attacked by the Chinese Communist party. They are people. Host that is mac in ohio. Michael and south carolina, supporter of Joe Biden Michael in south carolina, supportive joe biden. Caller how are you, pedro . Host you are on, go ahead. Caller i am calling to say i support biden and harris. I cannot honestly understand the premise that Trump Supporters have. There is a lot of argument against all of their statements. In some ways, i wish you could go back and forth and rebuke some of those. I support biden from amorality versus amorality perspective. Joe seems like a decent person, as pointed out by those who have worked with him and who opposed gingrichsuch as newt has said, and lindsey graham, who was better in some ways, has said joe seems like a really decent person. We really need that. We need lovebased policies. Host do you support joe biden on a policy basis . Caller i do. Generally across the board. If we got into a policy conversation, which would be great, i typically do. I believe it makes sense for us to go away from a fossil fuel based economy and look to the future with renewable energy. I believe his done safety advocacy is logical and reasonable. I think it is time for us to address what a regulated militia means and actual constraints. Whether or not truthfully we want to solve the murders or protect the anonymity of people owning weapons. We can literally solve every murder with ballistics evidence or we can protect the anonymity of weapon owners. I support those kind of policies. Host debbie from newark, delaware. Supporter of joe biden. Caller hi, how are you . Host i am fine. Caller i thought his speech last night was a speech of the president. I really did. Since been in this house march 18. I am highrisk. Grandchildren, i cannot kiss them, nothing because of trump. Want myy life back i life back. He has had months to give us our life back and he has not. Is time for new [indiscernible] thank you. Host from john in michigan, and undecided voter. Caller hello, how are you doing . Host i am well, thanks. Caller i am undecided. Democrat. Vote i voted for obama twice, kerry. Last time i voted for kerry johnson. It was a first time i ever voted for a third party. But i voted for bernie in the primaries in 2016. It was the first time i voted libertarian. If we had a strong thirdparty candidate, this would be the year. Especially if they got on the debate stage. That is the reason why ross in 1992 was back because he was allowed to be on the stage in october when they have those debates. Yeah, that is basically my time. Host is there a thirdparty candidate you would rather support than the two currently running . Caller at the moment, i know the libertarians have Joe Jorgensen . Year, ireen party, this dont know. It does not look like anybody is going to like run as a thirdparty. Jesse ventura, the former governor of minnesota, i heard him talking about it. I think he would do kind of good because he is pretty smart and has been a governor. He has different ideas. I dont know. I think that is what we need. Somebody who is not just doing the whole partisan or whatever they call it. Host do you eventually vote or do you sit out if you are undecided by the time election day comes up . Caller no, i will vote. Last time i went libertarian. It is not look like it is more of a protest vote. I know michigan lost. I was part of the reason probably because i usually vote democratic. Host ok, john in michigan, and undecided voter talks about where he is at in the progress of deciding. We have set aside online, 202 7488002, if you would like to call on that line and tell us why you are undecided, like john did. A couple of editorials from last night. The Washington Post says a bold choice and the right choice. Some of the reasons why, saying he promised to protect the Affordable Care act and poppa spending for infrastructure and economic poppa infrastructure and economic growth. He promises to be really build tattered alliances and senator biden casess just as much is how he wants to govern and accomplish. Democrats thursday night noted biden was a person around the 2009 rescue package. The ad, it is easier to play to the climate. , it makes for exciting television, but he gets things done. That is the post taking on mr. Bidens speech last night. We go to the wall street journal, and their editorial. Fork was nominated, mr. Biden said he would have to vote for him because of his qualifications. Mr. Biden running the Judiciary Committee at the time, fell in line, only days before a scheduled confirmation vote, mr. Biden folded under pressure and called hearings that became a spectacle. A 60 votehas saved filibuster in the senate may have to go, which would forestall the need for compromise. He absorbed bernie pratt Bernie Sanders priorities on student debt and much of the green new deal. They conclude by saying the judgments are misjudgments on hard questions are inevitable and every president makes them, but one test of political character is standing up to pressure and making hard choices even when they are politically unpopular. Mr. Biden has no record of doing so. That is the wall street journals opinion. In michigan, a supporter of joe biden. Caller yes, i am a democrat. I voted for obama. I like joe biden. Hayes speech was pretty nice last night. Obviously, someone else wrote it. Think he is up to the task as a president. I believe they are trying to get their men and then handed over to this Kamala Harris. I voted for obama. I would really like to see a black president. I do not believe we have ever had a black president. Man, was not a pure black and she certainly is not black. Host both are considered africanamerican and then black. Caller she is not an africanamerican. Host well, black. Caller well, she is asian. Indian host jamaican, yeah. Caller they are not from africa. We need to have a real black person. Host but lets go back to joe biden for a second. Specifically, since you called on this line, where are you as far as her support for him . Voted, well, i really you know, for obama and him in the past. You know, the eight year, two terms they had. I am swinging towards trump. They have got to give trump a chance. He has been so busy trying to get these fleas off his back. He dont have time to breathe. Host that is scotty from michigan, called on the line for support for joe biden. If you go to the business section of the New York Times, look at Kamala Harris and how she might respond to the tech industry, saying that a connection to tech has been essential and inescapable in past campaigns for her two elections. The attorney general, her failed bid for the democratic president ial nomination, she relied on silicon valleys tech elite for donations at her network of Family Friends and former political aides has expanded the tech world. Those close industry ties have coincided with a handsoff approach to companies under increasing scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers around the world. As California Attorney general critics say, she has done little to curb the tech giants as they gobbled up new industries and rivals. The business section of the New York Times has that profile if you would like to read more. We will go to phyllis, supporter President Trump. Hello. Caller hello. Pedro, yes, i do support President Trump because i theeve he supports he is best president we have ever had that does care about the american people, and he doesnt stand up for them, and he tried to do everything that he said he was going to do. And people talk about that 3 trillion debt weve got. An mixup approved that that tre 3 trillion debt . Guess what . He has tried to do something about the border and having our illegals coming in here and getting all the freebies. Deale a National Health for everybody that does not have health care, including illegals, and we give them free education, free medical, free everything. And then they say that trump does not try to stand up for the american people. Say they really care about health care for us. They are not see where doing anything for the american people. They will stand up there on that senate floor and the house of representatives, and they will talk all day long. Nancy pelosi will. Chattanooga,y in tennessee, a supporter of joe biden, hi. Caller hi, yes. First, i would like to answer the woman who called in and said president obama and kamala were not africanamerican. Jamaicans are from africa. , so they areves from africa. The only difference is they were slaves to jamaica, or as the black people here were slaves from africa. She was born here, and her father was from africa through jamaica. Same with president obama. His father was from africa. That makes them africanamerican. Job and, i have a great make a great salary. I have rebounded. I have the ability to empathize. Want top supporters talk about everything Vice President biden is wrong in, his family. Well, the senate has referred trumps soninlaw to the doj because of lying to the senate, to the house. They want to talk about crime in the streets. The entire Trump Administration, when you look at manafort, bannon, they have all been arrested. So, i mean, i listen to fox news more than i listen to any other station. Their facebook and things of that nature because i try to understand their mindset, and i cannot understand how people who are supposed to be christian but have some a change in their heart. Host specifically, why are you supporting joe biden . Caller because joe biden is a good man. They care for the poor. They are not just for the rich. I mean, the night he was elected, i cannot sleep. Why . It did not affect me, i have insurance. But i am able to understand there are people out there who do not have insurance and are struggling. For people to just call a and think about themselves. They cannot see all the wrong in the Trump Administration. There is something seriously wrong if the majority of the country continues to think like they think and go down the line, this country is totally destroyed. Host that is mary in chattanooga, tennessee. She brought up steve bannon. From use of yesterday of his arrest, the president was asked about the news. Here is his response. [video clip] i feel reallyp badly. I have not been dealing with him for a long period of time, as most of the people in this room know. He worked for Goldman Sachs and was involved in our campaign. He worked for a lot of companies and involved in our campaign for a small part of the Administration Early on. I have not been dealing with him at all. I know nothing about the project other than i did not like when i read about it, i did not like it. I said, this is for government, not for private people. It sounded to me like showboating, and i let my opinion be strongly stated. It was showboating and may be looking for funds, but you have to see what happens. I think it is a very sad thing for mr. Bannon. I think it is surprising, but this was something, as you know, just by reading social media and whatever it is, and by speaking to mike and mike and all of them, i did not like that project. I thought that project was being done for showboating reasons. I dont know that he was in charge. I did not know any of the other people either, but it is sad. Very sad. Host san diego, california, maria, supporter of joe biden, hi. Caller hi, good morning, pedro. Speech, itoe bidens was spectacular. It is bringing people together. We are all americans, whether i do have a problem. I cannot even understand why anyone supports donald trump. He has divided everyone. He keeps hate going, and he creates chaos. We need to come together. All of us hardworking people every day. I am now retired well, i still work, but i am a retired person for 20 years. Luckily, i was one of the few people who still gets a pension, which does not even exist anymore. The deal is it has to think of all of us. All of us working together for the people. Host so why do you think joe biden will bring all of those things together . Caller because he has values. Values and caring about one another. People get so frightened. I get it. People work hard every day, go to work, and they deal with all kinds of things. I think they forget that all of us deal with all kinds of things , from things like water heaters going out, or your husband and issues with health care. People do not realize that, but all the care came in, those preexisting conditions, if you had cancer and you had to switch because of the insurance you had , you cannot get insurance again. Host ok, lets go to robert in athens, alabama, supporter of joe biden. Caller good morning. Supports joe vet biden. I would like to compare the policies of the two people real quick. Green,s creating environmentally friendly jobs. Trump is deregulating everything that protects the environment, so he destroys it. Biden creates health care through the Affordable Care act, and trump is trying to destroy the Health Care System that obama and biden created. Biden will make it mandatory to through hisd trump, actions, is causing the rightwingers not to ever wear a ppe. Fighting respects us. Biden respects veterans. This is what i am upset about. Ais man in Office Attacked veteran, 53 years old, had his little army to come from the border and attack this man. He was just standing there. Armyhis man had his little to attack him, and he attacked these Peaceful Protesters just to take a picture. I appreciate you while listening to me. Host robert in alabama. One more call from pennsylvania. Rick, an undecided voter. Caller how are you doing today . Today abouthe news biden yesterday saying that he was going to have jobs ready for building airports. Was that correct . Host i do not know that specific. I do know he talked about last night issues when it comes to jobs, infrastructure as part of his plan, the building that better plan he has described. Caller i thought i heard him Say Something about airports, that i figured if he is getting rid of all the fossil fuel, what will we needed airport for . Host if you are undecided, or do you think you will go as far as the boat this november . Caller i am still weighing it i can fourth. I have backandforth. I have another question about taxes. Makee sanders wanted to 15 an hour, and i figured it out. At eight dollars an hour, you make 323 and take 25 of that. Host i apologize. I have to leave it there because we are out of time and the segment talking about joe bidens speech. The Republican National Convention Kicks off next monday. You can see coverage all the nights on cspan. Org. Go to our website for more information as far as the programs. You can get reaction from those four nights as President Trump accepts the nomination for a second term, all available act cspan. Org. We will change topics and talk about the state of the United States Postal Service as the postmaster general will appear this morning at 9 00 for the homeland security. A preview with kevin kosar of the r street institute. Washington journal will be right back. Sunday night on q, catherine gail, with her book, the politics industry. The division that we see, the money that we see, the gridlocks that we see is a arelt of having two who incentive to work far apart from each other and are incentive to , andeverybody else out they are incentivized not to compromise ever because it works better for them to leave a problem unsolved then to little on and give a either side. They would rather leave the problem unsolved and keep it as an issue for the next election. Catherine gail, sunday night at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspans q a. The house of representatives will return to session on saturday as Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls members back to washington to work on legislation concerning the u. S. Postal service. They gaveling to session saturday morning at 10 00 eastern. Watch the debates and boats live on cspan. Washington journal continues. Host this is kevin kosar of the artistry institute, the Vice President here to talk about the Current Issues and concerns of the United States Postal Service. Good morning. Guest good morning. And the newspapers tell us in our own coverage at 9 00, we will go to a Senate Hearing featuring the postmaster general. Why is congress concerned about the post office . Thet is usually an Postal Service is usually an issue not many people care about outside of washington, d. C. Unfortunately, it is an Election Year and a polarized time, and their social media reports that presented an alarming picture of the possibility that the Postal Service was under siege. Congress is always looking for an issue to address, and that is why we are going through this today. Democrats first called back the house and in the Senate Republicans fought it by calling back their chamber. Host this was aimed to specific actions of the postmaster general louis dejoy. What are those actions . Guest it is an interesting thing. When you cut through everything written about the Postal Service in the last weeks, the postmaster general seems to have done two things. First, that he capped over time, which the Postal Service racks up about Something Like 1 billion in overtime each year. Mail carriers, the folks who deliver mail to our front doors, cannot wait for all the mail to be sorted when they arrive but to take what is sordid and go out there. Those are the two things he has clearly done. Host here are some of the cases that House Democrats were making about the state of the Postal Service. They did a News Conference earlier this week to express their concerns. We will let you hear the specifics and you can respond. [video clip] sabotage the Postal Service in order to suppress votes is dangerous. Is, however, probably with the president of the United States wants to do. Theirt appears may be hand has been caught in the cookie jar and they are taking it out and leaving the cookies in place. We are going to make sure that happens by passing legislation that i would presume, in light of this action, every republican and democrat would support. Postal service to suppress the vote is dangerous to our democracy, is designed to prevent the people from access. In a very visual way, they took blue boxes away from the american people. Dramatic example of their participation. Host this idea that democrats are saying about the suppressing of the vote, what is the post office and trunk been accused of Trump Administration been accused of . Guest there is one piece i should address quickly, which is the issue of the reported removal of a bunch of mail sorting machines with the implication being that the machines go away and the mail will get slow down and not be sorted quickly. Helphas somehow going to trump win. The decision to remove mail sorting machines was before the arrived and dejoy he is being blamed as the person who did that, but that is not true. It is important for folks to realize that Postal Service by law needs to run an efficient mail service, and that every year it is reducing the number of post offices it has, the mail collection boxes, the mail sorting machines. It is an ongoing exercise in rationalizing its network. Unfortunately, the way it is being reported and repeated by people in congress is that this is a flash in the pan instant were something radical and crazy is being done by the Postal Service. We do not have data to show it is true. Host our guest with us until the hearing at 9 00, kevin kosar. If you would like to ask him questions on concerns of the Postal Service, especially with mailin voting, 202 7488001 for republicans. 202 7488000 free democrats. Independent for democrats. Independents, 202 7488002. If you are a postal worker with questions, 202 7488003. The artistry institute, what is it, mr. Gosar . Kosar . What position do you take . Service, weostal very much would like to see the federal government run the Postal Service. We want it to be vibrant, financially stabilized and focused on things very important. For example, delivering election ballots. Case andeen making the frequently criticizing the president that america should expand absentee ballots. We are in a pandemic. People need to be able to get their ballots and have their voice heard some other way than having to show up where they could risk getting covid. Host when it comes to the postmaster general himself, tell us about him. Guest you know, we know he comes from the logistics world. We also know he is a trump donor. We do not know the whole lot else. Postmaster generals historically, and to their detriment, tend to stay out of the media spotlight. I think that is unfortunate because what we really need from a postmaster general is a lot of things. They need to be a genius of logistics, working with the unions that represent the vast majority of all postal workers, but they also need to be explainers and teachers. Politicians are simply complex. Everyday i am learning more. We need them to get out there and explain what they are doing. I mean, i think we could have avoided a lot of the heartburn the last couple of weeks if we had on their website a dashboard of the Postal Service performance. That way, americans could see the volumes, is it spiking, dropping . Our mail speeds getting faster, slower . It would be they would be in the know about what is happening. We are forced to rely on anecdotes to make sense of it. A postmaster general appointed by the president of the United States . Is confirmede pmg by the senate. And i should add that they were approved by a bipartisan vote of the senate. Have a viewer, when it comes to the sorting machines you talked about, jan asked a question, is there a process to get rid of assets like sorting machines, collection boxes and trucks at the usps . Guest it is an ongoing thing. You could find accountability reports dating back to 2012 that talk about Network Rationalization. They are on the internet. Yeah, it is not something they can just do willynilly. Every collection box, post office, sorting facility, it is all part of a network. If you move one piece, you could affect other parts of the network. They do moven something around, it will create hiccups. This is where we need better data to understand what is going on and to figure out where exactly we are in the mail system. Host when it comes to sorting machines, mailboxes, wasnt the or the timing of the election or a combination . Guest all of the above. It is an Election Year, we have covid, which is taking postal workers out of action, which is unfortunate. You take a postal worker out of his position, they have to get someone else to cover the work. You may see declines in performance. Host we have calls lined up. That hearing at 9 00. We will take you to that hearing when it starts. Our line from democrats from pennsylvania, gary starts us off with kevin kosar of artistry institute. Caller first of all, kevin, thanks for coming on. I have a lot of questions. I definitely wanted to tune in, but after listening to you, i had more clarity. Ust wanted to say host thats go to john in florida, republican line. Hi. Caller how are you doing . Host fine, thanks. I gor my response is along with donald trump. I dont think this voting by mail is going to work. Host caller, go ahead with your thoughts. Youre most likely watching the television, but go ahead with your thoughts. Caller i just do not see how and i do not blame the Postal Service, and i believe that it is going to be all messed up and confused and ballots are going to be voted on different kind of places. Adds thiskosar, greg through our texting service, and saying comment on this, the sorting machines dismantled across the country and scrapped were also used to apply postal matter like ballots and cannot be replaced. Therefore, President Trump and postmaster general have already accomplished that goal. How would you respond to that . Guest uh, no. The machines that were proposed to be removed from service were proposed to be removed from service. It is not as though they have all vanished. This is one of the data points i hope the pmg can speak to and i hope he puts out more data on the machines. Also, remember, these are not all letter sorting machines. Summerlike catalogs. That does not fit with the whole conspiracy theory. Getting back to the other caller weconcern on voting by mail, have been voting by mail in this country for decades. It goes back as far as the civil war. That there evidence is any sort of widespread problem with voting by mail. It is a secure system, and i think the only thing that i would like to hear from the Postal Service is do they have a plan for dealing with workers getting sick from covid . Spike in a particular city, 20 , 25 go down with covid in november, will they be able to shift the manpower over there to ensure that the male keeps moving through and the votes get counted . That is what i would like to hear the pmg address. Host carol from baltimore, democrats line. Caller thank you from taking my call. I am calling today because i have three concerns. The way this was done is so indicative of how the Trump Administration does things. It is not thought out and it is done on a personal level. I currently work for a hospital billing department. Because of this, our claims are going to be slow getting to the insurance companies, medical records, reports. And there are so many things that affect what the Trump Administration has done, and this was clearly done just for problem of causing a with the voting, the mailman voting malain voting. Host go ahead. Guest i understand the concern. What we are hearing is a connecting of dots and the implication of an intention. As i work my political case that was published late last night, it is not only clear to me how disrupting the mail code, for any certitude, help the president win. Republicans also vote by mail. They do it in groves in florida, a key electoral state. It will have effects for voters on both sides of the spectrum. I think that is what keeping in mind. Host this is the piece, if you go to the political site, it is about the postal crisis by kevin kosar, our guest, of the artistry institute. We covered a couple of that during this conversation. What other myths do you think there is . Guest oh, boy. Where to begin . I had a hard time choosing just five. One is that i put out there is everything fine is everything is fine and the Postal Service. Dont worry, nothing to look at. No, the Postal Office does have issues. They have been writing structural deficits for years. That is because paper volume fell by 33 . That is the Postal Services main line of business and the revenue today is lower than 15 years ago. That is a problem. We need to do something to address that. The slowing of parcels in the Postal Service has given the post office money it needs but it is sufficient. But i would like to see his Congress Step up and act. So it can be thriving in the 21st century. Host is that a discussion of money . If that is the case, what is congress on the white house offering . This money fix the problem . Guest yeah, it is not just a problem of money. Democrats are proposing to get the Postal Service 25 billion with no strings attached. That doesnt solve the problem. The Postal Service has over 150 billion in unfunded obligations, whether it be pensions, retiree benefits, borrowing from the treasury and a couple of things. It is a problem of an organization that was built up to be very huge to do a big and important job, but the demand for that service has gone down. We have to figure out how to pay for that on an ongoing basis. Even if we have to reach down in our pocket every year and had the post office a ton of money, we need to think about rationalizing the network and figuring out ways to lower the cost and maintaining good service. Host is that lowering the cost and increasing postage or lowering manpower, where to the ends meet . Where do the ends meet . Guest there are a bunch of ways to tackle that. When it comes to pricing, most of its posters, it has to work at a recap set at the rate of inflation and it is pretty restrictive eerie private companies can raise their prices in response to consumer demand much more freely. Another issue and it is kind of complicated worth mentioning is that the Postal Service has this Retiree Health service fund, Something Like 45 billion and it. Unfortunately, it is invested in u. S. Treasuries, which provide 18 the interest of return. And the unions have spoken in favor of it which provide a tiny interest of return. And the unions have spoken in favor of it to take a portion of that money for investment to get a better return to help postal workers. Host in ohio, independent line. Linda, go ahead. Caller the reason im calling is a little bit over a month ago, i got a letter from the courthouse calling me in for jury duty. There was a difference from the date that was on the letter to when it was stamped by the post office. I got it so late that i was thatd they had it because of covid19, you could be excused. My concern was if i was not excused, i could end up getting getig trouble, so i try to a hold of someone in the court. I did, and they said i would be excused. If i had tried to send a letter in, i would have been in trouble. There definitely was a delay. There was no question about it. Guest that is interesting. I think one thing i would want to know is when you say the date the letter was sent, was it the date put on the letter itself . I have experienced with my local school district, they will put a date, like september 1, on a letter but not handed over to the Postal Service for many days after, so that creates the appearance of a lie, so i wonder if that is going on. If that isnt the case, then, absolutely. I think the courts, because they send a lot of mail, they need to speak to postal supervisors and go public with this because you cannot interrupt a government function like jury selection. Host we have a viewer on twitter, michael, asking, what is a portion of their income from amazon . Guest we do not know. Let me try to give a general picture. The Postal Service rings in a bit over 70 billion a year in parcel, and the total oftion of that, the portions parcels sent by you, me, amazons may be 4 billion, so that is a little more than a third, and what does amazon make up of that portion . We do not know. That is not something that is shared public. York, republican line, we will hear from judy. Caller thank you for taking my call. I am not a political person, but i just want to say that the post office, i just want to say to you after what they do, and i am voting for trump. I am 66 and i have never voted. I strongly believe from what he says, he has been sabotaged for his whole candidacy or whatever, and i think that mailin voting should not be done. Everybody is going in and out of stores and stuff, i think they can go and vote on their own. That is all i wanted to say. Yeah, that is an understandable position. Some pollingyear, was done of the American Public, and as a general proposition, the American Public likes having choices when it comes to voting. Some people very much want to show up in person and have the kind of experience. Others are not so excited about doing it. They are worried about their health, or they are a caregiver for somebody with health issues, and they do not want to run a risk and would rather vote absentee. What has been encouraging is that states try to provide a variety of option to meet the different demand out there by voters. Host in the papers today, there is the New York Times reporting of a testimony received from a previous postmaster Inspector General, david williams. He said he resigned as vice chairman in protest and said the Trump Administration appeared to want the agency to be a political told, he said the Treasury Department was using that stronghold to strong harm the agency, like raising prices and cutting back crucial services. If this is the beginning of what the president promised, it is the end of the Postal Service, he said since his resignation. What is your reaction . Guest i have the highest respect for dave williams. He has been an Inspector General for many federal agencies and set up an Amazing Research shop of the usps Inspector General office. I look forward to hearing more from dave about his concerns. So far, i have not gotten a transcript of what he said yesterday on the hill. It was a caucus gathering and not an official hearing, so only democrats were there. Testifylove to see him and be able to spend a lot of time answering a lot of indepth questions about the things that concern him, and i would be curious to hear if there are any other board of governor members with concerns. To date, i have not heard any, but we should ask the questions. Host if you could expand on the work of the previous postmaster general on this topic, same decisions were made under his 10 year, even before lewis dejoy oy. Ure, even before louis dej guest the Network Rationalization efforts, they have been ongoing for many years under the previous pmg, but they date back even further. I can tell you that pmg jack potter showed up before congress in early 2007, and he told congress, our Business Model is broken. Our costs outstrip our revenues. At that time, the issue was first class mail was declining and it is a lucrative product for the Postal Service. Mailhad too much Processing Capacity back then, and then there was the Great Recession which knocked mail volume down 33 in 2008 and it has not come back. The Postal Service has had an ongoing effort of this moving machine and trying to get the right machines in and the right type of mail and not to have too many or too few. Host don is in pennsylvania, a postal worker. Caller i am a retired postal worker. First of all, trumps goal is to create doubt about the legitimacy of the election that he is afraid to lose. Second of all, republicans in general have been after the post office since the disastrous policy of making them pay 75 years in advance for health benefits. And they are doing that for the same reason they are after Public Schools and here at pennsylvania with staterun liquor stores. They just do not like unions, and they will do whatever they can to take away the power of the labor union. Thank you. That is all i have to say. Worth yeah, i think it is keeping in mind that many republicans represent rural areas and rural areas are very dependent upon the u. S. Postal service. Activeould be a huge self sabotage for republicans to do something to disrupt the mail service. I can also say that in almost two decades of doing postal policy, i have a hard time remembering a Single Member of congress who seriously proposed prioritizing the Postal Service. I think the reason is obvious. Complex. Tion is i do not know how you privatize an enormous entity like the Postal Service, which serves a whole continent, american samoa, puerto rico, and i think it is kind of a phantom that gets put out there. Host the hearing on the senate is expected to start at 9 00 before the Senate Homeland security and Governmental Affairs committee, talking about issues of the Postal Service, featuring the postmaster general from south carolina. John, a postal worker, go ahead. Caller good morning. Please give me a little bit of time. Host the hearing is supposed to start, just go ahead. Caller since the pony express, did it require them to make a profit . When you took the post office and put it on the budget, it was a moneymaking machine. Office doesthe post not use taxpayers money. When you put us on a budget, that is when you screw things up. Now you are sitting on all this postal money. Take 25 million of it and put it back in operation. The army is not required to make a profit, medicare isnt required to make a profit. The post office is a service, so why do you keep hollering about taxpayers money . Host john, thanks. Guest you are quite right. The post office is a self funding entity, one of 18 government corporations that the government has, others include valley authorities, the fbi see, which makes sure our banks stay safe. Mottovernment corporation is we are different in the post office but we have a failure in congress, leadership in the white house of addressing the basic facts that the demand for paper mail has plummeted. Conversely, the demand for partial delivery has skyrocketed. The postal law has not been updated to deal with that reality and it is a conversation that we need to have mark on twitter asked a question need to have. Host mark on twitter asked, does the post Office Charge the same rate for junk mail for other male . Guest no, he charges different rates for different services. Host vy from milwaukee, wisconsin. Go ahead. Caller good morning, pedro. I would like to know, is the postmaster general responsible for the discussion of government property, seeing that the Voting Machines were destroyed . Guest yeah, this is the thing that the Postal Service should explain better. If it runs on these machines that pretty much nobody else have very few businesses the need for these monstrous things which are unbelievably huge. When it does not need them anymore, what should we do . Can we get any value out of those things, selling them for parts or Something Else . We just dont know. It is something that the postmaster general could address. Host when it comes to the board long is this how day of the president . Guest they are in office for seven years. All of the governors will be with us for another seven years if they have been appointed and approved by the president. Jersey, a in new postal worker. Hello. Caller i have spent 37 years in the post office, i worked in delivery and mail processing. Revenuethe losses in have to do with misprints. They are all bean counters. What they are doing im sure theyre looking at numbers and saying productivity is up and has been increasing every year, but they are losing money. To 10e from 7 billion billion year, simply because what they are doing is like anything else. Rat. Come up with a smarter if you build a better mousetrap you get a smarter rash. They are processing mail thats discounted and giving it full firstclass service. If you look, i think right now the percentages like something , thats mailail. Hats presorted host thank you. Guest one of the issues the Postal Service has is that the paper mail coming in is less profitable. Firstclass mail was very profitable for the Postal Service. But the number of people using it has gone down. So theres a lot less in the mail, more than 50 is advertising mail which has low profit margins. Classese are some mail that do not have the host we saw nancy pelosi call back the house to tackle these issues. Will this be resolved on the house side over the weekend . Guest no, im anticipating that voteouse will those in in favor of legislation that does not do much more than tell the Postal Service to not make any alterations to the Logistic Network if they will cause any hiccups. Which is a bit paralyzing. And also proposing giving the Postal Service 25 billion for no clear purpose. I anticipate the senate will ignore that bill and will take up the issue of the Postal Service in the next covid rescue package. I would prefer if they all sat down and put their Heads Together and went over the data and dealt with the longterm problems but its an Election Year and its unlikely that will happen. Host joey, on the independent line, in baltimore. Good morning. Caller good morning. Im tired employee from the post ice, i want to comment they mentioned that they did not packages, thats not true, we can tell you how many amazon packages, we have more than any other pat we more amazon packages than any other packages. And the second thing, you work for school where you might get a piece of mail and then they dont drop into the mailbox for to three days and it looks delayed . Thats part of the problem. It used to be that we would call people and remind them that the day that the mail is dated is the date it needs to go into the mail. Andher go to the higher ups you say now you go to the higher ups you say the school ands itself redays late none of the higher ups look any do anything about it because its customer friendly on the mailers end but not for the people who are receiving the mail. Problemhat touches on a that could also affect ballots this autumn. There are states and localities that let people request an absentee ballot five days before an election. Thats a huge amount of pressure on the Postal Service. We saw an egregious example of that in the june primary where new york city, this poor postal facility had an election administrator show up and dump 30,000 ballots on them the day before the election or absentee ballot request forms. Thats the situation setting up the Postal Service to fail. Its not fair and we need to do something to fix that. And disenfranchising folks besmirching the Postal Service. Check out the work of our guest at their website. ,hank you for talking with us especially as this hearing is about to take place. You can see that at 9 00, just any moment really, on cspan. Another hearing this coming monday on the same topic. Go to our website for more information as well as information on the upcoming Republican National convention. Thats our program today, another program tomorrow. We will see you then. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] coming up, a hearing with postmaster general louis dejoy, testifying
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