Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 09092020 20240712

Changes to the Supreme Court and federal judiciary. Later, Jessica Anderson from here to Jackson Anderson from Heritage Action for america talks about top issues in campaign 2020. Is the washington journal for september 9. Joe biden is expected to be in warren, michigan today to talk about jobs and the economy a day before President Trump is expected to visit the same state. The trend campaign announcing stops in reno and las vegas, nevada. Senateant the expected to take a test vote tomorrow on something that would authorize five hundred billion dollars of Coronavirus Relief, far smaller than democrats would like to see. When it comes to congressional spending, is that something you would like to see . Let us know. If you are unemployed, call 202 7488000. If you are a Small Business owner or employee, 202 7488001. All others, call us at 202 7488002. You can text us at 202 7488003 and post on twitter and facebook. Set up theto conversation is zach cohen with National Journal and it covers the senate for that publication. Thank you for joining us. Dollartart about the differences between what the senate is proposing and what the house would like to see. That mitch bill mcconnell introduced is much smaller, not just smaller than the house bill, but even smaller than what republicans had put forward, which was closer to 1 trillion back in july. About five hundred billion dollars, maybe even less. And includes coats to cares act to offset costs. Idea was to coalesce the Senate Republican conference around one bill. It seems like he will get that. Host when it comes to the justification of the small figure, go a little bit deeper into the majority leaders thinking. Guest a lot of republicans have been concerned about the spending that has taken place, at least 3 trillion if you take together the cares act and some other funding packages. A lot of that money has not even been sent out yet. It still remains in the treasury or in the fed. A lot of republicans have said that, lets wait until that is spent first. This bill republicans are putting forward now would fill in the gap in funding that would run out, and things like the paycheck protection program. Host for the people at home. Maybe they have received a stimulus or assistance check, maybe they have not. What does this do as far as getting money in their hands . Guest it does not include any direct checks like we saw with the cares act. In includes a restart of the federal unemployment boost. Rt of includes a resta the federal unemployment boost. In terms of direct assistance, there is less. A lot of this is focused on funding for schools, vaccines, therapeutics. Pelosi talk speaker with members of the white house, including the treasury secretary about what another relief package my do. Guest mark meadows was talking to a senator over the weekend trying to get people involved, white house chief of staff. They have been on the same page as treasury secretary mnuchin, who was talking about it on sunday on fox news. The Senate Republicans in the white house are working hand in glove on this, while democrats on the others of the aisle put out a joint statement before this bill was released saying it was insufficient. So you have the two parties on opposite sides of this. I expect a partyline vote when this comes to the senate tomorrow. Host those that might be package, a approve a factor might be total spending and the deficit. Are those real considerations, real topics these days considering the previous spending congress has approved . Guest it is remarkable that we are talking about a three hundred billion dollars to 500 , buton relief package certainly the coronavirus pandemic has unique needs and it democratsthing that and republicans recognize as necessary to bolster the economy and the health care response. There are significant concerns about the national debt. It is at its highest point since at least world war ii. In the aftermath of the great depression. So certainly that is congress that is Something Congress will have to deal with in the months ahead. Host walk us through this effort by the senate. Guest mcconnell came to the floor tuesday to introduce this bill. This is something they have been working on for a couple weeks over the august recess. The senate will again leave town and october ahead of the november elections. In october ahead of the november elections. This is not a vote on the bill itself, but would be a vote to end the filibuster to advance the bill in senate parlance. We expect it will fail. It might get 50 one votes, but according to senate rules, it needs 60 votes to pass a legislative hurdle. The democrats voting against this, with the exception of one or two at most, it will go back to the white house and negotiations with nancy pelosi. That is the main show. A reporter with the National Journal walking us through what is expected. Mr. Cohen, thank you for your time. We will show you some figures, but we want to get your thoughts on this first hour about this additional coronavirus spending. Is that something you would like to see or not . If you are unemployed, 202 7488000. If you are a Small Business owner or employee, 202 7488001. Our line for all others. You can call us at 202 7488002. If you want, text us at 202 7488003. If you like, you can post on our facebook page, our twitter feed. Dan in lady lake florida patrick in lady lake, florida on our line for others. Your first up you are first up. Go ahead. Caller thank you for taking my call. First off, i am a little surprised that cspan does not rerun the footage of when hello when President Trump, oh, it is all a hoax, deep state, fake. He does not follow any of the guidelines. Journalthe wall street yesterday that sturgis Motorcycle Club made a super spreader and will cost an estimated 12 million. Host the Senate Spending package, what would you like to see or not see . Caller nothing. How about a little personal responsibility . I know cspan used a yak about that a lot, along with deficit reduction and activist judges. These churches, come get us money. Host sturgis, south dakota. An unemployed person there. Hello. Caller i was working out at the cap ground during that stupid rally, and now i am unemployed and i am a disabled veteran. I was wondering about the package. Are they going to give us that, disabled people more money . What do they plan on doing . Have. You received anything previous when it comes to coronavirus assistance . Received 1200 dollars extra on my Social Security check. I got shot up pretty bad in vietnam, so anyway. Host what was done with that extra money you said you got when it comes to what you are doing there . Iller i paid my bills and paid some money on my wifes cremation. She died about two months ago and we were together about 31 years so im still paying on that. The v. A. Did not cover her burial and the cremation, so i have been paying on that. I almost have it paid off. But i sure could use a little more help with my food instead of buying food. I have been paying off her bills. Host that is lonnie in south dakota. 500 billion dollars is what you heard zach cowan talk about this proposal from the senate, short of what was proposed by the house. It would include three hundred dollars of Unemployment Benefits that would run through december. The Postal Service, a billion dollar grant to then. When it comes to coronavirus, 16 billion 20 nine billion dollars for vaccines and therapeutics. Some going to schools, about a third to schools currently conducting in person learning. Many students doing Virtual Learning these days. And it would include Liability Protections and it changes to the ppp program, which you heard zach cowan talk about too. You can talk about the price , allthe effort of spending those things if you wish, on the line. Philadelphia, pennsylvania. We heard from an unemployed person there, marvin. Caller i am trying to wrap my head around this. 600nk first of all, the is over the top. Once they gave that money out and they said that people do not want to work, i guess people do not want to work when they are making more on unemployment. Now, going forward, the 300 extra, i guess that is over the top too. They should just keep unemployment on the regular rate and go with that. I think they are doing it all to generate the economy, which the extra money is doing generation of the economy. The people that talk about the 600, i think that is a bunch of hogwash, because the public did not ask for that much money. The government gave that much money so they could generate the economy so things would not go so bad. Come election time, they trumply i aint no lover or biden lever, but trump will get elected. Biden lover, but trump will get elected. Host you are currently collecting unemployment . Have you seen an increase on the federal level . Guest there is a caller there is a hold on it. Host why would there be a hold on it . Caller the fema program. There was a disaster. They have to hook up the system to distribute the money. Host gotcha. That is marvin in philadelphia. When it comes to previous spending, the three phases are relatively straightforward. A point three billion dollars in response to the president s 2. 5 billion request. And the estimated two. 1 trillion dollars for the cares act. On its face, that is the largest covid19 response of any government in the world, according to columbia university. In fact, it is larger than the entire economic input output of italy, brazil, several countries. It talks about the spending side. The nonpartisan commission for a responsible federal budget estimates the current coronavirus spending and the effects of the recession will contribute to a budget deficit. In bellevue, washington on our line for others, you are next. Good morning. Retired. Am however, i do have a son that was or still is collecting unemployment that is living with us. One of the things as far as the 600 went, he was trying to keep up with paying his medical insurance. That was so much money that took out of it. The 600. To try to pay for everything else. You know, he had moved back in with us for a while, just to save so he would not have to pay the rent. I think, first of all, they should send everybody the 1200 like they did. People like us are hurting. My husband and i have not even been out of the house thanks to the people that do not even consider others by Wearing Masks and thinking of other people instead of themselves. See that your son increase on unemployment on top of what the state may offer in terms of unemployment assistance . Caller he received the 600. He is not right now. It is just down to the regular. Host was he receiving that on top of what Washington State would offer, if he claimed assistance from Washington State . Caller well, no. He just received the flat 600. Host ok. We will hear from another unemployed person. Nicholas, las vegas, nevada. Go ahead. You are on. Caller yeah, i think they just need to continue i mean, i think that was a great bill. I do not think they need to do anything to it, they just need to extend it until this blows over. Host one concern you heard zach cowan talk about from some republicans is that some of the money appropriated has not even been spent yet. I justeah, i mean mean, you know, because people that were employed, they depended on quality of life. That six hundred dollars, you know what i mean, just gave everybody you know, everybody who is middleclass, it gave them a comfort zone for this pandemic. They come out of that, and some people do not have jobs like myself. My quality of life right now has because idown simply am only getting state benefits and im not working. Host you do not see any federal bump as far as . Caller i did, but i had to call pay all my bills. There was back pay and that. All the unemployment systems were backed up because of the large number. I have no idea, man, you know . I just know my quality of life. I was getting the 600 but they stopped it. What was it, july 31 . Host what is the situation in las vegas as far as your employment . Were you part of the Casino Industry or anything related . Caller i was working for a recycling company. Host and things have changed as far as where you are at. Caller exactly. I have not gone back to work. I have contacted them and i do not really know what is going on. That i thought i had a job and i thought i was furloughed, but im thinking maybe these guys are getting shut down. I have no idea. I just know i am only getting state unemployment, which is basically just a couple hundred bucks a week, which is not enough for a decent quality of life. One of theegas is stops the president will make as part of his campaign. Reno as well. Joe biden in warren, michigan expected to talk about matters when it comes to jobs and the economy. Follow all campaign related stuff on our website, cspan. Org. Bill king on twitter says coronavirus spending should be our top priority. That and a stimulus check. Ris on Facebook Says spending as far as getting fast tests andte giving american ppe manufacturers tax credit for bringing ppe production back. Someone else, not as long as there are helpwanted signs everywhere. Yes, i hope the American People get through this, focus on direct payments until this is over. You heard about zach cowan talking about this proposal. [video clip] oh bill is not a sweeping, multitrillion dollar plan to rebuild the entire company in republicans image. It does not even contain every single relief policy that republicans ourselves think would help in the short term. I am confident the democrats would feel the same way. The American People do not need us to keep arguing over what might be perfect. They need us to actually make a law. So Democratic Leaders are perfectly free to come out here and keep up their playbook from these past months. Just blast away. Blast away in bad faith, call names, and complain about the infinite number of things this proposal does not do. Maybe they will bring back there goldilocks act and say our multihundred billion dollar proposal is too small or too skinny, even though democrats just passed a piecemeal bill for the Postal Service that ignored everything else. Piecemeal bill for the Postal Service that ignored everything else. Democrats can do all that if they want to, madam president , i am just sad they are already criticizing this bill today before they have even read it, before it had even done put out. Before it had even been put out. This just seems to reinforce that only one party seems to want any bipartisan outcome at all. It is easy to tell, in washington, whether somebodys end goal is political posturing or an outcome. One way or another, what democrats do will be revealing. Host lets hear from ella in texas. Go ahead, ella. You are on. Caller first of all, i will say i am an unemployed person in the hospital industry. Hospitality industry. I want to address what we just heard. Whatever he said was totally misleading. I have been watching this since i have been sitting at home the last few months, not working. And the president told them to bring a bill that just covered the post office. If thats whats, they did, he needs to say this is what has happened. Asked thesident he president. That is what they brought. They are trying to get something out here for us, for the unemployed, to pay our bills. In the hospitality industry, that extra 600 did help because there is no way in the world i could have lived off of 600 a inth, which is basically would have been basically what i would have been getting had the extra 600 had not been added to my unemployment. I would not be able to pay my gas, my mortgage, my daughters tuition. So that 600 did help me. When people say there is help signs out there, do you want me to go out there and work for hour when for 10 an i was making 40 an hour . Host those types of jobs not returning. Thats what youre saying. Caller right now theyre not. I am still unemployed. I am still waiting for my job to call me back. People are still not flying the way they were, staying in hotels the way they were. Notat this point, i feel working. Mcdonalds. Rk you i do not work in my local grocery store. I did not work at 711. Had a very good job my husband is working. So that has been a blessing for us, but i have not. Host ok. Ella telling us her story there in texas. Lets hear from arkansas. Our line for others. We will hear from bob. Caller yeah, this is bob from arkansas. Host you are on. Go ahead. Caller i just had a complaint about the way the democrats are handling this whole issue. It is like they do not even care about the people. Host what makes eisai that . What makes you say that . Caller well, they have got childish arguments when people need that money. That and so youre saying money should be approved, then, or at least this additional package. Caller yes. As soon as possible. To work, cannot pay the bills. And they want to argue about stupid stuff. s as smalle figure as what Mitch Mcconnell was offering, even though mr. Cohen says that is not going anywhere, do you think that is better . Caller i think that would be fine. At least the people would have something. Host an editorial in the Washington Post takes a look at this issue. Moving congress is how they talk about this effort by this latest proposal by the senate. Thatg the jobs report recently came out was no cause. Or complaint larry kudlow said the economy told live with the failure strike a deal because it is on a selfsustaining recovery path. Nor is there a cause for going small on the next round of fiscal support. At the same time, Democratic Leaders must take changing realities into account as they negotiate. Their insistence on renewing a six hundred dollar weekly supplement to an Insurance Benefits no longer seems justifiable given labor market conditions. That is the editorial in the Washington Post. When it comes to democrats, it was my morning leader it was minority leader Chuck Schumer giving his impressions of what is proposed by the majority party. [video clip] we all know what is going on. Leader mcconnell had to create the most paltry, partisan, cynical bill because he has 20 members of his caucus do not want to support anything. By his own admission, they went zero dollars. So leader mcconnell keeps whittling down the republican proposal until he can find something, anything, that he can claim his party supports. He had to throw in the right wings favorite goodies to sweeten the pot, to even approach the number of votes in his caucus, to make it look like a republican bill that had brought support. Leader mcconnell knows this bill will not pass. He knows that most of his members do not want it to pass. And, amazingly, he seems happy with that situation. This is one of the most cynical moves i have ever seen in the middle of a pandemic when americans are crying out for relief. The political exercise on the republican side bears no relationship to the needs in our country. It has nothing to do with our states, workers, families, opening up schools safely, or what Health Care Workers really need. It has everything to do with finding the bare minimum that Senate Republicans can support. Facing the greatest economic crisis in 75 years, and the greatest Health Crisis in a notury, leader mcconnell is searching for bipartisan progress. He is looking for political cover. Host so when it comes to the topic of congress and it should it approve more coronavirus spending, heres how you can let us know your thoughts. You have heard from many unemployed this morning. 202 7488000 is the number you can call. Perhaps you are a Small Business owner or employee. 202 7488001. Caroline for others, 202 7488002. Darian from jacksonville, florida on our unemployed line, go ahead. Your next. Caller i am darian from jacksonville, florida, and i am with its mcconnell and the Republican Party. This sixis about hundred dollars is too much when they are not working, but they do not understand they are hurting the American People. They do not understand that that me that people like are unemployed, i have to buy food, pay my mortgage, medications, and that was helping me, but with Mitch Mcconnell into the Republican Party, they want to cut the amount they will give us. What theyey doing are doing is hurting the American People adhere. Im going to food banks now. People are going to food banks now, that they never thought they have they would have to do. I would rather work, but if i cannot work because of this pandemic and i did hvac work, ventilation, and i cannot work on that kind of stuff because i could bring that home to my family. And i am not trying to bring that home to my family. Do what i amo supposed to do, but because of this pandemic, i cannot. Host what kind of work were you doing before you were unemployed . Caller i was doing hvac, heating and air conditioning. Host and network and that work is not in florida . Caller in Jacksonville Florida jacksonville, florida. I am furloughed right now because of the pandemic. I work in an open place with a bunch of people. When you are working within elation, it it is sucking up from the air. Doing ductwork, you are liable to catch the coronavirus. So i am currently furloughed right now. The 600 dollars was helping me support my family, pay my mortgage, pay my bill. I do not get snap benefits or anything because i was making too much money. Host ok. That is darian in jacksonville. We will go to silver springs, maryland. Our line for others. Good morning. Caller good morning. Basically, i am a retiree and i receive a steady income. But that was helpful, is all i received was that one 1200 thing. I am just concerned because it cynical movevery by Mitch Mcconnell. You know, im just really floored. Seen what isry going on angry seeing what is going on. I knewumble opinion, these covid restrictions whatever. I think in normal times, without covid, there would be citizens from all over the country wondering the halls wandering the halls of congress, going into congressional and senatorial offices, and lobbying, either for or against. Now. Is no live lobbying the fact that has slowed things down. Need toy really lobby. Host we got you, joel. This is a text from baltimore, maryland. No emergency until they have skin in the game. Guess congress expects me to stretch that one time payment of 1200 over a sixmonth period. They have no clue what it is like to be in my position. Lynn insteadom of offering more money, let unemployed get a job without cutting benefits until they find a better job. On our lineklahoma for those unemployed, your next. Good morning. Caller good morning, sir. Host you are on. Go ahead. I am trying to keep my cool here, due to the fact that i keep hearing all these trumpli i am going to say republicans. The Republican Party died in 2016, but i watch you all religiously. I watch cspan religiously. I watch what goes on on the house floor and the senate floor. I listen to Donald Trumps technically rallies. They are supposed to be briefings, but they are just rallies, but the American People are hurting very badly now. I have got three unemployed adults living in my home right now because they cannot afford a place to live. Supporting, you know, three extra people, and my granddaughter, who is in school. Who cannot go to school because half the kids in school are infected with covid. If it is not the kids infected, it is the teachers. Theyepublican party, technically put the democratic and give 500barrel billion dollars to the rich people so the rest of American People can get 1200 one time. Host ok. That is michael in oklahoma. Lets hear from katie in maryland on our unemployed line. Caller hi, pedro. I love cspan so much and you guys are awesome. And equip shout out to my dish and a shout out my boyfriend dion take. Not heard a lot of people mention that we owe taxes on this unemployment. Like online, on the end of limit website, to have my taxes taken out. They did not take them out. This whole time we have been getting that extra money, no taxes have been taken out even though i signed up for it. Now that we are back to no extra unemployment, i get 300 a week. They have started taking taxes out, so i am getting like to under 50 dollars a week. Im getting like two hundred 50 a week. 250, luckily am to i have saved that extra money. But taxes will come around next year. I put that aside. Now that i am down to that two hundred 50 a week, i have to use that money to keep me afloat. I was a waitress. I was furloughed and i might come back to whatever. Well, now, it is not a job anymore. I do not get to go back to that job, so i do not know what im going to do. Host they are not similar type jobs there are not similar type jobs in your area as far as waitressing or related jobs . Caller rate. There are not a lot of waitressing jobs. Worked my way up to a place where i had the best hours and it was a busy place so it was making six hundred dollars or 700 a week. It is still paychecktopaycheck, but enough to pay all my bills. Host i imagine the tip money was the big factor. Caller right. So i did graduate from college in 2016, but at that time just a bachelors degree was not a big deal. So we went for the one job i could get that i could control how much money i was making. Host katie in maryland. Revisiting with us her situation, particularly this debate going on with coronavirus spending. On our line for others, john in new york. Hi. Caller hello. I am sick and tired hearing of people bitch about Mitch Mcconnell. I did not get no 1200. And it is like, what about all the democrats who wont even deal . They want what they want and will not compromise. Compromise nothing. It is sickening. Cuomo put new york and the Police New York is in. So it is like, give us a break. Host we will go to david in grand rapids, michigan on our line for others. David, go ahead. Caller good morning, everybody. I keep watching the stock market go up and down. Nobody is making nothing. The government is just printing money for the stock market. Afew weeks ago, there was statistic that showed rich people are just getting richer during the pandemic into poor people are getting poorer. If they are willing to print money for the stock market, we need them to print money for the working class americans. What they are fighting over, this bill that the senate is talking about, it is a republican bill. It has to go back to the house. It aint going nowhere. Heres the the thing about the bill that the house passed. Some republicans did vote yes on that, so it is kind of a bipartisan bill that is sitting on Mitch Mcconnells desk. If they are so willing to make rich people richer, you know, we need to get the working class people some money. My daughter works at a factory. Shift supervisor is eva month ago supervisor as of a month ago. They called like 200 employees in. They laid off everybody but 75 people. They put 70 five on first shift in a week later they asked for voluntary layoffs. I hear Unemployed People calling, i hear others calling. I do not hear Small Business people calling. When i continually hear Unemployed People calling, that tells me that people are not working and they are suffering. Host ok. That is david in grand rapids, michigan. Again, we do have lines for a Small Business owner or employee. 202 7488001. We have heard from many who are unemployed. 202 7488000. Andine for others that line for others. 202 7488002. Again, congress and coronavirus spending. We will take this topic until 8 00. We will share some news items making news. This coming in recently. Weeksws saying just after after helping to broker peace between israel and the united arab emirates, President Trump has been nominated for the 2021 nobel peace prize. It was semitic by a member of the norwegian parliament, lauding it was submitted by a member of the norwegian parliament. Term member of parliament who serves as the norwegian delegation for the nato parliamentary assembly, telling fox news. When it comes to other matters relating to the president , the Justice Department taking over the defense of trump in the defamation suit against a new york writer who claims donald aped her in a department store. Department says he was acting within the scope of his official duties as president when he denies the claims from the former advice columnist, jean carrooll. Carroll. Study forthree astrazeneca put on hold due to an adverse reaction. Someone said the companys standard review process triggered a pause to allow the review of safety data. Astrazeneca saying it initiated the study hold. The nature of the adverse reaction and when it happened were not immediately known. Should congress do another round of spending . ,rt, in chesapeake virginia. Go ahead. Caller people are suffering. People are having a hard time. Luckily, i have planned ahead and had a little nest egg, but not everybody is as fortunate as me. What i would like to put out there is, in april, i turned 60 years old. Who would ever think its 60 i would be looking for a job . At 60 i would be looking for a job . There are employers out there that are using the corona as an opportunity to revamp their whole business. In other words, in my case, i just turned 60. I have been working for the same company for 20 years. What they did was, the coronavirus came to town, and, yeah, they turned around and wrote a letter. Virginia is a right to work state. You really cannot complain, you know, if you get wronged. Oh well, you have the right to work somewhere else. Host what kind of work were you doing . Caller Service Manager at a harleydavidson dealer for 20 years. 20 years. Harley dealers are independently owned. They are not owned by harley. But anyway, the company i worked for over 20 years, they decide the people that have been there for a length of time that are making a good salary, they try and give me a letter telling me, due to coronavirus, we have to let you go. Well, they are over there working as hard as they can, but they have replaced all the older people that were making a good on minimum people wage, as cheap as they can get it. Host that is our situation in chesapeake that is arts situation in chesapeake, virginia. We will go to kurt. Good morning. Caller thank you for taking my call. I am a Small Business owner, a company of one, about as small as you can get, and im a professional remodeler. In march, i had three jobs lined up, and all three of them were postponed or canceled because of fear of people coming in their home. I totally understood it, so we just put them on hold. I saw the handwriting on the wall, so i retooled what i was doing, when tightened went and bought some empty homes, and now we are getting them ready for sale or rent. What i would encourage people to do, and i do not think what i did is the answer to other peoples problems, but use this opportunity to use your mind on what you can do. Do not be dependent on any government or party to give you money. Take in charge of your own destiny. It is working well for me. Host if i may ask, if you are a remodeler from the beginning, did you have the capital to buy homes to remodel or did you get it . Caller both. I am taking charge of my destiny. Host axios released a poll of Small Business workers, particularly those looking to federal spending, about if they their business will survive. Only 17 responding no. Without wasat provided that was provided to goldman sachs. In the why it matters section, it says businesses still have not returned to normal. Six months after the pandemic appeared, the money they checkved from the Pay Protection program has run dry. Brooklyn, new york, thanks for calling. Caller i have a similar situation to a previous caller who was a server in the Restaurant Industry. I got laid off with the expectation of being rehired. They cannot hire back on. The Restaurant Industry got shut down again, and if we do not have any sort of stimulus, either a single check or an extra 400 a week, we are not going to be able to start saving that money so that when the business turns on again, we will not have anything to sit on. Host i see a lot of these restaurants particularly relying on doortodoor service. Ultimately, does that help or hurt you . Caller it helps. , lot of those people are back are able to still make a salary. As a bartender, a lot of my salary, my earnings were tips. So it is about how many people you can get in the store. It does not matter how large your restaurant was before the coronavirus. It matters how much outdoor space you have now. That is only going to be tougher, because as people get old, you cannot sit outside. Workers are starting to get sick that passes through the regular season. Republicans in democrats have to find a way to help us get ahead of this mess, at least in the service industry. Host did you get an initial 12 hundred dollars from the federal government . Caller i did. I was getting the extra 600 payment. My savings started to dwindle, as opposed to staying still. Enough to not saving build my savings account. That is what matters for me for my future. I know i will have to change my career path, but in order to do that i have to invest in myself. I have to invest in classes. In order to not work, have to be able to put myself out there. Id in order to do that, have to have money to pay for my bills and my classes for whatever future job i might go after. Skill set,se of your is there an opportunity, or if an opportunity presented itself to move your location to still be a bartender . Caller yes, there are still bartending jobs available, whether in new york or virginia or maryland. However, it is about the amount of jobs that are available and how long they will be available for. If we do not have a vaccine this winter, we are not going to have indoor dining. We are not going to have outdoor dining, except for limited areas. And then they will where they are able to spend money on outdoor heaters and hopefully provide extra compensation. Host you said you were thinking about possibly changing careers. Have you given a specific thought to what you would like to pursue . Caller the world is kind of unpredictable right now. Trying to keep my eyes open for the next available job and see if i have the qualifications to pursue that. Beth in brooklyn, new york. Tennessee, our line for others. Paul, go ahead. Your next up. You are next up. Caller thank you for taking my call. I work for a Small Business. Started, i amemic a Delivery Driver for a local restaurant, not corporate, but a Small Business. Thrived throughout this pandemic. We were limited to delivery, etc. I have gotten lucky to use the 1200 on a house payment and such. Just am one of the people like trump originally said. The pandemic is a bit of a hoax. Comes out and says 94 of all deaths were contributed to other conditions, then how big is this thing . Is this blown into something that it is not . In contactave come with the virus and had no symptoms. I did not go to the doctor, so therefore i am not a statistic. I think the reaction to the pandemic, not the pandemic itself, but our reaction, has caused the problems that we have had. Host ok. That is paul calling us in talking about his experience. Cnn reporting that the commander of troops in the middle east will draw down the u. S. Will draw down the number of troops in iraq to 3000. News, joe biden will be in warren, michigan for a campaign speech. He will deliver remarks on his future isnsure the made in america by all of americas workers. According to the campaign, that speech is set to start at 1 15 this afternoon. This website also reporting that joe biden has a fivepoint lead they are michigan over donald trump. If you go to ohio talking about mailin voting, cleveland. Com reporting that standing mail ballots will be part of what is reported out. Someone says they will in order to prepare for the possibility that not that the winner of the president ial race will not be immediately known. That is a cleveland. Com. If you go to the Atlanta Journalconstitution this morning, it talks about a previous election. They are reporting that 1000 people in a location in georgia double voted in the georgia primary, according to the secretary of state. Brad saying yesterday about that 1000 georgians facing investigations for voting twice in the june 9 primary. These voters returned absentee ballots and then also showed up at the polling place on election day, according to the Atlanta Journalconstitution. Double voting is a felony in georgia. A double voter knows exactly what they are doing, diluting the votes of every voter who follows the law, and as secretary of state, i will not tolerate that. Fors go to tim on Airline Others in albuquerque, new mexico. Caller hello. I am calling. I am a disabled veteran and retired nurse. I am married to a gentleman who is retired also, and on a pension. Receive 1200 at the beginning of the pandemic. That, as we are on incomes and married, we do ok. So we took half of that money and donated it to our local food bank. This now where businesses are concerned, i think it should be continued for Small Businesses, the unemployed, because there are more Small Businesses than just restaurants. There are antique stores and other places, and they cannot pay their rent. Those of the is people that are being most affected. Those of the people that are in most need. What i do believe is that there needs to be unlimited oversight and Steven Mnuchin all information about all people who have received donations. Thethe money should stop if heroes act is actually passed, which i believe should be, then the money should go to Small Businesses and individuals who. Re unemployed host where you a nurse in a hospital or a private facility . Were you a nurse in a hospital or in a private facility . Caller i worked in the military, and hospice, and longterm care. Host we will go to peter. He is a Small Business owner in arkansas. Caller how are you doing . Can you hear me . Host i can. Go ahead. Caller i wanted to comment on Mitch Mcconnell and the republicans and the 600 unemployment. I am a Small Business owner in arkansas, a small salon. I was receiving 600. When it stopped, it is like my world crashed. And i did not understand it because i had been working for 20 years in the salon. And, through no fault of my own, my business just stopped. When they said it was going to help us, it was like a release relief, but when it stopped, i still had bills. I still had to put gas in my car. I still had to buy food. I was like, what am i going to do . People are not coming to my salon because people are scared. I was just like, are they going to stop it for everybody because maybe zero point one percent are making more on unemployment and they were working . I do not get that. 20 Million People unemployed, but they are everybody getting heir money because maybe 0. 1 is making more on unemployment than they were working. I do not get it. They need help and they do not care. They are up there playing games. It is very hard for people out here and i want them to understand that. Host ok. That is peter giving his experience as a Small Business owner in arkansas. We will hear from judy on airline for others. She is from winchester, kentucky. Caller hello. Yes. I am 76 years old, handicapped due to an accident i had several years ago. My husband passed away in 2017 from a virus. Unfortunately, he died as a vegetable. These viruses are very serious. He was in the hospital four different times, and they kept saying that he was cleared of the virus, and then he ended up dying at home because it took him totally down as a vegetable. We were married 47 years. The reason im calling on this is that i want to emphasize to the general public, that this viral situation is very serious. It is due to the president mishandling the situation, when it first came to light in the united states. He stonewalled it, he did not get on top of it. He said it would go away. He did not encourage anything for people to do, like the masks, washing your hands. Host what do you think about Congress Spending more money for relief . Caller i will be honest. And i amial security, stretching things. I have had to downsize. I am selling off some of the things i have had for years. Hard to sells very because people do not have the money. Host that is judy on our line for others. One more call from larry, who is unemployed in oklahoma. Caller i dont know who to get a hold of. People in congress, like mnuchin and President Trump said they want to help the stimulus package, and then they was going to send one out. Now Mitch Mcconnell and the democrats are fighting over it. They aree unemployed, hurting and now they dont want to give it out to people, like the stimulus package. That first one helped a lot of people. I dont know if other people, congressmen or senators. Host have you tried doing that . Caller yes, i have contacted all of my congressmen and tried to talk to pelosi and all of them. They dont want to talk to you. Host you havent gotten a direct response . Caller no. We need the money, because we are unemployed and people are on Social Security and poor people need the money. One minute they say they are going to help people, and the next minute they dont. Host that was larry, calling and talking about this proposal by the Senate Republicans on another round of spending. We thank him and all others who have called this morning. Two guests joining us later in the program. First, brian fallon with the Progressive Group demand justice. He will talk about the battle for the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary. Later in the program, Heritage Action for americas Jessica Anderson will talk about the role her group is playing in supporting republican candidates and other issues. Those conversations are coming up on washington journal. With the ongoing Global Pandemic and the many schools shifting to online learning, cspans student can competition continues to provide students with a platform to engage in a national conversation, for middle and highest students to produce a documentary exploring the issues they most want the president and congress to address in 2021. Framers of the constitution were invested in giving as shown in the sixth and eighth amendments. It needs reform. When students are given the opportunity and the skills to become informed voters and engaged citizens, they dont, because democracy must be learned. For children who were born here but whose parents illegally migrated here, immigration has failed many people. This year, we are awarding 100,000 in total cash prizes, occluding a grand prize of 25,000. The deadline to submit is january 20. For more information, go to our website, studentcam. Org. Washington journal continues. Host this is brian fallon with the group, the man justice. He is the cofounder. Good morning to you. Guest good morning. Thank you for having me. Host a little bit about your organization. Can you tell us how you are funded and supported . Guest demand justice is a Progressive Organization that was started in 2018 to try and reduce the disparity we have leftbetween the political and the political right when it comes to the federal judiciary. Republicans for decades have successfully messaged to their voters the importance of a federal judiciary and how it is the ultimate arbiter of all the issues we care about. On the left, we have been less successful, and that was very pointed and 2016 when Hillary Clinton and donald trump were campaigning. There was a Supreme Court vacancy handing hanging in the balance after the death of Antonin Scalia. Even though democrats and progressives had an opportunity to win that election and swing the ideological balance of the court, you did not see that issue at a Grassroots Level among democratic voters. Exit polls in 2016 showed that court thought the supreme was a top issue for them. President trump has been good to his word in terms of prioritizing judicial apart judicial appointments. They have confirmed over 200 people at a fairly historic pace. Our message to democrats is we need to get in the game. We are going to live with the consequences because even if donald trump is defeated in november, we will be living with these judges he appointed for the rest of their lives. This is an issue we are trying to educate progressives around, and we are seeing some successful results. We have had success in terms of fundraising. We have support from large grantmaking institutions, as well as thousands of grassroots supporters who contribute via our email list in an online. Email list and online. At the Democratic Convention couple weeks ago, the party embraced some very aggressive language calling for structural reform of the federal courts. There have been a couple polls in the last couple months that have shown us for the first time, democratic voters are saying the Supreme Court matters more to them then republik and voters. We are very pleased by that, we think it shows we are making progress. Host when it comes to issues of reform, what would you like to see at the Supreme Court level, should democrats or joe biden win . What would you like to see at the Supreme Court level and the judiciary . Guest there are some potential things from the Biden Administration. We would like to see the prioritization of judicial appointments. If joe biden becomes president , and especially with a democratic senate, there will be a lot of pressure on joe biden and chuck to enact legislation on Voting Rights and Climate Change and gun safety and economic stimulus and response the covid crisis. All that is quite understandable and i share those priorities as well. But we dont want to have happen is have judicial appointments take a backseat and not prioritize confirmations in the same way we have seen donald trump and Mitch Mcconnell do. We will make sure the issue does not fall off. The second thing that might be changed is we would like to shift the paradigm in the type of people to get appointed by democratic president s. Typically, democratic president s have tended to nominate people with very similar backgrounds. Partners at big Corporate Law firms representing big pharma, representing big banks or the energy industry, or they come from a background primarily as prosecutors, as assistant u. S. Attorneys in the federal government. Our point is that we could use some professional diversity within the federal divert edible judiciary. We will be pressuring the Biden Administration to try and give emphasis to people from different walks of life. Instead of just another prosecutor, how about nominating some public defenders . Instead of corporate attorneys, how about labor lawyers or people whose lifes work represent consumers and workers . We are, i would say seeking to cultivate conversation about how can we, in the long term, depoliticize the judiciary so it is not constantly apolitical tugofwar where the randomness of retirements and deaths can swing the Court Balance ideologically over the next 30 or 40 years. We would like to have conversations about things like term limits. We also think that what happened in 2016 in terms of Mitch Mcconnells failure to even consider mayor garland needs to be addressed. For that reason, we support proposals the look at changing the number of seats on the Supreme Court we support proposals that look at changing the number of seats on the serene court. Host to that last point, currently nine, what would you change it to . Guest there is not a consensus about how many seats to add. The sort the Court Composition has changed many times throughout the nations history. Five seats to 10 seats during the lincoln presidency. Then it dropped down to seven and went back up to nine a few years later. Our point is this is not something that is codified in the constitution. I can be changed in the legislation. Purposelys have been happy to change the size of the court. In the lower courts, Chuck Grassley and 2016 introduced a bill to reduce the side dashed reduce the size of the Circuit Court because he did not want to allow president obama to fill any seats on what is considered the nations secondhighest court. Level, you have seen republican governors change the composition and size of the state Supreme Courts. Arizona, most famously. Republicans have been perfectly open to adding or changing the size of the Supreme Court based on whatever level would suit them. We would like to have a conversation about doing that so we can have a longterm shift towards an apolitical judiciary, where it does not become a knockdown drag out situation. If you have a term limit where justices were doing 18 years and you guaranteed each president the opportunity to nominate two justices within a four year window, that brings uniformity and regularity to the process, and prevents people like Mitch Mcconnell from holding up a seat, hoping they will win the election. John roberts supported term limits when he was an official in the reagan Justice Department. There is a lot of bipartisan support at different points in recent years for changing the size of the courts. That is something we think is a conversation we should have. Host our guest previously was a National Press secretary for holy clinton in the 2016 provincial campaign and served as an aid in the u. S. Senate who works project schumer and worked under the obama administration. He is currently the cofounder and executive director of demand justice. If you want to ask questions about these proposals for the judiciary, you can call and let us know. If you if you support joe biden and kamala harris, 202 7488000. If you support 202 7488001 if you support the president and the Vice President. 202 7488002 if you dont support either or are undecided. Assuming these appointees would serve any wouldnt that change things in the political nature of the court . Guest in the long term, you need to diss incentivize what happened in 2016 from ever happening again. Right now, there has been talks about what would happen if a liberal justice on the court would pass away before the election. Would republicans go forward or lameicial selection duck in the election before the new office is sworn in question mark Mitch Mcconnell has busily said he will which is hypocritical to the position he the sheet16, saying saying the seat should not be filled so close to election. I am not surprised he said that because it worked for him quite nicely in 2016. The unprecedented blockade he carried out worked. 2017, mayor garland is not a Supreme Court justice. I think he is going to continue we will continue to see this type of brinkmanship. Unless we show there is not going to be a payout for it part of the reason we have come to this idea of expanding the side of the Supreme Court is to write the wrong and remedy what we think was a complete violation of norms in 2016, and in doing so, ideally it would bring us back to a political equilibrium where neither side would have an advantage in trying to game the other side, because they know the other side would have a way to remedy it. It would not unduly advantage one side and make it subject to the next election. If you combine it with the term limits proposal, you could grow the size of the Court Temporarily and keep the current nine justices on until they choose to retire, then you are introducing new justices to the court that are going to be on a fixed term of 18 years. The court size might grow for a short period, but then as retire, you are moving in the long term back towards a nine justice court, with everybody fixed by the 18 year term. There are ways you can structure this and longterm put us more in a apolitical situation. We need to have some kind of response to what happened in 2016. Otherwise, there is no reason Mitch Mcconnell to not take the side. Host our first caller, a supporter of joe biden. You are on with brian fallon. Go ahead with your question. Caller good morning and thank you so much for taking my call. I hope this is in your experience. In the last hour, we have been hearing a lot about the republican plan and one of the things not talked about at all was reliable was Liability Protection for corporations. Isnt that just a way of taking away workers rights . That concerns me. That seems to be a much bigger deal than what anybody is talking about. Can you address that and tell me what that would mean for workers . Raises an caller excellent point, in the context of these negotiations around covid relief, Mitch Mcconnell has been insisting that any provision that seeks to take care of laidoff workers, First Responders on the front lines must also have an immunity provision that basically ensures that employers and big corporations are kept harmless from any reckless decision they make with respect to consumers or their own employees. Resisted, and in the context of the courts, Mitch Mcconnell and donald trump have been emphasizing judicial nominees that will represent and carry water for big business. The Constitutional Accountability Center is a Nonprofit Organization that we work with from time to time, and they do a very interesting analysis every year, where they assess how often the chamber of commerce and assorted interests are prevailing at the Supreme Court. In recent years, the chamber of commerce has been winning 70 of the time. There have also been studies conducted by reuters and other organizations that show corporate interests that are represented by some of the big law firms that have their own practices in washington, d. C. Are much more likely to get their cases heard by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court only hears about 80 courses 80 cases a year. There is a saturation of cases being submitted by corporate interests and Corporate Law firms. That is why we think it is important that we change administrations and elect a democratic president so we are not putting more trump justices or judges on federal benches, that will continue to let thatll continue to pick corporations over workers. Democrats ought to shift their priorities to stop nominating lawyers that have been representing those very same corporate interests and instead, lets try to even the scales by putting people that have made careers in the law on behalf of consumers and workers. Lets put those people on the bench. We need to offset the 200 plus judges that are so firmly to the chamber of commerce. Host from dwight who supports president in kentucky, you are on with our guest. Theer i have to ask, republicans are playing by the same rules that the democrats played when they were in power. Await justice port was treated and Clarence Thomas. Neckn just as cap her i think the democrats are paying for that, for some of the television coverage. The ninth circuit the ninth Circuit Court of appeals is very liberal. Im surer ginsburg, she has voted one way. He is right. When mcconnell held out, and it has been done totally figured out a way to get these judges put in, in a fair equitable manner. Until they change the law, it is going to keep on going. I would like to hear what he has to say about it. Host we will let him answer. Guest the caller makes a fair point. Democrats in the past have certainly resisted certain republican president nominees. He mentioned robert ford. Joe biden had a large hand in blocking that appointment made by Ronald Reagan. I would argue that that was the robertworking, because ford was an ideological Supreme Court pick and ultimately, after another try failed, a third try was anthony kennedy. Anthony kennedy i disagree with on a whole range of issues but he is the finale more of a moderate. The caller also mentioned Clarence Thomas. My old boss, Chuck Schumer in the 2000s talked to Mitch Mcconnell and they will bring up Chuck Schumers role in blocking judicial appointments under george bush, someday by the name who isel estrada, nominated to the d. C. District court. While the boss worked to stop his nomination. It is a fair point that there have been efforts on both sides filibuster and block nominees. I would argue that under Barack Obamas presidency, it got taken to new levels. The big reason donald trump has had so many vacancies to fill. He has talked about how he got more than 200 judges on the federal bench. The reason why that was possible was he inherited over 100 vacancies. That isnt because barack obama didnt prioritize nominees, it is because Mitch Mcconnell made a point not filling those seats, in 2014, 2015 and 2016, when he took over the senate. Thatans did not allows some state senators to exercise a courtesy to block nominees they dont support. In red states in the country that remained open for donald trump to fill, solely because of the de facto policies Mitch Mcconnell had put in. The consequent is of that is we have a whiter and more male judiciary under donald trump. A point toa made have more racial and gender diversity. I think the fifth circuit of the appeals court, which represents ,tates like louisiana and texas in the most demographically diverse district in the country and has one of the whitest appellate benches. That is where some buddy like ted cruz during the Barack Obama Administration would say we are not going to consider appointees. This is a problem when the judiciary does not look like the people they represent in terms of jurisdiction. That is a problem i think joe biden should solve. Host has joe biden embraced this idea of expanding Supreme Court justices . Guest as a matter of fact, he did not, he pointedly rejected it at the democratic primary. However, what happened is another a bunch of other candidates expressed openness to this, some of them endorsed it outright. What joe biden has done, to his credit, is made a commitment that he is going to prioritize the appointment of african of of the first average American Woman to the Supreme Court if he gets the nomination. Overdue. It is meaningful to us that he feels there is a political upside to talking about that fact as he campaigns. We are a group that wants to raise the salience of the issue on the political left. The fact that joe biden as he was campaigning at the democratic primary, thought there was potential for that to register, that tells us there are some green shoots of activism, that engagement is higher than in past cycles. We are pleased by that. The second thing developing was the language in the platform. The language in 2016 on judges was about 39 lines long. Including embracing a call for structural reform of the courts, and including embracing a call for more professional diversity among federal judges, including a commitment to hire more labor lawyers and civil rights lawyers. The Biden Campaign has worked with groups like ours in including that language, so we appreciate that and consider that a step of progress. Host brian fallon of demand justice with us. We will go to a supporter of joe biden in albany, georgia. Caller good morning. Do you hear me . Host you are on, go ahead. Caller thank you very much. Love seeing the old photos. For the festivals you have given us and we really love the fact that we have the opportunity. Brian, this is the crust of the matter. Thank you for your the crux of the matter, thank you for your service. This section of the judiciary as it relates to Public School funding here, in the country, as laws, ass to consumer it relates to our health care right now in the court with the obamacare, trying to disavow the preexisting we must redirectionave the of a modern judiciary. Creatinghey have been gives they which cases, particularly on public education. Brown v. Ucation was board. They have been trying to take away the president of brown v. Thed, by going with vouchers, private school, charter funding, even though 40 nation havein the within their state constitution that we must provide a quality public education. That montana case they just brought forward is the decimation that they think they can set with precedents. Host what would you like our guest to address . Caller the fact that they want to give us the state and across Line Health Care funds health plans. That goes to the chamber. Who would be a member of those things . Not everyone. Host she put a lot out there. If you want to take something from that, go ahead. Guest one of the issues that the caller raised was education. We go around all the time trying to educate progressives about how important the Supreme Court is, to all of these issues they care about. Other issues in the reit in the news right now like Racial Justice in the wake of the George Floyd Killing and the resurgence of the black lives matter movement. A lot of people dont realize these cases arent decided by the Supreme Court but under the roberts court, you had a case 12 years ago now, there was a parents toffort by try and integrate schools. I noticed schools were reset creating just because were resegregating. The parents undertook an effort to say we are going to transport kids, allow parents to express a preference if they want to go to an integrated school, and we will raise some other factors, and the parents themselves in the School District decided they wanted to do that because they wanted their children to go and get educated in a diverse environment. The Supreme Court under john roberts struck that down. They said that was unconstitutional, for parents to voluntarily pick their School District. That is just one example. Ved know about Brown V Brown v. Board of ed. This Supreme Court has done damage to a lot of suppose that progressives hold dear. There has been a lot of coverage about how john roberts may be a moderate, but there was a lot of roberts brokehn with conservatives and sided with liberals but there were a lot of things that progressives should not be a happy about should not be happy about. We are already seeing states passed mortar coney and antiabortion laws and they are saying that the reasoning is means there, proposals that are very surveilled very severely curtailing abortion rights john roberts change the logic of abortion cases from 1992. John roberts is not a moderate. Under his chief justice ship, there have been a lot of setbacks with progressive priorities. We are trying to educate and inform people so they understand the highstakes of the Supreme Court. Host from a supporter of President Trump, paul is next. Caller good morning, how are we doing . Host fine, thanks, go ahead. Caller my question is this, and you may have already touched on it. A few weeks ago, President Trump signed a few executive orders, and one of those orders was to help people that are still laid off and get the extra 300 a week. It has gone on two months now and we have not seen a penny. Do you know what is holding that up . Host you might have been calling in our previous call in segment, unless brian fallon wants to take some of that. Guest sure. The caller is right. Pageantrya lot of about this big announcement the president made. The president lacks the authority to do what he said he was going to do Via Executive order. What he was seeking to do would require congressional approval. Democrats at the moment they didnt want to be seen as imposing it on technical grounds opposing it on technical grounds. They made their case that the president s proposal did not go far enough, that it could have gone further to help more people. The fundamental point was that it was unlawful. We have seen the president propose executive orders, acceptingthics rules, his nomination at a Political Convention on the south lawn of the white house. We have seen this president violate the law all the time. What worries us is the hallmark of these 200 plus judges that donald trump have installed, they seem to have less issue with all of this lawbreaking the president is engaging in. The president as early as today or tomorrow is expected to release a Supreme Court ifrtlist, telling voters another Supreme Court vacancy arises, one of the people being secular especially did on that list is naomi rao, and she and her brief time of the d. C. Circuit court became famous because basically, she had a handful of cases were each time, she breaks from her colleagues to say that President Trump can do no wrong, so she sided with him in the matter of congressional subpoenas for his tax returns, is former aide michael flynn, when it comes to the sketchy arraignment with Justice Department, bill barr has no, the bill said barr justice to parma can go for justicego department can go forward. They have very extensive abuse of executive power. Should joe biden release a list of potential nominees he is thinking about . Guest we would love that. Said he president has is considering it. He made a commitment to nominate the first africanAmerican Woman to the bench. We would love for him to go further and say some names he is considering. We think that would further highlight the contrast between the potential people he would put on the bench and the potential people donald trump would put on the bench. Weaxley have a list actually have a shortlist of our own, on our website. There are several women of color on that list, including a california state Supreme Court justice who worked in the Attorney Generals Office under the obama administration. We will be updating that list to add even more names, to show we think there are tons of very qualified africanamerican women for Vice President biden to pick like a federal judge from washington, d. C. Who formerly formerly served as a public defender. Host of womenle that joe biden would be able to pick from, and we would love it if prior to the election, he would put out some names. Host from michigan, a supporter of joe biden. Caller good morning. I would like to start by thanking you and mr. Fallon and all the other men and women it takes to bring us this program. You are doing us a great service. Mr. Fallon, i want to let you know i am one of them democrats that did not vote for mrs. Clinton. There is no reason going into why, but i wanted to tell you that i am glad to hear somebody approaching the Supreme Court. I must admit when Mitch Mcconnell pulled that stunt in 2016, that really gutted me. I just couldnt believe our senate would do that. That bothered me more than anything. I am glad to hear weve got somebody on the democratic side that is pushing for the Justice System to get straightened out. Important,gration is but it is not as important as strengthening straightening out our Justice System. We stepped into an area where you are going to end up having the wild west on steroids if we dont get this stopped playing with our Justice System. Theght not agree with all laws they have to support, but i do support the men and women, but we cannot play this game. Thank you, mr. Fallon. Host thank you. Caller ishink the representative of a large group of democratic voters, because as i mentioned earlier on the show, there were two poles in the last polls in the two last four weeks that show democratic voters are prioritizing super prioritizing the Supreme Court more than Republican Voters for the first time. I think one of the things that joe biden will have going for a sense of purpose and seriousness that even if i didnt support joe biden in the primary, i cant afford to be a thirdparty voter this time stakes of the the Supreme Court and other important things are just too high. In the last year, we have seen multiple reports about cancer recurrences for bader ginsburg. One way or another, donald trump could have 1, 2, three, maybe four hits in his second term if he wins reelection. John robertshink is something of a swing voter , we cansionally breaks kiss that possibility goodbye if donald trump gets one more justice on the Supreme Court. The ideological streak that is rising among judicial conservatives is a very extreme one. Their new favorite justice on the Supreme Court is Clarence Thomas who was even further to the right than Antonin Scalia ever was. No other Supreme Court justice in more clerks represented Donald Trumps judiciary than Clarence Thomas. This rising group of judges is more conservative than bush judges, Ronald Reagan judges. Host you wont be surprised from the trunk campaign itself, justin clark made comments about joe biden, if you were going along with this idea of expanding the Supreme Court, saying that joe biden would stack the federal bench with with dangerous visions of remaking the country and would foot and with rental and with threaten our fundamental freedom errorfree statement hits on it wasng, that for years the point made by conservatives, republicans that we want judges that are going to be estranged, want them to defer to congress, we dont want them to legislate from the bench, we want judicial modesty. What you have seen in recent years is the mask has come off. Clarence thomas is even further to the right than antillean scalia. One of the ways in which he was fairly radical is the last couple terms, he is starting to write opinions from the bench, writing concurrences where he openly calls on his colleagues and challenges his colleagues to abandon the principle of differing to the resident to president press indent precedent. He thinks that the standard for overturning precedents should be lowered. There last three terms, have been three cases where the Supreme Court with a conservative majority has overturned a longstanding precedent of the Supreme Court, at least 25 years or older. Onre has been a trend conservative justices led by Clarence Thomas to overturn precedent illegally, to the point where Stephen Breyer in the last couple years actually wrote an opinion, saying i worry about which president of the court could beat press indent ofpress indent precedent the court could be next. That cares to see a judiciary that is modest and deferred to congress and is not trying to step in to the breach to resolve challenges between questions of statutory interpretation, your problem should be with the conservative appointees of donald trump. Host lets go to a supporter of President Trump, linda in tennessee. Caller good morning. I would like to make a statement and ask a question. He didnt tell all about the because nancy pelosi wanted all the democrats to bailout democrat states and everything else. You know good and well that a Charter School is better. Do you send your children to the regular school . I would like to know that question. My kids started virtual kindergarten yesterday. Host a supporter of joe biden in georgia. I amr yes, africanamerican, and i wanted to ask, when obama tried to appoint that lady on the supreme thet, and i believe republicans did not even allow place, whencome in they first originated the Supreme Court or any Justice Courts for that matter, was it basically for the party to let the party agenda run, or was it for the people of the united states, for the court to be objective and unbiased . Where was you at when they did that to obama and what did your organization and was your organization around them . What is the advice you give to biden if they try to do that to him . Think the caller is referring to the Merrick Garland situation, which i talked about. Way whole situation in the it played out as one of the motivating factors that caused , he and icofounders organized this group in 2018, in part because we were so outraged about what happened with Merrick Garland and 2016. I would just say to the caller, in general, i think that these come to all or nothing and i think the judiciary has become too powerful compared to the other branches. Oftalk about certain types reforms like term limits and a code of ethics for the Supreme Court, but a lot of the other conversations happening that i am very interested in his proposals that would actually reduce the power of the judiciary visavis the branches of government. Has written in support of ideas that would go at it from that angle and he floated the idea of statutorily enacting a requirement that the Supreme Court achieve a super majority, 63, soust 54, but having a higher bar for the Supreme Court to overturn something that passed both houses of congress, because we have nine unelected people sitting on that Supreme Court for life. The way they get there tends to lead to some situations. Two of the last three with elected,residents got first time without winning the popular vote, and then they nominate justices that get confirmed by conservative majority senates that represent a minority of the population and thatn the country, is how people get on the court. They have justices that are whoalled by president s didnt win the popular vote, confirmed by a senate that represents a minority of the country. I think that we should look at reforms that try to go at that problem, and downsize the endall beall nature of the Supreme Court having the last word on every political question in the country. Host that is brian fallon, with the group, demand justice. Demandjustice. Org is the website. Thank you for appearing on the program. Guest thank you so much for having me. Thank you to all of your callers. Host coming up, a conversation with Heritage Action for americas Jessica Anderson. She will talk about the role her group is playing this fall in supporting republican candidates, and other issues, when washington journal continues. Cspan2 has top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. Coming up this weekend, saturday at 8 40 p. M. Eastern, carter page, former policy advisor for President Trumps 2016 campaign, on his book, abuse and power, how an american was framed and attempted coup on the president. Chief media correspondent Brian Stelter with his book hoax, donald trump, fox news and the dangerous distortion of truth. At 9 00 p. M. , on afterwards, Sarah Huckabee sanders, former White House Press secretary for President Trump on her book, speaking for myself, faith, freedom and the fight for our lives inside the trump white house. She is interviewed by Bloomberg News White House Reporter jennifer jacobs. Watch book tv on cspan2 this weekend. Washington journal continues. Host Jessica Anderson is the ticket of director for Heritage Action for america, here to talk about the role she will play in the fall election. Guest good morning, thanks for having me. Host we are familiar with the heritage foundation. Are you associated with that . Guest yes, we are the grassroots arm of the heritage foundation. Host is it independent . If so, how are you funded . Guest we are independently funded from the foundation. We can do more political advocacy work in the field across the country. We are funded by small dollar donors from coasttocoast to want to see conservative values and principles advocated for in washington. Host what specifically do you envision your group playing . Guest Heritage Action is committed to advancing conservative policies on the ground. We have been active since april 1 of this year in some battleground states including north carolina, pennsylvania, wisconsin, iowa, talking directly with swing voters about the issues we know they care about. How to reopen the economy, how to secure the border, what economic recovery looks like. Education, skills training, wage satisfaction, all of mind in these swing voters as they make their decisions for november. We talked to just nearly 3 million across this country, and we have told them if you want to advocate and advance conservative policy in washington, you have to vote your values and you have to romero that when you go into the voting booth. On thatbeen focused since april 1, and i think so far we have seen a hunger from the American People to talk about the issues at stake and to get past some of the personalities. Host when you say swing voter, what do you mean, and how do you determine that . Guest we spent all of 2019 doing a robust across the country in both battleground states as well as at the local congressional level. We measure swing voters based on their voting history, their likelihood to vote in the upcoming election, and specifically how they rate and value different policy issues. All of that then makes up a big data model that identifies where we should go and who we should talk to. Host in these conversations you are having, what responses are you getting about the two gentlemen in question, as far as this contest is concerned . Guest swing voters are very smart, and they are attuned to the personalities but they also recognize that policy drives the day. Many swing voters may not like President Trump, but they dont trust president biden. That is coming out very clearly, especially when you look at the issue of safety and security. Four out of five swing voters support the police, support Law Enforcement and want to see safety and security return to our streets. We have a conversation about this at their door, we realize this is top of mind for these swing voters. Economic recovery post covid, but also safety and security. Host what response for those that are involved in this project of yours gives when it comes to Security Issues that you described, not only that of President Trump but of joe biden . Guest we want to look at ways to uphold law order at the local level. One of the ways that we pivot when we are talking to the swing ers is, it has your elect to supporting Law Enforcement, have they made a commitment to uphold the rule of law and law and order in our communities, and we measure that when we look at those elected officials at the local, state and federal level that have signed Heritage Action, Police Pledge, a very simple pledge that says that Law Enforcement has a righteous job in this country into do that job, the need to be allowed to provide safety and security at the most local level, and so we have everything from state and local officials that have signed this pledge, to members of the house, just over a dozen senators in since we opened this pledge a week ago for americans to sign, we have nearly 70,000 citizens who have made this commitment of seeking lawn border, safety and security, law order, safety and security. Host how would you characterize President Trump and joe biden, when it comes to those Security Issues . At least the approach they take . Guest the concern i have with mr. Biden is he has been very clear that he is comfortable with reimagining or retooling the police. I think that is a very concerning policy position to take. Obviously his running mate has gone even further in her comments. While we saw some of bidens backtracking this last week, of saying i might support the police or i could be comfortable with them, we know that he is going to be beholden to the furthest leftleaning and liberal wing of his party. You look at aoc and her full throated endorsement of the defund the police movement. That is concerning and it should concern swing voters, because it recks the Community Level Law Enforcement to keep us safe. You contrast that with President Trump, who has offered the National Guard to go into states and quell the violence. He is providing resources, providing extensive policy work and Financial Resources through dhs to get into states and restore law and order, working with governors that will have him. You have a very clear contrast between someone who is a robust supporter of Law Enforcement versus somebody that is open to the conversation of reimagining or retooling the police, and that is concerning to me. Host we have seen joe Biden Campaign we have seen the joe Biden Campaign say they will contribute money to Community Policing and the like. Is that not something you can sign onto . Guest the bigger question is can swing voters hang onto that . Most are not interested in a Welfare Service provider or Community Activist answering the phone when they down when one. They want to know that a Law Enforcement officer in blue uniform is going to arrive to take care of their family, and assess any threat or danger in their household. Those sorts of statements we will see in the next 50 days from both President Trump and mr. Biden are going to reflect what is their plan for Law Enforcement . What is their plan to quell the violence and restore law and ofer, and anything short supporting police and the way that those who have signed our Police Pledge is going to fall short. Host Jessica Anderson, our guest, executive director of Heritage Action for america. If you want to ask her questions, 202 7488000 if you support joe biden. 202 7488001 if you support President Trump. If you are undecided or maybe support others, you can call 202 7488002. Lastnderson, it was just week when joe biden was in pittsburgh, he talked about these issues of violence, and brought matters back to the attention of President Trump. I want to play you a portion of what he said. [video clip] the simple truth is, donald trump failed to protect america. Now he is trying to scare america. Since donald trump and mike pence cannot run on their record, that has seen more american deaths to a virus, this than a nation suffered in every war since korea, combined. Since they cant run on their economy that has seen more people lose their jobs than any time since the great depression. Since they cant run on the simple proposition of sending our children safely back to school, since they have no agenda or vision for a second term, trump and pens are running on this, and i find it fascinating. Quote, you wont be safe in joe bidens america. The violence we are seeing in Donald Trumps america. These are not images of some imagined Joe Biden America of the future. These are images of Donald Trumps america today. If only helling you, was president that it wouldnt happen. If he was president. He keeps telling us if he was president , you would feel safe. He is president , whether he out whether he knows it or not. It is happening, it is getting worse. Because donald trump adds fuel to every fire. Because he refuses to even acknowledge that there is a Racial Justice problem in america. Because he wont stand up to any form of violence. Hes got no problem with rightwing militias, whites a premise its invalid and vigilantes with assault weapons, often better armed than the police, often in the middle of the violence. Because tens of millions of americans simply dont trust this president to respect the rights, to hear their concerns or to protect them. It doesnt have to be this way. Far it was lengthy, but as as the characterizations go, what is your response . Guest there is a number of statements within mr. Bidens comments that are fundamentally false. First, you look at the cities that are overcome with anarchy and chaos right now. You look at portland, seattle, chicago. You look at cities like austin that are taking measures to defund the police, you know that those are cities run by democrats. You cant argue with the facts of their partisan makeup, and the reality is that you have democratcontrolled cities and democratcontrolled states that are allowing anarchy, chaos, lawlessness, to go so far past a peaceful protest that it is laughable, and it really shows the hypocrisy of the moment. On one hand, you have governors saying lets keep the states locked down, lets not allow children to return to schools, and on the flip screen you have thousand person violent protests and riots and looting going on night after night, and you see the epocrates play out. For mr. Biden to blame that on President Trump i think is a mistake. He really should be turning to his democratic colleagues and encouraging them to step in, to allow Law Enforcement to do their job and to fight back and quell this violence. On the coronavirus comments that mr. Biden is making, i think it is interesting, the different tones that the fight for both our health and Economic Security around covid19 has taken, since the beginning of the year. At the beginning, we were overreacting, shutting down travel now republicans arent doing enough. When you look at Something Like when washington came together with the cares act, that passed the senate with 96 votes, Bernie Sanders and ted cruz voted for it, it was a bipartisan feet and got released to states quickly. While many conservatives did not like the increase in federal spending, what you saw was washington coming together. That sort of coming together will not exist. Democrats continuing to play theisan politics with livelihood and health stability of americans across the country is concerning. When we talk to swing voters they think President Trump can usher in economic recovery. They want to see that happen. They want the economy to reopen. Thats the only way to bring us back. Wise to speakd be with his democratic colleagues on getting serious about what sort of economic recovery this country needs. Host we have phone calls lined up for you. Stephanie is in brooklyn, a supporter of joe biden. You are on with Jessica Anderson of Heritage Action for america. Caller good morning. I am calling because i have concerns. We are being run by a man that doesnt care for nobody except himself. What is happening with this virus is that it is affecting people in minority communities. During thefinds out data who it was affecting the most that is when he stepped back and said i dont care, because its not affecting my folks. Its affecting the minority community. On sots this virus to go it can kill africanamericans and hispanics. That will be less votes for him. Host we will let our guest respond. Caller guest thank you for your call. This president has a record in support for africanamerican and minority communities. Precovid the Unemployment Rate for africanamericans at its lowest point in history. To call the president racist is a mistake. He supports everyone. I worked in his administration and saw this firsthand. He is working diligently each and every day to see that we have the required Health Precautions that include things like social distancing and wearing a mask. Also that we have the ability to have economic recovery. The people that have been most impacted from the looting, anarchy, and lawlessness in cities are of the Africanamerican Community and that is what the president wants. He wants to allow those businesses to reopen and to allow all of us to survive in an environment with true economic recovery and opportunity. Host from new york, this is jim, a supporter of President Trump. Caller hello . Am i on . President trump securing the border. Hes a pretty tough guy, he talks about what is on his mind, i am going to vote for him again, but i have not seen any nge act like sardines with people from central and south america. Im not prejudiced, im not racist. Im just telling you what is going on. Because these houses are packed, i dont know why he doesnt do Something Like eisenhower did in 1950, its not feasible but he could try. Host immigration issues overall, how does that chart with people you are talking to and what would be the response as far as President Trumps efforts on immigration . Caller emmett jennifer Immigration Reform is something conservatives and swing voters came about. What are the things that are needed for Legal Immigration and what is the strengthening we illegalsort the immigration occurring across our southern border. When you put these into buckets and separate them into two different issues the lights begin to go on and swing voters minds to understand we want to have an immigration process that is fair, that allows those wanting to come into this country legally to be able to come here to either join their families or seek a better life. We want it to be done legally. Conservatives have long against ilLegal Immigration and President Trump once the country to be a country of legal immigrants. When you contrast that issue with any effort that the left has and advocates for opening the borders or allowing ilLegal Immigration to run unchecked, that is where many conservatives and some swing voters split. They instead want to push back and see even more efforts to secure the border, to allow more judges that the border, more border patrol, and have a safe and secure border. Are needed fort ilLegal Immigration and securing the border, i think the president has done a good job to build out new miles of the wall. Another 300nveil miles over the summer. That is where no other president has been able to get done. Below the wall when you look at the enforcement procedures and the asylum judges and the actual troops and dhs facilities on the ground and you have better communication and coordination tools with federal officers and state officers at the border. First and foremost its important to separate the issue of legal versus ilLegal Immigration and look at them with clear eyes to understand we are a nation of immigrants. We are a nation of law order. You cannot have true Legal Immigration unless you enforce the laws and allow people to come here legally. Tommy, am kentucky, supporter of joe biden. Caller i have two questions. Callirst one is, who do we when we get the need to protect ourselves from the russians . How much shell likes mr. Putin. The second is, how come they can receive money for all the corporations to bailout any time they need it, all those factories, everything like that, but when it comes to the poor people we are at the bottom of the wrong of getting anything. Bottom of the rung of getting anything. Think the conversation around Economic Opportunity is the right one. What we have seen from conservative policy leaders and much of President Trump is they want to provide opportunity for all without having favoritism to a select few or special interests in washington. That is what the work i do is focused on, advancing conservative policies in spite of business as usual. When we advocate for bills likes tax reform and allowing people to keep more money or advocating for deregulation where you have businesses. Ions on efforts of deregulatory i think should be championed by the Trump Administration because i think they allow us to step further into Economic Opportunity for all americans. Issues around the economy, one of the other things that our conversation with swing voters has shown is that they have a h degree of when you mirror that with covid and what the last few months have shown of this misses having to shutter, Small Businesses having to close and airlines are laying off and furloughing people, there is real anxiety in voters in wanting to open up society. The work that President Trump is up i thinko to open is the right push. I thinkn any of that that for this country to move forward we have to have the opportunity to flourish. We cant do that with high regulations, we cant do that with high taxes, and we cant do that if we have businesses and schools closed. Host Jessica Anderson from Heritage Action for america. Joe in pennsylvania, a supporter of President Trump up next. Guest hello, can you hear me, pedro . Thank you, sir. Jessica, i would like to congratulate you for maintaining your composure after that woman that talked about President Trump wanting to kill black people. Reason why that virus is affecting minorities more so than white people has to do with your body and vitamin d and your ability to in just vitamin d from sunlight. This racism crab has to stop. I wish they would look at the big picture. Jessica, you go girl. Jennifer i think the big picture on all of this is that we do want to have a healthy economy and we want to have our economy opened up. Regardless of anything that has been said today i think that is the focus and it is certainly the focus on my mind as we head into the fall. You talk about the role of police and security at the beginning. We have seen george floyd and other Police Shootings, what is the role of these Police Shootings and Police Practices overall. Should this issue be taken up . Jennifer the house and senate have taken up policing reform, but its more of a local issue. Its important to separate and know what is going on on our streets. The anarchy and lawlessness we are seeing is so far behind what was peaceful protests. We have left that in our rearview mirror. You are seeing complete anarchy trying to dismantle our American Values and american institutions. They are trying to blame the police and blame Law Enforcement for the violence. For people like me that rely on Law Enforcement to keep my Community Safe and secure it is mind boggling that these protests have been against the police. Hadconversation that can be of sensible Police Reform at the local level should take place, but at the local level. It should be specific to cities and counties where they know their people best and they know any trainings that need to be had. The conversation going on right the conversation going on right now is inspiring this lawlessness to continue. It certainly concerns those swing voters. Four out of five support Law Enforcement and they want to see our Law Enforcement the allowed to secure our streets and provide safety and security in a meaningful way. Host which states are you targeting . Caller north carolina, pennsylvania, iowa, and wisconsin with on the ground canvassing or phone banking efforts. We have a footprint in florida, georgia, south carolina, arizona , utah and a few other states. We think of activism into prongs. Where are the swing voters we can talk to about the issues. We can bring them into the conservative movement for the longterm with the hopes they share our vision for American Values and they share our vision for american institutions and a Strong Economy and a sound economy. Where do we have grassroots activists everywhere. We have activists in Nancy Pelosis district and aocs district. We believe conservatives are present in all parts of this country and they want to hold their member of congress accountable. They are waiting for their representative to step aside. We call those our sentinels. They are on the front line of the fight for freedom. Host i shouldve clarified in my last statement, george floyd was not a shooting, but there were other shootings. Joe from maine, a supporter of joe biden. Hello. Hello, jessica and pedro. I have to ask you, jessica. You just call joe biden a liar on his plan. Donald trump said two months ago he is going to put health care on the table right now before the election. Dont you think thats a lie . There is no health care. The guy has lied 20,000 times. You say that biden is a liar . What is your answer to that . What you getting paid to be here . You are a lobbyist. You are no expert on the economy, you are no expert on covid. You are a mouthpiece. Host we will leave it there. She is our guess that we have invited. Go ahead. Jennifer we have to look specifically at the issues that Americans Care about and that is what my organization seeks to do. We want to talk about the issues that come up around our family kitchen table. What is going to happen with our health care . On Health Care Reform you have seen President Trump do a number of big moves that we would have liked to see even bigger of course. States to allowing have Health Care Plans that are closest to the people where you have more choices and greater access. You have a close knit relationship with your doctor so you can come up with a Health Care Plan that makes sense for you and your family. Work that President Trump has done to allow Health Insurance to be coupled from obamacare is important and it allows more access and greater patient control. Seen on Thee Campaign trail with mr. Biden is a lot of tiptoeing around the issue of safety and security. He talks a big talk but he has said both things. He has said he is willing and open to reimagine or retool the police force. Everyone whooncern wants to see safety and security in our neighborhoods. When he says that that is more than rhetoric. It is trickling out and beginning to be in the bloodstream of policymakers. ; city like austin, texas little rock, arkansas; even dallas considering changes to their Police Department. That should concern everyone concerned about law order. Host joe biden has directly said that he is a get against defunding the police. Isnifer he also says he open to reimagining and retooling. Swing voters dont like President Trump but i think they cant trust president biden. We know that he will be beholden to the farthest left wing of his party and that begins to shock all of us. The moderate of joe biden that was 20 or 30 years ago when he was starting in the senate and first running is not the joe biden we see today. The two ision of important and i think swing voters recognize that and realize that a lot of policies such as safety and security and Economic Opportunity are at stake this november. They are going to vote accordingly and we want to encourage that they vote for their values and really in support of the American Values and institutions that we have come to love and cherish. Voter fromdecided daytona beach, florida. Talking to john, good morning. Say that ist, let me am a registered independent voter for the last 20 years. I dont support either party. I do have a threepart question i would like to ask. I would like to see how the current president would answer to make me vote for him to give him a second term. Was watching a tv news show when i saw the president say the virus would go away. Since then the only thing that has gone away are another 50,000 lives on top of another 120,000 that have already passed had already passed when he said that. I keep watching the shows and , imercials and political ads keep hearing the president or those that support the president say that President Joe Biden will have cities burn and streets will be filled with blood. All the things that are happening under his watch he is saying its almost like he is not its almost like he is saying its not happening now but it will happen when joe biden is elected. Thats the second part. You talk part is when about cities and states that one tight budgets that are the verge of Cutting Services and the Police Department department may be included. In a way that is defunding the police if this Current Administration doesnt give support to cities and states as they need. Host lets put those out there for our guest to respond to. Jennifer first we need to look at where we see the violence in these cities. We see them being run by democrats. You see in many cases in particular, the mayor of portland refusing in multiple letters any help from the federal government. He has refused help from the president , he has refused resources and finances going into his itty to quell the violence. When you see Something Like that how could you not believe this would be allowed to continue to be run unchecked if democrats were to take over in the oval office . I think what President Trump is talking about with the lawlessness that he says is running amok he is speaking to democrat run cities that are not sending in Police Forces and refusing federal resources. Aseconomic recovery as well the Health Security around the issue of covid 19, what we see right now where you have a fractured rollout of schools. My children went back to school this week, they are part Digital Learning part in person. Sevenyearolds are Wearing Masks and fiveyearolds are concerned about catching the coronavirus. Our schools are not really allowed to reopen although the testing continues to show that children are least susceptible to the virus. Play that is going orwhere democrat states democrat run cities are allowing schools to stay closed. That is concerning to swing voters and conservatives everywhere. We have been advocating for schools to open in a safe and smart way that allows the teachers to be safe and allows students to be safe. Testing,rioritize making sure any schools that are in hotspots are the ones that moved a virtual. We dont need this onesizefitsall Coronavirus Response where we know different parts of the country are affected by the virus in different ways. When you look at the role the Coronavirus Task force has been taking you see that it has a very targeted, measured approach to get released where it is needed the most on the health side. On the economic side of the issue when we talk with swing voters we are talking with they actually respond that the economic issue is more important than their health. They are watching their Small Business be closed. They know retail is not opening, restaurants are not opening or opening slowly. We have a shot at an economic recovery and bring back Unemployment Rates and a Strong Economy is to allow businesses to reopen. The policies that are needed to put that in place cant just be sendingndaids of more unemployment dollars. We have to allow businesses to reopen, taking into consideration where the hotspots are and testing and any measures that need to be taken to keep people safely want to take the virus seriously, but there are ways that dont play partisan politics like we are seeing right now from these democrat governors. Host this is from maryland. A supporter of President Trump, dennis. Caller how are you doing . Jennifer hello, dennis. Caller a couple brief comments. One of your previous callers was talking about giving money out to Different Countries and having to have stimulus. Mr. Pedro youe can remember when obama came into office he had to bail out wall street and they did bail out wall street. They bailed out the richest people in the country. Billion dollars went to big wall street firms and the American People let it happen. It is our fault because we allowed it to happen. We dont vote the right way no more. People need to vote party lines. Heres why i voted for trump. A lot of people dont understand why trump got voted in. The republican voter was so mad at the Republican Party, thats how donald trump got in and thats the proof. He got in because he was Something Different and we wanted Something Different other than people that have been there 30 to 50 years. I dont know if anyone agrees with me but we have to have term limits. A cant have people making career out of being a political person host thanks, dennis. Jennifer i dont think anyone would argue that donald trump came to disrupt. His entire slogan was to drain the swamp. Visualization in the second week of the Republican National convention, you had these incredible stories from americans across the country. Whether you have an immigrant talking about his story of coming to america legally or you have the two women who are Small Business owners talking about the need to open up their business in spite of covid and to usher in the economic recovery for their area. That is a sort of visualization that was on display at the rnc and goes to the heart of President Trump. He says he is about making america great. He has come to washington and been here the last three and a half years the National Security and work on immigration and securing the shows he isof that willing to come to the table and make a deal. One thing that i think is worth mentioning when you talk about state bailouts and the role the federal government has had, the senate is considering a bill this week on Covid Recovery in particular and one thing that is good in the bill is that it does not bailout states. That is an important step for conservatives to make in that we are not going in and bailing out states that have bloated budgets and things that are unrelated to the coronavirus. The package continues a misguided pattern of overspending by the federal government and it certainly is not targeted or temporary in the way conservatives would like, but the element of not bailing out states is worth celebrating and acknowledging that the president realizes that federal spending has to get under control. You cant continue to have bailout after bailout. I think the collars sentiments are the right one that many have elected President Trump to come here and do a job that others could not do and to try to get the best deal for the American People. Ost many of those states have attributed their Current Situation to covid, shouldnt they get assistance . Jennifer they have. The cares act provided money for states with budget shortfalls because of coronavirus. The cares act provided a big lump sum to states to allocate directly for those needs. Any state bailouts at this point are further than that, they are going to the backlog of pension bailouts, mismanaged budgets. In a state like illinois or new york that has seconds long decades long mismanagement of their finances and they are trying to use the crisis of covid19 to take advantage of the federal tax dollar and that is a mistake that all conservatives should oppose. Host edward from florida, a supporter of joe biden. Caller good morning, thank you for cspan. We are talking about law and order. Trump, this isd the law and order president who has more people indicted or convicted in his administration then several other administrations combined. If hes the law order president we talk about law order in the cities that have issues with rioters. That is true. , blackl point out antifa lives matter members. Talk about this. How come you never hear from the republicans about the proud boys and the White Supremacists who are mixing it up and going into cities also causing issues . Both sides are wrong, anyone is wrong that does that. Looting and writing is not right. Thetalk about Defunding Police at the local level. That is part of the problem. Local Police Forces have not addressed the issues of minority communities in the right way. I dont understand how you dont see where the federal government in many cases, not all, has been trying to make some reforms. You guys are wrapping yourselves in the flag and if you are not a republican, if you are not a conservative, you are unamerican if you speak out against the ills of this nation. Host edward, thank you. Jennifer anarchy from any side of the il is what should concern all voters. I think the reaction that swing voters have to this particular flavor of anarchy going on in this country is that they are concerned with the chaos and that the violence has not been quelled. They are concerned for a lack of safety if they walk out in their about theiro daily lives. The violence that is far more than looting or bashing windows. You saw in kenosha two weeks ago a whole lot of cars lit on fire. That sort of anarchy, lawlessness is what swing voters are concerned with and its what we at Heritage Action are concerned with. We think the best way you can push back against that is to support Law Enforcement and allow them to do their jobs and go in there and quell the violence and restore the law order where its needed. First and foremost we have to recognize that what this country is facing is not happening in a back room. Its a very specific anarchy that has a goal in mind, to upend american institutions, values, and all of that is on the line front and center. When we think of the stakes for this november and i think swing voters will vote based on the value system they want to see propelled further for the next four years this is rose, a supporter of President Trump. Caller there are so many issues i could talk about, every single one the people brought up. I want to bring up something very current. They just accuse the president of being antimilitary. I want you to remember that when obama was president he did not allow the military to shoot first. He made our soldiers walking targets of the enemies. In all the history of the world no leader, or no general or no person that runs the armies would ever allow their soldiers to stand still and to be a target of the people of the enemies. Toing bushs time he used put the tallies of the deaths of his soldiers at the bottom of the screen. Becameama president s and the deaths increase the tallies at the bottom of the screen were taken off because he did not want the American People to know his objective is to wipe out our own army. Host we will leave it there. Armyfer as a wife of an veteran i can say that supporting the troops and that volunteer to go out of their way to protect america abroad is one of the noblest professions and its not without sacrifice and its not without putting country first. Many times putting country before family or professional aspirations. I think all of us as americans can unite and be proud of our country and be proud of our troops abroad to support our soldiers when they are in harms way whether thats defending us from foreign enemies abroad or doing the hard work that the National Guard does here in the u. S. President trump has been very clear in his support for the troops. Very clear in his support for American Veterans as well. He has done that by every call he has made to a fallen soldier to passing and signing bills that have been passed from congress that support veterans. I think we should look at his record before we look at any that has a clear partisan name. Host a comment made in that atlantic story and other places as well with disparaging comments about john mccain. How do you square with that . Jennifer you have to look past the rhetoric. Swing voters are trying to look past the personalities at play with both mr. Bidens forgetfulness and his lack of energy and anything that President Trump says that swing voters may not like. They are trying to make decisions based on policies. Who will provide the best opportunity for the economy. Who gets us out of endless wars. Who provides smart federal Spending Solutions . Those are the questions that are front of mind. Safety and security is up there with the rest. Host Jessica Anderson with Heritage Action for america. Their website is heritageaction. Com. Thank you for joining us. Jennifer thank you for having me. On capitol hill about another spending package. A proposal from the senate for 500 billion. We want your thoughts on the idea of congress approving more coronavirus spending. 202 7488000 for those of you who are unemployed. A02 7488001 if you are Small Business owner or employee. 202 7488002 for all others. We will have that conversation and take your calls when washington journal returns. Record is a roll call of the most catastrophic but trails and blunders in our lifetime. Career onis entire the wrong side of history. Our current president has failed in his most basic duty to the nation. He has failed to protect us. He has failed to protect americans. That is unforgivable. The first president ial debate between donald trump and Vice President joe biden is at 9 00 on. Eastern on cspan september 29. Cspan, the cspan radio app, or online at cspan. Org. Host i hearing taking a look at the topic of vaccines. We will take you to that when this program is finished. Until then, the issue of coronavirus spending. On the proposal from the senate side, the total cost of 500 billion. Part of that would go to 300 weekly Unemployment Benefits until december, a 10 Million Dollar grant for the Postal Service, 16 billion dollars for testing and contact tracing, 105 billion for schools, a third of that for those participating in in person learning, and Liability Protections and changes to the ppp. That figure contrasts greatly with the one proposed by the house, but the overall idea of spending or additional spending by congress on Coronavirus Relief will be the topic for the remainder of our program. Here is Mitch Mcconnell from yesterday talking about the proposal. Here is what our bill is not. It is not a sweeping trillion dollar plan to rebuild the entire country in republicans image. It does not contain every single relief policy that republicans ourselves think would help in the short term. I am confident the democrats would feel the same way. The American People dont need us to keep arguing over what might be perfect, they need us to actually make a law. Democratic leaders are perfectly free to come out here and keep up their playbook from these away in bad blast faith, called names, and complain about the infinite number of things this proposal does not do. Theirthey will bring back multihundred billion dollar proposal and say it is too small or too skinny even though democrats just had a piecemeal bill for the Postal Service that ignored everything else. A piecemeal bill for the Postal Service that ignored everything else. Can do all of that if they want to come i understand they have been criticizing this bill today before they read it, before it had even been put out. More of this would reinforce that only one side of the aisle seems to want any bipartisan outcome at all. To tell in washington whether somebodys and goal is political posturing or getting an outcome. Whatay or another democrats do will be revealing. Host from winstonsalem, north carolina, she is unemployed, starting us off. Caller one thing about the unemployment. Trump is stopping the unemployment. E wont let you get it not only that. When he gets angry he on oysloyees the gut unempl the government. Who would do that as a president , put people on unemployment predictably . In south carolina, piedmont, a Small Business owner. Caller hello, yes. President andhe the congress definitely need to give more funding to the Small Businesses because they are having the hardest time holding onto the business. Ofy do not have stockpiles back that they have put like the bigger organizations do and of course the larger organizations need a bailout so keepcan keep working and everybody else working which will bring in taxes, which will bring in money to go out into the economy. Those Small Businessmen and women, it is necessary for them. Host you identify as a Small Business owner. What is your business . I have a grating company. Host what does that mean . Caller heavy equipment. Host gotcha. Claudia from tallahassee, florida on our line for others. Caller yes. , in my view,ns forar to have more concern businesses, however businesses have reserves, especially these Large Businesses they have reserves and they can withstand this pandemic and the fallout from the pandemic much more in a much more Sustainable Way than the average citizen. ,eople are losing their homes they are losing jobs that wont ever come back. Should beus i think used mainly to protect those people who are most vulnerable. Those people who have lost their jobs, those people who are hanging onto their jobs by the skin of their teeth. These are the people that the stimulus should have more of. Host what about Small Businesses . Caller Small Businesses which hire more people than anyone else. These Small Businesses do need help, but i think in that first stimulus the big Business People came out and took most of the money that could have been used by Small Businesses. Small businesses probably need to be targeted in this stimulus package as well. Host lets hear from a Small Business employee from virginia. Hillary, go ahead. She hung up. Lets go to wanda in chattanooga, tennessee who is unemployed. Caller good morning. Hopefullyke to say they are leaving money for those who are not employed. They do pay taxes on everything like everyone else. Children you should be able to receive funding. There is no help for the children who are at home during covid. There is no help for the parents who are at home during covid. We need help. On Social Security can withdraw benefits from covid , a person that has children that is not employed should also be able to do the same. We do not have personal protection in our homes or when we get ready to go shopping. We dont have anyone on our team. We would like to have someone to becausewith our bills here in chattanooga, tennessee nobody is able to help us with our bills. To do volunteer work before covid. I cant do volunteer work host a couple senate related stories. From the wall street journal taking a look at this coming election and what might happen if the Senate Changes control. Republicans control the senate 53 to 47 but i have a larger number of vulnerable seats to defend. Republicans are defending on a vulnerable top tier of senate seats. Blue or purple states all see a potential biden when area the second tier includes red leaning montana, iowa, georgia and to a lesser extent kansas. Whoama senator doug jones faces former football coach Tommy Tuberville is seen as the most vulnerable incumbent in the country. The michigan seat held by Gary Peterson is seen as competitive. When it comes to senators themselves, senator ben sasse in an oped, make the senate great again. The proposal he is advocating for when it comes to the senate and what changes should be made. He starts with cameras. He said cut the cameras. Most of what happens in Committee Hearings is an oversight, its showmanship. Make makes speeches to blast across media. They are not trying to improve legislation, they are competing for soundbites. When it comes to the number of Standing Committees in the senate he says they should be removed saying the senate should create twoyear committees devoted to making Real Progress on one or two big problems. The committee should draw power from their accomplishment based on what Industries Need before the gavel. When it comes to reelection efforts from senators that senator proposing a constitutional amendment to limit every senator to one turn. We should double it from six years to 12. Senators who dont have to worry about shortterm popularity can work on longterm challenges. There is more that if you want to read it in the wall street journal. From corpus christi, texas, a retired person. Caller as we are making this discussion we need to think about the consequences. Debt in debt exceeds the gdp for the First Time Since world war ii. Bubblesreating these and distortions that will eventually blow up. If you read the history it is littered with the records of great empires that split themselves. Rome, they had a few crazy emperors. We might have one of those ourselves. The United Kingdom who lost their empire after world war ii because they came out bankrupt and lost their reserve currency status on the pound. I think that shortterm consequences may look good, but longterm it is going to be disastrous if we keep spending like we are. Host an unemployed person in miami florida. Teresa, you are next. Caller good morning. I would like to say god bless all of us. Who ever is the president has a long job, i have a job. There is so much to do and everyone has their own opinion. Host when it comes to additional spending by the senate or congress on coronavirus, where you fall . Caller [indiscernible] joe ine will go to kathleen, georgia on the line. Caller what i want to say is, it doesnt make no difference if they approve or disapprove it. As a people we are too far to the left, even if they approve it it wont become nothing and if they dont approve it. We as a people have gotten so far to the left, we have to come back towards the center as a people. Tot how does that relate the discussions about coronavirus spending . Caller it doesnt make no difference. As a people we are too far to the left. Host what do you mean by that, i dont understand what you mean. Caller as a people we are off centered in life. This is not our world. This world belongs to god. It doesnt belong to us. Host that is joe in kathleen, georgia. Modernhealth care. Com website, look at coronavirus spending and state medical law situations. Spending cuts to schools, childhood vaccinations, job training programs, legalizing marijuana, borrowing from rainy day funds and reducing government worker pay, those are action states are considering to shore up their finances amid a sharp drop in tax revenue caused by the economic fallout from the covid19 pandemic. With Congress Deadlocked on a new Coronavirus Relief package many states have not had the luxury to see whether more money is on the way. Some that have are growing frustrated by the uncertainty. A long article, modern health care. Com is where you can find that article. We go to stand in houston, texas on the unemployed line. Caller i just wanted to comment. You had a caller from ohio who was not getting the extra 300 President Trump authorized. Here in texas we have a republican governor, we are getting the extra 300. Anything would help. I am so upset with all this bipartisanship. Its almost like a war. If the democrats would instead just give the people what they need instead of trying to get everything for themselves, thats all i want to say. Host that was stand. Here is the senate, Chuck Schumer talking about what was proposed by the majority and his response to it. Sen schumer we all know what is going on here. Leader mcconnell had to create the most paltry, partisan, cynical bill because he has 20 members of his caucus who dont want to support anything by his own admissions they want zero dollars. Leader mcconnell keeps whittling down the republican proposal until he can find something, anything that he can claim his party supports. He had to throw in the right wings favorite goodies to sweeten the pot. To even approach the number of to make its caucus look like a republican bill with broad support. Leader mcconnell knows that this bill wont pass. He knows most of his members dont want it to pass. Amazingly, he seems happy with that situation. This is one of the most cynical moves i have ever seen in the middle of a pandemic when americans are crying out for relief. The political exercise on the republican side. There is no relationship to the needs in our country. With ourthing to do states, workers, families opening up schools safely or what healthcare care workers really need. It has everything to do with finding the bare minimum that Senate Republicans can support. Facing the greatest economic crisis in 75 years and the greatest Health Crisis in a century, leader mcconnell is not searching for bipartisan progress, he is looking for political cover. Next from new mexico on our line for others, good morning. Caller good morning. That thet is i think congress should approve the corona package for the American People. I am retired twice, i dont work, but i still pay taxes. The conservatives are always talking about the budget and how we are going into debt. This morning when i got up and looked at the news it said that the Justice Department is going to represent president donald where a lady case alleges he raped her. We caninking, if represent him in our tax dollars that are going to that, why cant they approve a budget for the American People . Illinois, as from Small Business employee. Go ahead. Caller how are you . There it appalling that is no oversight for the first 2 trillion that was spent. What they are looking to do is spend more money and funnel it out to their contributors. We could have been through this, we could have been over it, but we have the president attacking democratic states, telling them not to wear masks and the republicans are really just pushing the issue. Host when you say they are funding their contributors, who do you mean . Caller the Large Businesses that are basically getting the it toin and not using rebuild the economy, rebuild the country. There is no oversight. They basically blocked it. Host from james. James in san jose, california on our unemployed line. Caller good morning. This is james from california. I am unemployed. We are not talking about politics in this kind of chaos and the pandemic. Unemployed people, tell our president this is not the money of biden, this is the money of drum. We need relief badly. To an appointment, but they are spending billions of dollars on politics. Its nonsense. In this time they must help the people like us. ,lease tell these politicians democrats, republicans, this is nonsense. Host james in california. A couple of campaign events. Joe biden today visiting michigan as reported by the detroit news. He is looking to undercut the president s victory there four years ago. The Biden Campaign announce the trip last week and he will speak at 1 15 and his plan to ensure the future is made in america by american workers. Stay close to our campaign website. You can see the event there and on cspan. The nbc you go to affiliate in las vegas, they are reporting about the president s Upcoming Trip to nevada including stops in reno and las vegas. He will show up sunday, but will his first appearance in las vegas in february set up a showdown with local officials . The issue is nevadas covid19 guidelines that keep large gatherings to 50 people or less. The governor says he wants to work with the trump campaign. Part of the visit will include a high dollar fundraiser, reported by Bloomberg News. Pat in arkansas on our line for others. Caller thank you. My biggest problem, i keep watching the senate, my biggest problem is they dont talk to each other. They talk at each other, but nobody talks to each other. When the time comes we need to vote them out, put some new people in there and get rid of the whole network. Pelosi needs to go, schumer needs to go, mcconnell needs to go, sender lahey needs to go. We need some help. I am a disabled vietnam era Womans Army Corps vet, i could use some extra. The only choice i have is to put things on my credit card. If they want to send me more money i would be happy to take it. The time has come. They have to talk to each other and stop talking at each other. Host host if i may ask, how much have you put on the card . Caller a little over 3000 on there. Andd a dog that got sick that cost me 700. I had to put new tires on my car. That was another 400. Stuff that has to be done so you dont have problems down the road. Host lets hear from stephen san diego, california. Toler i dont think we need approve any more spending, we need to open up. This is ridiculous. You have everyone making pelosi cant is case in point gets to use a Small Business to do her hair but they cant open to do business and make money. She is claiming open up, get the kids back in school. The federal gyms are open where they can work out, they have not taken a pay cut all of these politicians, but private gym owners cant run their gyms. We are doing all this host what is your business . Caller i finance Small Businesses. Host do you own the company or are you an employee . Caller an employee. Process i talked to Small Businesses all day every day about financing expansion in projects. Everyone is fearful because the goalposts keep moving. You take a restaurant, when they say they can open back up and invest money into purchasing inventory and then we see a spike in cases where we are seeing huge false positives. At the nfl, 70 seven players tested positive and they were all false positives. When i governor does that and says we cannot open the restaurants, what will the restaurant do with all those perishable goods . You cant hold that inventory and sell it later. Take the restrictions away. Host lets hear from debra in mesa, arizona. Caller hello. In congress all of the extras that they add into like itlls, they talk is just all for the people with coronavirus. At the index of the bills there are Different Things that have nothing to do with the virus added into it cutting it down like you said earlier, that they took the post office piecemeal, why cant you just do the small things right now and battle against the bigger things later . Been known always for putting extras in. This is not a time for the extras. This is the time to debate. Host when it comes to matters has ageting, zach followup tweet saying the treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin confirming the white house spoke with Senate Appropriations chairman telling them shelby and his staff are Holding Meetings to get a clean continuing resolution and things are moving forward productively. Continuing to follow all in on zach cowan twitter feed. Roy from arkansas who is unemployed. Caller yes. I am unemployed. To stop actinged like little kids. People are struggling. They need to go on and do something because i feel like they need to quit acting like little kids. Myyre acting like this is playground and you cant play on it. I think i need to get something done because people tina in will go to oregon. Hello. Caller i dont think people realize that one of the executive orders trump did stop the payrollto tax and that will discontinue disability by the end of next year as well as Social Security. He has plans to get rid of both of them and all they are doing now is trying to give no liability to businesses. Last year trillions went into the stock market. If hel be way worse off is reelected and has free reign. In oregon. Is tina some situations going on this week want to follow along what has been going on and what has been said by the candidates or legislators involved, go to our website at cspan. Org. Inwill go to karen connecticut on our line for others. Hello. , had wei just feel that listened to bernie and if we had health care for all we all would have been in such a better state than we are in now. Allould also give us economic equality because we could take it out of our jobs and start our own businesses if we wanted to. I have an adult daughter who is and i feel that if she her Health Insurance, if it was healthcare for all, she would not have to go on a Welfare Program from our state and she could work and have her own living. Host we will leave it there. It is a little bit past 10 00. We will take you now to the Senate Hearing set to take place on the Senate Health education and Pensions Committee featuring the National Institutes of health, dr. Francis collins and Surgeon General jerome adams. They will testify on the topic of vaccines. That is it for our program today. Another addition of washington journal comes your way tomorrow. Committee on health, education, labor and pensions will come to order. I would like to welcome everyone and go through some administrative matters that we do at the beginning after consulting with the attending physician, the sergeant at arms,