Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 20140105

Congress be doing about immigration . As always, you can join in on the conversation to social media, send us a tweet at http twitter. Com cspanwj, send us an email, journal cspan. Org , or join us on facebook. We will focus on immigration this morning. Profiles in caution is a cover story on cq weekly. What does it mean into the future of any bipartisan deal this year in congress . Insight on the issue of immigration. There is this jane te last year, john boehner addressed the , talking about taking a piecemeal rather than comprehensive. [video clip] the American People are skeptical of comprehensive bills, frankly, they should be. The only way to make sure that these work this time is to address these complicated issues one step at a time. By doing so we give the American People confidence that we are dealing with these issues in a thoughtful way and a deliberative way. Makeconfident that we can progress on this important issue. That was the speaker of the house, late last year. The president will be addressing immigration and a number of other domestic agenda items during his state of the Union Address. Story,ociated press which was found in a number of newspapers, including syracuse, new york, had this headline eyes on the prize in 2014, looming over everything is the congressional election. The president s last chance to stock capitol hill with democratic lawmakers. For republicans, this is an opportunity to seize control the senate, rendering the senate rendering the president a lame duck during his final years in the white house. That was the ap story this morning from the syracuse newspaper and in newspapers around the country as well. Jerry, joining us from columbus, ohio, independent line. Good morning. Thank you for taking my call. I wanted to mention that my maternal mother and grandfather came over from scandinavia in the 1890s. My maternal grandparents came in the 1850s. There is no reason, except people that are against a people, whether they are from mexico or wherever they are from, that they do not pass an immigration bill. Is just north of the kentucky line, former slave state, he is not going to do anything that is going to help because he is scared to death of getting the tea party after him. By the way, i wish you would get Franklin Schaeffer on the program. [spells name] he was a conservative republican, but he says there are not any now. Born in switzerland, he helped whats his name, john mccain, his campaign two years ago. The ways fed up with that the party is being run. Thanks a lot, have a wonderful day. Host thank you for the call. Gary, columbus ohio. The u. S. Congress of catholic bishops issued a statement to parishioners. Here is a portion of what is being distributed to churches around the nation. Congress should examine the root causes of migration, like underdevelopment and poverty in third world countries. The antidote is Sustainable Economic Development in those countries. Migration should be driven by choice, not by necessity. The next call is bill, for michigan, on the line for independents. Good morning. Caller code good morning. That is the key to the whole thing. Legal immigration. We do not need more bills, we need to enforce the laws that are on the books. Enough terrorists taking our jobs as it is in this country. Enforce the laws on the books. If they are illegal, we need to kick them out of here. Of illegaling immigration, that is the topic of the piece that we found late last year by janet hook. According to a study, there are 11. 7 million Illegal Immigrants in the u. S. The number of Illegal Immigrants may be on the rise again. The new estimates from the most recent status recent statistical data shows that the population did not climbed, despite record numbers of 400,000 deportations each year with steppedup border enforcement by the white house, as well as laws to crack down on illegal immigration in arizona and georgia. That story this morning is from the New York Times website. Rene, independent line, good morning. Caller i do live in los angeles and an africanamerican. So disgusted by congress, this governments lack of enforcing immigration laws. We are being overrun by Illegal Immigrants. I feel like i am in mexico. They are coming over here and getting free education, health care, welfare a lot of them. I am frankly sick of it. I feel that the president , if he does not get what he wants, will sign another executive order. If he does, i think he needs to be impeached. That is all i have to say. Republican line, pennsylvania, bob, good morning. Caller thank you for taking my call. I think that all the members of congress, democrats, republicans, independents, should look up the word illegal in the dictionary, write it down, and send it to the president. Because he seems to have a misunderstanding of illegal and legal immigrants in this country. He should be made to enforce the laws that are on the books. Thank you. Peggy for the call. This piece comes from ira mehlman, townhall. Com. Republicans follow the money or their conscience in 2014 . Follow the money, that is the sure way to trace the roots of political disaster. Mass that hasry shaken the country over the last century, avoiding a political disaster if john boehner decides to force through a package of immigration bills that includes amnesty for illegal aliens and massive increases in illegal immigration. The primary reason that they might move, perhaps the only reason, is money. Lots and lots of it. Granting amnesty to millions of people who broke our laws and occupied millions of jobs within the economy, consuming billions in public resources, failing every test of good public policy, not to mention basic common sense. Katherine, democratic line, ohio, good morning. Caller first i want to say i am probably the biggest fan of c span. I watch everyday. My comment is clear. People who hire people who they know are here illegally, i do not want to call them illegal aliens, they are people who came here to do a job, but if you are an employer and you have chosen to hire someone who is undocumented and you do it because you can higher than cheap, then what should be done is they should be prosecuted, they should be fined 10,000 for each person that they hire, and they should be given one year in state penitentiary. The minimum wage should be 15 per hour, that way a person who purposely hires people who they know are undocumented, they know that if there is a cost that things will pay, change. John boehner is not far from where i live and i have absolutely no confidence that this congress will ever do obamacare. Her than thank you very much. Have a good day. Host thank you for the call. Next is john, from sebring, florida. Republican line. Caller the 14th amendment, these illegals that have these kids, they are not citizens of the United States. The 14th amendment was about slaves in africa and slaves coming over here from africa and having the rightofway in here. The rightofway to be citizens. They have interpreted this law all wrong. Second, if they want to make any laws, look at mexicos laws. They put them in jail, not in their country. There is an amendment in this country, like 40 million. If they want to write another law, put the book but the board room in there and protect , making sure that it is protected. For the callou from sebring, florida. Time magazine, looking at 2014, the kissing on janet yellen, expected to be confirmed this week as the next fed chairman. Ben bernanke officially steps down at the end of this month. The pieces is called the bank stops here. Also available online. Abc news and nightline, focusing on what happened to those who crossed tried to cross the order in did not make it. This is courtesy of abc news. [video clip] slab in the county morgue, where hundreds of unnamed immigrants and their desperate quest for an american life. It falls to this interpol a just, working among the dead, to tackle the huge task of identifying the remains of men and women who died crossing the Mexican Border over the past three years. It is important for us to think about the human cost of our border today. Keeps athe hall, she solemn locker room. People carry a lot of religious items with them, like rosaries. Many prayer cards. To me it indicates that you are planning for something where you need extra protection. She keeps a book filled with those hardluck cases. Cases where the family has called in and they have not found someone yet. They do not know what happened. Their son or their daughter calls, saying that their parents are crossing the border tomorrow and if they would call, but the call never comes. Host that was earlier this month on abc news, nightline. Looking at immigration and those who died trying to cross the border. The piece from the New York Times, pointing out that most Illegal Immigrants come from mexico. Good morning. Caller good morning. I will not get into the issue of illegal versus legal, but i want to say straight out that i think ,. Need to put immigrating in my opinion, i think that i came over in my immigrating period. I came overn because my mother got involved with an american g. I. To me, in my own observations of how things have been all along with immigration, america has not done a good job of integrating immigrants. From looking at all the ghettos that america has had. Thattoday you can see there is a lot of isolated pockets where every time immigrants are brought over here through like a war vietnam, for example. I went to vietnam. Right after that ended in 1971, 1972 thomas when i came back from over there, 1975, although the knees a vietnamese came over and were brought into california and now you have pockets of vietnamese it are still located in those areas. Same thing with koreans. Same thing with lots of other minority groups who came over here. I dont think we integrate these people very well. I dont think we welcome or make them a part of the country. Because of that, america is still this constant ambiguity of conflict between various races. I think that what we need to do is to stop immigration for a. Of time, let us settle down, let people eat them immigrated. Let us settle down to the point where we can feel that there is time again for immigration to occur again. Thank you very much for making your call from oregon. If you are just joining us are just tuning in on cspan radio, we are focusing on one of the agenda items that congress is whaty to debate, although it dubs remains to be seen. What do you think the house or congress should do on the issue of immigration . You can join in on the conversation by giving us a phone call. We have a line for those of you watching outside the United States. Tweet, also send us a http twitter. Com cspanwj, or an email, journal cspan. Org. You can also join us on facebook. Writing on the weekly standard, not only have republicans seen the recent poll opportunities, more than any bloc of voters in the country, they will not Pay Attention to republicans until Immigration Reform has moved forward with gop help. It is a door opener. The whole notion of republican decline is based on hispanics voting overwhelmingly democratic, but conservatives are opposing any change in the laws to legalize the status to enter this country illegally, even if brought here as children. Republicans do not need to champion the bill passed by the senate, but they would benefit from taking a step or two in that direction. That was fred barnes, with a look at the year ahead for republicans. Rhonda, joining us on the line for democrats this morning. Would first of all, i like to say good morning, america. I would like to say that we need to stop this. Number one, they come over here and they get on these federal Government Programs that are offered. Most of them, which i know for a in there being abused federal government and could be used in other ways. They also go to college and get education for free. They buy businesses. They cannot even speaking wish in our country. And that is just a few of the things i would like to say this morning. And that is all i am going to say, other than god bless america, the home of the land that used to be the home of the free. And that is all i want to say this morning. God bless america. God bless everybody here. Host thank you for the call. From louisiana. Onitical note, swearing and saturday, later this week, the governor elected to the commonwealth of virginia, the newislative in legislative session. This piece is called man in a hurry. Frantic pace ahead of the inauguration. Also, the passing in boston as tom and he know is stepping down as the mayor of boston. Letting go is hard, that is the story of the front page of the boston globe. Republican line, mount vernon, good morning. Caller hello . Host you are on the air. Go ahead, please. Caller they could solve the problem by putting the mayor to military on the border. Solving the problem real quick. , the entrepreneurs, shouldlthy entrepreneurs go to mexico in teach people business savvy. And get caughtco as an immigrant, they will throw me into jail for two years. Years. D it again, 10 but the government will not do this. All they want is the program. They have more programs than we have. Thank you for the call. Rebels and al qaeda forces from beirut, lebanon, battling al qaeda affiliate fighters across the Northern Syria zone in an attempt to stem the sudden rise and influence of extremists, who have staged attacks from baghdad to beirut, putting down an tribes, revolt by sunni some of whom have linked up with militants to force significant , battles onent days both sides of the border signaling the increasing ,roblems in iraq and syria emerging as one of the regions. Ost powerful players yesterday Iraqi Government troops fired shells into falluja , overrunning fighters. Massachusetts, independent line, good morning. On the issue of immigration, what does Congress Need to do . I wish that the people in the United States would open their eyes to the problem in front of us. Corporate america is taking all of our good jobs overseas for cheaper labor and they are bringing cheaper labor into the thatry to do all the jobs apparently americans wont want to do. They keep the wages depressed. People are not realizing that they are taking over every aspect of business. It has to do with Corporate America, and they own the government. Should take the immigration issue out of the governments hands and put it act in the states hands. People would not decide to give away all their jobs. As for the Companies Taking businesses overseas, you know what . All of these companies, they should be there should be a fine on these companies, there should be some way to take these countries they should have to live in the country where they bring their businesses. Host let me go back to the numbers that we referred to from the New York Times. 1. 73 million immigrants, 400,000 deportations, those are the most recent figures, though the number has declined in recent months. I mention that because there is a related story from the Orange County register website, talking about the trust act and the new year bringing the trust act into focus, the trust act insuring that people with mostly lowlevel nonviolent offenses are not held for deportation purposes, including minimum standards to allow for penalty convictions and those accused under certain circumstances. Allowing for holds for people with highlevel misdemeanor invictions within five years federal court. Looking at it Illegal Immigrants and the issue of convictions and charges against those in this country from the Orange County register. Republican line, good morning, welcome to the program. Caller i am a democrat. Theme Say Something to American People. I dont think they understand history. Texas, california, new mexico, at one time they were part of mexico. There is also the question of economic imperialism that we practiced for decades on south america and mexico. We have historically practiced discrimination against the people of mexico and south america. Justice,d any sense of than you understand that we need to step up and correct what we have historically done to these people. Thank you. One of our tweets from a viewer host again, this statement from the conference of u. S. Catholic bishops issued over the weekend. Is sandra,ext call joining us from napa, good morning. Good morning. Host you are on the air. Go ahead. Caller i wanted to say without sounding cruel that in one of the heavily house areas in california is here, we have thousands of hispanic illegals who work in our protected byare the wineries. They give them hundreds of thousands of dollars. They have a church that gives them sanctuary. And of course, our hospitals cannot turn them loose. Our neighborhoods we have for that even the law calls barrios. They should be not trample on here. The call. K you for vivian has this point on our twitter page host a close observer of congress, david hakeem, his pieces out this week Worst Congress ever . Not yet, says thomas mann, but so far there is very little competition. Let me just share with you what hakeemawkings rights writes. When the modern recordkeeping regime was instituted way ofgain, as a comparison, president obama signed 72 measures in the first year of this congress. Good morning, welcome to washington journal. Caller good morning, steve. Good morning to all the cspan listeners. What is going on here in atlanta, we have these employers, these labor brokers who bring the workers in, pacified through contractors. There is legislation in the where theyeorgia just refuse to let it out of the subcommittee. Are beingle misclassified and exploited by employers. It hurts legitimate businesses here in the states. They keep the beat. Until legislation comes into the Congress Passes it and the president signs it, we will continue to see this problem. You for the call. Viewers on the tweet host again, you can send us a tweet, [video clip] send us a tweet, http twitter. Com cspanwj. Agenda itemse being outlined later this month, the president returned midmorning today, the first lady turning 50 on january 17. We have a focus on immigration [video clip]. Immigration. [video clip] upif they want to chop it into five pieces, as long as all the pieces get done, i do not care what it looks like as long as it delivers on the values we talked about. They have been suspicious that all five pieces would get done. The key is what we do not want to do is simply carve out one piece of it, like agricultural jobs, which are important, but easier, frankly. Or the high skill jobs that many in your audience here would immediately want to do. Leaving behind some of the tougher stuff that still needs to get done. We will not have a situation in which one Million People are still living in the shadows, potentially getting deported on an ongoing basis. We will have to do it all. That conversation took place with the president late last year. Stephen dinan, writing about the issue of deportation from october of last year. Reporting fewer Illegal Immigrants in 2014 than at any time since the president took office. That, according to the center for illegal immigration studies. Coming down from a high of nearly 410,000 immigrants that were deported in 2012. Homeland the street Homeland Security does not dispute the numbers, but those call them preliminary, saying that there was enough money to deport about 400,000 Illegal Immigrants every. Ar that is from late october. Returning to your calls our question, what should congress do . John, elizabeth city, north carolina, good morning. Caller good morning, steve. Host good morning to you. Caller talking about [indiscernible] we have a whole [indiscernible] we all come from somewhere else. Anytime this president makes a deal, whatever it is, [indiscernible] let these people have a chance. They are hardworking people. Suppose the army had been on the border [indiscernible] back. G there is too much [indiscernible] going on in this whole system. We know where it is coming from. Coming from the Republican Party. [indiscernible] from america, which it is. Talking about speech right now. Host appreciate your call. Eliza is joining us from connecticut. Focusing on immigration, on the republican line, good morning. Caller good morning. My comment, we have a bigger problem here in america than just Illegal Immigrants from south america and mexico, coming here for jobs. The biggest problem that we have in america we do not know how chinese and Russian Military across those borders. We do not know how many of these military are in america, just waiting for the right time to invade this country. This is why the Second Amendment is very important, to protect. The liberals here have been targeting our Second Amendment freedom, our right to bear arms. People do not know the reasons that this country was great. It is not because we have a strong military. It is because we have more guns in america than any country, all countries of the world put together. Stella has this point going back to the issue of immigration way, later this morning we are focusing on the Lyndon Johnson war on poverty. It was 50 years ago this month since the new president focused on those domestic agenda issues in his state of the Union Address. What has changed, 50 years later . Newsmakers, following washington journal, 10 00 on the east coast, our guest this week is the ceo of Heritage Action for america. One of the questions is do the states help the gop . [video clip] 72 72 of the American People do not like the Republican Party. I am one of those right now. When most americans look at washington, d. C. , they see a game with pretend food fights making sure that wellconnected people who can hire a lot of lobbyists have the tax codes and spending in their favor. That if you are a Small Business person, entrepreneur, or someone who just wants to go to work, you do not have a voice in washington. But you are part of the game. You score the members. You are very much a part of the process, at least a lot of republicans say, stirring up things within the party that are not constructive. We ask the tough questions and we inform their constituents on the answers, which sounds a lot like what you do. We have opinions and pieces of legislation Going Forward. We thought that it was a bad deal when paul ryan and patty murray cut a deal to raise spending and taxes. We put out our argument for that and we told constituents. Was the ceo of Heritage Action for america. 7 00 for those of you on the west coast. The president , returning from one of his golf outings in washingtonurning to later this morning, obama to focus on income inequality in the new year. That is the reporting from scott wilson, writing from hawaii. Host here is more from the president s weekly address, which aired on saturday. Just a few days after christmas, one million of our fellow americans lost a vital economic lifeline. Temporary insurance that allows folks to make ends meet. Republicans went home for the holidays to let the lifeline expire. Many of their constituents were unemployed, and through no fault of their own, this decision leaves them with no income at all. We make this promise to each other because it makes a difference to a mother who needs help feeding her children while she is looking for work. It needs makes a difference to a father who needs help paying the rent while looking for the skills to get a better job. Denying them that chance is cruel. We are a better country than that. We keep the faith with our fellow americans until they start the new job. What is more, it actually slows down the economy for all of us. If folks cannot pay their bills or buy the basics, local businesses take a hit and higher for fewer workers. The independent Congressional Budget Office said that unless this is restored, we will feel the drag on Economic Growth this year. Than 2reating more million new jobs last year, that is a selfinflicted wound that we do not need. When Congress Comes back to work this week, the first bit of business should be making this right. If they passed the extension on Unemployment Insurance, i will sign it. For decades, republicans and democrats put ideology aside to offer some security for jobseekers, even when the Unemployment Rate was lower than it is today. Republican should make it their new years resolution to do the right thing and restore this vital Economic Security for their constituents right now. After all, our focus this year as a country should not be shrinking the economy, but growing it. Not narrowing opportunities, but expanding it. Doing everything we can to help our businesses create more of the good jobs that are glowing that more of the new jobs that our growing middle class requires. Host you can watch the president s weekly address and all of our program in the civic in the cspan video library. A tweet from joe, following up on an earlier call writinghn cranford, about what is next for congress this week for cq weekly. A series of hunts, dodges, and weaves. That is the name of the piece. Already labeled by broad swaths of the public as the Worst Congress ever, speaking to the missed opportunities, too high expectations, and a business pretty much as usual host mike jones has an opinion piece from tulsa, focusing on immigration, calling it a new year, saying that hope springs internal for real chances for federal Immigration Reform with landmines along the way that could low up any effort to repair the system that has been. Roken for decades they have spoken publicly about hammering out an immigration bill. Bill. Billy, independent line, good morning. Go ahead. Caller i would like to say the immigration policy does work, it just does not do what everybody wants it to do, like the invasion we have coming across the border. So manyet up to allow scottish people, so many people from chile, so many people from france. It prevents the country from changing overnight, like we are seeing in sanctuary cities, like miami. It just protects the country. It stay the to see way it is, without special interests changing it to make it suit their needs. It is supposed to protect the United States. Second, why has no one thought about building the great wall of china here on the american Mexican Border . It would be great to are is him. I am sure you could get nonviolent offenders from prison to build it. Just another thought. You really want to see what out ofcontrol immigration does . Move to where i live, miami. Do not stay in a hotel. Move into a neighborhood to see how these people have basically taken over. I live in a building in North Miami Beach called and class of. I am one of the three anglos left in the building. I cannot even get a response from the board, which is entirely spanish. For the call. U email sent to us, you can take the call, and we can take your call. This email host there is this, from j briggs. Host and this is from mike, in san antonio. Host good morning, democrats line. Caller good morning. Am i on . Host you sure are. Go ahead with your comment. Caller thank you for that, c span. I would like to maybe draw a parallel between immigration and something needing to be done with it, and our current Unemployment Rate. Where i live, the highest unemployed county in the state, has been for eight years running. A lot of coal miners here are out of work. People have lost their jobless benefits here recently. Say, for instance, we bring in 700 and 50 immigrants, 700 50,000, where do we go up with those jobs . We do not have enough jobs for the people we have in america today. I Want Congress to take appropriate action and work with the president , or anybody, outsourcing our jobs to start with, creating a comprehensive job bill, getting america back to work, letting the immigrants come. We can have that. I am not against them, but what do we do with them . There are no jobs here anymore. All the people are scrambling for jobs here in southeast iowa. Look at the parallel between the two. Thank you, cspan. Thank you. This, from joe host last month we focused on the research being conducted at nih, focusing in part on the issue of cancer. I mention that because the entire program is also on our website, looking at why everyone seems to have cancer. Heart disease and strokes have been beaten back, cancer might. Ecome the final killer the extensive piece from George Johnson this morning in the week in review session section. Morning,call this thomas, good morning. You, thisw are morning . Host fine, thank you. Caller i have a question for you. I see we are discussing Immigration Reform. Immigration reform, as i understand it, is when you have away of coming in here, can get into the country illegally, lets make you legal. A kind of a pat on the back or a reward for your ingenuity. What does that say to all of the people people, say, like my grandfather, who came to ellis island and did it the right way . Is this not a slap in the face . I heard a couple from connecticut saying something i was not born then, but i do not remember german soldiers goosestepping in from new mexico, arizona, or those places. But not Something Like 3 million illegals just managing to get into the state and tapping onto our resources. Why do we have to change the laws already in place . The original laws are fine. I think you should be doing is enforcing them. Ok, thank you for the call. The president is back in washington after flying all night from hawaii. He will be focusing on the congressional agenda tomorrow. You can watch the proceedings of the house, with the senate on c span two, Schedule Information always available any time online. We will figure short break and when we come back, we will focus on the agenda item for Interest Groups. Anna galland, with moveon. Org, will be joining us from detroit with what progressives hope to achieve in 2014. Later, andy growth andrew , talkinghould say about the divisions within the Republican Party. You are watching cspans washington journal, for this sunday morning, january 5. We will be back in a moment. [video clip] about 10 years, 15 years ago, we started looking at Census Department data. Something very strange popped the when you look at profits of multinationals in a map of europe you see germany, france, ireland, italy, but if you look at the data where the profits are, it is italy, france, germany, ireland. It is a hugely disproportionate amount of profit in ireland. That was one indication that something was going on. Sullivan,th marty nonprofit global provider of tax news analysis, tonight at 8 00 on q a. Obama cares about health insurance, but it is about more than that. It is about the constitutional system. Look at obamacare. It is an attack on the Commerce Clause. The purpose of the Commerce Clause was to promote commerce between the states. Not to kill commerce and competition. Has become the and to antiCommerce Clause. Private property rights, trade, and commerce. New jersey and pennsylvania were fighting with each other, blocking each other and so forth , saying that they had to fix this. They were protrade, pro commerce, mentioning the Commerce Clause should be used by congress to compel individuals to do something against their will or their best interest. And then in particular, to force a person to enter into a private ,ontract with a private company the private company is forced to offer a policy they do not want to offer and the individual is forced to pay for it and the company is forced to provide it. That is so absurd, that is so antithetical to our founding, and as everyone here knows, then the government can force us to do all kinds of things that we do not want to do and this would be the precedent. Today, mark live in, taking your calls and questions in depth, live for three hours, starting at noon eastern. That is the first sunday of every month, starting on c span2 s every month starting on cspan2 every month on c span2. Go to booktv. Org and enter the chat room. Washington journal, continues. Host joining us this morning from detroit, anna galland, executive director of civic action from moveon. Org. Thank you so much for being with us. Guest thank you for having me. Host let me give you one of the headlines this morning from the washington post, as a president gets ready to get back to work this week. Ncome inequality from your perspective how is this addressed . Guest a gate a great question. This is 2014, new year. Thousands of different campaigns pushing forountry the full implementation of the Affordable Care act, which has been so much under siege from republicans in congress. When i look at the year, i see four areas to watch. One, the election. Two, exactly as you said, income inequality. Three, i think this is the year we could see meaningful progress on Climate Change. For, this is a year where we could see meaningful gains following on the heels of last years other forms of inequality issues, like issues of civil rights, or example. I think that the broader context here is really clear. There are too Many Americans really struggling to make ends peoplehile very seldom are doing more than fine. A statistic i like to pull out that is one of many that i think is illustrates the problem, the average ceo in this country now make Something Like 340 times what the average employee makes. Not the janitor, but the average employee. It is the symptom of a broader problem where people are working hard. Many people are working two or three jobs just to make ends meet and pay down their student loans, putting down putting food on the table for their family, yet they still cannot make ends meet. Something is wrong and something is broken with how our economy rewards hard work and people take care of themselves and their family. Looking ahead to this year, that is one of a number of levels. Fighting alongside fast food workers this year, who were hoping for not something totally radical, but for a living wage to feed their families, so that they are not forced to turn to food stamps while working in the food industry, terrible irony that many people do. Theyre also looking to expand Social Security rather than to cut it. So the programs that have worked for generations for Many Americans will be brought peace of mind going into their retirement. And we are already seeing efforts to raise the minimum wage in this country. The minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation. We want to see it we want a wage for people can actually support their family while working fulltime. Those are some of the initiatives we will see this year. Coming up more imminently, tomorrow, monday we will hopefully see a vote on extending Unemployment Insurance for the millions of americans who are out of work. The fact that Unemployment Insurance has been allowed to last is a travesty. So, millions of our members are looking forward to working on this on many fronts this year, to make sure that this is the Tipping Point for economic inequality in this country, where we start to reflect the values of the country that we can be and must be, rather than the problems that we see day to day right now. Host following up on that laundry list of domestic agenda items, the president will be talking about that in his state of the Union Address. From your standpoint, is this a legislative agenda for the president in 2014, or are these items for democrats to run on with the hope that congress and the democrats can increase their majority, that if they do, it will be something for 2015 . Question. Ood as you noted, 2014 is the year where things will happen in congress, and there is an election. There are state and local issues that will be cashing out as well. Of what moveon is is a community of millions of americans who Work Together on all of those let all of those levels to fight for progressive change. When there is a possibility of making that change happen at the state or local level, we are there. You have seen recently that municipalities, like seatback, and washington, d. C. , has had a chance to raise the minimum wage locally. If on the federal level we are all ready, we can take that fight to the state and local level, and we will. How do the elections weigh in . They are a chance for us to hold our elected officials accountable. They are a choice moment for the country. What kind of country are we going to be . What kinds of values over going to reflect . Certainly we are looking to this election cycle as a time where we will make our values reflected in the leadership that we have. If you look already at this election cycle and the endorsement of two candidates, in hawaii the candidate for senate, as well as mike honda, for senate in california, they have both stood up and been champions for Social Security, one piece of the broader puzzle. Again, we do want to see Social Security strengthened and expanded. Politicians who speak to that, who helped to create an economy that is fair and provides a measure of Economic Security for all americans who are working hard, and all americans, the debt is the country we can be and those are the elected officials who speak to that and we will be supporting them in 2014. Host our guest became a member of moveon. Org back in 2002, joint staff in 2007. The Organization Began during the clinton impeachment. How has it changed and evolved over the years . What is your role in terms of their action and the larger umbrella . Good question. Hard to believe it has been 15 years since the president was facing impeachment hearings. Although one thing that has not changed is the need for thoughtful, progressive, concerned americans speaking out to make the country better. We are a democracy, but we only work if people take action, speak up for their values, and Work Together to make the country better. We have raised hundreds of millions of dollars in small donations from our members to fund our Work Together. That remains true. We are entirely funded by our members. We do not take money from any other source except our members. Our average contribution last year was about 40. That grassroots base, that grassroots funding, is what allows our members to make a political debate in such an authentic way. , would yourience asked about, was helping people feel the network from the ground up. We have hundreds of councils around the country leaping into action in person. We go offline. We do not just to email. We are present outside congressional offices. One example during the congressional shutdown caused by the Tea Party Republican faction exerting a really damaging stranglehold on our democracy, in the moment of that shut down, we saw Members Around the country stepping up, starting petitions, organizing protests outside their local offices. Was an amazing outpouring and something that we will always step up to, those moments where we need to make our moments heard moments where we need to make our voices heard. I am proud to do that. Host you can join in on the conversation, phone lines on the bottom of the screen, send us an email, or send us a tweet. James, michigan, republican line, good morning. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am ai want to state disenfranchise republican, to say the least. Before you ask your question why are you disenfranchised . Why are you upset with your party . Caller thank you for allowing me to answer that. At the 2007 Mackinac Island Republican Leadership on friends, it became very clear not only on the island itself, but along the michigan coastline , that the Guestworker Program that was installed allows employers to hire employees from other countries, particularly jamaica. If the republicans are against obama for trying to create a level playing field, they themselves are procuring the same situation that they are trying to avoid in their arguments against the democrats. Be a dog and pony show. Higher when there are unemployed americans, hiring outside the country for lower wage, there is a debacle there. That is one of the main reasons i am disenfranchised. There are several others. For the sake of the conversation that you guys have installed, i wanted to ask anna how she caller are there any conflicts with the Commerce Clause that allow the state to interact in commerce with each other . Host thank you. Guest hello there. You are right where i am. On obamacare, just to give a bit of context, we have all worked extremely hard to help Pass Health Care reform. We believe it is a travesty that 4 million americans have gone without access to health care. We believe that we can and must do that. One of the most exciting things about where we are now is that as of today, 9 million americans now have access to health care. They did not have it before. That is a huge change. It is in addition to seeing the fact that if you have a preexisting condition, you cannot be denied anymore. If you get sick to my you cannot be kicked off. If you are a woman, you cannot be discriminated against. If you working construction, you cannot be discriminated against. These are all changes that are for the better. We have to keep moving forward. The law as it stands is imperfect. It should be strengthened. We cannot go back. That is one of those general overviews. We think that as a country, we have to do better than we were doing before. People could not necessarily get out without insurance. We can do better and we are on track to get where we need to be. The law is settled here. It is a legal it is not even a question whether obamacare is constitutional. The Supreme Court has ruled on that. Where we need to go now is the republican led states where those states have political reasons and have turned down medicaid funding. We need to see them be pressured to change their minds and except funding. We need to see a continued experiment with how we continue to strengthen and improve this program. We need to offer a public option. Were looking forward to seeing what we can do constructively around health care. You anet me share with opinion from the washington post. It is called the resurgent progressives. I want to share one part of what he says. That theseummarize basic rights with this question why is it so much easier to spend money on rescuing Financial Institutions that on rescuing families caught in a cycle of unemployment . How would you answer that . Guest that is exactly the right question we should be asking. We have never seen real accountability on wall street. Peoplere millions of whose lives were upended by the financial crisis. People lost their homes. People lost their jobs. I still have not gotten back on track grid people were crushed loans orrom student credit card debt. There are two or three job seekers. People are not trying, it is that the economy is not working for people. It is really quite tragic that wall street has not been held accountable for what they did. Americans are paying the price. This goes back to what i think is a priority. We need to build the kind of economy that we need. This as the most wealthy country in the world. An economy that works for everyone. Families can support themselves, rather than having to rely on the government with food stamps. The economy is structured in such a way that people have what they need. Say, i am totally with ej on this one. One of the motivating things is how do we make this economy work for every american . It is a burning need. Not just an optional thing. Host this was overseas. It has been seen on the web. Patrick is joining us. Good morning. Guest good morning. Caller can you hear me . I just wanted to give some support to her lady. I get emails every day of the week here in spain. I support what they do. I want to make this point. Back in 1948 when the national peopleservice was to, said it could not work. They said it would be impossible. It had all of the problems of being inaugurated. Eventually, after all of that was cleared up, it is an institution. You people in america really have nothing to worry about. The most fantastic thing that has ever happened to the u. S. Host thank you for the call. Guest it is interesting. Thank you for saying that you get our emails. There are millions of members. Are in they of whom u. S. Great to hear that our reach extends overseas. I would say that the United States has a long and proud tradition of programs that work for millions of americans. Look at medicare and medicaid. Look at the v. A. System. Look at the military and all of the systems that they have set up to take care of people. What our members thinks is that the government can be up constructive force. What we want to see happen in the coming years is that the debate should shift away from is obamacare right or not . It is the law of the land. He was reelected after making that his signature achievement. Lets move on. The other on to pressing business that we face. We need to deal with economic inequality. We need to deal with the fact that not all americans have access to equal justice under the law. That is our priority. We have to get out of the same old tired routine. Theyre fueled by special interests. Not one americans hold dear. Our millions of members, we can start campaigns on issues that matter. Whether it be at the local not up level or state level. Thousands of campaign started. I invite all of your viewers to come and check out. Moveon. Org. Try starting your own petition. We will help you run a powerful campaign. Were taking action together. All the other question was those points. How do you pay for all of that . This is from veterans of the george w. Bush administration. They write that a conservative vision of government they make this point. Watermark,een a high including a postworld war ii record for federal spending in the Obama Administration. By comparison, the postwar average was 19. 8 . Than. S. Has amassed more 6 trillion in debt since january 2009. Prior to president obama, no president has had a budget with a trillion dollar deficit. Your response . Guest thank you for the question. First of all, i would say that you should watch some of the videos from Robert Reisch. One of the things that he is the deficitis that and issues of debt are the wrong place to be looking. You can deal with those by growing the economy. Since day one of his term, he inherited an economy in crisis. The bottom has fallen out. Congressed to see is doing more, not less. Economyto stimulate the and put people back to work. Get these wheels turning so that we can actually deal with the fundamentals rather than weakness. This is not the end. The answer is jobs. Also the fact that you see effective tax rates are lower now than they were under president nixon. The kind of hysteria that we see on the right effect our economy. It is because of the debt or the deficit. It is entirely misplaced. I would encourage people to go out and talk to someone unemployed. They have looked for work for years. Ask them if they should be focused on paying down the deficit or should we be growing the economy . We need to generate resources for all of the needs that we face. Put people back to work. I think youll get an answer. Host our topic is the progressives. Our guest is anna galland from detroit. She is with moveon. Org. Later on, we will move on to conservatives. Kevin is june joining us from new york. Caller thank you for your time. My issue is Climate Change. It is an area that is really i am not happy with obama. Three points. Not more than a minute. Currently ise affected by warming in the arctic. Warming in the arctic is being caused by feedback loops. That includes lbo and methane release. This is having a profound effect on the jetstream. The jetstream is a moderating force that brings cold air down to the southern latitudes and brings warm air up to the northern latitudes. The dynamics between the north and the south is being diluted by the warming in the arctic. That is point number one. Point number two. Nature reported in the last couple of weeks that the prediction for the end of the century is for for degrees celsius increase. That represents a 7. 6 degree fahrenheit increase. The terminology that they are using is catastrophic. I do not know if our viewership understands the word catastrophic, but i assure them it is not good. Any child who was born today will face catastrophic circumstances in their future. Without a doubt. Finally, what can you do . You can call your Congress People and tell them that we want better mileage for our cars. Mandated. Cut down the usage of carbon. Down to atop or bring manageable level. Host thank you for the call. Guest thank you so much, kevin. There are areas to watch. Members work in 2014 certainly Climate Change is one of them. Is weortant thing to note will see a decision from the administration on the keystone pipeline. In the to be important direction were going to take. We will watch along with all of our allies to see what did ministration comes down on that. We are hurting to see that the administration has shown through appointments that they will take climate very seriously. Secretary of state john kerry and john podesta people who understand the gravity of the climate crisis. Theyre ready to take action. Members will stand with them as they put into place measures that the executive can take without waiting for congress. Isould just note that there also ways that people can get involved to do not just include contacting your congressman. Wheret launched a Program Hundreds of people around the country are fighting in their own backyard against energy companies. E you dig into their come backyard, you are polluting their groundwater. No one wants to find that they can lay their tap water on fire. We have to be reaching for quick clean energy sources. Light wind and solar. Power our own economy. This is the year where we can make strides. Note, as the color spoke to catastrophe, i have two young daughters. There two years old. I think about the world that they will inherit. I do not want them to grow up in a world that is full of routine climate disasters. You see in australia right now our winter is australias summer. It is 120 degrees in australia. This is not ok. Were seeing routine, extreme weather events. Tornadoes and all sorts of stuff. This is very troubling and we need to do something about it. I hope that this is the year where, because of asher, our leadership will have the courage to finally take action. Host we were focusing on the issue of immigration. This is one of the will agenda items as lawmakers return to washington. People say to stop the war on drugs, free prisoners, and make room for people who break real laws. He says in parentheses, illegals. The war on drugs has been a costly failure. You look at the millions of people who have been locked up. Up because ofd nonviolent drug offenses. Are we spending money on the right place when we do that . Would say that this is a mess we should be trying different alternatives. We are always watching with interest what is happening in states like colorado. They experiment with different legalization. Is thatwould disagree immigration is something that we should be further criminalizing. See as a country, the values that are core to who we peoplee that we as a want to support families who are just working to make their lives better. We have always been built on this. We were built on immigration. What you see now are 11 million aspiring americans who do not have a way to make a better life for themselves. They are stuck in the shadows. That hurts all of us. It hurts the economy, it hurts everybody. Our lives are connected. What i am proud of is that in the last year, more members and other leaders are campaigning and calling for congress to do something comprehensive to address our broken immigration system. I hope that in 2014, we will not just get a piece meal approach. Wayill have a comprehensive of addressing the broken immigration system, which has caused so much hurt and so much separation. There has been so much loss of Human Potential in this country. About 45 miles outside of washington, we will go to spotsylvania, virginia. Caller thank you so much for taking my call. Good morning, anna. The commenttouch on about ceos and the amount of money that theyre making. I work for the president of geico. This man worked extremely hard. I wanted you to give me i wanted youguess, to tell me what you Want Congress to do regarding any kind of inequality. This man worked a lot harder than i do. He makes more money than i do. I want you to tommy how that is a real inequality. That this mant travels around the country, he is on his email 24 7, i make less money than he does. He works harder than i do. What you Want Congress to do about that . Guest great question. I would say that hard work and hard work. I respect the ceos who are working 24 hours a day. There are a lot of responsible ceos who are building value for their companies and contribute a lot to society. I would not cast aspersions on them for that. I would say that it shouldnt matter if youre a ceo or a sales employee. There are a lot of them people who work around the clock. That work should be rewarded. Have, 350 times, i do not think anybody works 350 times harder than anyone else. I do not think that is possible. Is ai would like to see comprehensive set of policies that would help to make it easier for people to get by. Were not talking about radical redistribution. There are groups that are far further to the left than we are. What i would say is that things like extending Unemployment Insurance, so people who have lost their jobs, the americans were out of work will have a safety net that they need as they pursue their job searches. What i want to see is a race to the federal government wage. It has not kept pace with inflation. What i would like to see is an expansion of Social Security. We will have more resources going towards people at the end of their lives, when they need to live in dignity. What i would like to see is obamacare being strengthened and fully implemented, rather than rolled back. The kind of thing republicans are trying to do. I think about all of those things. Pictureabout the whole of Economic Security. So i really thank you for your question. Is tok that the goal here bring americans up, not pull other people down. To create the kind of economy that we need. Ost one quick followup this is a tweet from bill. Should forceess the president to enforce immigration laws on the books. Nothing broken, just not enforced. Any of immigration or these topics that we have focused on let me turn you to the cover of cq weekly. The deal worked out between patty murray and paul ryan will there be any bipartisan deal in 2014 . Thank you for the question. That moveonk members want to see congress functional. We had a congress which passed fewer laws than at any point since world war ii. That is a mess. We think a lot of the reasons is that the Tea Party Factions of the Republican Party have an effective stranglehold over the entire Republican Party. Because of gerrymandering, there are enough seats that they are able to cause damage. One of the places that they cause damages in the debate over the federal budget. The tea Party Faction is saying that we cannot sit do anything to close loopholes or raise revenues. The wealthiest americans, who make so much money, we cannot ask them to pam and pay a penny more. Even though taxes are lower than they have been in decades. They are making this case against any sort of evidence, saying all we can do is slash and burn cut. That makes no sense. It is an extreme position. The position that is in a governing place in our country. That is a problem. In the house of representatives. Is that we, asy a country, need to stand up and speak out for the core values that we as americans hold. Include a balanced approach to our finances emma to our budget. Investing in americans and the infrastructure that is crumbling. What i hope that we see in the budget discussions Going Forward is a focus on expanding the programs that we rely on. They support regular americans. Put money in the pockets of regular americans. I hope that we move away from the obsession with cuts. The obsession with austerity grid that is actively harmful. I am looking forward to 2014 being a time when american speak up and protect programs like Social Security. I am looking forward to our officials hearing that. Im looking forward to november 2014, upholding those officials accountable. We are talking about politics and the progressive movement. Our guest is anna galland. David on the phone from nebraska. Morning. Ood i do not know what the temperature is in detroit, that it is below zero in omaha. The progressives are predicting this socalled catastrophe of Global Warming for 10 or 20 years. It seems to be wrong. This whole theory has where incandescent lightbulbs have been banned. The progressives got together with ge and philips, and now your average person has to pay five dollars for a lightbulb for. What do you say to your minimum wage workers who have to pay more for a lightbulb . Thank you so much for the question. I would say the one place we might agree is in our skepticism of big corporations. They have too much influence on our politics. Rulesuld be careful when are being written and laws are being passed. The corporations are influencing the process. I totally share your skepticism. It is an important thing. Big money and politics has a corrupting influence. We need to do whatever we can to rein it back in. Whether keeping a focus on transparency i clearly disagree on the overwhelming majority. We have a near consensus among scientists that client change Climate Change is real. It is changing our planet right now. We just have the hottest november on record. It is winter in the northern hemisphere, but some are down south. Australia has temperatures of 120 degrees fahrenheit. We will see record tornadoes. Do we still have winter . Yes. Does it still bit cold . Yes. Does that change the fact that were seeing any refutable longterm trend of the planet heating up and the climate changing . That is still very true. The year when we will be moving forward on affecting Climate Change. Moveon members will fight along the way. Were holding the Administration Accountable to say no. One other metaphor that i think can be helpful, even if you thought the Climate Change was a theory, the theory was who knows which way to go. Would you gamble with your life at a high level . Would you roll the dice and see what happens to the planet . Lets just keep dumping the atmosphere. Personally, i think that attitude is cavalier. It sounds risque. It is not the kind of approach that i want to take for my kids. I want to see us be responsible with our planet. Take care of it and take care of each other. Weve something for future generations. They can enjoy just as much as we are able to. Jay sthis email from impson, you talk about raising the minimum wage. What will happen to the wages of the people who are making above the current minimum wage . Will all of those people have to have their wages raised as well . He goes on to write the businesses will make small Profit Margins and will not be able to rip survive. Host that is worthng noting, i would encourage people to go to moveon. Org and look at some of the videos that Robert Reisch has put together. That can really help to unpack some of the comp equity of economics here. Raise Living Standards for people closest to the poverty line, people who work the Cash Register at mcdonalds, these are folks who are being counseled by the Corporate Headquarters to go apply for unemployment benefits. They are told to apply for vouchers. That is because they are simply not making enough to live on. That is a fact. What we need to see is both their Living Standard being raised by pushing the minimum wage up to keep up with inflation, and then what you can understand is that there is a spillover effect. Our whole economy will do better when everyone does better. It is true. These laws can be crafted in such a way that they take into account particular needs of Small Businesses. That thell see is spillover benefits of more people having just a little bit more money is really extraordinary. It can affect millions of americans. Not just those earning minimum wage. Host last call, linda, tennessee. Caller what is your strategy for working peoples rights. I have two examples. There is zero coverage on local television and local newspapers. They passed a law that takes away the hourly wage earners standing to sue their employer for unpaid wages in state court. It is the most important fact of law. You can now soar in federal court. Sue in federal court. Andou are an hourly worker your employer stiff you, you have no right to sue for those unpaid wages. The Legislature Passed a law that repealed though requirements for State Governments to pay a prevailing wage. A republican representative pointed out that this is a blank check for State Government contracts bid assuming minimum or less than minimum illegal labor. Democrats voted with the republicans. They were in favor of these lost. Host we will get a response. Guest for any other viewers, tankis a right wing think that helps to feed hyper conservative laws in states around the country. They came under pressure through campaigning led by our partner. In the wake of the George Zimmerman verdict, for the death of trayvon martin, they are essentially funding the standard ground lost. Laws. I certainly would say that we can draw attention and put pressure on corporate funders. They should withdraw their membership from this network. We can make sure that the loss that we have at the state level and the federal level reflect our values as american. We won a country that works for everyone, not just a few people. We do not want to have shadowy Interest Groups. That is what our members will be fighting for. We will fight the corrupting influence of special interest money. We will fight for a country where Economic Security is not a constant insecurity is not a constant threat. We will address Climate Change. We will fight for social justice and equality. We will eat all sorts of campaign. Start your own petition. I am so proud to be there. Host final question for you. The president is outlining his agenda. Is there a table at the white house . Guest we are a grassroots organization. We are a proud supporter of the president , when he takes action that reflects our progressive values. We are equally proud to stand up and say that we disagree respectfully when he takes steps that we do not agree with. We are not beholden to any political party. We are not a legion to any particular candidate. We are a grass roots movement. At the table,eat our members are claiming it. Whether a democratic or republican president. Galland is the executive director of moveon. Org. She is joining us from detroit, michigan. Guest thank you so much. The president ,of phil is traveling with the president. He sent out a tweet last night before he departed. He says that obama and daughters almost wheels up to d. C. Obama fors staying in a few days to celebrate her 50th birthday with friends. The first lady turned 50 on january 17. We continue our series on American First Ladies next monday on cspan. You can check out the Schedule Information at cspan. Org. We will move to nancy reagan in the white house and conclude in february with Michelle Obama. We continue on this sunday morning with more on a look at the conservative agenda. Organizationsor like club for growth. Andrew roth will be joining us. And the former congressman and johnson aide, a member of the johnson foundation, will be joining us from austin, texas. And part of our American Cities we will, tours, feature the history and literary life of bellingham, washington. We will present all of the history offerings, including a look at the maritime history of the city and its importance during world war two. More recently during the world the vietnam war. The importance of bellingham s maritime history goes back to the 1850s and onward. People never came here by any other way than boat. Aerefore, it has always been old building seaport community. It is on the coast. Boatbuilding and the waterfront has always been a really important part of our culture. It is the reason that a lot of people like coming here. We are speaking from the maritime museum. It is located down near the waterfront. What is important for people to see when they come in is that we try to corner off the county and the sound history. We extend our from there. Ofhave a good representation Companies Like the shipyards. They were hugely important to this town years ago. Companyway through a that produced some of the iconic vietnam era patrol boats. , veteranset people and families, who come from around the country to reestablish contact with both that they served on during that time in vietnam. That is just a preview of what you can watch later today at 5 00. We will look at bellingham, washington. Traveling to the city located near the u. S. canadian border. You can also check it out at cspan. Org. The sundaynue on morning, we want to welcome andy roth, he is the Vice President of club for growth. Thank you for being with us. A lot of items. Lets talk about health care. The website appears to be in better shape than it was on october 1. What is your approach in dealing with the Affordable Care act . Guest i do not know that there is an approach. There will be more problems. We know that. Already,hat people today, are going to their doctor and are not sure they have coverage. Then, we know that later on this year, a lot of people will get their policies canceled, just like last year. Were talking about in the millions. Obamacare will continue to be remarkably unpopular. Just the fact that if people do get signed up, they will have higher premiums and less coverage. There will be more narrow networks. I think it will be remarkably unpopular for the next several months. Is, when do democrats comes the republicans and say they do we have to do something. The republicans do not have any skin in the game. Is the approach to try to see this on their own . Or would they want to fix the inherent problems . Guest i cannot be for republicans in congress. There are some the one to fix it. There are some that say no, p n start over. How they willsay go down that road. It will occur this year. Host how do you see your organization in washington . What is its purpose . Guest two purposes. One is on policy. We try to work with congress to pass policy. Helped to elect people that believe in those policies. They help to push for the things that grow the economy. Host let me share with you the comments from john boehner. He referred to your organization or others. He talked about the budget negotiations and moving ahead to the 2014 legislative year. Here was the speaker last year. [video clip] frankly, i think they are misleading their followers. Theyre pushing our members and laces were they do not want to be. That they just think have lost all credibility. These statess into to defund obamacare and shut down the government. That was not the strategy that i had in mind. If you recall, the day before the government shutdown, one of these groups said we never thought it would work. Are you kidding me . , you dont know me. I say would it mean and i mean what i say. I am as conservative as Anyone Around this place. All of the things that we have done over the three years that i have been speaker, have not violated any conservative principle. Not once. Host andrew ross, is he talking about club for growth . Guest he is exaggerating. It is true that we lost that shutdown battle. It is better to fight and lose the not fight at all. If we fought on principle, i think we have been vindicated. We have seen obamacare implode in a remarkable way. The supporters of the shutdown, like ted cruz and mike lee, predicted this. If we did it again and had another fight or debate about obamacare, i think we would see different results. Host let me show you politics by the numbers. They take a look at where we are. The president saw that he won reelection. Versuser votes from 2008 2012. There are also 30 republican , sure from an alltime high of 34. They are representing 315 electoral votes. Republicans have a 52 majority of state legislative seats. After the 2012 elections, republicans controlled governorships and legislatures in 25 states. They have 53 of the nations population. This looks at the political landscape. What does that tell you about 2014 . Guest 2014 is a tough one. In 2010, we saw the tea party movement. We saw a rise in the voter patterns. 2010, in 2012, it was all about obama. 2014, a lot of people are having problems with republicans. Theyre having problems with why the republicans are sticking to conservative policies. And a lot of house and senate primaries, youll see some incumbents get dangerously close to losing their seats. That is where we are looking in most intently. The republicans probably, i think most people are convinced that the republicans will keep the house. They may pick up the senate. It is hard to tell. Host let me ask you about this piece from politico. Economic ideas rattled the gop. It points out that he draws crowds like a rockstar. He was named person of the year by time magazine. He true the ire of Rush Limbaugh for his criticism of trickledown economics. Francis writes political and dramatically shifted the message of the vatican. Republicans in washington you reassess their relationship with the Catholic Church. This does not get into religion. The Catholic Church has always maintained materialism and consumerism is not good. That is part of what pope francis is talking about. The media tends to exaggerate the churches he is in the hopes that the church will come away from its use. I do not think that anything that pope francis said is anything that will cause concern for american policy or why we shouldnt fight for programs. Graduate ofest is a the university of kansas. He got his masters from george mason university. Michael is joining us from michigan. Republican line. Welcome. Caller thank you. Is, iftion for mr. Roth you listened to your first guest from moveon. Org, she was saying are holding upns the works. Isnt it true that harry reid has not brought a bill up for a vote from republicans in the last two years . The only thing wrong with this country right now is barack obama. Two, the only thing worse than that is moveon. Org. She babbles every time she comes on this program. Host thank you. Guest i would just go back to the first point. The idea that republicans are not passing anything. They are passing some good policies and some bad policies. The key is that gridlock is actually good. It is good for washington. It may frustrate a lot of people and policies in the political sphere. Also in the public. Gridlock slows things down and tells people that we need to think about what were doing. Make sure we do the right thing. Thelock was very healthy in 1990s, when we had a robust economy. It was not healthy when it did not exist in the early 2000. They grew government at a remarkable rate. Gridlock is something that we should encourage and hope that it continues. Host we are focusing on immigration. We spoke with our previous guest about what she sees in 2014. This is from u. S. News. Immigration reform boost economic recovery. Theyre pointing out that there have been studies that emigration would boost the Economic Growth by nearly five percent. Corporate a percent to be exact. It would also reduce the deficit. Guest i have to take a pass on this. We do not get involved in immigration. There are two main noneconomic and issues involved. We really do not take an issue on immigration. The senatethat passed this huge, comprehensive bill. The House Republicans have no desire to take it up. They plan to take up a more piecemeal approach. Bills totarget the more direct areas. We may take a look at that. We may not. Our next call is brandon from pennsylvania. Independent line. Caller thank you for taking my call. I have a few things i would like to share. One is that democrats handed the republicans the 2014 election. They are letting you play it smart. Make sure the democrats agree with president obama. They are always saying that if you like your plan you can keep it. Theyre talking about a 300 million budget that ended up being like 1 billion. Private Companies Say would be 10 million if they did it. Concerns,nimum wage it would help you a lot if you got into putting a bill in yourselves. Without raising the minimum wage. At the same time, lower the tax rate. That would be a real smart game plan. That is just my opinion. I wish you good luck. Host thank you. Guest he is right about the first part. I think that obama care will be a huge part of the 2014 elections. There are a lot of red state democrats, particularly senators from arkansas, who are nervous about reelection. Youll see a lot of members of congress who will be very nervous because of that issue. Wage, i think that everybody firmly believes the price controls do not work. Nixon tried them in the 1970s with disastrous results. It is unfortunate that people do not recognize that it is price control on labor. It does not work. As a political tool, if you want to pair with Corporate Tax reform, you have to see what it would look like. If there is a massive drop in the Corporate Tax rate, then maybe something could be done. The key here is, what is the end result of the legislation that youre proposing . Does it grow the economy and all quarters . That is the that is the result. Host do you target house and Senate Members . Guest a litmus test we have a matricide of issues. Taxes, regulation, free trade all of the economic issues. Isn we look at a senator who weak on the tissues, not just one, but a lot, and has a bad record. If there is a viable conservative alternative, the way look at that as a possibility to get involved. Host if you have a member of congress who supports you on every issue, but says that they support raising the minimum wage. What which are take the . What would your position be . Guest in that stare, he sounds , but he is a 95 wrong on one issue. That is not enough for us to get involved. The kind of people that we look to the feed are the people who have 60 or even 80 . Host your focuses on policy and not politics. This is what i put up earlier with anna galland from moveon. Org. There is a story in National Affairs about deficit. The president has a 6 billion deficit since january 2009. Prior to the president , no president has submitted a budget with a trillion dollar deficit. President obama has submitted four of them. Guest it is true. Whats be more honest than that. Every president spends more than the one before him. Almost always. That is something that we need to stop. President bush did it. President obama did. It is time to turn it back. We need entitlement reform and tax reform. When youd really big things to stop hemorrhaging this town. It is not just a democrat or republican problem. Host our next caller is from rome, georgia. Caller good morning. There want to say that was a supplemental budget. How do youe to know let the republicans continue to get the vote against your own interests. You have people who are going unemployed. States with a large percentage of welfare. These are the red states and republicans who are voting against these people. Against their own constituents. In georgia, we do not have medicaid. We are poor people. These are mostly white people. The population is mostly white. What i would like to know is this how can you guys continue to get these portal, white people in the south to vote against their own interests . Most people on medicare and medicaid and Social Security and food stamps the population is way more white people than black people. Could you explain to me the strategy that you continue to get them to vote against their own interests . Guest the idea that they vote against their own interests, i think there is a large issue here. That is the national interest. A lot of people realize that we trillion debt 17. I am concerned about where this nation is headed. It has gone from a deep blue to a deep red. I do not know how to answer the ourtion, other than that country is hemorrhaging money. We need to stop spending. We do not have any other choice. Host this is from one of our viewers. Do you still believe in the growth of the economy from the top down . Guest we never believed that great we believe that the key to success is to give people money, to let them keep their money. They can innovate and start businesses without the shackles of government. Guys onit be the rich wall street or the doctors in california. Or the guy with the small idea in his crotch. Garage. Those are the things that we like. We want to see that from all walks of life. Host who are the largest contributors . Why is unionbusting a priority . Guest you can go that listener can go on to the governor website to find out who our donors are. They are freely available. We have to report them. Support regulating reducing regulation by unions. We do not believe that the government should be involved. Enteries and employees into voluntary contracts between each other. That is not something that we believe that the government should get involved in. Unions are fine, and and of themselves. When they use the government to coerce companies to bend to the unions well, that is a problem. Host to political questions. Political questions. Looking at texas, the headline is that the senate run has a look of a solo act. This is a portion of what is written in the post. Stockman,ssmen, steve to a be the closest thing middle finger running for congress by himself. For every gift of 10 that you might write, i will send you an obama barf bag this man is running for the senate in a state with 26 Million People. He is not doing well by conventional measures. He is down by 44 points. Sometimes the challengers find a way to win. Came club for growth pac out early and said good luck, but we will not get involved. This goes back to our earlier point. He does not have a great score. There is a high interest score. Steve stockman has a good record. We do not see any evidence of why we should get involved when there could only be a margin it runs. Of different. Primaries are healthy things. This keeps politicians on their toes. A keeps the more responsive to the voters. We think that is a good thing. Lets go through this list from the washington post. Senate races for gop. Mississippi, he is being challenged by chris mcdaniel. Host we have endorsed chris mcdaniel. Why is that he has been in office for nearly four decades. Voters need a change. We have seen it and seen the evidence. They like him, but except gone bad. Things have gotten bad. Mcdaniel is an absolute conservative rock. We really look forward to that race. Host on the somewhat endangered list, they include in kansas, pat roberts is being challenged. In south carolina, Lindsey Graham may face a challenge. There are a number of republicans in south carolina. In kentucky, Mitch Mcconnell is challenged by matt bevin. Guest let me wrap that up. This also goes to the cochrane raise. Trend ina fundamental american politics. I wish more journalists wrote about this. These lawmakers have been in there for decades. They like their senator. They like roberts. Not especially with mcconnell. They are not really happy with him right now. There is the idea that they like them, but it is time for a change. It is time to find somebody new. Clearly, they are not helping the situation in the state d. C. Roberts is inat trouble and i think the Mitch Mcconnell is in trouble in kentucky. Bevin is athink that better general election candidate against allison grimes. I want to ask you about wyoming. Two familiar names. Liz cheney guest this is kind of like texas. The challenger and the incumbent appear to be above average. We do not see a contrast. From my position, i have not taken much time to see what could happen. Whatever happens, republicans will get that seat. Host listed under least endangered, we spoke about texas. Lamar alexander, who stepped aside, is running. He is facing a challenge. Guest this is an ongoing frustration. Incumbents lot of who frankly need to be defeated. They do not represent their state and conservative state as well as they should. Our frustration is that it is hard to find the target. It is very hard to define conservative challengers. You have to be very good on the campaign stuff. You have to fund raise a lot of money. Together ave to put Competent Team or you can do the right things to win. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find those people. You hope that they pop up. In tennessee, we have not been able to do it. It is frustrating when we see somebody like Lamar Alexander and his very poor record. He appears to be some uncomfortable. Somewhat comfortable. Host you worry that your organization to the right and other organizations to the left create a polarization that is very difficult for both sides. Frustration is that people think that compromising is a good policy. Theo not find that that is case. Compromise usually leads to bigger government. In the 1990s, there was gridlock. Everybody remembers fighting between Newt Gingrich and bill clinton. We got a lot of great policies then. Welfare reform, tax reform. There were a lot of good policies. We think that that is the way to go. Principal, then, if were going to compromise, compromise on how we will reduce the size of government or grow the economy. Cuts for taxnding increases and hope that that will work. Host our guest is andy roth. He is the Vice President of Government Affairs for club for growth. He is responding to this question. For congress not passing legislation is harry reids fault. He tables all of the bills from the house of representatives. Debra from dallas, texas. Republican line. Caller good morning. I have a couple of quick questions. I have been sitting here i am thinking of the conservative Interest Groups on a common sense continuum. You in one end. Conservativeste on the other end. Here to jackson somewhere between. End, and Heritage Action somewhere in between. But i really do not understand s approach tothi politics is ever going to work. Watching cspan nonstop since 1992, and i watched an awful lot of allah takes in those years, and i have positionn the politics win. I find it really troubling. The other question i have got or comment. Do you ever think about the idea that when Big Government is more popular than it has ever been until they started taking polls about the thing, the democrats have now come up with their new sort of rallying cry, economic anduality, more government, sort of the bill de blasio, Elizabeth Warren model. I would like your thoughts on that. Thank you. Guest thank you. On your first point on division in washington and about gridlock, i think we have talked about that extensively. I think it is a good thing as long as obamas of the white house, i think the gridlock is very safe for our republic. You know,ond point, the democrats have a strategy, and the strategy is to grow government. Get more people dependent on government and use that dependency to get more votes in future years. But sometimes it backfires. I think because of the presidency of jimmy carter that we got Ronald Reagan, and im hoping it is because of the presidency of obama that we get a conservative hero of the right who could help reduce the deficit and grow our economy. Host do you have a favorite . Guest we do not. All of the popular names like senator rubio, governor christie, governor walker, senator rand paul, though since to be the bigname so far. What i expect us to do is sit back, analyze the records, and tell the public how we feel about each one. Host one of the programs you can hear on cspan which is meet the press, were keeping track of members of congress. This from representative keith emergency federal Unemployment Insurance expired just one week ago and already the u. S. Economy has lost over 400 million dollars. Your thoughts on how he is framing that debate. Guest Unemployment Insurance altogether, i think we need to sit back and figure out what is a better way to do it. Our answer at the club for growth is to return the authority back to the states. It makes no sense for someone and say topeka, kansas, to send a dollar to washington, have the d. C. Chew upere in a portion of that, and send the rest to topeka. Lets end the Unemployment Insurance program, send it back to the states so they can administer to their local communities and a much more efficient way. That seems to be too much for the people here in washington to handle. So at the very least, we should hope that if they do extend Unemployment Insurance next week when Congress Gets back in session, at least pay for it. I mean, you know, here in a d. C. , we are famous for paying for things that we cannot afford. If we are going to extend this program, they for it, pay for it. Does club for growth support the libertarian arm of the Republican Party . Guest we do not take any label, we are not a wing of the Republican Party, we are not a wing of the libertarian party. We believe in program and Service Policies that i believe a lot of republicans and a lot of libertarians support. Host next call from new jersey for indie rock of club for growth. Good morning. Caller hi. I have noticed that the , thecare situation conservatives and republicans are leaning heavily on the fact that the president said if you want to keep your insurance you can keep it. That was a lie, i do not know if he was aware of it at the time, so it was a lie. If you are going to compare lies, i mean a lie about weapons of mass distractions would be way up there in the dash of mass destruction would be way up there in the list. I am not a fan of politics as far as congress is concerned. It is a donothing congress we have had. They should be focusing on job growth in the country. They should pass some job bills. In 2007 that we started going in a ditch, and they have had six years now to do something, and they have done nothing. Wage, whenn minimum i first started working just out of high school, i was making 1. 40 an hour, and a car was 2000. Now the same car is 30,000, and the minimum wage is eight and dollars in our is 8. 00 an hour. You cannot expect the growth we have in the 1970s and 1980s when you were not giving any growth of the middle class. Host thank you, frank, appreciate the call. Guest i want to address his point about passing a jobs bill. He is absolutely correct since 2007, 2008, we have not passed in a jobs bill. Democrats will say the stimulus was a jobs bill, but that was just a big sinkhole of more debt with very little and results. That is something we did predict will suck you cannot have the government centrally planned how to grow the government. The best thing to do, and this is something that president obama can really ride the coattails on in his last few years of office, last three years in office, and that is progrowth tax reform. He has talked about it, he has got democrats in the senate and in the house who are excited to do it. Everybody is on board, but for some reason he will not take the leadership to do it. I think the reason is because democrats want a big tax increase out of it. Revenue neutral tax reform, which is what occurred in 1986 with tip oneill and president reagan, is something we should do again. We can lower the rates, broaden the base, and the economy will i think ito end, and will be a wonderful thing for obama to do. To secure his legacy in the last few years. Host the cover story of cq weekly, what do you make of the budget deal with paul ryan . Guest that is a frustrating one for us, the problem is the deal was pretty small in numbers into a lot of things. At the end of the day, it has unwound part of the sequester, lot tot does not mean a people. But what it should mean is that republicans and democrats back in 2011 promised to cut spending, and now they went back on those words. Host would you define it as a compromise . Guest i did, i do. It is a compromise to grow government. What theyre are doing is increasing spending now with the promise of cutting spending later, which is ironic because two years ago they promised to cut spending and they are already breaking that problem. This was a spending increase, and it was a bipartisan compromise to do so. Host if paul ryan decides to run for president in 2016 based on this agreement that he worked out with patty murray, the democratic senator from washington state, what is your take . Guest i will not speculate on if he runs, but i will talk about his voting record. One thing that frustrates us at the club for growth is that his rhetoric is a lot better than his voting record. His voting record is littered with a lot of concerning items from the bush years, whether it drugdicare prescription benefit, a whole new 1 trillion entitlement, he supports wage controls, very, married to unions. Veryncreased complementary to unions. He has increased spending in a lot of ways, no child left behind, tarp, we can go on and on. He is masterful at understanding how the budget works and how to reduce entitlement spending, but his track record is very concerning to us. Ont from alabama, cindy is the phone, democrats line. Thank you for waiting, good morning. Yes, what i see is history repeating itself. We hadw, the last time this kind of inequality between the 1 of extremely wealthy and or of extremely poor there is not even a middle class. We had a depression. Theess it is going to take government and republicans especially to realize that we real be the very very wealthy to pay not even their fair share some of but just a little more instead of trying to keep cutting and taking away in making be poor poorer. Host cindy, thank you for the call. A tweet from george and trickledown supplyside has been a failed policy for 30 years. To his point and citys point, your thoughts. Guest i think the democrats have artie done that. Theyve raise taxes just last year. Just a little but more. They asked the rich to pay just a little bit more, but it is not working. The economy is still struggling, we still have 7 unemployment. I do not think the answer to solving inequality is to take from one person and give it to another through coercion of government. The idea is to make businesses and workers flourish so that the economy can grow without the intrusion of government, not more government. That is the problem that we historically have between republicans and the democrats when it comes to inequality. Everybody wants in it we just have different views on how to do it. Host cj next, boca raton, florida, republican line. Beenr hi, steve, it has so long since i called. I opened up a twitter account just so i could tweet on cspan. Host irving, what is your handle, we will follow it . I am from boca raton, florida, and i taught school, but i quit at the end of last year, i could not take it anymore. Now i get to watch cspan, and i love it so much. I watch it for three hours in the morning, oh, i love it. I taught in a almost allblack school. 13 years. I taught High School English primarily to seniors, i thought ap, and last year they put me with the low ones, but i am telling you, steve, it is the money, honey. Our schools got a lot of money. It was the way it is used and the priorities. Steve, the blacks did not value education. Saided so hard, and i leave, i said, your teacher is going to have a stroke if you do not sit down and do your work, and they said ms. , you ought to yourn your chair and have stroke, we aint doing it. I cannot get them they do not value, we were compelled each year it got worse to pass them guyg because i heard one thomas and i hate to take up the time of our dear guest, but i think he needs to address things in more concrete forms. Democrats vote against their own wishes because i think it is all words. I dont see that they have improved. On, they graduate, but they do not have the skills. They are reading and writing on a six grade level, and i dont mean to be so harsh. If i did not love them, i would not stay because, you know, i did not have to teach there. I did it because i wanted to. Carol, we will get a response, thank you for your phone call, and we will look for your tweets as well. Thank you for calling in. Caller bye, bye. Onst she brings up next point. Education is one issue that is so frustrating. If it is one issue that should have no politicians involved in is education. If there is one issue that should remain as local as possible, it is education. It makes zero sense to me why families and communities could set should send their money to washington, tell them how to run their schools and how to teach their kids, and then hope that that leads to a good result. Education money, education curriculum, educational regulations should stay at the local level in the state level, and i think you would see a boom in learning like never before. Host let me go back to your earlier appointed to trying point in trying to elect a republican to the white house. The publicans have not received a majority of the popular vote, the only exception was 2000 four with george w. Bush. How does the gop change that . Guest that is tough. I do not focus on president ial politics i focused mainly on congressional politics. I would say that i will say though that we need to appeal to the common sense ideas. These are not extreme ideas, these are not radical ideas. These are simple ideas like maybe lets give the politicians less money to spend with. Awful historical track record with that. Lets just stop the spending and lets also balance the budget. Balancing the budget is something that families and State Governments do. Lets do it at the national level. These are simple ideas that we can come up with her that i think appeal very much to voters. And lets reduce relations on a lot of the Small Businesses that are suffering. These seem like very reasonable things that are very concrete, that hit directly home to a lot of voters. Host andy roth who is with club for growth in washington, d. C. , thank you so much for stopping by, happy new year. When we come back, we will have a conversation with james jones, a former member of congress. He also served as the u. S. Ambassador to mexico. For our purposes, we going to talk about his years working for president Lyndon Johnson as his appointed secretary and also as a member of the lbj foundation as we look back 50 years later property . N war on poverty. Youre watching cspans washington journal. We are back in a moment. The deadline is approaching for cspans student camp a petition open to middle and High School Students answering the question what is the most important Issue Congress should address this year . With a five minute to seven minute documentary that includes a cspan programming with a grand prize of 5,000. Entries are due by january 20. Get more info at studentcam. Org. Asour message was this mothers, we are concerned. As first ladies, we are committed. As the citizens of the world, we pledge to do all responsible to stop this scourge. However different we may appear, there is far more that unites us than divides us, and we are here to find Common Ground so that we may help bring new dignity and respect to women and girls all over the world. Are such a vital part of that very conversation. Because in the coming years, all of you will be building be businesses, you will be making the discoveries and drafting the laws and policies that will move our countries and our world forward for decades to come. Monday starting january 13, our original series, first ladies, influence and image returns with the five most recent first ladies from nancy reagan from Michelle Obama monday live on cspan and c span3. Also on the season radio and www. Cspan. Org. Cspan we bring Public Affairs events from washington directly to you, putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings, and conferences, and offering complete gaveltogavel coverage of the u. S. House all as a Public Service of private industry. We are cspan created by the cable tv industry 34 years ago and funded by your local cable or satellite provider. Now, you can watch us in hd. Washington journal continues. We want to welcome james jones, a former member of congress, democrat from oh obama, served from 1973 to 1987. He is a Ranking Member of the house ways and Means Committee during that time. A sermon he served under the johnson demonstration and the clinton administration. Appreciate you being with us. We want to focus on the war on poverty. Lets begin with this headline, frontpage, inside the New York Times, 50 years later, the war on poverty is a mixed bag host he goes onto say, the federal government has succeeded in preventing the poverty rate from timing far higher. Your thoughts. Guest when president johnson addressed the poverty rate in 22 of our it was at population. In the 5. 5 years he was president , he reduced it to paul for sikkim and now it is up to 15 . 12 , and now it to it is up to 50 . I15 . It is down from what was then. Host his speech to covers it in your 1964, how did this become a centerpiece of his state of the Union Address that year . Guest the war on poverty met several different things. It included the civil rights legislation, Voting Rights legislation, educational reforms, various things like that. So his major goal, and it extends from the time he was a young boy, growing up in the whole country of texas, his ther goal was to take away artificial barriers that cap people from realizing their full potential. That was the essence of his war on poverty. Capabilities,man and the whole country improves. Host january 8, 1964, president johnson. [video clip] , this Administration Today here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in america. [applause] and i urge this congress and all americans to join with me in that effort. [applause] it will not be a short or easy struggle. No single weapon or strategy will suffice, but we shall not rest until that war is won. [applause] the richest nation on earth can afford to win it. We cannot afford to lose it. From january 1964, james jones, you were in the house of representatives, you heard that speech, what were your thoughts . Guest i was an assistant to a congressman from oklahoma on the time and i was on the floor for that speech. I thought it was very ambitious. It was a refreshing thing to me as a public matter, we do have two faces issue, too many People Living a poverty, living in too many issues because of race, whatever. Host it really has been a mixed result. Why . What has failed that president johnson put forth 50 years ago . Guest there were some programs that did not work, models, city programs that do not work, but overall, what he proposed has worked for a will for the country. For example, the civil rights legislation in the Voting Rights legislation. That unleash a great deal of Human Potential that had been held back by artificial barriers. The Head Start Program has been a massive success, and it has brought people out of poverty through their education years and let them become very productive citizens, very productive taxpayers in the u. S. So there have been a number of programs that work, but if you just look at the overall totals, as they said when he proposed this war on poverty, 22 of all ricans who live in poverty were living in poverty in the richest country in the world. Office, 5. 5 years after he proposed it, only 12 were living in poverty. We have had ups and downs since then. Were just coming out of the hadest recession we have since the great depression, so it is not unusual that that poverty rate would go up a little bit, but when you percentages are today, versus where they were when he proposed the war on poverty, it has been a great success. Host we have some photographs courtesy of the lbj library as Lyndon Johnson travel to appalachia and saw firsthand what you indicated that he grew up in as well in texas, in rural abjectect property poverty. Guest yes, he really grew strength and knowledge from being out among the people. He was not one to look at reports and make decisions on that. Fromew his information talking to people, so he went around the country and went to appalachia, went to other areas, he sent many of us on the white house staff out into the country to see what it was like to live with the homeless, for example, to go to places where the education was inferior, particularly where young kids, before they even started school had so many strikes against the before and they could even compete in school and would drop out. That is what he did to understand what was going on in the country. Has athe New York Times list of poverty from 2012 based on age and race. It focuses on the race issue, the asianamerican population is about 11 with 1. 9 million in poverty. Higherse, significantly among African Americans, accounting for about 27. 2 of the poverty rate, that is equating to nearly 11 million africanamericans. Hispanics, 25. 6 of the poverty rate with a 13. 6 million and whitesn poverty, about 9. 7 of the poverty rate, nearly 19 million in poverty. True, one ofit is the things that is very important to getting out of poverty is not only the programs that give you the tools to get out of poverty, but also the Family Structure. In many ways, the Family Structure has broken down in various parts of our society. Where that has broken down, it also leaves, in my judgment, leads to an increase in property rates. Poverty rates. Host it goes to singlefamily homes and how that contributes to the poverty rates. 1. 7 million households living on an average income of less than 2 a person a day. Guest i think that is a stark statistic. Actually, when you consider people who are making minimum wage today, the current minimum wage, it is very hard for them to get by. Many of those are living in poverty, depending on family size, etc. So one of the things that the Obama Administration is going to propose, i understand, is to increase the men wage level the minimum wage level. Clearly if you know people or have seen people who are struggling to feed their families on a minimum wage today, it is something that needs to be done. Years in spent 16 congress of a democratic representative from oklahoma, but back in may 1960s, you graduated from the university of oklahoma then attended law school, then entered the Johnson White house in 1965. How did that come about . Guest a lot of accidents like that happen in life. Any nine to 64 campaign, i had graduated from law school, and a friend of mine from law school, a great attorney here in washington, said that they needed to have advanced people on an old was. Train tour with about an old whistle stop train tour with about 18, 20 stops. I ended up being in charge of the entire operation. Rode the train all the way down. Lady bird johnson seems to notice that, and she mentioned it to her husband that there is a young man who are to be on the staff, and the rest is history. Host you are now a member of the board of directors of the johnson foundation. Guest the lbj foundation, yes. Host it is the 50th anniversary of president johnsons war on poverty, a speech he delivered in the state of the Union Address in 1964. Our first call, good morning to you. Caller good morning. We have lots of snow here and ice underneath it. Oh, well. I wanted to talk about i am 85 years old, and i am a military widow. I have lived through poverty. But wea large family, always had something to eat. Roosevelt came down to get my he went to a then work,in nebraska to but he had a little land of our grandfathers, and we always had something to eat fro. Runningre no deer around in those days. Here in chillicothe, ohio, i married, and i live in ohio, i have been married for 40 years, and so the deer are running rampant in ohio. We cannot have a garden here because of the deer. Poverty could be erased if the deer were eradicated or sold to the farmers. Take half of what they cost to charity. Backed when i will back when i moved to macarthur, the farmers got a great big sum of money to keep them from having crop on the ground. They took that money and they oflt themselves big mansions houses, they took the money is that their kids to college, and so they still are doing that. They get paid for not growing crops. Host gladys, thank you for the call from ohio. Lets take her second point about the farm subsidy issue, which is part of the debate that lawmakers will undertake when they try to tackle the farm bill this month. Anst yeah, this has been evil thing matter over time, whether it is farmers, particularly very large farmers, should be paid a subsidy for not growing crops. As i understand it, and the farm bill that is going to be before the congress, there will be an effort to reduce those subsidies and to reduce the cost to the government. I think that is a move in the right direction. Host i want to go back to the debate of president johnsons in the trickle down economics of president reagan in the 1980s. How do you assess where the country was under these two, really social issues that became part of the american political dialogue . Guest both of them reflected the views of the American People at that particular time. President johnson was able to tap into a sense that the country was not quite being fair with all of its population and support to rally public for the programs that fell under the umbrella of the war on poverty whether it was the civil rights legislation, the Voting Rights legislation, the headstart programs and what have you. President reagan came along and in many ways, in many ways the refused to give up on some of the Great Society programs when they were not well well, henot working tapped into that frustration of the American People and was able to win an election. One of the things about Lyndon Johnson that i always respected is that he was always in a hurry to accomplish things that work for the good of the people. Many programs were not working. When they were not working, he was not afraid to change them or even abandon them. Party tomistake of the say that if we just cut a program that was not working, that would be the ruination of everything. As a result, the Public Opinion turned against those kinds of Government Programs, Ronald Reagan was elected, the publicans were in office for 12 years, and it changed values. Of time,in that period some poverty did increase because some people fell through the cracks, and there were no safety nets for a lot of people in this country. So i think we as a country do adjusts to the needs of the time, and we adjusted to Public Opinion at the time. Which really makes us unique in that respect. Host one of many photographs from the lbj library, president johnson in a ceremony from the rose garden to the white house, and if we look at that, at somebody who spent four years in the Johnson White house, what was he like to work with, what are your thoughts . The most complex, interesting person i think i have ever met. When Robert Carroll finished his first book on president johnson, and he interviewed me sometime after that, i told him that he hea very good writer, butured a Lyndon Johnson, he missed another 13 or 14 Lyndon Johnsons because he is one of the most fascinating people ive ever known. He is a complex person. He can be very tough, always in a hurry, he viewed that his life is not going to last a long time. He used to say that his father and grandfather both died at age ageand he would die at 64, which is one of the reasons he did not want to run for reelection. He didnt die at age 64. He didnt die at age 64. Because he had a premonition, he always went to work to help people. Can be tough, drive you are, he can bring more work out of you then you ever thought you are capable of, but at the end of the day, it was a very satisfying experience. He could be crude at times, but and to some people would say mean anyway he would drive people, but if he overstepped that, he was also very much willing to do nice things for you to make up for it. I found him to be a very warm, a very real human being, and he was just absolutely a pleasure to work for. Host in case you are interested, the New York Times writes about the war on poverty, 50 years later, calling it a mixed bag. Eric from denver, independent line with james jones, a former member of the johnsons staff, later a member of congress will sub good morning, eric. Caller up congress. The morning, eric. To touch on the proposal that we should be celebrating the concept of jubilee. If you sit back and look at everything, that is a problem we are experiencing here. 50 years, startle over. And the comp or a start over. Corporations need to start over. We are people, we passed on, but these corporations are staying here and controlling everything. We have to step back and take control of everything. If we simply did resets every 50 years, wiped everything out, it is somewhat makebelieve, and youre stuck in this reality of the debt, but until we step back and wipe it out, and start over, we can do all types of things to get it paid off, citizens were campaigning to this stuff off, but we the people have to regroup, and by doing it, it would bring equality to everybody. Host eric, thank you for the call. Let me share with you a Michael Kantor writes in the policy analysis put together by the Cato Institute pointing out despite nearly 50 million in total welfare spending since Lyndon Johnson claimed the war on poverty back in 1950s 1964, the poverty rate is perilously close to where it was more than 40 years ago. I should say 15 trillion. Guest the poverty rate, that said, when president johnson made the speech, 22 of the population were in poverty. After he left office five years later, it was 12 . Now it is 15 . It has gone up some, but it is clearly better than where it was when he declared the war on poverty. Host springfield, massachusetts. Good morning foci caller. Caller i want to thank Congress Jones for the work he did during the Johnson Administration. I am glad that the son has iody on to talk about am glad that these men had summary on to talk about the Johnson Administration. I do not know if anybody was at significant during the time as Lyndon Johnson was during his time. His understanding of the situation of the poor in this country was very important to what he did in his proposals. One of the things, mr. Jones, i am 80 years old, by the way. Was born in 1933, so i lived through the whole great depression, and ive seen the recessions that have happened since that time. But the issue around combating poverty and health care and education, which mr. Johnson emphasized, are as important to National Defense of the United States of america as the Defense Department is. Now, the other thing about the war on poverty one of the things that really set it back with the green amendment. I know that you remember the green amendment because prior to that the legislation required maximum participation of the poor, but when a green amendment was passed, it allowed for only a third participation of the poor come of the people that were affected by the legislation, and then it included appointments by governmental officials for two thirds of the board, the Different Community action agencies around the country that was running the program. The program was much more thective at the time when poor people were running the programs, quite frankly, because they understood with the particular needs were. Host benjamin, thank you for the call. We will get a response. Guest thank you very much for the call in the comments. Let me point out that the Great Society programs, the war on poverty, was not giveaways. Thatwas a set of programs were designed to take away artificial barriers to people improving their own lives. For example, head start, that was one. , the Model Cities Program to help rebuild the cities so they were good places to live for all the people. Along, people like, president s like bill clinton improve those programs by having a welfare worth e a welfare hic for payment. Lyndon johnson would have supported that. In some ways, programs of the reagan administration, a sense of self responsibility, and Lyndon Johnson would have support that. He was not for giving away money without any kind of responsibility being exerted by those who received it. I think that is an important ask but i want to bring about. Host this is from one of my viewers, one of our viewers, wow, 25 in poverty when johnson took office and that was rogue poverty. That was real poverty. No safety net. Programscial security were very modest, nose for retired persons who had paid into Social Security, but for example, medicare was part of the war on poverty, and medicaid, if you were an older person and you had medical problems, there was really no safety net for you at that time. That is why medicare came into effect. There really was very little social safety net in the 1960s until the war on Poverty Program started being passed. Host when they ring the bell on wall street and make record highs, from whom are they making that money . Your thoughts. Guest the record highs reflect investors all across the country who invest in Corporate America and into our stock markets. I think it is important, again, one of the tenets of president johnsons war on poverty is that if you allow people to have a better life and to improve themselves, but also increases the economic value of the country. They are able to purchase more, they are able to do things to keep the economy strong. So that was also one of the aspects that president johnson believed if you allow people to improve themselves, then the whole economy and the country would improve too. Ont another comment war poverty, war on drugs, war on terror, etc. Why are we always in a war, and we are good at it . Guest i think the program has been i mean, the words war overused since. On war in iraq, the war drugs, it was less a war then a set of skirmishes. The word war has been overused. Ourur congressmen conversation with congressman james jones, a member of the Lyndon Johnson foundation. Caller good morning, and thank you, cspan, for tackling this topic. Upon yourus based experience, congressman, why do you think there is so Much Negative disdain for poor people . Andhear undeserving poor, 46 million plus people are poor in america. It just seems so vindictive. I would appreciate his comment on that. Host stay on the line and we will followup. Caller first of all, a think a lot of that disdain comes out of ignorance. If you have not seen how those who are living in poverty are , you cannot have any kind of sympathy or empathy for them. If you have not seen what it is legal immigrant in this country and the way they have to live, you cannot have any kind of sympathy or empathy for them. Once you have seen them, for atmple, ive had people talk golf clubs about Illegal Immigrants working at the golf club, and they get to know them as human beings, they have a different view on a responsible immigration program. If you have a family that is struggling on minimum wage and working for you, they become human beings and not just mythical people. And you have a different view on that. I think all of it is mostly out of ignorance. They are looking at the numbers, they are looking at certain kind of reports, and they are not considering these folks human beings. Host your followup . Caller one thing that has happened since lbj is as growing income inequality. Of the 1 lf, the 1 that are doing really well what would you, say the government could do to address his income inequality . Code is think the tax one way to kind of address that question. Issues, to me, the big on how you get people out of poverty and how you have a more Fair Distribution of income starts with education, and i think our Education System has gone downhill in the last several years, so it has to be improved and there have ts to be ways to get through these in the Education System, get the attitude of wanting to succeed in having hope. The second is health care. I think you have to have Good Health Care as well as education in order for people to be good, productive members of society. I think those are the to basic cornerstones of how do you improve income distribution. In the final analysis, i think you also have to look at the tax code, how we are taxed and who is being taxed and how much. That is another way to look at the income. The last is proper distribution of income. Host a couple of points from todays New York Times piece, about 30 of single women raising their children live in poverty. They also point to the high incarceration rate of African Americans, and they break down of the families as leading conservators of poverty. These are social issues. How do you deal with that . Guest i personally think the break down of the the Family Structure is a major problem for poverty, for society in general, and that is something that two or threee last decades in this country. I think the government cannot force families to be families in the old way i grew up with, but i think there is a moral persuasion thats government leaders can talk about, that Community Leaders can talk about, to improve the respect for a Family Structure. So i do think that is a major problem and something that we have to tackle as a country. It is not going to be done by a law. Host peter joining us next from new york, republican line. Caller hey, steve, how are you doing . I think you do a great job, i think you are the best host there. I would like to make a couple of comments if you give me the grace to make them. Number one, the war on poverty you have had people on the show before who talked about poverty in america, and they hurting. Maybe. 5 are we have the income tax credit, and, youood stamps, know, welfare and so on and so forth. The showu have had on before say that most of them live pretty well, they have a roof over their head, they say they have enough to eat, in fact, they say that they live basically like middle income people do in europe. So to me, that is kind of a ruse as far as people actually suffering. The numbers are very small in america. My second comment is that we import poverty to this country. You mention illegal aliens, they come in and they are poor, no education, and so on. This is a very cup located subject, a very complicated subject, and i know you cannot give me the time to go into it in detail. Host thank you for the call. We will get a response. Guest first point is our cost of living in this country is very high, and so what looks like a reasonable income or a basic minimum wage income barely lets a family get by and provide the food and the kinds of services that they need. On the question of importing immigrants we dont affirmatively import immigrants, but all throughout this country, we have been a nation of immigrants, and they have come to this country in masses. I mean, the germans, the irish, others, they have come, they have made good, they contribute to society, they contribute to our economy, and that has been the history of the u. S. So the people who come to this country over the past couple of decades, particularly hispanics, have come because they want a better life. They have contributed, in my is a very rare situation that an immigrant coming to this country, legal or up on a welfare role of any kind. I think we have to view these folks in terms of our history, we have to view these folks in terms of the human aspect of it, and what we can embrace everybody, i think we can still embrace the fact if they are energetic, hardworking, and want to build a better life for themselves. Host a number of tweets regarding welfare reform signed into law in 1996 by bill clinton, you served as u. S. About her to mexico during that time and welfare reform for single moms into the wor kplace and away from parenting . Guest that is a good question and i cannot answer that. I have not studied up to kill or aston villa. The welfare reform did answer a noterned that the i have studied up and cannot answer it. The welfare reform did answer a concern at the time. Dealing with education so they can have a better life, that has had, what i know, a substantial effect on improving that situation. Undoubtedly, there have been some families, some situations where it has not worked, but overall i think it has worked. From cheris joining us florida on the democrats line. Good morning. Caller good morning. Thinking about the comment that he made earlier, education, Family Structure, and talking about immigrants like irish, european, german people coming over and how they have actually contributed and become successful people. Well, you know, it is funny how you never mentioned African Americans because even hispanics get props, they get recognized as contributors coming for the american dream, see, we forget that africanamericans never chose to or had a choice to come here for the american dream. They were brought here to help everybody else get their american dream. They were denied education, they were denied anything as far as whites to become a citizen. They were denied actually being able to have a family, to get married, it was against the law for people of color, and i am hispanicng about descent, i am talking about africanAmerican People who were brought here to help everybody else in the American Society to famous and not only famous but prosperous. Guest i think that is a very good point. What a lot of people forget is that a major part of president was tos war on poverty pass civil rights legislation, past Voting Rights legislation. At the time, the principal beneficiaries of those were africanamericans who had been denied, legally denied an opportunity, as this person has pointed out. And so part of the war on poverty was to unleash those bounds, those chains that kept the population of African Americans down. Did that, forson example, in his own appointments. He appointed the first African American to be on the board of the federal reserve. He appointed the first African American to be on the Supreme Court. He very much that African Americans had been denied the opportunity of other americans. In education, for example. So he was the voice of legislation, through Voting Rights, he encouraged and empowered africanamericans to be a more central part of the u. S. Promise. Host one of our viewers who calls himself a communist obsessed Social Security and medicare will keep 65 of baby boomers out of poverty since they did not save enough. Guest i think the savings rate in the u. S. Today is unfortunately very low. That not only contributes to problems when baby boomers come into retirement age, but it presents problems in the economy today. You have to have savings in order to invest in the economy so the economy can grow and that all people can prosper. Problem. T is a i do not think it necessarily ties into the war on poverty of president johnson, but the savings rate of have to be increased and has to be encouraged. Host we have a few minutes left as we look back on the 50th anniversary of president johnsons speech, the war on inerty, as he delivered january, 1960 four, we are talking with James Johnson served in the Johnson Administration as a appointment secretary, later a member of congress will solve i want to share with you what he said in a conversation, part of the lbj about how president johnson was going to pass his legislative agenda. [video clip] say this is not going to solve poverty. 30 years ago, we talked about one third, today we are good talking about 1 5, but it is the beginning, and as president kennedy said, let us begin, and this is the beginning. Works, as the peace corps works, then we will improve it. If it does not, we will correct it, but let us begin. Host that goes back to your earlier point about how he viewed legislation, what worked and what did not. Guest yes. That was one of the very interesting things about him. He knew that the government could not solve all the problems , but he did want to begin to address the problems. He recognized that our country changes over time, and as a government, we have to change with it and try to solve the problems as they exist. He recognized that some Government Programs are not going to work. If they did not work, they could not be corrected, then they needed to be abandoned. He was a very radical person. Practical person. At the same time, he was motivated to improving the lives of all the people. Commentis is another from irish eyes they have not and pace with inflation only include the cost of food. Lets go to rhonda for our last call, springfield, massachusetts, independent line. Caller good morning. I have been a singleparent all my life and i have never used any kind of government entitlement programs to help take care of my family. In the city that i live in, we have more African American women who are homeowners, single parents, and very successful, however, none of that information is given out to the public. My home is paid for. Another problem with we as blacks were africanamericans, whatever you want to refer to us as, when you took us out of those segregated schools and put us into the out of the desegregated schools and put us into segregated schools, those white teachers who are educating our black children do not have racial problems with educating us. Host we will get a response. Thank you. Guest i think racial prejudice is something that cannot be justly wiped out by legislation, but legislation can make it socially unacceptable to publicly talk about those racial prejudices, and over time they actually disappear. Not in everybody, but in a whole lot of people. Host finally, if president johnson were here today, how would he viewed his legislative agenda items and where they are in 2014 . Guest i think he would view them as those those that still exist would still be considered successful, including medicare. I think he would be tackling the medicare andncing make sure it was on a sound financial footing. Bemoan the fact that some of the programs did not work and had to be abandoned. He was a very practical man in that respect. I think he would view the use of government as an instrument to help all people at something he still would strongly support. Host james jones, who is a member of the board of directors of the lyndon b. Johnson foundation, a former member of congress, thank you very much for being with us. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] host it is back to work for the house and senate. That is our focus of tomorrows washington journal. Bryanonday roundtable, bender of the boston globe and janet hook will be here to discuss the congressional agenda in 2014. Ebeck will be here to talk about the healthcare law and what to expect and what commerce will be dealing with. Will be here on the issue of oil and gas drilling on federal land. That is baltimore morning at 7 00 eastern time, 4 00 for you on the west coast. Newsmakers if coming up next. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. Have a great week ahead. Withday, newsmakers michael needham. Followed by a look at president ial power. Later, a discussion