Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 20141111

Have veterans, economy, isis, any debate you will like to talk about. Well the conversation as on twitter, facebook or email us. To get started this morning we with todays top story. Veterans of Third Department announced an care and of the Health Benefits system. President obama today meets to talk nas leader about trade. Also in the headlines, millions of fewer people will roll in the Affordable Care act. As of this morning president obama pushing the fcc to declare internet a public utility. Declared a ebola free. You can call to or republican, democrat or independent lines. Ground zero for the healthcare system. Those who have served, tto truly honour those we must care for them. That from front page story. The globe and mail, so we who ld remember that those joined the war. Orange county register with the veteran affairs. Remodel their veterans services. Some thousand employees will be violating our values. What works, many local vets having problems with hospitals. Va is so confusing. A lot of veterans dont understand between the va hospitals. Robert mcdonald spoke more people ow many he plans to fire. Values are i care. Take disciplinary action. Process of he following this conclusion in consistent with the law. Talking about the firings that he is going through with. The washington time had the the va e about what secretary said. We have heard critics of lawmakers saying that he is moving to slow. Will again with tina. Good morning, happy veterans day. Am 75 years old and i use the va system. In arizona we have a clinic. The va medical system is the best in the world. Problems with these politicians. We are not democrats or republicans, we are americans. The new the a director is doing the best job he can. God bless america. Will go to tennessee, independent caller. Election is indicative of what people want. Sudden use n said of patients. The t of powers given to political phonies in washington. Now people are starting to realise they can access big government. Because as been sued they went bankrupt. They have multi millionaires in congress. I have a sticker, and this is just symbolic. Obama is my name. I know this type. Terrorist for one soldier. When he gets to the end of his is going to look look like a hicker. Push the should economic executions actions after midterm losses. Unilateral action from the president on Economic Issues is more necessary than ever. The president needs an economic balance. Urges him ember that to use the leadership tools. Will act lves that he on immigration. Become the top the Washington Times with this story this morning. Legalising immigrants. When republicans take control the senate next year, obama hopes to put the immigration bill through congress. Of the first questions is it the committee or the panel will wait for next year where republicans are in control. The make him the key figure to how quick the president is going to act. The present had an easy time used a he Republicans Nuclear option. Looking at the face of the republican from iowa. Can you hear me . The big story today, he was released that the architect, the mit guy, of the obamacare. Him that they of sucked the voters into obamacare. Led that the democrats were to believe he even admits that they lied to the voters. This story, i do know if cnn or abc is going to write it. But they have been lighted American People. Where did you see that clip . It was on fox news this morning. So far, nobody else has shown it. Will go to john, from illinois. Good morning, lets get back to veterans day. We dont have to talk about the Affordable Care act. Veterans of the most important in the country today. The marine t was court birthday, some of the important people in america. A happy day today. Is not spent the next 40 talking about government down, and individuals down. Our camera is live this morning at the world war ii memorial. To discuss ning in the issues come here washington journal with executive director of the American Legion. The latest, they going to overhaul the Health Care System at the va. We will go to charlie in new york. Good morning, that video went viral. The damage that obama is doing to the Democrat Party is going to make jimmy carter look good. Some of obamas president ial highlights. Golfing after they showed a video of a man being beheaded. Openly hostile to israel while inviting members of the Muslim Brotherhood to the white house. This is the obama that we have. Irony of the elections, is that if the media would treat way the true the republicans obama would be in the hot water. Sent an air force jet. If the republicans that that the media would of gone ballistic. Final thing, you folks at getting eed to stop from a you ation media. A obama is in china for weeklong asia pacific conference. And xi jiping a will be meeting. Eve of their talks, deal to expand the Global Technology trade act. Would greement that open the market. Heres the front page of the wall street journal. Putin ing hosted blood and obama. President obama apparently meeting with putin on the sideline of this summit for about 15 to 20 minutes. He said the white house said spoke about them different issues. President obama on a weeklong tour for the asiapacific countries. Washington post this morning, obama seeks to protect us power. Remarks came as he is going to meet with the chinese president. Beijing is failing to defend intellectual property. But they welcomed the rise of a peaceful and prosperous china. The deal that obama is pushing this trip could get problems from the republican senate. Minority leader Mitch Mcconnell trade was one area in which he believes republicans can work with the president. Good morning, from montana. Was ey, lest i spotted it two months ago. Last time i spoke, the guy that spoke after me said i was not a veteran. Mark. Good morning, god bless American Veterans. They give their lives for our country and i want to thank them for the service. I guess im going to ring on the Affordable Care act as well. An article from forbes, speaking about the architect of the aca. In terms of subsidies, Healthy People will have to pay in and the sick people get money. Conspiracy is a huge political conspiracy. It was really critical for the bill to pass. Goes on to say, this written in a tortured way to make sure the individual mandate was not passed. It ironic president obama, his single piece of was completely untransparent towards the American People. I did a search of the new york and the Washington Post, have any f them articles on the comments. The obamacare true coast. A few months ago was caught on camera saying that it does not offer subsidies. This turbidity of the American Voter made it imported for him to hide the true cost of obamacare. Let me hear from pennsylvania, martin. The morning, i am 65. Was enrolled in the medicare. I have been retired for years. What medicare could be. I would pay more than my federal coverage. Better take the Medicare Part b. I called them and they said you cannot roll until january. When you do in role in generate have a short period. You will be charged a 10 rest of your he life. Are roll in january, the Medicare Coverage will now go into effect until july. I think a lot of seniors do not whole thing is about. To be paralysed for the rest of then having to wait for seven months. Talking e on open form a lot of topics. We have present obama over in china meeting with various talking about trade pushing. End of this negotiation they hoping the republicans approve that d trade deal. Us as ebola e the free. President barack obama pushes government to aggressively regulate internet and treat like a public utility. Would have a huge effect on the services. It is obamas biggest move for a free and open internet. We will go to mark. To say morning, i want god bless cspan. I get terrific health care at the va in the bronx. It is just terrific. From yale ctors are and harvard. Happy veterans day. Know that the media are good. Good morning, i am a cspan junkie. The people of america finally rest up and said enough. The president going to concentrate on . To legalise illegal immigrants. They need to fix their problems first. Illegal Immigration Reform back of the t way america is on a sound foot. And Affordable Care act the line of enrolment starts. An estimate will be 30 lower of what the predicted. From the New York Times, the second enrolment period. They said they were just being of other in light health programs. The department of health, said that the enrolment will reach 10 to 11,000,000 by the end of the year. However, the number was shrink to 9,000,000 people. Be a 20 still increase over the number believed to have marketplace. There were talking at the of the american progress. Heres what she had to say about enrolment. It is not about the number, it is about the analytics to get to the number. They say the market should grow 20 . Lets see it. How do we think about this . How i respond to that is welcome always hearing questions. Time with the of team trying to press the numbers. One of stion out to say, the things of cbo i have respect for them. They suggested either accepted the 25 million number they do in three years. What happens if you do that in different period of time . New do you think about the information we have . What goal on of hould be, it is to be analytically built. The last thing we need is d. C. Stopping tech progress, hurting jobs, and Economic Growth. That is the republican senator from nebraska. Barbaratwitter, senator boxer says she agrees with president barack obama. Millions of businesses rely on open and free internet. Act the fcc must act to protect net neutrality. And this from mark kirk, republican from illinois the visa agreement with china that was announced yesterday will boost trade and create jobs for illinois. Mark kirk, the senator from that state, tweeting that out this morning. We are getting your thoughts on Public Policy issues this morning. Anything you have seen in the news we will go to tim in georgia, democratic caller. Did morning, greta. How are you doing today . Amname is timothy, and i both a marine and army veteran. My conversation is to let all of v. A. ,erans know that this this new policy they are coming kicked 90 ofhave all personnel that are in transportation services. If you can transfer from the wheelchair to the dr. s to table, you are no longer eligible for v. A. Transportation. Paraplegics are the only ones that i know of that cannot move from the wheelchair to the table. Now, how do i get my electric wheelchair to the v. A. . Because once i get there on my own means, then they are not allowed even to assist my wife from getting that the electric chair out of our vehicle. Personnels the only who has the transportation to provide safe transportation to the v. A. No one knows about this process. When i go to my doctor, i had my teeth pulled, and i was supposed to go back to get the proper followup. I went there and i missed my appointment because they had just canceled all transportation to personnel that could transfer themselves from the wheelchair to the table. Be eta, this needs to im sorry, but it needs to be addressed here it is not going to be addressed. Veterans are tired of taking all of this medication. Medical marijuana would help us out and we would get our lives back. ,ou know, this is really filthy taking all this medication by these pharmaceuticals, and they are making money off of it. Most veterans are giving their lives back with their families, not taking the hard stuff. Give me some semblance back of my life. I can communicate again with my family. Host tim talking about Veterans Issues this morning. A reminder, we will talk with the executive director of the American Legion coming up here on the washington journal. We will spend one hour with her talking about Veterans Issues as we mark veterans day today, honoring those who have served their country. With that comes several events, aluding a concert for valor starstudded concert that will be televised on hbo, scheduled for tuesday in the district in honor of veterans day. Kroll, metallica, jennifer hudson, jesse j, rihanna, and the Zac Brown Band all concert. G at that on the front page of usa today, below the fold honor ofs with jobs, says the ceo starbucks. Howard schultz says the concert for valor on the National Mall said service in arrack and afghanistan has become a hurdle rather than an asset for many veterans. That is the front page of usa today. Facesngton post of the fallen. This is something they have been repeatedly over the years. As of monday, the death toll from enduring freedom in 2343. Stan was some of the faces of the fallen. Sharon, republican, what is on your mind . Caller good morning, greta. Happy veterans day to all those who served, and god bless. I would like to Say Something about the afford will care act that probably a lot of people do not know. Thisis you can verify at the library of congress. If memory serves me correctly, 3790, and itl was as originally a bill for firsttime buyers break on taxes, military for buying a house. That bill was passed unanimously through the house, and then it went to congress. They kept the number of the bill and they gutted it and replaced the wording with the Affordable Care act. That is why needs the pelosi youu have to find the have to sign the bill before you know what is in it. Host john, from oregon, an independent. Caller i want to say happy veterans day to everybody. I just wanted to talk about i just wanted to thank obama and his policies. It was his policies how i got Health Insurance for the first time. I was unemployed for a while, and now i am working again because he has helped reduce jobs. I also wanted he has helped produce jobs. And i want to thank the Republican Party because they democraticteed us a president in 2016 because their policies, their lack of policies are just going to give us another democratic president. Host all right, john. Froming of campaign 2014, rollcall congo one senate race is still too close to call. Local officials continue to count mail in and provisional ballots. Republicans took control of the senate by picking up seven seats so far, while House Republicans have picked up a net of 12 seats to date. Leadsska, dan sullivan , bychallenger, mark begich about 8000 votes. Republican retired air force colonel Martha Mcsallys lead over representative ron barber, narrowed to 341 votes this weekend. Votes are still being counted, but the Martha Mcsally camp is challenging the validity of some provisional ballots in pima county, a barber stronghold. The first race in 2012, the election was not called until 11 days after election day. Republicans currently lead in two california house races. Former republican representative bera by 2183s ami votes. Democrats lead in those caresses, one in california and one in new york. That is representative julia brownley, in california, leading her republican opponent, and the Associated Press has yet to call the race in the new york 25th district, Louise Slaughter leading market a scene he votes. Sini by 582 we are taking your calls this morning. This from the New York Times about what republicans plan to do in the 114th congress. They are vowing to fight epa and approve the keystone pipeline. You can expect that from the republicanled congress, the 114th congress. Also, from the Washington Times, the epa will be facing a lawsuit over epa administrator Gina Mccarthys deleted text messages. Lamar smith, texas republican, wants an investigation into what happened to her text messages. Margaret, from cooper, texas, a democrat. Good morning. Caller i would like to speak about something. Widow of ava v. A. A my husband died those who years ago of vanilla spirit. I would like to bring up something. When my husband passed away, we had purchased insurance where we could receive two thirds of his salary if something should happen to him. But because he died of a serviceconnected illness, v. A. Gave me care. Get ae of that, i only very small amount from the svp, which is insurance that we pay for as americans. Because he died from a service i am entitleds, to dic. So they offset the sep. The only way i can get that svp back is if i remarry, and i do not think too many people i know that is a thing with the v. A. Right now, and i think it is very sad. I am already sad from my husbands death, and now i am slapped in the face with this once he passed away, that this is what they are doing to us. I understand it is in the senate. Some people are trying to get it reinstated. But at this point i am having to is in for something that the system, and i do not know what to do. We are just here. Just hopefully they will make a change in that. Before you call me stupid, please do your research on in thebecause i am paralegal so i know what i am talking about. It is just unbelievable. I want to put that up there. Margaret, sorry for your loss. This story from politicop. Politico. The topleahy is seizing spot on the democratic relations committee. Withng a turf battle barbara with Barbara Mikulski, the maryland democrat who currently chairs the powerful spending panel. Some democratic insiders predict Barbara Mikulski could defeat Patrick Leahy in a oneonone race in the secret balloting. That from politico this morning about what could happen in the 114th congress as republicans take control, and democrats who are now chairman of committees will become the top ranking on each of these committees. Also, speaking of security, this from the hill. Nancy pelosi, the minority leader for democrats, lending advice for caucus ahead of the Committee Leadership elections. Nancy said monday that security should not be the deciding factor. In a letter, she once again endorsed fellow california for theive ranking spot for the energy and Commerce Committee in the next congress. John from maryland, a republican. Good morning. Caller i just want to remind people that used that this used to be armistice day. It was the ceasefire stopping hostility for the first world war. They actually did not consider if the ending of the war, it was just the armistice, but it turned out to be the ending of the war. Hour,th month, the 11th the 11th day. Now we call it veterans day. I am a veteran. I want to wish all fellow armistice happy veterans day. The reason i called, though, is because this guy from m. I. T. , gruber, has been in the news, and he is insulting the American Public by saying that the reason that they got the obamacare law passed was because of our stupidity when he admits that they used fraud and lies to get it passed. The president himself live dozens of times about, if you like your doctor, you can keep yourperiod, if you like health care, you can keep it, period. Now we find out that the penalty , if you do not sign up, used to be 1 . I believe it is going up to 2 of your adjusted gross income, starting in 2015. We are getting screwed. But to add insult to injury, this guy gruber is telling us we are stupid because they lied to us. Host all right, john. A couple of headlines for you. Dooming deadline there is a deadline looming in the talks for iran. Secretary of state john kerry is meeting with the Iranian Foreign minister sunday, with no sign of an eminent rate through. They had back into discussion monday evening to continue their talks. By the way, the fed page of the Washington Post, noting how much the secretary of state is traveling. Everyone knows Condoleezza Rice holds the alltime record for travel by the secretary of state. If john kerry keeps up, he will eclipse her. He has not slowed up since taking the secretarys job in february of 2013. In those 21 months, he has 320 miles. 02, also in u. S. News, this headline about the fight against isis. The Islamic State could replace its leader if needed. Abu albaghdadi dies, they confirm been able to reports that he was injured or killed us as we can, but his loss would not necessarily spell the end of the organization. Lets hear from pat in nottingham, new hampshire, independent caller. I wanted to call about a couple of things. They were trying to sabotage everything for the past six years. The other thing is, they should off a holiday, take a day that they can go up and so they can go out and vote. 2 3 of the country did not get fired up. A lot of republicans talk about being patriotic. Took jobs Like Air Force jobs. The patriotic stuff is way overdone. Pat, i am going to leave it there. Were out of time for this discussion. Up next, we will talk about the history of lameduck congress is then later we will talk with verna jones, the executive director of the American Legion. In first, Silvio Burwell washington explained monday that the agency is is is preparing healthcare. Gov for the next round of enrollment. Here is what she had to say. Are people able to go in and go on the website . With regard to that piece of it, we have been spending a tremendous amount of time to try to do things differently. Last year our testing was 10 days. Is fiver our testing weeks. Our issuers and insurers are testing different things. We have tested load, we have tested and to and we have tested ends to and. Whether that is bringing our colleagues at the hs in or best practices in the private specter in the private sector. We actually scan every day. In addition to that, we have people try to hack us. Quarter having a folks come in to do security checking. The last piece of this consumer piece is the concept that the consumer has a better interaction. Things are simpler, faster, and more intuitive. For those who are returning to , for those coming back, for the 90 of 90 of the information will be prepopulated. What does that mean . You do not have to keep reentering your address. That will make it easier when you are coming back to check things out. The second place is, actually the new folks coming in. For those folks, what we tried for 76 of the people, we will see a situation where they have an application that has it has gone from 76 screens down to 16 screens. In addition, it will be easier to use mobile applications because we know many of the young people we are trying to reach use mobile applications. So that ability to connect. Those are some of the things we are doing to get us to a successful open enrollment. Washington journal continues. Host we are back with george to with Matthew Mitchell talk about lameduck congresses. What does lameduck mean . The phrase actually comes from the 19th century. It is an old british term for a bankrupt businessman. The idea is a game bird that was shot and is easy to bring down. For reasons that nobody is exactly sure of, it somehow came to apply to politicians. There are a couple of different ways it can be used. Often people use it to describe executives near the end of their term if they are term limited. Is the president lameduck yet or not . Used tocase, it is describe a congress that returns and since after an election and sits after an election. Use the idea of a lameduck session because the congress has actually lost its election. Partisan control of the chamber. So they are returning, they are going to be voting. Some members are not going to be returning in january, but they are allowed to vote. Host so you decided at the Mercator Center to study this, and you came up with a very lameduck congress to talk about that. What do you mean by very lameduck . , there was aere mandatory lameduck session because it required Congress Come into session every december. Andr that, they changed it after 1933, congress occasionally comes back for a session after an election. Sometimes they come back after an election and the Majority Party has lost control of the chamber. Case, we are calling that a very lameduck session of congress. What we have done is gone through and looked at how the senate votes to try to discern what the differences are in the voting patterns between lameduck, very lameduck, and those sessions of congress. So this is a very lameduck we are heading into. What is on the agenda . Guest a number of things. They will have to do something on the budget. If they do not by december 11, we are looking at a shutdown. They have to get a budget passed or at least a continuing resolution or something. It looks like there is a possibility of some sort of action on isis, authorization of force. There are a number of tactic centers, tax breaks for individuals and businesses, any that expired at the beginning of the year, congress will have to decide whether they want to retroactively renew them. Some of these, like the r d tax credit, it expires every other year. It has expired. There are also some appointments, including the attorney general. That may come up in the lameduck section. In the lameduck session. Some republicans will hold off on that and have a longer hearing to ask more questions. Judicial nominees as well. There are 12 vacant sport there are 12 vacant spots in courts across the country. What patterns emerge with lameduck congress is . Probably the starkest pattern is during a lame that a lameduck session of congress, they do not like to during a lameduck session of congress voting, they are much less likely to show up for rollcall votes. Session, housek members are about 38 less likely to show up for a rollcall vote. Senate members are about 57 less likely to show up for a rollcall vote. Host are these people who lost reelection . ,hat i have decided to retire and some have argued i do not think it is appropriate for me to make a vote since i am guest it could very well be. They are people who either chose to retire, chose to Seek Higher Office and maybe succeeded and maybe they did not or they are people who have lost reelection in primaries or the general election. One thing that is interesting i assumed when i dug into the data for this current lameduck, that there would be mostly democrats as lame ducks, but that is not the case. It turns out there are about and they are still counting but there are about 39 republicans who are lame ducks, im sorry, 30 republicans who are lame ducks here it host in both chambers . In the house. T in the senate, the breakdown is about 12 senators, three republicans and eight democrats. How are the senators who were reelected likely to vote in live lameduck . Guest the pattern of nonvoting, that is not true for reelected members. They are more likely to participate during a lameduck session. Most of that is driven by party members. The other thing that has inpened, there are changes the whole voting pattern of the entire chambers. Example, the Majority Party is the party that has just lost in this case. Theyre party unity tends to fall. So in a typical session of congress, democrats, republicans, the minority and Majority Party, they all vote with their party about 82 of time. But in a lameduck session, the Majority Party and the Democratic Party are less likely to. They are more likely to buck their party. This is not true of republicans and it is not true of minorities. We are talking with Matt Mitchell of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. They did a study about lameduck congresses and wrote a piece for real clear politics with the headline, lameduck session reveals what members of Congress Really want. We are taking your thoughts and questions on that. 53880. Ts, 20258 republicans, 20 25853881. , 2025853882. You might think of a lameduck session as a political version of the movie what women want. We are accustomed to thinking of them as leaders, but in a lot of ways they are followers. Follow a special interest or they will not be able to raise enough money to win reelection. They of course have to follow Party Leadership. Hardy leadership controls everything from the agenda, committee assignments, and they have two, of course, the project be particularly mindful of whatever agreement they made as congressman. Are of the incentives attenuated. They are free to cast votes as they wish. What you find is that some members rise to the occasion and some members sing to the occasion. Been waiting has in arizona, an independent. Good morning to you. Richard, you have to talk through your phone. Caller hello . Host you are on the air, sir. Caller first of all, i would like to thank the troops. My dad, who was in the 82nd engineer corps in india during world war ii. I have those Koch Brothers in the 82nd airborne i have two brothers in the 82nd airborne from North Carolina. And this Lame Duck Congress what is that about . The president gets two terms, and that his two last years comment he gets to retire . His last two years, he gets to retire . Host do we have a lameduck president . Are we in for two more years of gridlock . A history ofis significant things happening in the final two years of a presidency. Maybe it is at that point that the partisan bickering has sort of died down. People are tired of it and are ready to bury the hatchet. It may just be that people are looking to make their legacy. But if you look at the last two years of the reagan presidency, there were major tax reforms. If you look at the last few years of the clinton presidency, even though there was an impeachment of president clinton, the party came together and passed the largest Capital Gains tax cut in u. S. History, balanced the budget. Bipartisany found ways to unbalance the budget, of course. There is a bit of a history of president s and congresses working together in their final years. It would not surprise me if a couple of years from now we look back and say that this was a bit of a change in the acrimony in washington. Host how were those president s able to do it . Guest one thing is they were tot of they seemed free part from their partys opposition, so when reagan embraced tax reforms with lowering tax rates and closing a bunch of loopholes and by the way, this is something a lot of people are speculating may be a possibility for an area of republicans and president obama to Work Together now his Party Tradition has traditionally been that democrats Dan Rostenkowski at the time reminded the president that democrats support closing loopholes. Now 20 or 30 years later, this is orthodox republican position, that you should not use the tax code to try to steer and manipulate behavior. And the president i think has shown some interest in tax reform as well. That is a probability. Host would like to quickly honor my father who was in the navy during world war ii and my step other who was a memory corps during world war ii and they are buried in st. Louis, missouri. Toeep hearing reference 6770. Are those the members of Senate Representatives that can completely override the president . I apologize to my social studies teacher for not remembering. 6770, yes, i think what you are referring to there is 100 members in the senate so you need 2 3 of the senate which is 67 on 435 members of the house and you need 2 3 of that. That would be the amount necessary to override the president for a veto. Host indiana, independent color caller good morning, happy veterans day to all the veterans. My question to the guest regards the lame duck session for this congress. In your research, what have you seen as a trend of bills that tend to get pushed through . Guest thats a great question. If you look at the types of bills that go through in a lameduck session, its really all over the map. We impeached a president in a lameduck session. We created a federal department of Homeland Security in a lameduck session. We passed major trade deals in a lameduck session in 1974 and again in 1994. Ideologically, its not clear if there is a discernible pattern as far as bills that increase or decrease the size and power of the government. There is a mixed bag. One thing you find is that there is a fair amount of hills that are difficult to assemble that assemble andime to to whip them they get pushed to the lameduck because of that him and not because of trying to get bills, bipartisan bills passed. This was something that was tricky for them to get done during the regular session. Time ran out and they had to pass it during the lameduck. Host is there an example that can happen during this lameduck . Certainly the budget. Seven ofe house passed its 13 appropriations bill and they house is not been able to advance any of them. The time is running out there and they will have to do something. By december 11. The we are talking about history of lameduck congresses as we go into this one after the election of campaign 2014. Have passed congress has been more by this partisan or bipartisan . Abdomen more or less responsible . Session in lameduck which the Party Changes power, bipartisan votes are little more likely. A little more of a mixed back in a very lameduck session like this. When the control of the party shifts, house members the come at vidmar bart partisan a bit more bipartisan. Senate members on the other hand are about 12 less likely to cast bipartisan vote. Host timothy, republican caller from georgia. Glad that theo republicans got the senate. Host why is that . Um, um, um, we, need to get rid of the president who is a muslim. Host the present has said he is a christian and we will move on to washington, d. C. , independent. Caller hes a muslim. Host are you with us . Weve got an issue with the phones. Judicial nominations this has been an issue for the democrats in the senate wanting to change the senate rules to get more through. What happens during a lameduck on this issue . Republicans will have to decide whether they want to keep the democratic rule that you no longer need a filibuster proof majority in the senate to advance a judicial nomination. Democrats maying one day regret that they made the decision. Republicans may be happy that made that decision because it will be easier for them to advance their nominees. We will see. My guess is that we will probably not likely see nominations like major ones like the attorney general going to the lameduck session just because it takes time and is a lengthy process. The lameduck session is not particularly long. Even though i dont think the attorney general nomination seems to be gathering too much momentum for opposition, it looks like republicans will be interested in taking the opportunity to ask more questions. Host washington, d. C. , independent, good morning. Caller good morning and thanks for having me. Host you are on the air now and we can hear you. Caller wonderful, i had this on my mind this morning. Had to find a way to tie it into the current conversation. How most my mind that of the country decided not to get up and go vote this past midterm. Our type of politics is long and arduous. Its people fighting and bickering and you have to stay engaged for long periods of time and its hard to do that. America. A lameduck people want all these changes and they want this and they want their voices to be heard that when its time to go vote, they stay home. If you could make a couple of comments about apathy in general and how it relates to stuff like this something thatay is not controversial among economists but controversial among civics teachers. In many ways, it is rational not to vote. Ae reason is that it takes lot of effort to inform yourself about the issues and its a very unlikely you will sway the outcome. This does not mean that people should not vote and you should not feel still feel an obligation but i think we need to recognize that we dont exactly the democratic system does not incentivize people to spend years and years studying macroeconomics. Are studying the platforms and trying to wrap their minds around the issues. If people are not going to take the time to vote, i think we should recognize that but thats simply a reality when you look at the way costbenefit analysis works, thats the decision people are not going to make. To me, that is a problem. That when recognize we are deciding quick decisions and the public arena and making decisions through the democratic process rather than through individual choice, we are pushing those decisions to a lot of voters were not going to take the time to become informed and understand the issues. Host this week, the house and senate reconvene for the 113 congress. Our guest is calling this a very lameduck session. Thats our topic this morning. The history of lameduck sessions what is on the agenda for this lameduck congress . The phone numbers are on your screen Matt Mitchell wrote a piece for u. S. News world report ,urcotte a december to remember some lawmakers rise to the occasion during lameduck sessions while others sink. From twitter guest party unity is remarkably consistent across parties. About 82 of the time members vote with their party and this is true for democrats and republicans and minorities and majorities. In a typical lame duck session, party unity goes down with democrats and republicans, majority and minority. In a very lameduck session, the control of the Party Changes is where you see unity goes down but not republican unity. Host montgomery, alabama, independent. Think that it is not so much of a lameduck congress. Its people that are not informed about these Big Companies that have contributed millions of dollars and billions of dollars like koch in february donated millions of dollars to assistublican party to their people to travel from city to city and state to state. Special interests in a lameduck session, do they have influence . Guest this is a mixed bag. It turns out that if you think about the incentives that a congressman normally faces they have a strong incentive to bend over backwards for special interest and it turns out thats an incentive that is weakened during a lameduck session of congress. We have some evidence of this. You no longer seek reelection and you dont need the Campaign Funds. One study found that during a lameduck session of congress, protectionist measures were much less likely to pass. Typically, these are things that the industry wants and tend to be bad for consumers even though they are good for industry. At anr study looked automobile bailout bill that passed the house and ultimately failed in the senate in 2008. It turned out that they found ,hat nonreturning members actual lameduck individuals, they were much less likely to be responsive to special interests campaign donations. They did not seem to be too affected there was no difference in how effective they were by their constituencies interest. There is one exception to this. It may be that members are particularly interested in and bending over backwards for one particular special interest and that would be there next employer. A good example is the lameduck session back in the 1920s. President harding has supported a controversial bill that was going to subsidize ship construction. He leaned him a lot of republicans to support the bill and it turns out that those who did support the bill were rewarded afterwards by the president with lucrative positions in the administration. Host tulsa, oklahoma, our line for democrats. Caller hello . I want to talk about the lameduck congress. Why everyonestand is in an uproar about this because they have been i lameduck congress for six years. They never did anything. Anything the president has put forward or make a new law, it is a slamdunk. Here was what i predict they will once again try to repeal obamacare. They will probably get it. They will not raise them in which. They will not help american working people. It will cut Veterans Benefits by 20 . There is people starving in our country and they will not give them their food stamps. You have to make some much money to get food stamps. People are working for 900 per month but cannot qualify for food stamps. John boehner will not do anything. He will march with the Republican Party. They are not going to get anything done for the next two years. Host we got your point. To his point, what will be the difference between this lameduck congress and what they have not been able to do leading up to this . Guest its hard to say what will happen during the lameduck versus what will happen in the next couple of years. People are saying that things like tax reform are a possibility in the next few years. I think free trade is another one. The president is in china and now. Beentrade is typically something the Republican Party has opposed and the democrats have been in favor of. In the last 20 years or so, we have seen a reverse of those roles. Now the Republican Party is now the party of free trade but president obama has basically, throughout his term, made a number of comments suggesting he is still in favor of free trade. I think thats definitely an area for potential bipartisan agreement. Interested in tax reform. Its much easier to say we should close loopholes for special interests than to actually identify what those special interests are. Both sides have big blind spots there. Host palmetto, florida, republican. Caller good morning, in response to the earlier caller, i guess he is forgetting that the Republican House of representatives passed over 300 bills that harry reid in the senate neglected to take up. The lameduck seems to be in the senate and not in the house. The message im getting from the conversation this morning is that lameduck sessions are not soessarily a bad thing america, not to worry, because positive things can come out of lameduck and history has shown that sometimes they have been very active in passing good legislation. Host do you have an example of that . Caller im just listening to of himfessor in terms saying have tax reform has been passed in lameduck sessions in trade agreements and so forth so its been productive. Not to worry, we may get something positive this time around. The other interesting point about is how in a lameduck session, there is a tendency of our representatives not to be listening so much to special interests or be under the thumb of their Party Leadership. I think that is something we all as americans desire. End, wouldnt the enactment of a term limit for our house and Senate Members enhance this whole concept of perhaps forcing more lameduck sessions so that we can get congressmen and senators who are voting their conscience and voting the way their constituents desire them . Guest thats an excellent question. Argumenthe crux of the for and against term limits. On the one hand, a term limit means finally members of congress or state legislatures can do it they want to do. Feel they no longer obliged to bend over backwards for Party Leadership or special interests. On the other hand, we are a Representative Democracy and you a situationthere is where if you are on accountable to voters that you might go wild. This is something that has been studied a fair amount at the state level. All sorts of different experiments going on in the 50 states both legislative and executive term limits and what their affect is on outcomes like state spending. Spending,a of state the caller is a republican and lets assume he is interested in less spending. Its still incredibly controversial among academics what the actual result is. Some studies suggest that when you put in the right controls that term limits lead to more state spending another Study Suggests you need to have these controls and put those in their and they lead to more spending. That thell something science has not worked out what the ultimate effect is. Looked into this issue of lameduck congresses and the history of them. He is a Senior Research fellow at George Mason University Mercatus Center. You can find more information at mercatus. Org. Democratic caller is next caller some people stole my thunder a minute ago about the lameduck session. Its been lame all year. Well for the last six years. There is no use to expect a change now. The main thing i want to get off my chest this morning i was watching msnbc and they were showing all the conflicts in iraq and everywhere. I firmly believe that they would just turn over dick cheney and george bush to isis and that would and most of the conflict. Host i will live up there. From twitter guest how often . Host heading into the last two terms of a presidency guest i dont know the number offhand but i do know that after 1933, a lameduck session occurred in every session of the early days until 1933. After that, they were relatively rare. You would only see them every five or six elections. Now theyre much more frequent. On twoterm president s, you have a smaller set of a smaller set. I would guess its pretty rare. Host washington, glenn, a republican caller good morning, i watch a quote washington journal pretty much every morning and i think its amazing to hear the your guestsring stay, a democrat has called up accusing a donothing Republican Congress yet we know that the crux of the matter was harry reid and how he was not allowing anybody to come to the floor. Its amazing to hear a democrat, but that over and over. , think the lameduck session in my opinion, maybe we should stop having legislators do anything actively on the floor during that. I think it makes sense that there is probably more destruction done during lameduck sessions than productivity. Host we will take that point. Guest thats a great point and certainly one that many people have made before. The very idea of repudiated members still casting votes strikes many people as antidemocratic. Was certainly the impetus behind the lameduck amendment that changed it. My point is that while i see while that might happen and you can see there is a limit to the logic if you have no responsibility to your voters, they are likely to make and responsible decisions irresponsible decisions. There is more nuance. The fact that members are a little less likely to be beholden to special interests and interests of their colleagues and their own parochial interests. One thing we have to realize is that under the best of normal circumstances, members of Congress Face perverse incentives. Are not exactly aligned to cast votes for the general interest. The lameduck session mixes this up and provides opportunities. Host what if you are senator Mary Landrieu n a lameduck congress and youre headed for a runoff that determines whether you serve another term in the senate or you are mark begich headed into this week . The senate will convene and you dont know if youre going to get reelected to another term . Guest for them, its almost like a time machine. They are not in a lameduck session. They are in a regular session as far as theyre concerned because they are still very much being watched by donors and their voters. Host texas, democratic caller, good morning. Congress is the going to do just like they have been doing. They will not do anything. They will not do anything for the people. They will do nothing. Matt mitchell talked earlier about the influence of special interests. Go ahead and repeat for those mightve missed it. Suggests thatory its a bit ambiguous that when you dont have to seek reelection, theres a chance youre less likely to Pay Attention to special interests because you no longer need to raise Campaign Funds or are worried about endorsements and are not worried about special interests bringing out an attack ad. Thatct, the data suggests there is a little bit less of a tendency to pander to special interests. There was an auto bailout bill in 2008 in which researchers found that members were actually less responsive to the campaign donations. There is also a protectionist that another researcher looked at in the 1980s that lameduck members were less likely to support protectionism where returning members. Were more likely to protect it that something that is vertically favored by special interests and freetrade is better for the broader general interest. There is an exception and the exception i mentioned was the lameduck session under president harding in which the president rewarded members who supported his ship subsidy bill with positions in the administration. There is a limit to the logic. Repeat what is possible during this lameduck congress. One thing that is high on the agenda of everyone is getting some sort of budget passed. Near as i can tell, Neither Party is particularly interested in having another Government Shutdown and yet if they dont pass something on the budget, by december 11, they have two options they can either try to cobble together an omelette is bill that combines all the an omnibus bill that combines everything or they can pass a continuing resolution which is something where they say what we have been doing for the last several years we will continue to do because we cannot agree on any change. That is a bit of a copout but that may be likely. The budget is quite likely. Theres a possibility they may take up some nominations including the attorney general. There as i can tell, there is some interest in pushing that passed the lameduck session because it will take time to do that. Forceization of use of for isis is a possibility. There is the socalled tax extenders which are basically a list of loopholes that are either on the individual side or the business side that they will have to decide whether or not they will extend. Men of these expired at the beginning of the year so they will have to decide what to do with those. Host on our line for republicans, springfield, virginia, go ahead. Jacob, youre on the air. Caller can you hear me . Thatrd callers complaining it is no different in this lameduck session than what we have had in the past six years. I am a lifelong republican. People need to remember that there are a good number of people like myself for home they want their representative to do nothing rather than to legislate. A donothing congress sounds like a dream to me compared to drafting and passing new legislation. The only thing better than doing nothing would be to repeal, repeal, repeal. We have too many laws and regulations on the books and too much government overreach and duplicity. When he to eliminate departments and reduce the size of government and let power reside in the people where we have some chance of affecting change. One area where i think this comes up is people have noticed that bills that are typical bipartisan bills are having more trouble in recent congresses getting past. The two examples i would bring bank and thethe xm farm bill. I agree with the caller on this in that these are bills that enjoy bipartisan support historically and i dont think they ought to. These are bills that essentially raise prices for consumers. They are damaging for the overall economy and yet they privilege special interests and add the pockets of the wellconnected like higher income individuals. As the president said when he is nothingor, exim more than corporate welfare. There has been a bipartisan agreement that we will just pass these things. Recent congresses have been a little more skeptical of this stuff. One reason for this is that there is now a ban on your and thatsearmarking more difficult for parties to with. To used to be able promise a special deal for a congressman on the fence and maybe by their boat but that has been more difficult. It means these typical bills that passed with ease are running into some uphill battles. In my view, that is a good thing. In means we are deliberating more and thinking more about special interest legislation. Host grand rapids, michigan, independent once heard a guy say there is only one party, the party of privilege and property and it has the democrats and republicans. Would itg said, benefit the American People who have 16year term for the president and not let people in Congress Lobby until they have been out of congress as long as they work in congress . Thank you very much. Guest i spent a lot of time researching privileges to special interests. Whenever government takes policy positions that single out a particular group in favor of them and regulations or the tax code or spending are ways that it affects that. The question that comes up is what is the relationship between lobbying and political activity Like Campaign donations and government privileging groups . Needsview, a democracy and lives on the ability to petition your government. I think we should be really careful about limiting the ability of people to donate to campaigns or to express political beliefs. This is the most this is what the First Amendment was designed for. If any kind of expression should be protected, its political expression. If youre worried about everman pandering to special interests, try to think about limiting what government can do to privilege special interest on that will end up limiting the amount of money in politics. You have much less of an incentive to put money in politics of you dont think youll get much out of it in the way of special favors from policymakers. Host Matthew Mitchell, thank you for your time and we appreciate it and come back again. On this veterans day, 2014, several events in washington celebrating those that have served our country. Our cameras live outside the Vietnam Veterans memorial on the mall and we will have coverage coming up 11 00 p. M. Eastern of Vice President joe biden at the annual wreathlaying ceremony at the National Arlington cemetery. Coming up next, we will turn our attention to Veterans Issues and talk to the executive director of the American Legion, burnet jones verna jones right after this break. Cspan veterans day coverage continues tonight at 7 00 eastern with selections from this years white house medal of honor server moneys follow that 8 00 by the traditional wreathlaying ceremony at Arlington National cemetery. After 9 00, the annual uso gala featuring joint chiefs of staff chairman general Martin Dempsey and discussions on Veterans Mental Health issues as well as other selections from the white house medal of honor ceremony. Cspan student can competition is underway open to middle and High School Students to create iveseven minute documentary on the theme the three branches and you showing how a policy, law, or action by the branches of the federal government have affected you or your community. There are 200 cash prizes for students and teachers totaling 100,000. For a list of rules how to get started, go to student cam. Org. Washington journal continues host we are back on this november 11, 2014, veterans day in this country, honoring those who have served america and our cameras live outside the vietnam veteran memorial. Back in our studio is verna jones, the executive director of the Veterans Administration. Va secretary announced an overhaul of the health care and benefits system yesterday. A more customer friendly type system. What do you make of the overhaul and what do you think it fixes . Guest i think its time for a change. It fixes veterans having some a questions of everything being so disjointed. Placens have to go one for one particular service on another place for another service and sometimes those two services dont talk. I think it will give the veterans of old dew of what they need and make it easier for the veteran to navigate through the system. Host also, the secretary yesterday talked about firing at the via, those who have been responsible for the wait times that have led to deaths in some cases in phoenix, arizona. The Washington Times do you agree . Took yes, anyone who delaying services for veterans need to face disciplinary action. The v. A. System is set up to take care of veterans. They did not do everything they needed to do. They dont need to be at the v. A. If they did not. There are still people on paid administrative leave. They are taking money from the taxpayers. Collect aat home and check in and to be fired and it should have already happened. Host lets listen to what secretary macdonald told cnn yesterday. We are we have said as taking disciplinary action against those individuals who violated our values. Our values are represented in the acronym icare,\ the i is integrity. We are taking disciplinary action. That action over the last year has involved about 5600 employees. Some of those are still active and we are in the process of following that to his conclusion. We are acting aggressively and expeditiously and consistent with the law. Said the v. A. Secretary there acting aggressively and consistent with the law but they have to. There is and cross their ts. Guest we have to make sure they do everything right because those of cause veterans harm, we dont want them to be able to come back and hurt other veterans on a technicality. We want to be a to do it right but they can do it right with employee due process quicker than they are doing it now. Those employees dont need to be on collecting taxpayer money. They need to use those funds for someone who can come in and take care of veterans the way they deserve to be taking care of. Host have you seen any improvement under the leadership of secretary macdonald . Guest yes, and we applaud those improvements. There is still so much more to be done. The American Legion stands to help whatever the v. A. Needs to make sure the system is better for veterans. On this november 11, 2014 on veterans day, what has been fixed . Guest the backlog has been reduced a little bit and the veterans choice cards have been mailed out. I think we are in the process. Im not sure if anything has been set but there have been improvements in there is more to be done. There has been improvements made for veterans. Veterans are getting their appointments quicker and we applaud that but there are so much more that has to happen before we can say its fixed. Host what are the choice cards and who will get them . Guest all veterans receive those choice cards and they give veterans access to go outside of the v. A. And gives them a choice if they meet the criteria. If you live within 40 miles of your nearest v. A. Facility, there is another and stunts where veterans waited early days together appointment. The card will be mailed out to about 9 million veterans. We dont we dont want them to delay veterans Getting Health Care anymore. We aret they are out, hoping that will help veterans get the services they need more timely. Host we are talking with verna jones, the executive director of the American Legion and the Veterans Affairs department is our topic. These are our lines is here until 9 30 a. M. Eastern time but i want to show our viewers and have a respond to veteran Affairs Secretary Bob Mcdonnell speaking at the National Press club in washington last week and talking about reforming the Veterans Affairs department. [video clip] as i said in my remarks, we are looking at part of our my va reform process will look at the organization structure. Generally, when i think of a highperformance organization, i think of the purpose and the values the organization being the foundation. You have to attack that first and second his technical competence. Do you have good doctors and good nurses . Youve got four pillars leadership, having the right leaders and working to get them on. We have hired a of bunch of people recently but a more hiring to do. Do you have the right strategies . Bob is the guy who was the strategies with me and we look at the strategies and renew them and apply them. ,o you have the right systems repeatable processes and do they lead to good outcomes. Do you have the right procedures and culture . There is nothing that is sacrosanct. The employees will help us change the a to be more veteran centric. What stands out to you . Peopleeran centric use that phrase all the time. I think that needs to be a system advantageous for veterans. Its time for an overhaul am only call for the resignation of secretary shinseki, we said it was not personal it was business because veterans were not receiving under that system they were not receiving the services they deserve. I think we need to support secretary macdonald and give them an opportunity to overhaul the system and make it healthy for veterans, make it what veterans need for it to be. Host have you met with secretary mcdonald . Guest yes, i met with him on several occasions and he went to our National Convention and spoke to our delegation and we have had several meetings. Host what was the first thing you brought up in these meetings . Guest we talked about the health care, we talked about the delays in health care and the backlog. Host we are talking with verna jones, executive director of the American Legion, first woman to serve in that post and an attorney and army veteran who served as a personal sergeant. When did you serve . 1995 in texas. Host stratford, connecticut, a republican. Caller good morning and thank you for taking my call, Great Program on a great day to honor the bets. Vets. I wanted to express what was wrong and that is to have an antiiraq war protest for bruce jane Bruce Springsteen honoring the bets. The al qaeda playbook in iraq was we cannot defeat the u. S. Militarily so instead we will work at you wrote in support and resolve at eroding support and resolve and he was on Bruce Springsteen was one of the leading voices in eroding that resolve at home as a celebrity attacking president bush and the war. End the war. To have him as a headliner and the net result is the u. S. Left iraq and the rise of isis and now the u. S. This is the truly tragic part returning to iraq but with the green zone infrastructure gone, its under substantially more risky conditions. Springsteenng mr. As part of this honoring the vets is an insult. Forgot thatveryone he was one of the leading voices saying i support the troops but i oppose your mission which is analogical position. Host they are talking about the concert that is happening this evening on the mall. Hbo will be filming that. Are you agree . Guest Bruce Springsteen cannot deny that he is a great performer. I think this concert is just an outlet for veterans and military personnel to go and enjoy themselves. You have to separate the two. They will be able to go out tonight and have Great Entertainment and be honored because today is veterans day. Anyway we can honor veterans, i think we need to do that. Brought upaller also troops returning to iraq and the first have arrived in and our province anbar province. What do you make of the troops returning to iraq . Guest we never want troops to be in harms way at any time. Would have to trust thats whats being done is what our nation is to be doing. Host laramie, wyoming, a veteran and republican, you are on the air. Caller good morning, thanks for cspan and thanks to the service of all the veterans. From aned to be a vet combat unit and i am very disappointed that general shinseki was railroaded out by the American Legion. I thought he was a great leader and rumsfeld and cheney and bush , if they had listened to shinseki, there were not the any isil in iraq right now. Host are you a member of the American Legion . Caller i was and they keep sending the renewals but ever since shinseki was railroaded out, i am not going to join the American Legion anymore. Host what do you say to that caller . Guest thank you for your service. When our National Commander called for the rectum this resignation of secretary shinseki, he said it was with Great Sadness he had to call for his resignation. We understand he is a great he is one of her great heroes and served this country honorably. Its hard when you have to make those decisions about one of your own. We appreciate and honor the service of secretary shinseki but the American Legion did not feel the secretary shinseki gave veterans what they needed under his leadership and it was time for a change. We stand behind that. Host eureka, california, william is next, democratic caller caller good morning, i am 71 years old from a lifetime American Legion veteran. You pay aeans considerable amount of money to be a member for life in the new pay note news thereafter. No dues thereafter. I feel so sad that there is no voice for the homeless veteran. There is absolutely nothing done to try to get these people back into the system. They have mental issues like suicide and what have you. We see when we drive our car is the cardboard sign i am a homeless American Veteran and no one talks about him or her. Thank you very much. I will wait for your reply off the line. Guest thank you for your service and thank you very much for your membership. The American Legion cares about the homeless veteran. On a national level, we have our Homeless Veteran Program through our veteran employment and education division. We have programs for Homeless Veterans. The American Legion on the local levels run homeless transitional programs. There is one in pittsburgh and across the nation. In losst week, we were angeles, california doing our Veterans Benefits center and we spoke with Homeless Veterans. We chose that location because california has the highest population of Homeless Veterans. 100 500 bed facility that focuses on veterans of special needs. If not for that facility, they would be homeless. We put the word out for all Homeless Veterans. We served quite a few Homeless Veterans while we were there so the American Legion continues to provide outreach to Homeless Veterans and it remains a top priority on on our radar. Toda usa Howard Schultz says starbucks has committed to hire 10,000 thats over five years and it employs a recruiter who is a veteran and understands the anxiety and can bridge the gap. What to these companies did to understand about veterans and specifically the 9 11 bets . Guest these are our nations heroes and they deserve to have a job and be able to be productive and be able to provide for their basic needs. Veterans are trained in the military. When they come out, veterans need to be able to come home to a nation as open armed and understands what veterans need and provide employment for those veterans. Veterans are productive and disciplined and when you hire a veteran, you hire someone wholl work for a hard for you. Senator Amy Klobuchar released a report by the Congress Joint Economic committee that show the recent 12 month average jobless rate for post9 11 veterans was 7. 6 . For a female veterans, on implement was 8. 3 . For younger vets pensacola, florida, independent, good morning veterani have been a since the 1970s. I have always used the thats when i needed them. As of 2014 when i called to check on my appointment, i was told that they were doing it different and i got put out until november which was my birth month. What i cant understand is they talk about the administration but they have never talked about the congressman. I am in pensacola, florida which has jeff miller is my congressman. Year, i got put off and have not been able to get out there and check on my medicine since march of 2014. They act like it was all the administration but i think it has a lot to do with our elected officials. As usual, they have forgot about the vets and not worried about them until he gets in the news. The kickoff that was being done for all of veterans is what made the news in these congressmen and senators act like they had never had any idea that was going on. Host so the Congress Oversight role . Guest we are always in touch with congress. We are in the halls of congress a most every day. Thank you for sharing that information. We hear that a lot from veterans who are waiting for a ointments and waiting to get their appointments and waiting for medication and thats a reason why the American Legion establish the veteran Crisis Command Center which is turned into our veteran benefit division. We can help them is we can help veterans who have these issues. You can call the American Legion 8612700 and someone there can help you. You can figure out what is going on with your particular case and see it we can get you into the ba to get your appointment and medication. 12700 and let86 them know why youre calling and they will connect with someone to help you and thank you for your service. Host lets talk to another vets, west point, massachusetts, independent. Sayer i would like to providence, rhode island be a center is a ordinary. I have been in that system for 15 years and served from 19731976. I cannot say anything bad about them. They worked hard in the appointments are on times over all the bad stuff you hear, there is a lot of good stuff, too. I just want to tell you, its a good ba system. Believe that the v. A. Health care system is a great system for veterans. For 10 years from 2003, we have a Savings Program because we believe the va system is the best system for veterans. Out to theuld go different regional offices along with task force members. Facilitiessome va were doing a great job. Had long va facility delays and not every be a facilities doing anything wrong. There are just things that need to happen the need to be improved. Some of the va facilities are great. We visit them and use that information and share best practices with other facilities so we can help improve the quality of service for veterans. T john, atlantic georgia atlanta, georgia, democrats line. Caller i appreciate the fact s is at thene veterans legion. Not only that, i think Robert Mcdonald is doing a fantastic job overhauling the v. A. Himself has put himself last and put the veterans first. Host do you agree . Guest i think secretary macdonald is doing a great job so far. It has been a little over 90 days. There have been some improvements being made. We are hopeful that things will go great. Our National Commander met with him and he had a great impression of him. He was hopeful that things are going to get better. Host we are talking with verna executive female director of the American Legion. The headline in the Washington Post what challenges to military women face . Veteran veteran is a but sometimes there is a bit of a difference. There was talk about women having an official combat role but the truth is that women have always been in combat. The first world war, women saw things they will never forget and werent places that were very dangerous so women have always had combat roles. We talk about military sexual trauma which is not limited just to women. It largely affects women but Women Veterans face challenges every day and i think people need to be aware of them and make sure that there are more resources focused and more awareness about the woman soldier and veteran. Host as we mark veterans day on washington journal our cameras live on the what National Mall bringing to you several pictures of all the different memorials. There is the world war ii and the Veterans Memorial the Vietnam Memorial. Youill continue to show what washington looks like today on this veterans day. There are several events happening including the annual wreath laying ceremony that will take place at Arlington National cemetery at 11 00 a. M. Eastern time. Vice President Joe Biden will be standing in for the president while the president is overseas in china. That is here on cspan. We are talking with verna jones, executive director of the American Legion. Here is a tweet guest the legion believes that the a healthcare facility and system is the best for veterans. They have choice cards for veterans that can go out in certain circumstances and they can receive medical care if they cannot get it timely or cannot receive that particular service at the va. The system is set up for veterans so we do not believe there should be privatization of health care. Host canton, ohio, a veteran and republican caller good morning, cspan and good morning america. Im a legion aire. I see a major issue since ive been using the v. A. For about a decade now. It is cultural. Line toad to stand in get travel pay because i have to go up to cleveland. It costs a lot of money when gas prices were higher. I have had to stand in line and wait for an employee to finish their personal phone call. That burned me up. To be serious, i want everybody to remember what makes a veteran. Result ofis the failed diplomacy. We are all responsible in this republic because we are represented to remember that when we go to war, its all of decided thatn that is the proper action. Nation is howof a they treat their veterans. We have to remember that and thats all i have to say. Guest thank you for your service and thank you for your membership. Go are right, when veterans into the v. A. Healthcare facility, the employee should not be on the phone and veteran should be the first priority. Anything the veteran needs should be the priority of that employee. I myself have gone through the American Legion to do visits to the v. A. And witnessed those things going on. We brought that to the attention of the v. A. Central office and to secretary mike donald letton we had our meeting to secretary macdonald when we had our meeting. Thank you would you set about veterans. Those are our nations he arose. Heroes. Your what is responsibility of executive director and what is the role of American Legion Veterans Issues in this country . What is the membership like . I oversee all functions of the washington, d. C. National records office. Its through the white house and congress and v. A. And the American Legion is the nations wartime veteran Service Organization, about 2. 3 million members and we are founded on a Strong National defense, taking care of our veterans, and promoting honor and patriotism. The American Legion is veterans serving veterans. Host what about the 9 11 veterans coming back . How are you bringing them into the American Legion and what is the attraction for them . Isst the American Legion the largest veteran Service Organization and we take care of veterans and have been around since 1919. We have a longstanding history of strong advocacy for veterans. Veterans comeer in, the attraction is that the American Legion has always been there and we have a proven history and record of taking care of veterans. And of the younger veterans organizations that cater to young veterans, often times, they need weve been doing that for a long time. The attraction is we have been here and will always be here and we will it write most of the time. How much are the dues . It varies from post to post. There are yearly fees for dues. I would guess the average is around 30 ear. Year. We have 2900 accredited officers navigateeterans through the theater system. V. A. System. The dues with the region air pays helpgionnaire advocate for veterans and help them with their claims and help them with whatever they need. , a veteran and an independent. Jones. Very proud of miss she is a very great spokesperson. I just want to make a quick bullet point and see if you follow up on it. In fort lauderdale, the mayor on cnn is arresting people that go out and feed the Homeless Veterans. You can watch that later on today. We have people who are is rude as you can possibly be. You have to wait until they are talking about their boyfriend or what they did last thursday before they can actually do anything for you. Personal,is is my own no one that is a veteran should be working for the v. A. Whoe are a lot of people are not qualified to handle people that have just come back for more. War. Appalled that the leader to brucespitals, i go it cannot getami, better. They are absolutely outstanding. Why not a town meeting . The general administrator of the out and could come asked the veterans what are the problems you face . He is too high up in the Crystal Tower to get to. I would like to thank the American Legion. I am a game man during the 1970s. This was when the Psychological Department or group said that gays were undesirable and we were child molesters and drug addicts. I received an undesirable discharge for no reason other than suspicion that i was gay and the American Legion helped lead aashington discharge review. I am very proud of the American Legion. Greatk miss jones makes a representation. How does the legion feel about dont ask dont tell policy . Been decided and it is off our radar. Thatrk with any better and meets the criteria. Host james is in pennsylvania. A democratic color. Go ahead. Caller i am james clark. I am in west virginia. The place saved me. I came through this process, i had a lot of personal problems. I was using drugs and they helped me. I have to say one thing. There has been a big change in the last six years. People have passed away. The director there seems not to care. There was just an article in the paper last week where a gentleman had cancer, a rare cancer. Familyed to talk to his because he was doing surgery and he did not know if he was going to make it a not. For sevenicted him days because he had a can of soda in his room and was told he could not see his family. Exactly, that was offensive a. It would be an uproar. I am scared to go there. I transferred all of my services. I am retired military police. I checked into the hospital one time. I went there because it was a favor. To make a long story short, the people did not like the reason that i came up there. They drugged me. I went up there twice. I went up there weighed 180 pounds and i lost 20 pounds in two days. I have a problem with that. Think about, i facing them one more time. Host that was james and tennessee. Gary is in memphis, tennessee. Youre on the air. Caller i would like to make three points for comments. Number one, the wait times for appointments, the goal that was days and isas 14 , the the department of defense goal is seven days. Two, during the past 10 months, according to 7500essional testimony, veterans of died due to the long waits for health care and lack of adequate care for mental wounds. Four, falsifying wait time data to obtain bonuses has veterans resulted in deaths. Nobody has been tried or sent to jail. This is been known for years. There was a memo that finally thatto light just recently was written back in 2008. Just covering that, i wonder why all of a sudden it seems like this is a disaster in phoenix of theok to get some concerns of veterans. Host that was gary. Guest thank you for your service. A delay andsome had it was terrible. The American Legion new that. That is why we called for the secretaries resignation. The minute there had been a secret waitlist, we knew that veterans were in crisis. That is why we developed a Veterans Crisis center. We knew we needed to put boots on the ground and get to where the veterans were to make sure they were receiving the service they deserve. We had other Community Service broughtners and veterans and to those facilities to make sure that they got what they needed. The result was within 120 days, we visited 12 facilities and saw 3000 veterans and were able to get 1 million in retroactive pay. Phoenix should not have had that happen. It was unacceptable. That is what the American Legion is going to continue to have these centers. Keep ourontinue to finger on the pulse of what is going on with veterans and those with delayed wait times. Host david is in pennsylvania and a veteran. Caller thanks for having me talk today. I just want to ask a quick question. I got out about two years ago. I have been to three different the eight facilities. The eight facilities. Each time i have seen a nurse practitioner. Maybe you could touch on the subject. Why are there not actual doctors seen veterans . A lot of people dont realize are doctors not seen the veterans. I have not once seen a physician. I read that these Nurse Practitioners are being asked to take on the part of a physician and they dont have a physician overseeing what they are doing and the calls they are making. Guest thank you for that and your service. Different facilities have different medical professionals. , i dont knowity what the make up is. We would like to talk to more about that so we can have someone with policy look into that. Foretary mcdonnell asked 20,000 more professionals. We need to support the call for the increase. In a veteran goes into the facility, they are seen paul if id medical professionals. Needs tohat the v. A. And see whatiously can happen to make sure that they give the v. A. What they need to make sure that veterans are being seen by the professionals they need to be seen by. Story fromer recent the Washington Times. Lets go to mares in arkansas. Caller good morning. I would just like to make a comment on the American Legion. The American Legion for years, i was a member for years. The only help that you could really get from the American Legion was through your republican a politicians and we always had problems because we could not be members. I got out of the American Legion back when george bush and john kerry ran. People like me were saved by men like him. Ae American Legion is just conservative organization. Legion isamerican championed by all veterans and is nonpartisan. What we care about is veterans. The American Legion has sinceted for veterans 1919. We offer so many services. Accreditedr 2900 representatives to help a veterans navigate through the v. A. System. Legion doesnt care about your gender or your race. Care of ourt taking nations heroes and we do a great job of doing that. Host this is our camera live outside the Vietnam Memorial. You can see the people lined up to mark veterans day. There are several events happening around washington on the mall. Over at the Arlington National Vice President joe biden will participate in that wreath laying ceremony at 11 00 eastern time. Minutesgot about 15 left with verna jones. We want to get your thoughts on Veterans Issues this morning. Howard is in florida and on the democratic line. I live in seminole, florida. When i was in the service, i was in vietnam. Out, i am turning 65 this year. Going to be losing some of my benefits over at the v. A. I am going to get Social Security. Understand. I have been going there and had operations and everything else. I dont have a lot of money. 65 and losingbe my benefits and i just dont Social Security could go to that to pay for people who can afford it. Guest thank you so much for your service and for sharing that information. I will ask you to call the American Legion. I think we need more information. Has changed, it may put you in a different category. Without knowing, i would not be able to give you a good answer about what you need or what we can do. I would ask you to call the American Legion. Someone can help you. We will look at your particular situation and guide you in the right direction to see what you need to do for your benefits. Tim is on the air with verna jones. Caller verna, thank you for your service and representing the American Legion today. American legion member for 27 years. All of these thats that are thats vets that are coming back, i think they should inquire about membership. They are your voice. They are our voice that will hold the feet to the fire of our congressional leaders and the president when it comes to Veterans Issues. And thinkthank you the legion for what they have done over the years of service. Thank you, tim. Thank you for your membership. We are so proud of what we are able to do for veterans. It is a wonderful thing to be able to be part of the worlds greatest veterans Service Organization. The American Legion is Holding Town Hall meetings. That because we really care about veterans and they deserve what the American Legion is advocating for for them. Democraticd is a caller. Welcome to the conversation. Caller good morning. I am Alfred Nicholson and i am a disabled veteran. Appeal with been on the department of Veterans Affairs since february 15, 1974. All the Legal Recourse i have , the Veterans Administration in North Carolina and the board of appeals has blocked by every attempt. New material evidence was held from my file for 21 years. Now the board of appeals is trying to change the date of my claim. They told me i needed to get an attorney. Where do i go to get legal help to get my claim resolved that has been on appeal for about 41 years best of mark . Guest people are waiting way too long. I am going to ask you to call. I want you to ask directly for me. Direct youe able to to the right person. Call the number and asked for verna jones. Is an independent color. Caller i am not a veteran, but i salute all veterans. I would like to salute missed jones. I have done some work with the american leisure post 200 in mississippi. Charles moore is the commander. If you are the executive director, you are there because you earned. They dont give you anything. You dont want any apologies. I appreciate that you represent yourself and the american soldier so well. I have a question in regards to there are African American posts and white posts. We also have another post that is white in our town. Why is there a difference . What is the historic nature of that . If you can dwell on that a little bit and give me some history as to how that came about, i would appreciate it . Guest thank you for your comments. There are different posts in different communities. There are some posts that are historically africanamerican and some that are white posts. Postearns go to which ever they feel more comfortable in. They go with a feel they can be the most service. Air, as allegiant legionnaire, a you go where youre most comfortable. We were established in 1919 and things were different then. If you go to an American Legion post, you will not be denied membership because your gender or race. We welcome all veterans into the American Legion. Host charles is in indiana and is an independent. Caller good morning. Address some of the things that happened at the v. A. I know that congress has tried to address things. My brother goes to the ba and i have to take him because he cant drive. They wanted him to have a colonoscopy one time. I told him that he will have to stay overnight at the v. A. They told him he could not stay overnight. He would have to have the colonoscopy and then stay one night after. I told my brother that that doesnt make sense. I cant drive you three hours to chicago to have a colonoscopy after you have had that medicine. Clinic. Him over to the i will take him for a blood test and then i take them for a urine test. Then i take him over for another hearing test area then he might have a doctors appointment the next week. If congress is working on that. I understand they have tried to. Someone has to drive over an hour and a half to get to a clinic should be able to go to a local clinic and have their blood test or urine test taken. Guest thank you for calling in. This is going to cut down on some of that. Talking about being more than 40 miles away from the vap that is an inconvenience and veterans should be accommodated better than that. Your brother should receive a stress card. Card,e gets that choice ask those questions about what he is entitled to based on the appointments he hast to have and how far he lives from the v. A. If you have additional questions, call the American Legion. We will be able to help you. Few we have time for a more phone calls as we continued to talk with verna jones. This is veterans day. You have seen shots of our camera out on the National Mall before the Vietnam Memorial here in washington. See the vets and their families and friends gathering around these memorials. Across the country are marking veterans day. And it is in a fresno, california. Caller good morning. I am a widow of a veteran. You, whodg to ask you contact by writing an email for suggestions and complaints . My husband had filed a claim the same year he died. In 2007. Back thatpt sending letters they were working on it. They were working on his case. When he died, everything stopped. I went to the Veterans Affairs and they had to call the oakland office. There was nothing in the booklet that said he was deceased. Everything just stopped. He was not receiving any benefits. Filed since he came out of the korean war. He had a claim number from back during that time. He did not know what the results were. His paper got burned in love those fires. I am still struggling with and disturbed by i dont know if he was ever entitled or not entitled to benefits because they completely stopped. He had authorized the paperwork where they could go to your doctors letters and then they sent me one to sign but did not explain why i had to sign one. It still shouldve been good for what he signed for. Thessen in the claim for dependent. Then he sent in the claim for the dependent. Thing is not only that, my dad was in the navy. I do know when the policy changed with the veterans hospital. You used to just be able to go in with your dog tags or your dd. 14 paperwork and get help my dad was treated in the hospital there. I was only a teenager. Host i will have verna addressed that. Guest i want to apologize that you have to go through that. You should not have to wonder what is going on with your husbands claims. Things and itany seems like the paperwork, im not sure what is happening. I want to be able to help you happen im going to ask you to call the American Legion or leave your phone number so we can contact you. We will have to look at all the paperwork and see what is going on. The claims shouldnt stop just because your husband passed away. You may be entitled to benefits because of your husband service. You can call the American Legion. Let them know why youre calling. They will connect you with someone who can look over that paperwork and help explain everything to you. That way you will know what you may be entitled to and what needs to happen next. We can help you through that process. Host is the American Legion open today . The building is closed today. The staff and legionnaires are celebrating veterans day. Host peter is in idaho. Caller good morning. I would like to set salute verna and the American Legion. I served in vietnam from 1961 until 1965. The v. A. Has taken good care of me. V. A. , woke up in the there was the American Legion with a packet and a card and they were supportive of me. Thank you so much. Host we hear peters comments as we look at the Vietnam Memorial in washington. You can see the names and people leaving flowers and other memorabilia at the memorial this morning. We will go to chuck in hawaii. Caller hello. Hello hot. Half aloha. Have a question about the crisis centers. They are very successful. With them. I think they allow the veteran and the v. A. Neutral ground. A lot of veterans are disenchanted with the v. A. And dont want to go there. The American Legion has put together this program to allow veterans to come in and it a good thing for the veteran. Host thank you. Guest thank you, check. A Veterans Crisis center in hawaii and we were able to help a lot of veterans. We just want to say happy veterans day to everyone. The American Legion is here to help you with what ever it is that veterans need. We feel very grateful and proud to be who we are and be able to help veterans that we help. If you have any questions, they can call us. Legion. Org host thank you so much for spending veterans day with us. Guest my pleasure. Host we are going to open up the phone lines. You can call in about Veterans Issues or any Public Policy issues. You can start dialing in now. Our coverage of veterans day continues. We will be live at the Arlington National cemetery where Vice President joe biden will be participating in the annual wreathlaying ceremony. Biden here onjoe cspan. We will get to open phones right after this news update from cspan radio. Says weior negotiator are not in position to say that we have made progress in Nuclear Talks with the west. Two days of tough talks between secretary kerry, eu policy advisor ashton and an Iranian Foreign minister has failed to make major headway toward a deal. State Department Officials are Still Holding out hope that a deal can be secure before the talks expire on november 24. Internet providers are lining up against president obamas call for federal regulators to treat broadband like other public utilities. Mr. Obama said the fcc should explicitly prohibit internet providers like verizon and at t from Companies Like netflix charging companies extra to move content more quickly. Ebay, andwitter, google are applauding the present. The National Telecommunications association calls it an extreme shift that will have devastating results. Legal experts say a series of emails showing that General Motors ordered a halfmillion replacement ignition switches two months ago before telling the government of a safety recall will be heavily scrutinized by federal prosecutors. This email chain was released yesterday by an attorney suing gm. It raises questions about how forthcoming gm has been with safety regulators and lawmakers. Some of the latest headlines on cspan radio. Washington journal continues. This we are back on veterans day. Our cameras are outside on the National Mall by the Vietnam Memorial. You can see the people gathering there. They are marking veterans day across the country. Later today, Vice President biden will be participating in the wreathlaying cemetery at Arlington National cemetery. We will have coverage of that at 11 00 eastern time. We are on open phones for the remainder of washington journal. What you your thoughts on Veterans Issues, isis, the president s call to treat the internet like a public utility. Those are some of the top stories. Its go through them. The Veterans Affairs department announced yesterday an overhaul of health care and benefits systems. President obama today meets with chinas leader to talk trade. Also in the headlines, the formal care act, billion skewer are expected to be in rolling than previously predicted. The second round of enrollment begins on saturday. President obama says that the fcc needs to declare the internet a public utility. The u. S. Is ebola free after the last patient in new york will be released from the hospital with no symptoms. Open phones this morning. You can also send us a tweet. Facebook. Com. To you can send us an email. Lets begin with the health care story. This is in the New York Times or co estimates leaves room to grow. Sylvia burwell was in washington yesterday. She talks about the discrepancy in these enrollment numbers. Its not about a number. Its about the actual analytics to get to the number. Thand a market grow more 28 and expect year . I ask the team to look and see what growth of new products in this space traditionally is. How do we think about that . We i respond to that is welcome questions and legitimate questions. I have spent time with the team down to the numbers and trying to press and road test on that. The question i would say is one of the things with the cbo numbers and Everybody Knows that i come from omb, i have a tremendous amount of respect from i colleagues at cbo. , if you acceptgs that the 25 million number is where you will level off, they do it in three years. What if you do it over a different. Of time . How do you think about the new information that we have with reenrollment . What ones goals should be, i asked the team to analytically old. Thats what we have done. This is where we have come out. Host that was Sylvia Burwell talking about lower than predicted numbers for the second round of enrollment for these healthcare exchanges that open up on saturday. We covered this event. Averal collars brought up Youtube Video that has gone viral. This from the forbes website. Ith the headline we want to show you this video that has gone viral. You cant do it politically. The bill was written and a tortured way to make cbo did not mandate taxes. If they do, the bill dies. Subsidies, Healthy People are going to pay in. It would not a past. Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. Call it the stupidity of the American Voter, that was really critical to getting the past. We could make it all transparent. I would rather have the flaw the knot. I would rather have this law than not. Host that is jonathan gruber. The forbes article that was posted yesterday said that his comments come from a Panel Discussion that he joined on october 17 2013. From their website, they are dedicated to restoring and protecting american commitment to free market Economic Growth and Property Rights and individual freedom. They engage in Public Policy fights over the size of government through direct advocacy. That is from their website. We are in open phones. Travis is in vermont. Go ahead. Caller good morning. I want to talk about the isis threat and the terrorists. Specifically, Edward Snowden has increased that threat by making public how the nsa is trying to track terrorist plots. He has made it more difficult for our government to track the potential threats. That is very concerning to me. Host bob is in california and is a republican. Caller i have a comment about what is going to happen with george w. Bush, cheney, and rumsfeld that puts all these lies out and everybody is scared of isis. They are the ones that look the trade center. When is something going to be done . When are they going to be executed for murder . Host lets go to indiana. Caller my question to the congress that tells you when you can join the American Legion. From 1960he air force to 1964. You can join the American Legion because you dont fall in the guidelines. It is controlled in the cap congress. Country,ve served your everybody should be eligible to join the American Legion. In silver city. I am, in reference to all of the misleading information that is supplied by the media today. Example, the nominee that the president has nominated for attorney general. Labeled by fox news as an individual that represented clinton. Now we find out that was a different loretto lynch. Why has the media not corrected this . Election, it was so information that was supplied right on cspan. I am avid watcher of cspan. It. Ep up with im involved in politics. I have listened to so me lies. You know that they are sitting there and lying to people. Host the beauty of the show is that you can call in and challenge collars and the guests on the show. Isis is the headline in the Washington Post. The senate is going to grill the administration on the Islamic State strategy. Said he was going to begin Engaging Congress over new authorization to use military force against isis. No hearings were held. Also on cnns state of the to congressman were asked about congressional approval when it comes to the strategy in iraq. Tomorrow, i would argue the 60 day war powers act expires. Tomorrow is 60 days since the president announced his initial strategy. Congress has a responsibility authorize it. President canthe authorize 1500 troops without congress acting. When we get back, we will have a full debate on this. I think a lot of us are going to be very reluctant to support this kind of infusion of Ground Troops absent some suggestion that the iraqis are doing what is necessary politically to complement this major infusion of American Military resources. Do you worry about Mission Creep at this point . I think the present will at some point debate and authorization on the use of military force. That could happen in the context of this request. We have a Defense Authorization bill that is pending. Here isthe recognition air power alone is not going to a compost the mission. We have a number of troops on the ground in iraq. This increases trainers and the intention is to try and get the Iraqi Security forces and the Syrian Rebels equipped and ready to be able to accomplish what wed to a accomplish on the ground so we dont have to put combat troops in. It strikes me at least a we would much rather have them carry the battle on the ground that have american troops be there on the ground. I think it does need to be debated in the congress. I think it ultimately will. Clearly, we are not going to get the job done with the current plan. I think the administration wretches lies that. That is senator john thune on cnn. 60 to 90 day window is closing. Senator rand paul wrote in the daily beast that he thinks that this isis for is now illegal because of the 60 to 90 day window closing on the current a umf. We are marking veterans day here on washington journal. Youve seen the images. We will bring it to you all morning from the vietnam war moral out on the National Mall here in washington. Our coverage will continue later at 11 00 over at Arlington National cemetery for the wreath laying ceremony. Corey is in kentucky. Youre on the air. About thewas watching American Legion. Kentucky, they called. I was about to die. The v8 did not have beds for me. They told me to go to the nearest hospital and they would pay for it. They have denied me and even quit answering our letters. We will send it registered mail. They will deny it. I have applied for veterans compensation since 1978. They have denied. The veterans living should be important as well. You thestart to tell things that i have been through except they have burned my credit. Host on the front page of many of the papers is the story of the v. A. Secretary announcing an overhaul to the benefits system. Also, the headline in the the atlanta journalconstitution. The new chief has been on the job for about three months. He is vowing changes at the Veterans Affairs department. Some veterans of not been the pace of promised reforms. Firing ofabout the those who were responsible for the wait times at some of the Health Care Facilities across the country. John is in North Carolina. Good morning. Called he wants to be bob. I have had a claim with the a starting in 2003. As of today, it is back with the dva. The best part is the v. A. Tells that if it can three matted back through the court system it is a different set of laws and rules. It has been sitting with the judge to make a decision. Nothing has been done. I hope a bob fixes this. Host mary is in pompano beach. Caller good morning. Host what is on your mind . What did our parents teach us . You do not depend on man. You depend on god. You praise it gods kingdom will come on earth. How would it be thy name. Weve got to bring this thing righteous. Weve got to stop all this killing. Weve got to put the sweet lord that in it. Sins and getof our back to his statutes. Onseems like every human earth eerie at host zach is in mississippi. Caller i would just like to say that it is a shame that veterans are so important to society and so few people are veterans. Infew people participate defending the country. It is sad that only the poor are putting their lives on the line. The millionaires and billionaires dont put their lives in the line for this country. We should go back to having a draft. Relations are the number one thing. Its a shame that half of the states are basically confederate. News, the first page of the hartford current. President obama is urging for an open internet. Also some other headlines in the Washington Times. To have this piece about charles grassley. He is a familiar face to many of familiar guest on the show. Also in the Washington Times. They are publishing a piece about senator rand paul. A kentucky law leaves the senator in a dilemma. A Double Office run is not allowed in the state of kentucky. Legislation tweaking the wants of scare law to ensure that he could appear on ballots running or boast both allen is in arizona. Happy veterans day. Your previous collar, i agree with him. I am a College Graduate and a veteran. Desert storm and somalia. This countryt that has had, i family has had a participant going back to the buffalo soldiers. Andet into the workforce there are other issues and problems and people dont want to hires. Your previous collar is on point. I appreciate everybody thinking the veterans. It plays inout how the private sector. Host fort whyte, florida. Delbert is a republican. Caller i am a veteran. My primary care physician is an excellent doctor. The problem is they a lot 30 minutes per patient. Minutesr took up 45 with me. Minutes typing on the computer. Have doctors doing paperwork. Thats all. Host tony is in new hampshire. Caller i am just calling to let you know how serious this is the a problem really is. I am one of six disabled veterans. Disabled rate we seen this coming for years. Serious a lawsuit with criminal charges including murder and attempted murder and civil rights issues up to and including treason and genocide. We took that case to the Supreme Court without a lawyer. We did it on our own. That is the first time that has ever happened in the judicial history of the united states. Prove that all the way through the system, we were denied access to the federal courts illegally and unconstitutionally and we can prove it. There is another case that came out just after hours was denied in march. Where theapril Prudential Insurance got caught lifeaying out the Group Insurance benefits and they were keeping the money. These people filed a lawsuit under the same issue of jurisdiction called heil 38. Title 38. That if this is a benefits issue, it must be heard in a veterans claims court. We did not sue for benefits. We sued for criminal activity and civil rights issues. Host we are running out of time. If it is a criminal or civil issue, it must be heard in federal court. It Supreme Court ignored even though we explained it to them. They committed treason against us. We are suing for all veterans everywhere, not just for us. Host i have to leave you there. Thank you for your call this morning. That does it for washington journal. Thank you for watching and we will back here tomorrow morning at 7 00 eastern time. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] we are live of the Vietnam Veterans memorial here as the nation commemorates that wednesday. Its the day that honors u. S. Service members of u. S. Armed forces and the moral itself is for those who fought in vietnam. Service members who died in service in vietnam Southeast Asia and those Service Members on account of four, those missing in action during the work. The memorial itself is not far from the Lincoln Memorial and the world war ii memorial on the National Mall. We will spend the day showing you scenes from around the monuments and watching as