Formed bidenharris ticket, and the role of women in 2020. Professor jennifer lawless joins us to discuss the evolution of women in electoral politics. Washington journal is next. Host good morning. 14, 2020. Ay, august yesterday, the Labor Department announced thousands of americans filed new jobless claims. It is the first time weekly jobless claims have fallen below one million since march. This morning, we are spending our first hour talking directly to those whose jobs have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn. Give us a call. 202 are unemployed, 7488000. If you have had your work hours reduced, 202 7488001. If you have recently returned to work, 202 7488002. Text,n also send us a 202 7488003. Please include your name and where you are from. A very good friday morning to you. Go ahead and start calling in now as we give you more context to the weekly jobless numbers that were announced yesterday, this courtesy of u. S. Todays front page of their money section. The latest stream of applications, still dwarfing the alltime weekly high of 695,000 of an economic downturn in 1982. The latest tally means 56. 2 million americans sought unemployment aid in a 21 weeks. That 56. 2 million americans is the universe of potential caller s we want to hear from today. Asking you to call in today to let us know if you are unemployed, your hours have been impacted or you have returned to work want to hear how the pandemic has impacted your job. All eyes on congress to see if they can come up with a new Coronavirus Relief legislation. Nancy pelosi yesterday on capitol hill talked about the state of negotiations. [video clip] it is really important. We have sent to them, we are ready to compromise. We know a first offer is not something they would necessarily take because we do not share values. As a practical matter, where can we find Common Ground . Chuck schumer and i said we will come down 1 trillion if you come up 1 trillion, we will meet you halfway and we can negotiate how the resources are spent. We do not subscribe to saying to the American People the virus is intensifying, and for you, we have a benefit cut. Lets see how we can Work Together to get this done. They called yesterday, the secretary, and said, would you like to sit down . We said what we said all along you come down 1 trillion and we will come up 1 trillion, but we will not validate what you proposed because it does not meet the needs of the American People and we will not contribute to your using a partial benefit to the public at the expense of Everything Else we want to do and to the benefit of the high end, which you are there to serve. Host nancy pelosi on capitol hill yesterday. Side, others, the Senate Mitch Mcconnell talked about the state of negotiations. [video clip] the senate was supposed to spend this week finalizing another bipartisan rescue package for the American People. Millions of laidoff workers need more federal assistance to weather the storm. Small businesses needed more support to make payroll. Schools and families need more certaintyools, and with reopening dates fast approaching. Doctors, nurses and Health Care Workers need more backup as they hold the line against this disease. We all need more gas for the race toward more testing, better treatments and a vaccine that will finish the fight. I canceled the first week of august of our august estate work period in the hope that the speaker of the house and the democratic leader would put aside their ideological demands with no relation to the pandemic and finally let congress legislate. Unfortunately, mr. President , the democrats have consented to let working families down. They are still rejecting anymore relief for anyone unless they get a flood of demands with no relationship to covid19. Host Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell capitol hill yesterday. Hours after those remarks on the floor, Mitch Mcconnell adjourning the senate until september, noting centers could be called back if a deal is reached. The house already in its august recess. We are asking viewers to call into let you know how the pandemic has assisted you. Affected you. For those unemployed, 202 7488000. If you have had your hours reduced, 202 7488001 is the number. If you have recently returned to work, 202 7488002. We are setting aside the first hour of the washington journal to hear how you are dealing with the past couple of weeks and months. Maryland, on the line for those unemployed. Good morning. Caller good morning. Host good morning. What kind of work were you doing and how long have you been out of a job . Ofler since the 28th february, 2020. Host do me a favor and turned on your television so we can have a conversation a little bit cleaner. What kind of work did you do before you lost your job . Working inas baltimore. Since then, it shut down. Not gotten Unemployment Benefits. This sent me a letter telling me of an about they would be giving me weekly. Since then, they told me they would send me a card for the amount. I have not seen the card. I am not getting any benefits. You been able to get by . Is it a matter of relying on savings . Around i have been going with some people, some are giving me some things to do. At my age, 77, two weeks from now. Host have you heard from your old employer . Have they said anything about possibly returning to work . Doing they are not anything for the moment. Call andnk you for the telling us about your situation. Line foris next on the those who have had their hours reduced. What kind of work you do . Job because i my am an engineer, but i also have a contracting business as a second job, if you like. Drop in my earnings. A daughter in college, whom i support. My comments are this number trump was about two months behind on preparations. Is of the suffering today related to trump not being prepared the first two months. Number two, all this money the government is giving away, trillions of dollars is adding to our deficit. You can imagine how much deficit we are having right now because of the trillions to help them out. It could have been avoided if the number one man of the country, the president , acted in a timely manner. Bezosird comment is, jeff and others made a ton of money during the covid period. I think congress, the house, the senate and the white house should get together and impose a 40 fory tax 30 , one time, or maybe a quarter to help out the country. That should not be a problem. That is where leadership comes in. Host thank you for the call. Front page of the washington recover,y, as rich recession drags on for the poor. A stunning comeback for stocks since march that underscores the new phase of the economy we have entered. The wealthy have mostly recovered, the bottom half are far from it. The recession almost always hits there is a gap between rich and poor, white and minority households, big and Small Businesses. Businesses are fighting for survival. Line for those who have seen their hours reduced out of tallahassee, florida. What kind of work you do . Caller i am a volunteer minister, i am hoping it will be open again. I was a volunteer minister with the hospital in the local community, but things have changed also because of the health factor. I am bringing up something, i dont know if this affects anybody or not, but it seems that retirees are also affected by this. Servicethe civil retirement system in the Postal Service. I do not have what you call Social Security benefits because i did not pay in a lot to Social Security, except for maybe one year after high school, and then i joined the air force. If i wanted to get Social Security benefits, i would have to go back to work. This puts me in a different situation than most people. I am very thankful for what i have. I am able to live and it is far better than most people, with what they are going through. The biggest problem that i see, it is the way things are going on, there is no clear end to everything. As far as the money being there, we have given away more money in foreign aid than helping our own people. I think we need to have a complete readjustment to everything we are doing, blaming the republicans and blaming the democrats, this is not the answer. The blame game is the cheapest game you can play on the face of the earth. I do not know what the future will be in regard to what is taking place, but i do know if this country does notpull together as americans, this ship is going to sink. Host knowing the risks of coronavirus at hospitals and prisons, if you are allowed to go back to your ministry work, would you doing today . Caller i would, there would be no doubt about it. What i am doing is what god called me to do. Diabetes, i am 72. Reality is there is no guarantee i will live to be 75. Do you see what im saying . Been flu viruses, virus, it isaids just the way things are in the world. I think we need to start looking at that. We are no better off. Host thank you for the call from tallahassee. Joe is in illinois, returned to work. What kind of work . Caller hello. This is joe, i am a School Bus Driver in the state of illinois. The School Districts some School Districts have their own School Bus Drivers and they are Government Employees just like the teachers are. Other School Districts contract at with private sector companies. If you are a government worker School Bus Driver and you get laid off during christmas break, summer vacation, you are not allowed to collect unemployment. If you work for the private sector, you can. Buthe summertime, unemployment is only 367 per week. With this extra 600 per week, School Bus Drivers have done well. I have made extra 600 on top of my 379. With are you ok theon in the pandemic federal unemployment aid, that 600 number coming down to 300 or 400, depending on if states ship in the extra amount . Caller it is a temporary thing. Congress could not agree on a plan, so trump did a temporary fix to give people some extra money. Some is better than none and hopefully congress will develop a better plan, but trumps plan is only a temporary fix. I voted for trump and i think he is doing a good job and i will vote for him again in november. Host what are the rules on the school bus . We had a reporter on this program about one month ago talking about School Reopenings in some districts said the most number of children you can have on a school bus is 12 in order to socially distance them properly. Do you have any of those rules on your bus . Caller i believe it is 40 kids, some programs at the end of august, runs through september and then the School District will decide if they want to open up fully in october. Our hours will be reduced. I think it is maximum 40 kids per bus, 45, or Something Like that. They are thinking about half the kids go one day, the other half go the other day. Host is there any expectation for you as the bus driver to make sure kids are socially distancing while you are driving . Caller yes, they gave us some roles we have to make sure they are Wearing Masks and eight cant have more than one proceed. Kids. Typically hold 77 we have to spread them out, make sure they are Wearing Masks. Every time you do a route, you have to use disinfectant, wipe down the seats and keep the bus clean. Host how comfortable are you doing that and driving the bus safely . Caller i am not afraid to die. I have lived a long life. I want to go back to work. I have been tired of sitting around for five months. I will wear gloves, i will wear a mask. The kids are missing out on a quality education. Host thank you for what you do. The is kevin out of ohio, line for those unemployed. Good morning. Caller good morning. Republican, voted for trump, it has been three months and i came back from vacation at the end of april and i got sick. Tuesday,nday, wednesday, thursday, i was sick, i called my boss on the third day and said i was going to get a covid test and i will be back in a week or how long it takes to get done. He said, fine, come back with the paperwork that have been tested. Me next day, my doctor calls back and said i have no insurance. I call my boss what is going on with my insurance . He tells me i am terminated. I said for what . It was for not calling in. Host what kind of work is it . Caller i am a machinist. Helicopter bushings. Big bushings for everything. There,ears i have been to be treated this way, now on 3. 5 months waiting on unemployment, fighting it, i had to appeal it, now i am waiting for a hearing over the phone. I have been going to churches for food. It has been rough. Luckily, i had some savings with my vacation check, the stimulus check helped me make it through a month and a half. I am still waiting for the hearing date. It has been pretty rough. Depressing to be treated that way. Another stimulus check is something that could be included in the next release package. How closely are you watching what is happening on capitol hill and the negotiations that it this point seem stalled . Caller this is really getting me on edge because i could really use it now to save my home. I am by myself, i raised my daughter on my own, she is in her 20s, but she is going through a rough time, she is a beautician. I am not the only one. I dont want to lose my house. Know, i have not found a machinist job out there. I have been looking. Everything is slower, they are not hiring. Some places, maybe, but it would only be for a week or two. I deserve my insurance. If they deny me on this unemployment, it is going to be real rough. I was done wrong. It is pretty sad. Host good luck to you in ohio. Also on the line for those unemployed, scott out of maine. Good morning. Caller good morning, how are you . Host i am doing well. Caller good morning, america. I am not really going to get on here and spread my laundry all over the place. I would more so just like to remind america that this thing got way, way out of hand just about the time wall street was getting ready to crash and the fed was running out of tricks. Very, very seriously, it is screwing a lot of people in america, it is screwing america. This is my country, i love it. I am not a democrat or republican, i could care less for both of them, they are all bozos. Womanizers, criminals, i dont care. What i do care about is what is happening to this country. We are losing people are losing lifetime businesses, their homes. Congress is still getting a paycheck. The senate is still getting a paycheck, they have not laid any government workers off. People need to stop and think this through. This is a mess, it is all by design period. By design. Just get off your stool and look around. This is not a good thing. That is it. That is all have to say. Thank you. Reductions have been in the federal workforce print here is some news on the latest u. S. Citizenship and immigration services, they plant a furlough 13,400 of its 20,000 employees because of Budget Constraints amid the pandemic, just the latest news on that front, usa today and their wrapup about stimulus negotiations, which they note are at a standstill. At one point calling it hopelessly out of reach. The only thing people seem to agree on is the discussions are at an impasse. Please keep calling in this morning on phone lines. If you are unemployed, 202 7488000. If your hours have been reduced, 202 7488001. If you recently returned to work, 202 7488002. We will come back to your phone calls in just a moment. I did want to note very big news on the Foreign Policy front. Yesterday out of the white house. This is the frontpage story in the new york times, israel and uae reaching a landmark record that could lead to broader realignment in the region as the two agreed to fall normalization and exchange for israel suspending annexation of occupied west bank territory. A surprise announcement after a three way phone call with israel and leaders. Mr. Trump said it would lead to greater cooperation on technology, energy and other areas were the two countries moved to allow regular direct passengers on flights print they will open embassies and trade ambassadors for the first time. Make it only the third country to have relations with israel along with egypt and jordan. Here is President Trump yesterday at the white house talking what the deal. [video clip] trump i hosted a special call with two friends, Benjamin Netanyahu and the crown prince of uae, where they agree to finalize a historical peace agreement. Everyone said this would be impossible. As you know, he is one of the great leaders of the middle east. After 49 years, israel and uae will fully normalize diplomatic relations print they will exchange embassies and ambassadors and begin cooperation across the board and on a broad range of areas including education, health care, trade and security. This is a truly historic moment. Not since the israeljordan peace treaty was signed more than 25 years ago has so much progress been made toward peace in the middle east. Close and capable partners in the region. Stepdeal is a significant toward building a more peaceful, secure and prosperous middle east. Host President Trump at the white house yesterday to try to put the deal into context. This is a column in todays Washington Post, calling it a triumph, saying the pact could be an icebreaker that the white house hopes would be followed by similar moves from other arab countries. It might be a surprise in the president ial campaign, as well, but it is welcome news for israel, the arabs and the United States. Back to your phone calls as we talk about how the pandemic has impacted your job. Special lines for those unemployed, seeing reduced hours or those returning to work. This is michael out of las vegas, he has seen his hours reduced. Caller good morning. Host what kind of work are you doing and how much have your hours been reduced . A lyft driver. Prior to the pandemic, a major issue was people without a car seat. If you make an issue with them not having a car seat for a oneyearold and give them a ride, they will probably leave you a negative review, which will end with you losing your job. Happened,andemic people were not Wearing Masks. You run into the exact same situation. If you give them a ride, if you make an issue with them not wearing a mask, they will leave you a negative review and your job will be ultimately in jeopardy. Host have you refused a ride to someone before because of that . Caller yes. Chose to use the pandemic unemployment assistance. States to 50th of 50 employ the program and it got so bad, that the weekly payments piled up week after week after week after week. Once i was finally approved for the payments, it was so large, my bank rejected it. Host do you mind saying how much it was finally going to be when it would hit . Caller 11,988. Host in one lump sum . Caller yes. They warned me there might be an issue with your bank. I called my bank, they said they do not accept more than 10,000 per day. Use a Company Called stride which is a lyft bank, they said they would not accept it. The payment was rejected. I called back to the adjudication center, which takes gett 77 to 95 calls to through. They automatically hang up on you after seven minutes and you have to call back over and over again. I finally got through after months and months of calling to try to get this thing approved. They said, we will try again in two weeks. Host were they going to lower it to try to get it under the 10,000 number and try to do it in two. Caller no. I changed my banks online and it said they will try again in two weeks. Today has been two weeks print i find myself waking up every morning at 2 00 in the morning to check my bank and find nothing is there. Host thank you for sharing your story out of las vegas. We talked about the 56. 2 million americans who have sought unemployment at some point in the last 21 weeks. Here is the weekly jobless claims numbers over the course of that period of time. Toward the beginning in april, right after midmarch, when everything shut down, the jobless claims jumping up to over 6 million claims per week. They have steadily dropped down and yesterday was the first time the new weekly jobless claims fell under one million cents this all began. That number, obviously, still historically high when compared to precoronavirus times. Jeff and fort scott, kansas. The line for those unemployed. You are next. Originally, i am from missouri. Unemployment has been denied. It priorarely making to the virus. There are no jobs paying anything close to what i was making now. We are in the process of being evicted. Congress got a pay raise in the cares act and they get lifetime benefits. Evicted. We have to live out of a motel. How may people out there are homeless right now . Congress does not represent us. They have no power through the constitution act. Our original constitution was taken away from us. The state lost all of its rights after the civil war. Is jeff and kansas. This is deborah in ohio on the line for those unemployed. Good morning. Caller hi, how are you . Host i am doing well. How are you . Caller i could be doing better. Host what kind of work did you do . Caller private duty. Host private duty . Caller selfemployed. Host how has it been going the past several weeks . Have you been able to get on pandemic uninsurance . Caller you know what . Appliedrted out i forthey sent me my card pandemic unemployment and then all of the sudden it just stopped. U. S. Said i was not a citizen. Iny said i needed to send the right documents. I sent in my tax form, my drivers license, everything that i needed to prove who i was. Weeks, going on 14 weeks and they have not given me anything. Frustratingvery because i have proven to them several times who i am. A real frustrating situation, you know . Host what have you been doing to get by for 13 weeks . Husband, his retirement. It is rough. It is really, really rough. Host thank you for the call from grove city, ohio. You have been hearing the voices of some of those who have had their jobs impacted. Here are some of the faces of them from the front page of the business section of todays new york times. A couple waiting with their five children while filing for unemployment claims in tosa, oklahoma last month. Carolina, the line for those unemployed. Good morning. Caller good morning to you. Host go ahead, sir. Caller i lost my job back in february due to the covid virus. I work for a company that had been in business since 1898. They are down to a skeleton crew, they have no business left much anymore and they are just hanging on. I had unemployment, which has since run out. Me and my wife are retired. It is hard to make it. We were looking forward to this stimulus package and extra money from the government for unemployment. I think the republican side needs to wake up and help the people. Host what kind of work did that company do . Would you go back if they were able to expand again . Caller i keep checking in with them. It was a printing company. I have been with them for 27 years. Host i appreciate the call from north carolina. Go ahead and turn down your television, it makes the conversation easier. Keep calling in on the lines, for those who unemployed, it is 202 7488000. If you have had your hours reduced, it is 202 7488001. If you have recently returned to work, 202 7488002. Setting aside this first hour of the washington journal to hear from you. Also looking for your comments on social media and our text messaging system. Jim in buffalo says he is unemployed. Congress, we need help. Get rid of the partisanship. We need to stop their payroll until they do their job. I do not qualify for benefits and they should be denied, as well. This from the u. S. Virgin islands. We are going back into lockdown as the virus is spreading rapidly. Nonessential businesses are closed for the next two weeks private rentals are prohibited. Restaurants are open for to cut only. The economy here is in bad shape. This is a tourist based economy. The second shutdown is really bad for this area. Florida, the line for those unemployed. Good morning. Are you with us . Kentucky, on the line for those recently returning to work. What kind of work . Caller basically, a machine operator. It is in a factory. Is heavy equipment operator. Not a lot going on at this time because of the covid. , myuld just like to say check is 340 per week. That is a workweek. Your usualat paycheck or are you saying that was the Unemployment Insurance . Caller that is this work check. Construction in was 800 per week. People hollering the government needs to take care of them, those jobs out ire, it is not ideal, and hate it, but it is better than having to draw unemployment. At least i know i am getting 340 per week. Tighten down a lot on stuff, but it is just ridiculous for people to say the government 600, the state pay 400, drop 1000 per week and stay home. It is wrong. Host would you ever go on Unemployment Insurance . Caller i would hope not. Believe me, it is tempting. Not right. Therefore, i have to do what is wage. And work for my unemployment is for people that get laid off. That is what it is for. It is not to help you get a car you at, or to go buy home. A lot of these people that work in fast food restaurants are living large. 600they were given the and the 400. That is just my opinion. There are jobs out here, believe me. It is probably not your ideal job, but it is according to how you want to feel about it. Host thank you for the call. George in new york on the line for those unemployed. Good morning. Caller i would like to comment on a guy who was talking before i go on with my question. Host go ahead. Caller the guy who was just talking does not know what he is talking about. A bag on the porch on fire waiting for someone to put it up. Congress needs to get on the ball because there are children out here starving, people i have to sitd here and watch you eat steaks in the morning, take vacation while you are supposed to be at work. These people are sitting up here watching children be put outside, close, furniture clothes, furniture being put outside their door. 600 is a drop in the bucket. The rich get tax breaks for trillions, and the act like they dont have any money to give Common People who work every day, did the right thing there was supposed to do, and to lose it all. Trump, the reason why we are in this predicament, i said something before he got elected, we were going to pay for this severely pay for this, electing him. I did not elect him. Elected be run over by a train, put him in office. Thisajor reason we have if do you have anything to regret . He said no. Every man in this world has something to regret. Has something to say to the father, forgive me, i messed up. This guy thinks he is above the father and says i have nothing to regret. Host that is george in new york. Story onhe usa today the state of negotiations, noting a survey by the Census Bureau in july finding 24 million americans said they had no to little confidence in their ability to pay rent. In august, a quarter of respondents said they missed th eir rent or mortgage payment in july. A 600 boost in weekly Unemployment Benefits expired last month. On today with the wrap up the state of negotiations print this is President Trump yesterday from the white house on the sticking points of the negotiations on the next release bill. [video clip] officeurmp the post would need a lot more money if they would take in tens of billions of ballots that came in from the sky of nowhere. They would need financial help. It is part of the bill the democrats do not want make because they want 1 trillion to go to states that are run by governors who happen to be democrats who have not done a good job for many, many years. Those are states that owe a lot of money and need a lot of money and they are talking about 1 trillion. Needs 3. 5fice billion think about that, 3. 5 billion to have mailin ballots print absentee, good, universal male in, very bad. Very bad. Al mailin resources put more and more money yourself . Find a way to do that. They have to do is make a deal. The Postal Service would be taken care of. The money they need for mal mailin ballots. That is a lot of money, but it is small time compared to the other. What they want to do is bailout cities that are run by democrats. These cities and states have done very badly and they desperately need money. We are open to something, but we are not open to the kind of money they need. Host those comments in particular about the Postal Service getting a lot of attention today, including the lead story in todays Washington Post. Trump rejects aid for Postal Service. Anita, north carolina, on the line for those who have seen their hours reduced. What kind of work you do . Caller yes, sir. Educed hours hello . Host yes. Caller it has been reduced hours, that is what mine has been. Due to the covid19. Host what kind of work do you do . Caller office work. Host what is your office work like now that you are working under reduced hours . Caller what do you mean . Host how many hours a week are you working . What is the situation . Are you working from home . Caller i am parttime. Yes, i can still go in the office. Host are you getting by on reduced hours . Caller no, i am not. I am not getting by. My main reason for calling in is that, we are still in the pandemic, am i correct . It is still considered a pandemic . Host yes, maam. Caller from what i understand, President Trump cut off the what were they getting . 600 per week this summer getting . Host it is not that it was cut off, it ran out. The legislation expired at the end of july and there has not been an agreement to continue that. President trumps executive orders from last week and, he said he wants to continue it in statesm of 400, but will have to contribute 100 of that. Caller ok. Isically, the white house giving half of what they were getting. Is that correct . Instead of 600, it is 300 . Host yes, there are still questions about when that might start. Caller my thing is, the thecrats wanted to extend 600 until january. Trump keeps saying they do not want to give americans anything, but the democrats have said from the beginning, they wanted to extend the 600 until january. My question is i dont understand why he keeps saying democrats are the hold up and they dont want to give americans anything. That is crazy. Brad in georgia, unemployed. Brad, what kind of work you do . Caller i am sorry. Host what kind of work did you do . Caller it is my family. I am legally blind. I collect disability. My wife is a waitress. With all of this covid stuff, they cant work. When they do want them to work, they want them to work for 2 per hour in the situation where you are supposed to collect tips but there are no customers. It is a situation where you cannot work. I have a kid starting college this year. We have four kids and i have disability. When you are trying to work with unemployment, unemployment is hit and miss. The unemployment my wife was collecting, some type of fraud has happened to that. We have two freeze that account. We have had to freeze that account. You cant get your money back. You have to wait 90 days to figure out what is going on with the little amount of money she was getting. Cutess they are going to off any unemployment or assistance because there is no job she could do right this second. It is amazing, because there are some jobs out there that are wide open. There are other jobs that are greatly affected. The food industry, they will not allow them to work. Seems like any progress takes forever. When you have a family to support, right now, we are trying to make it on disability, which is a joke in itself. Host go ahead and finish your comment. Caller it is impossible to make it with the situation. The news says congress is taking a month off when we need them the most. That is my gripe about it. Host you said you have a child going to college. What will that situation be like for your child . In person . Remote . How was your family working through that . Caller that is the thing i dont really know. He is going to college. He will be moving on campus, supposedly. That is my 18yearold baby boy. I have four kids. There are a lot of concerns i have. Want becomes a man, you him to be able to go to college. But right now, i dont know what safety things they have in place. They say the covid does not affect the Younger Generation, but you see on the news where it apparently does. It is almost like sending your kids off to war, it is very nerveracking. As a parent, you want to be the one who protects your children and guides them, what you dont want them to not have an education coming up in this economy, and things like that. College is very important. Not to pick favorites, but he is the one of my children that makes very good grades. He is wanting to go into the medical industry, which is a wax i amher ball of concerned about. He wants to do something to do with pediatrics. Pediatricing about a surgeon of some sort, but who knows what the future holds. It is right in front of him, but if he cant get his college right, and the whole covid thing is running rampant, what are we going to do . You look to your government to try to give you some answers, and what you get is we are going to take a month off. When we really need you, you are going to take a month off. The democrats and the republicans are miles apart, trillions of dollars apart. Host thank you for the call. What is your boys name . Caller hunter. Host good luck to hunter. Tell him i hope he has a successful medical career. Eric out of sterling heights, michigan. Unemployed. Out of sterling heights, michigan. Unemployed. Caller i dont know where to start with our government. I am disappointed about how our government is ran now. For the people who are struggling, i dont understand why food stamps cant be given out to these people instead of making them wait in long lines for boxes of food. I really feel for some of the people. 600 thek the 600 is too much. 400, i agreeps with. I lost my job. I was working two days a week to supplement my Social Security. If people want to work, the need to come to michigan. I have jobsites on my phone where they are begging for help , fedex, amazon, doordash there are plenty of jobs here if people want to work. Host mary in michigan. The Unemployment Rate in july some , but there was 1. 8 million jobs were called back in july. The leisure and hospitality business, the added 592,000 jobs. The government, 301,000. Health and social assistance sectors, 191,000 jobs. Professional and business services, 170,000. There were some sectors that lost jobs in july the wholesale trade industry losing ogging, losing 7000 jobs. That from the cnbc wrap up of the monthly job report that came out last week. Dallas, texas on the line for those who have returned to work. What kind of work are you doing, seth . Caller i am doing very well. Thank you very much. I will not take a lot of time. That caller from georgia, the visually impaired person. That guy has a heart and that really stands to what we need. We need education. I am 22 Years Military Service veteran, i do not get any retirement for it yet because it was not all active service. June of this year, my last paycheck was 851. I was a Customer Service rep overnight. And then because of the covid situation, they moved us home. I lost my job from there. Found anothery job. Since then, i received two unemployment checks, one was 1328, and the other one was 1520. Now, i am back to work but not making the of the of money i was before. The other caller from michigan who stated there are a lot of jobs, yes, there are a lot of jobs, but those are the jobs that potentially put your health at risk because it creates an increased opportunity for you to get the coronavirus fedex, doordash, restaurants, things like that. Those are the new First Responders and kudos to the First Responders, which shows why we need education. We need educated people to get us out of these messes. And the other caller who was criticizing the fact about the benefits congress has, lets use that as a goal to say, everybody in the United States gets the same benefits the congress has. Ands spend our money wisely put our money into the Education System so we have more than only 25 of the people in society being educated. I have a 21yearold daughter who is a senior who got a full ride scholarship to texas. I am helping pay her rent. We can do this, but we need to protect everybody. Equal together with Police Protection for everybody. Over 400 not be losing people per day. That is all. Thank you for your diplomacy and how you handled everything. Host thank you for your service. Bronx, the line for those unemployed. What kind of work did you do . Are you with us . You have to stay by your phone. Texas, forpaso, those who have returned to work. Good morning. Caller good morning. From work came back i went back to work as a security guard. I am also in the reserves. When i went back to work, they had precautions, they had masks, they had everything. I had to go back to work and provide for my family. That is what affected me the most. What affected me was having to not be at work and do unemployment. Also doing the reserves. I am over here training. While i am training, we have to wear masks, we have our own rooms, we are going through all of the precautions. It is not a normal life. It is not normal living, but we are handling it the best way we can. Isfar as that, everything getting better. As we watch the news, we know what to watch, what not to watch. Pandemic, it is something we will have to roll with. Training,our reserve is it still the same amount of changed with that . Caller the amount has changed drastically. We have to do things on the computer. The amount of people that are there is reduced a lot. Up,ne who is trying to rank the classes you have to go through, there are less people so there are a lot of things that have changed. Host thanks for the call. Richard is next out of nashville, tennessee on the line for those who have had their hours reduced. Good morning. Caller the company i work for is a Major Company in retail in the grocery business. I will not name the name, but you see the name everywhere. Over 30, they hired people in my particular store. Were two or three fulltime and the rest were parttime. Now we are going into the Holiday Season where if the malls do not open up and people cannot travel in airplanes, the Grocery Stores are going to be packed. We are already starting to see a shortage in certain commodities again. This pandemic, nobody saw it coming i guess we will blame trump for it. I guess that is his fault. I get tired of hearing that passing blame and nancy pelosi needs to go back to San Francisco and take care of her community. As far as donald trump goes, like him, just like him, whatever. Dislikelike him him. The bottom line boils down to this. They cut hours and now the minimum hours is 18 hours per week. No one can live on minimum wage at 18 hours per week. I know people who have been working for this company for 10 years making 11 per hour. When they get everybody the 15 for new people coming in. There are jobs out there. The bible says if a man does not work, unmanned does not eat. It boils down to this, they keep blaming trump for everything. Not acceptthey did Nancy Pelosis package from the house is because we want to bail the california Pension Funds and the union i am in is controlled by the international union. That means all of the companies that are unionized are controlled. We go to the president and say, we think we should strike. He says no, you dont have enough participation. They will beat you every day at the polling spot. Our Union President is bought and paid for. Now you have people getting out of the union but they dont have any protection. If you dont maintain 38 hours per week as a fulltime employee, get knocked off your insurance and that happens within a months time if you miss more than one day per month if you are fulltime. 90 of the people in retail are part cap. The only reason hours have been cut is because the managers and comanagers, it is bonus time for them. Here is what i would like to say before i hang up. Communitynamerican for 70 years, you have been voting for democrats. Prior to kennedy, you voted republican. You are in the mess you are in because of who you voted for. You cannot blame trump for the last 70 years. Him, but he iske going to win in a landslide. And Kamala Harris is not africanamerican. Host george on the line for those who are unemployed. Good morning. Caller i was just wondering, i think maybe you would know what the percentage of those who work off the books in this great country of ours from lawn cutting to construction and painting like i am in. I work for the biggest houses in the industry. Old beach houses and Everything Else. Even that had a slow for this month. I am wondering what all these people about trump are going to wake up and realize that the bezos and gaetz making millions s are going togate realize that this is an attack on the whole of the yard states to monopolize all of the industries and get all of the small guys out of the way. They going to close all that. This is an economic attack. When are all of these smart people going to stop being republicans and democrats and start waking up and realizing they are being fleeced by the billions and trillions and your government is in on it. Stop with the republican and that trump and biden, what a joke this is. When are the American People going to wake up and take back their government . Host that was george in new jersey. Our last crawler in the segment. We will return to this segment at the end of the program today. Stick around, lots more to talk about. By theill be joined Abbasid Group of the independent womens voice to talk about the Advocacy Group of the independent womens voice. Later we will continue with Jennifer Wallace with the university of virginia. Stick around. We will be right back. Tenders about the men who ran for the presidency and lost the contenders. All week at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. President ial1916 candidate and chief justice of the Supreme Court, Charles Evans hughes. Ago, the 19th amendment was ratified renting women the right to vote and sunday at 8 00 eastern join us for a conversation with colleen shogun, vice chair of the woman Suffrage Centennial commission. She will take calls and facebook questions and tweets. Womensh anniversary of suffrage live sunday at 8 00 a. M. Eastern on washington journal and American History tv on cspan3. Washington journal continues. Host patrice is back with us, the senior policy analyst at the womens voice here to talk about women in campaign 2020. First, remind viewers what it is and where on the political spectrum your views come down. Guest the independent womens voice is an organization that represents womens issues. We believe all issues are womens issues. We certainly come from a freemarket conservative leaning orientation, but we speak to women in the center, we speak to nonaffiliated nonpolitically aligned women because i think the issues very often are bipartisan. With us for the next 45 minutes. Can you start by defining feminism for us . Guest i think the idea is that a woman should be empowered to make decisions for herself. Unfortunately i think over the past few decades, we have seen feminism hijacked by those with an agenda that want to narrowly define womens issues as just pertaining to their body or advocating for policies that actually have unintended consequences of harming women in the workplace, reducing the opportunities that they have. People asked me if i am a feminist. I believe in womens empowerment and i want you to make the best choices for your education, your career, your paycheck, your pocketbook, as well as every other aspect of your life. If that is what cement is it is, sure. Is,f that is what feminism sure. I think there is a Younger Generation who are reclaiming the idea of them and is on in the ways that i just mentioned. There is that tension of those is say that feminism climbing the corporate ladder and breaking barriers. That is great is that is what your wanting to do. What you want to do. We see a generation of young women who are not interested in climbing the corporate ladder. Want to create their own enterprise so they are going into entrepreneurship or they are very happy to be a stayathome mom raising kids because they believe that is the best most optimal life for them. Either one of those is absolutely fine. In a free market and a free country, that is what we should be celebrating. Days from about 80 election day 2020. What do you think the impact of the feminist movement has been on this Campaign Cycle . Guest we have seen Vice President biden say that his candidate must be a woman. I think that this idea that because we have not had a first female president , there is an illness on the democratic side onus that there should be a woman on this ticket because biden will not survive the first term so we would have the first female president. We can celebrate the historic nature of taking a female picking a taking female candidate. At the end of the day, it should be about the best person for the job. I hope it should be the right person for the position. There is a great number of qualified women to fit that role. That is what is concerning. We will see. I think from our organization, we are looking at the issues clearly regardless of whether it is a man or woman proposing them. We want policies that are going stranglehold of government regulations on individual lives and businesses, and opportunities, reduce ensure that individuals can take their passion to the marketplace and find a growth friendly Business Environment for them. That is what we are looking for. We are looking for School Choice options. We are looking for more freedom and Less Government entanglement. Host when it comes to the senate and california state record of Kamala Harris, what issues concern you the most about her record . Guest workers rights, number one. And unfortunately her criminal justice record. Everyone has looked at from the criminal justice side the fact that she has promoted being a top cop. That is great. Law and order is important. We want to make sure that if you are breaking the law, that you are held accountable. The question is when you look at her record is whether she has in certain cases withheld important evidence against people being prosecuted. Whether she is prosecuting individuals for crimes that they did not even commit. Truancy,ng parents for i get she wants to keep kids in school, what are you really for the black and brown people if the people that are going to be targeted by that policy are black and brown people . From a worker standpoint, she supported californias 85 law which squarely hits at independent contractors and the mating eliminating thousands and potentially millions if this is made policy. People like some of the guests you were talking about one of your previous guests mentioned landscapers. People who own Small Businesses, managers, translators, it runs the gamut of vocations. People, regular middleclass americans trying to build their own lives because of laws like that that Kamala Harris supported with see those opportunities disappear. Those are two examples and i think we find concerning about Kamala Harris and if you were president , the types of policies she would push forward on. If she were president. Host taking your phone calls on phone lines split up. Republicans, 202 7488001. Democrats, 202 7488000. Independents, 202 7488002. Folks who are calling in, is criticizing Kamala Harris for being nasty a sexist criticism . Guest i think it is inappropriate. I dont think we need to name call and that is true of the president or whoever is namecalling. We can point at her record and her policies. I think that is where the criticism needs to focus. I think we have been hearing a lot about race and whether she is black. I think again, because so much of this campaign is about race, suddenly her race and her origins come into play. I think it is sad because at the end of the day, her race does not matter when it comes to the daily policies that Americans Care about. What they should care about, are they going to ensure that their kids can have School Choices if they dont want to be all virtual this fall. People care about that and those daytoday issues. Whether they will have fulltime hours like the previous caller who works in a supermarket and has seen hours cut. That is what matters. Things like race and gender should not come into the equation. Host you mentioned the callers. We will let you chat with a few. The first is out of rhode island, democrat, good morning. Caller yes. You remember me. Me and the family have been away for a while. I am the german guy. Host what are your thoughts on women and campaign 2020 . Campaign 2020 will be interesting. We will put it that way. The battleground states will decide it. Bidens side. S on it is deep blue. Just like wyoming is deep red. The battleground states will decide it. They say trump is narrowing the and that mike pence is looking forward to debating Kamala Harris. If you study mike pence, i will not take up much of your time, there is a quiet courage about him. Hes a gentleman. But if you study him, he is fearless. And i think he is going to be a very formidable opponent. But on the other side, do not underestimate joe biden. Ug. Is a tough irish p when it comes to a fight, he is ready, like sean hannity. They are not afraid of that guy, they are afraid of him. He is honest, but they are afraid of him and he is big. Host that was analysis from rhode island this morning. A recent Washington Post piece, headlined, gop women warned other support among fema voters. By an now favor joe biden eyepopping 23 Percentage Points according to an average of National Polls since late june and white women, a majority of whom backed trump over Hillary Clinton, are starting to abandon the president. , does the gop have a womens problem . Guest there is the rhetoric and then there are the issues. Rhetoricn, people here , they hear namecalling and things like that, that is not where politics need to be. Boothhey go in the voting and they think about their children, their husband, their spouse, and they think about themselves and what they want to be and the future they want to craft and i think they start to look at the policies and say whos going to foot put forth the policies and give me the freedom im looking for. That is where i think you may see that 23 , maybe that comes down to a much smaller percentage. We will have to see what comes out of the polling in november. I think there is this idea that all gop women are going to abandon the president because they dont support him. Many women support the policies that this administration is putting forward, particularly around religious freedom, particularly around school and School Choice which is very critical these days when we look at the pandemic and how many Public Schools have failed to open successfully and are failing their students. I think there are a lot of women who consider the issues and they might not tell you that in polling right now, but it may show up in the exit polls after they have voted. Host we spent time yesterday focusing on black women in campaign 2020 emerging as a voting block and the world that they are going to play. I wonder, how do you think President Trump can appeal to black women specifically and sort of dig into the support there that usually goes to democrats . Fort number one, support the Democratic Party among black women is eroded, believe it or not. Conducted vote poll by couple of different black female conservatives skews me, like fema groups excuse groups, we have seen 11 percentage point drop for the past year or two. It is not necessarily that they are going to republican, but their independent. That means that conservatives have an opportunity to reach out to independent black women for what issues they care about, education for their kids, School Choice in particular. Wherek at Florida Governor desantis was very successful in mobilizing black females support around the issue of School Choice because at the end of the day, black women, many of them are mothers and they want the best Educational Opportunities for their children. They dont want their kids to be held back by their zip code. By giving them the choice of where to send to school is a powerful tool. Unfortunately those on the left side of the aisle are not willing to see. Want all kids in the Public School model. Wherefind some hypocrisy the very leaders and elected officials on the left go to private school because they have School Choice. That is an issue that will be important. Number two, criminal Justice Reform. We have seen the First Step Act pushed through by the Trump Administration with the president s help at the end of the line. 2000 were over released early and had their sentences reduced because of this. This is criminal Justice Reform and a bipartisan effort by a conservative president. I think black women will look at those issues that are important. Other issues that are important, certainly working, their ability to get jobs in healthcare. There are opportunities there. When i look at my social media feed, i am seeing a lot of black conservative women who are saying, i am not ashamed to say that i believe in what i believe in and who i support. Host phone lines if you want to join the conversation. 202 7488001, republicans. 202 7488000, democrats. 202 7488002, independents. This is edna out of aurora, colorado. Democrat. That morning. Good morning. Caller there is so much that onwuka said that is disturbing, i dont know where to begin. Ms. Kamala is a woman of color. I dont care if you are brown, black, yellow, you are a woman of color and that is an exceptional change in who is standing up to be possible president of this United States of america. Number two, i dont care what color you are, if you cannot dictate what happens to your own body, you have in essence, no rights. Give me one policy that dictates what happens to a mans body. Whatat is an equivalent of can happen to a womans body. Then i will change my mind. Number three, the criminal Justice System is now a very privatized area and we are talking exceptional money that is dictated by how long you stay in, who is running the jail, who runs the places to which are criminals or not criminals are sent after they have served time. Is i dont know how she could have possibly come to her concepts of freedom or being a woman. I am sorry. Im just so angry, i cannot even speak. Host we will give Patrice Onwuka a chance to reply. Guest good morning and thank you. You hit on a number of issues. You hit on criminal justice and you made an interesting point that there are Many Americans being locked up and spending long prison sentences regardless of whether they are in private or public prison. The fact is many prison sentences are disproportionate days in committed. Based on the crime committed. I think you are right that part of that discussion is about mandatory sentencing. It is about whether the punishment actually fits the crime. I think the First Step Act is one of those bipartisan areas where you are talking about reducing sentences so that there is at least some sort of the sentence fits the crime and sometimes sentences do not need to mean jail time. Maybe somebody needs some sort of rehabilitation. Thatr two, i will just say i will not limit myself and all of the issues i care about to just our reproductive rights. I think there is so much that we all care about. I think the first issue that she mentioned, it escapes me now, i apologize. Host the first issue she talked about was the idea of women of color and what that means. Guest yes. Black women, women of color, i am a woman of color. Im a naturalized citizen meaning that i am an immigrant. As i said before, i hope you did not miss what i said, it is historic. It absolutely is. So was the election of barack obama. Historic. At the end of the day, accelerating the history does not mean that is how you should vote. Every black person should not vote for a candidate because they are black. Every female should not vote for a candidate just because she is a woman. Vote you vote based on the issues. I hope you respect my conscious just as i respect yours. Host next out of houston texas, a republican. Good morning. Thomas, our uss . Are you with us . To alan, good morning. One, we have 45 was the president now. He has already displayed a lot of racism toward women. Already, because they are a person of color, have to be angry, they have to be mad. There was a recent Congress Lady won and had some things going on in georgia. She called nancy pelosi a b. Nobody said anything in reference to her and her anger, but yet due to ms. Kamala harris winning, she has to be mean and nasty but nobody is saying anything about her being mean and nasty. Of course, one thing i would give president 45, what i will give him credit for is the criminal Justice System. He did well in that. That also could have been done through barack obama but we have to understand that we had a senate and we have a congress and the Congress Said the president will do nothing. He will help them with nothing. That is the reason why when barack was in office, it was not done. I did not hear you are bringing that up. All do not hear you bringing that up. I would like you to have a program that identifies biracial individuals dealing with people of color as far as the american black culture. Have white people and other people call in about how inclusive we are as a culture and how we invite all cultures in our community. Men of color, women of color, they marry chinese, they marry white, they marry hispanic. We are very inclusive and we are loving people. It is out there that we are racist. We are not. You should have a program dealing with racism. How many biracial people who are forced, like barack obama, host i think i got your suggestion. Patrice onwuka, do you want to respond . Guest sure. Thank you, alan. Thank you for giving the president credit for the First Step Act that was passed. I would give credit to president obama as well. Lets not make this a one side versus the other. To get a bipartisan lift it done. That is just the first step. We are talking about that mandatory sentencing reform. We are also talking about saybilitation i should recynicism. Arewe make sure that they getting Job Opportunities and training. There is still more work to be done. This is the one issue in washington that focuses that the two can come together on. You brought up an interesting idea about race and black folks are very welcoming. I appreciate that sentiment and i agree in some part. Unfortunately, i disagree that unwelcoming some elements in the black community toward those who do not vote the same way or think the same way they do. As a black conservative, i face vitriol on a daily basis from people who look like me because i did not have the same political views or vote the same way that they do. I think that is something that we can work on, understanding that at the end of the day, i want what you want. I want my family healthy and safe. I want to be able to work and find opportunities. I want our nation to be safe and prosperous. I think that is what brings us together. There we achieve that, are lots of different avenues, some better than others. Lets embrace of one anothers differences is great. Host out of raleigh, north carolina, a democrat, good morning. Caller good morning. Im happy that you have your own independent views. To me, the views are little bit distorted. Just give me a minute. When you say freedom, you said freedom and then you said about religious liberty. I am christian. No one has ever stopped me from going to church. I have always been able to say Merry Christmas which trump said we could not say. We have been able to say it and happy holidays and happy kwanzaa. You also said about business and free market. If free market should get out of our government, the government was not set up with business in mind. It was for the people. That is where the breakdown comes from a. Where theg breakdown comes from for me. Businesses want the government to do what they want them to do and they should not. You do your business, whatever. And also about your bedroom business. I dont care what the lbd dq do. Q do. B leave them alone. Joe, when someone asked them about somebodys personal, how do they feel about community, stuff asking for peoples opinions. Another lady said something and she was right and so did another caller. Bring up a lot and i want to give her a chance to respond to some of that. Some of what youre saying is very libertarian leaning. I am finding some commonality with you on that. Maybe if the government was not in bed with business very often, we call that crony capitalism. That is not what a free market system is supposed to be where big corporations are able to get certain businesses and smaller businesses do not. I would agree with you on that point. I think the more we can separate government from the private sector and let them operate in their spheres, i think that creates better equality and it comes to how businesses are treated, whether you are an individual or you have two people and you are a coffee shop owner, or you are a tech company with 5000 employees. To your point about people and their personal lives, that is where the libertarian streak comes out of me. I agree with you. There are some things that the government needs to mind their own business about. This, i forgot your first issue. You that, john . Host there were a few. I think you covered several of them and we have several more callers. You are not lacking in those, including molly in florida, a republican. Good morning. Caller hi, there. I am enjoying the show so much this morning. I usually do not enjoy it as much. I am sorry, i used to be a democrat. I am a republican now. How bothers me the most is race is being thrown into everything. You did not pick a person because of the color of their skin, you pick them because of what they can do. Are they qualified and everything. I have two white greatgrandchildren and two black greatgrandchildren. I am scared that they cannot grow up together and have a wonderful life in the future because they are very young, they are all under four. Thatt somebody in there will help both the wide and the black come together. The black comed together. I think donald trump has tried to do that. The left is trying their hardest to picture him as being racist. If you look back in his past and what he is doing now for everybody, i cannot see how you can say that. Think is the you biggest thing that he has done to help black and white people come together . What is the best example of that . Caller he talks to everybody. He has roundtables with everybody. If youve got a problem, he does not shut his door on you or turn his back on you. He will tackle a problem and he yous very hard to do it, know, with his criminal reform religion ands to he is trying to push everything and now he has this piece going united arab i cannot say it. I am not great at pronouncing rs. I just think he is great if you would get a chance but they are fighting him so much if he would get a chance. Thank you, good morning. I understand youve got some grandkids on your side. When i think about my kids, i think about the kind of world they live in and whether they are going to get opportunities. That is what i want them to have. Injectingalk about race in everything, you hit on an interesting point that it is very intentional. It is a narrative that has been set since President Trump announced he was running for office. It became about what can you beat him out because his willgest suit, most voters tell you and when you look at the polling, he holds the strongest when it comes to whether people think he whether they trust him with the economy. I think most people do. What you try to attack him on, try to attack him on something that is very personal to individuals and that is race, their identity. Encourage him as someone who seems to be racist, then people want to shut Everything Else that he and his administration does down and that is what we have seen over the past years. And you look at the record we talk about criminal Justice Reform, we talked about School Choice, we talked about lets look into historically black colleges, the fact that he has secured so much funding, longterm funding for these organizations. Maybe your grandkids may end up going to an hbcu. I think it is important that every person has opportunity has access to education. If they want to go into an four year degree, Higher Education, quality Higher Education and then find a job. The job piece has been, prior to the pandemic, a story that has been hard to deny. Historically low black unemployment. It is not just a nice saying. We are talking about people who have been sidelined in the economy for decades. People with criminal records not being able to be given a chance because there were so few jobs coming out of the recession and afterward. I will give president obama credit. The black Unemployment Rate like the others were dropping under his administration. What we have seen is an acceleration of unemployment among many different demographic groups and that has been to the benefit of our nation. That suddenly means that if you are a young black woman and graduated college last year, there are plenty of Job Opportunities at your fingertips. We also saw an incredible skyrocketing in the number of women starting businesses in this country. From 2017 to 2018 alone, women started 1800 new businesses each day. Please, fact check me on that. You can take a look at the Economic Advisors reports. Aiken hundred per day, 2017 to 2018. The same through 2019. There is something about a progrowth agenda that reduces regulations, cuts taxes individual and corporate, that spurs innovation, that spurs people to start their businesses and that is what we need. That is what we need, whether you are black, white, hispanic, arabic, whatever the case is. That is what we need in this country. Host i wonder if you think women should be sitting in more seats in congress. The numbers for the center of american women in politics at rutgers, 101 women hold seats right now in the house. That is funny 3 of the 435 members 23 . 57 women have served and 26 serve right now 26 of the senate. Guest there is a lot of work to ouronsidering that electorate slightly tilts in favor of women. We look at the number of women who go to compare men. That is a trend that has been for a while. It will be nice to see more women in office. I want to see more people elected to office who are going to push policies that are going to, as i laid out today, expand freedom, expand opportunities in this country and not just be a check the box. What i like to see more women serving . Would i like to see more women serving . Absolutely. I dont want to see people vote based on their gender. To me, that is not the ideal. Host about five minutes left with Patrice Onwuka this morning. Joining us to talk about women in politics and campaign 2020. If you would like to check out the independent womens voice,. Org and on twitter if you want to give them an follower. Give them a follow. Caller the first thing i just want to say is i was a democrat over two decades and i left the Democratic Party and i just want to commend you on your independent thinking and not subscribing to groupthink which is prevalent in the Democratic Party. I want to make a statement and i have a question. My first statement is, i think there is a misnomer about obama being black. But wes skin is black, have to remember that he is also 50 white and he was raised with all of the White Privilege of a white person. He was raised by his white grandparents in hawaii and he went to ivy league school. This is not something that is available to the everyday black person or a minority in this country. When he ran for office, i was thinking why does this community organizer, that is all his credibility was, why is he being touted for the highest office . He has never run a business, he cannot manage a taco stand let alone run the country. That was my statement. My question is this. Im trying to figure out why the Democratic Party has been hijacked. It has been hijacked by , socialistmarxists progressives. It is no longer the Democratic Party. They did not start their own party. They infiltrated the Democratic Party. They are pushing this country so far left to its demise and look is what is that look at what is going on look at what is going on in our country. Where is this going to end up . We are going to be a communist marxist socialist country. I want you to comment on how much that party has changed in the last 12 years. Thank you. Guest thank you, good morning. What a mouthful. You hit a lot of important issues. I will hit two. The first probably just about race. Lets stop talking about it. Lets make a conscious decision to leave the race and the origins of Kamala Harris and president obama they are what they self identify as. Now, to your second point, what their issues are and the policies are is absolutely pushing the farley pushing the party farther left. Lets think about Kamala Harris and joe biden as well. They are willing to endorse the Green New Deal. The Green New Deal comes with a potential price tag of 93 trillion. The idea that it is a massive overhaul of our entire economy, our transportation is done that would frankly take us backward, not forward. Retrofitting every business with certain types of Green Products it is incredible the financial burden on every single american family. Would don new deal alone. When you look at the issues that are being pushed right now, i look at it as a lack of personal responsibility. They want to cancel student debt. Wait a minute, i have student debt. I entered into a contract with the government to say will you pay for my schooling and i will pay you back. Now suddenly we are saying, no, we will end those contracts and say everybody gets to have their Student Loans forgiven regardless of whether they can afford to pay it back. There is this idea that you can come out it comes to immigration, forget about borders. Everybody should come in when they want to and we will decriminalize just like Kamala Harris has supported and proposed. Wait a minute, i am a legal immigrant. I came here through the correct process and the correct way and not every immigrant is on board with illegal immigration. So we are seeing, on a number of these issues how the left has moved. Healthcare is probably the biggest example. Firste saw obamacare introduced or, the Affordable Care act introduced, we thought it was socialism. Now we look at it at the debate stage last fall and almost every single one of the candidates raised their hand for medicare for all and we think even Kamala Harris saying, i am fine with doing away with private insurance. That is how far we have come from even Something Like obamacare which was much farther than our private system was even before he came into office. I think what youre seeing is the education, maybe miseducation in colleges and in our k12 level of these socialist ideas. Socialism promises you the moon and delivers you rocks. When we look at socialist nations, the ones like people hold up like sweden, when you look at their economies, they are mixed economies at best but they tend to be capitalist economies. Ofn you ask how much one these individuals and families are paying, i dont want to pay 50 or more out of my check for healthcare that may not be available for me when i need it. For example, if i have a certain condition or i need surgery, i dont want to pay for it. I want to be able to choose the kind of education that my kids should have, not just begin with the government has told me i need to have. These are the ideas that should be pushed in k12 and higher ed. And now we are filtering our business sector and into government. I think it should be disconcerting for anyone in the middle. You dont have to be republican, conservative, you can be independent, since you can be an independent common sense banker that says wait a minute, common sense thinker. I want to ensure that our social thinking does not become a dependency on a longlasting program. I want to ensure that Unemployment Benefits help people when they need it but did not become a disincentive to go back to work. That is where we are seeing a lot of these policies dragging the left so far to the left that i think it disenchant a lot of people in the middle. You dont have to be conservative or vote republican. I am not taking telling you what party to vote for at all. I am saying put your thinking caps on and not just think about your current position, about your grandchildren and think about the kind of country and economy and prosperity you want them to inherit. Prosperity does not come when the government confiscates your property and your rights and then doles it out in whatever measure it determines. Prosperity and freedom, you as an individual are making the best choices for yourself and where government is needed because of failures and shortfalls, it is there. But you are the one who makes those decisions. Host we will have to end there. A note for those waiting on the lines, mary, linda and others, stay on the phone lines because we will continue to talk about women in politics in our next that meant. I want to thank Patrice Onwuka, senior policy analyst at the independent womens voice. Org if you want to check them out. Thank you for your time. Next, we will be joined by a politicswless, professor at the university of virginia about women in politics and campaign 2020. We will be right back. Book tv on cspan2 has top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. On saturday at 5 30 eastern, authors elizabeth hinton, robin kelly, taylor, and cornell west talk about the black lives Matter Movement. Eastern, the9 00 university of california earthly law professor and former Deputy Assistant attorney general on the george w. Bush administration with his book, defender in chief, looking at president ial powers and the u. S. Constitution. He is interviewed by mark, author and George Mason University founding dean of the school and policy and government. Watch book tv this weekend on cspan2. Cspan has covered every minute of every Political Convention since 1984 and we are not stopping. This months Political Convention will be like none other in history. With the pandemic, plans for both gatherings are being altered. Democrats will need to nominate joe biden after as their candidate on monday. President trump will accept discrimination the next week. Eastern for at 9 00 live coverage of the Democratic Convention on monday and the Republican Convention starting next monday, august 24. Live streaming and ondemand at cspan. Org or listen with the free cspan radio app. Cspan, your unfiltered view of politics. You are watching cspan, your unfiltered view of government, created by America Television company as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Continues. On journal host we continue our conversation about women in politics with jennifer lawless, author at the university of virginia. First, what did you think of the Kamala Harris pick . Guest thanks for having me. I think it was a strong and safe pick. She has the credentials that joe biden needs. She has a Campaign Style that voters are excited about. It is going to give donald trump a tough run. Host you said strong and safe. What do you mean by safe . Guest i mean that when you look at the list of the potential contenders for Vice President , several had liabilities. Every Vice President a candidate has a liability. Kamala harris seemed to be easy to address on the campaign trail. When you look around and think about who the most obvious choice was and the choice whose strengths clearly outweighed her weaknesses, Kamala Harris was at the top of the list. Host what do you think her weaknesses might be . Guest i think the biggest weakness would be in terms of her record as attorney general, it is possible that the Trump Administration might suggest that she was too tough on crime which is ironic. It is something the democrats will have to at least be able to manipulate because they want to make sure that people of color and people who are very excited about the black lives Matter Movement dont find this as a distraction. Basically her record in the senate and the way she has spoken about her record should quell those concerns. Host who did this big bring to the polls who was not going to come to the polls before this pick . Speaking, vicey president ial picks do not matter as much in terms of the outcome of the election. She brings a level of enthusiasm that people might not have felt about joe biden. Joe biden is up in the polls and it is likely he will win the election because democrats and independents do not want donald trump to have another four years. What Kamala Harris brings is the enthusiasm that might not have been attached to joe biden himself. Now it might be the case of democrats are turning out not only because they are opposed to donald trump, but also because they are excited about their choice. Host to same question we ask our previous guest. Is Kamala Harris nasty a sexist statement . Guest yes. I dont know if prior to donald trump who would have termed that a sexist statement. Given that he only applies the word women and they are usually women of color and that it is always in response to something that they said or did he does not like, it is his go to sexist statement. The fact that that is the first adjective he could use to describe her highlight that she has already gotten under his skin. Host as we highlight women in politics, antiwaiting to talk waited to talky to you. Emocrats, 202 7488000. Ndependents, 202 7488002 mary is up first, a democrat, good morning. Caller i can ask you this question. Now asat this world precorona and postcorona. Now we have postcorona. Americans, notas as democrats or republicans, right now, i cannot go to a restaurant, my kids can go to without getting corona. Americans are dying every day. Nasty are talking about woman. We are in a state of emergency. Corona,alking about trump, kamala, none of them. I cannot go to the mailbox. I cannot mail my mail now. What is going on in this country . Here is my question. Id trumps real name is know he keeps saying obama was not a citizen. Donald real name trump . Host that is mary in michigan. Jennifer lawless, on the issue we are talking about 80 days from election day. Guest this is an election that is going to be a referendum on Donald Trumps leadership. It is his leadership regarding the coronavirus, regarding the economy, it is his leadership regarding giving a sent to the American People that there is a way out. Giving a sense to the American People. Chiefas an executive in and a consoler in chief. He has exhibited time and again that he does not rise to that occasion. This is a donald trump issue. When he is asked about how his administration has handled coronavirus, he says that they have made no mistakes, that this is excellent, that we should be very happy and that millions would be dead otherwise. The reason i think he is concerned about november is because he realizes that that message has not resonated. That is the message he has been transmitting since february. Deaths yon160,000 where we were in february and we have unemployment levels near the great depression. This is going to be an election where joe biden and Kamala Harris have to make a case to the American People that they can lead better than donald trump can. In other elections we talk about Supreme Court justices or a womans right to choose or School Vouchers or other issues, those things are important to voters. Right now, they dont have the luxury to think about them. It is all about the pandemic and the economy. Host lisa is in texas. Independent. Good morning. Caller good morning, ms. Jennifer. I would like to say that Kamala Harris coming to the ticket is the letter c. I would not use the word color. I would use capable. She is very capable of taking care of this country and pulling us up out of what we are in right now. Lady, thethe previous ms. Patrice, i would challenge her to change her news channel. Host that is lisa talking to jennifer lawless. Your thoughts on this description of Kamala Harris . Caller i think guest i think capable is the right word. What is interesting about the election process is that there were a dozen women all whom were ready to become president on day one and that really highlights an evolution in the status and stature of women in politics. The fact that that was important to joe biden and the fact that there were so many women of color on that list also highlights how much progress we have made in terms of women occupying this position that places them very well to become Vice President or president. And frankly the fact that we are talking about it as a strong pig highlights that we have reached a point in time where americans are clearly willing and able to vote for a female candidate, they are willing and happy to vote for candidates of color. 15 years ago, that would have been a crazy thing to say. Host linda, in florida, a democrat. Good morning. Ander thank you, john thank you for your guest today. I want to make a couple of points about voting while black. They are voting for the woman because she is black. I think people are believing largestk at who is the voting bloc in the country. It is not evangelicals, it is not white women, it is black women. So why would you not have someone on the take it if you are trying to win to get the majority of votes . I agree with what she stands for. The only other comment i want to make is they are always touting about president obama and where he was born and him being the first black president. John mcardle, please google. He is not our first lack president. President a dwight d. Eisenhower s mother was a black lotto from many black mood lotto mulatto. Get educated like the biggest voting bloc of lack women which i am proud to be of and vote kamala. And jennifer lawless on black women voters in the country. Guest one of the reasons that joe biden focused on black women is because of this reason. The reality is that the Democratic Coalition that barack obama failed in 2008 and 2012 relied heavily on africanamericans and in particular black women and given the bench of lack women in congress as governors across the board, there was no reason. They are still underrepresented, of course they are, but there was no reason not to tap into that talent because it was signaled that joe biden was not taking any for granted. Host you are also an author. Why womenur books, dont run for office. The bench of women in congress, some stats on that. Early in the house, 101 women hold seats, 23 of the house. In the senate, 26 women currently serving. 26 of the senate. What are your thoughts on those numbers . Guest and because there been a lot of discussions around highprofile women in positions of political power we can wash our hands and walk away. Everything is fine, have gender parity. And we dont. It is not only that women are roughly about 25 of congress, but they are also about 20 of state governors and 20 of bigcity mayors, and 20 of legislators across the country. To put that number in to perspective, roughly 20 years ago the United States ranked 57. Over the course of the last two decades, although we have seen an increase in the percentage of women serving in positions of power, 60 other nations have moved up at a higher rate than we have. It is really important to recognize and applaud the fact that Kamala Harris is in a position where she can break a Glass Ceiling and potentially be very wellpositioned to become president. It is also important to put that into a broader context. Men continue to dominate our political institutions. Host a countries have the largest percentage of women serving in the legislature . Uganda. Ne is that is something we would never have in this country. That is good news, because the reason you have quotas or because voters arent willing to elect women or the parties arent winning willing to support women. , on women run for office average they do just as well as men. They also raced just as much money and media cover them similarly. This is true in both primaries and in general, and it is also true for democrats and republicans. The issue is not that women dont win, it is not it is that they are not running in the first place. Part of the reason they are not running is because they dont think voters will vote for them or donors will give to them. Hopefully this election cycle will begin to change that narrative and maybe we will see an increase at even higher rates than usual of the number of women running on both sides of the aisle. Host i mentioned one of your books. Here another. Jenniferhe run lawless, our guest. Commonwealth professor of politics there on twitter. For about the next when he five minutes. If you want to join the conversation, republicans 202 7488001. Kratz democrats 202 7488000. Ndependents, 202 7488002 good morning. Caller good morning. It is good to be with you this morning. Ar the first time i am doing vote. Oting im watching tv and it seems that like it is going to really the postalt for service to handle the mailing votes because so many people do because of get out the covid. They do not want to get out and vote in line because of that. I was ar comment and democrat for years. I changed to republican. Really and truly, i will be honest, i dont think much of either party. I wish we had a third party. I am disappointed that the Democratic Party has led leaned so far to the left. That bothers me. But those are my comments. I will hang up and listen. Host professor lalas . Guest in terms of mailin voting, it is important for viewers and citizens more broadly to understand the potential calamity that could ensue in november. The reality of covid means that isentee ballot voting going to be a major mechanism by which people cast ballots. Moreeasures that make it difficult for the post office to process mail, any measures that involve mysteriously putting away ballotsorting machines, any of these measures make it difficult to count votes. The good news is that states are aware of what is going on. Many states are pushing back and saying that they have been able to deal with mailin ballots and it hasnt led to corruption. Challenges with the Postal Service will certainly be a big problem heading into november. That is why i would encourage people, regardless of where they live, to vote as early as they can by mail. Partisanship point, for a long time now people on both sides of the aisle have said they dont like what the democrats stand for, they dont like what the republicans stand for, and they dont like the lack of civility. At the end of the day they have a choice to make and they have to choose which party better represents their views and can better implement the vision they have for the future. Part of the reason that a third party is difficult to start up in the United States is because the two parties doing body most of what the typical american believes. If you believe in a certain set of views, it is likely that the republicans are or repelled or democrats are placed for you. Take in their heels and almost all of them vote for the democratic candidate. Almost all of the republicans vote for the republican candidate. Whenwas the case in 2016 republicans and democrats alike did not like the person at the top of the ticket. Hillary clinton and donald trump were the most unpopular nominees we have ever seen. Yet nine out of 10 democrats supported clinton and nine out of 10 republicans supported trump. Host we are 80 days away from election day. People are about to see a lot of negative ads and many have seen a lot of negative ads already. Campaigns spending their money on negative ads, they wouldnt do that if they didnt think it worked, correct . Guest thats right. You can assume any ads campaigns are putting them out has been a strategy that has it is not a risk. That negative ads mobilize the other side. Instead they would raise enough suspicion that voters would not turn out to vote for the candidate who was being attacked in the ads. Weve now gotten to the point where positive ads are rare and negative ads are the ones that garner attention. They do work. People expect it and when they see one side playing dirty, they want their team and their side to respond. We are in a pretty cyclical pattern now. Host joanne, michigan, independent. Caller i am wondering. There are more white woman dan out there then than black. Why didnt he choose someone who was white for his Vice President . Is my question. Guest let me out lay out a couple of facts. Women are more likely than men to turn out to vote. Women since 1980 have been more likely than men to vote for the democratic candidate. That doesnt mean that women is a block always vote together. If you look at the most recent election cycle, white women and white women who were not collegeeducated in particular, actually broke for public and. Anything about the kind of candidate the Democratic Party needs and the kind of nominee that person will choose, you have to think about putting together a Democratic Coalition and also a ticket that would quell any independent voter concerns or bring back those independents who voted for trump last time. Given that the Democratic Party is as diverse as it is, given that black women have played such an Important Role in elevating the fortunes of democratic candidates, it makes a lot of sense to demonstrate that the highest level that diversity is also important to the party. You cant is a party say, going to camp counting your vote because you have no place to turn and we are not going to embed you in the highest positions of leadership. I think that is what we are seeing and it is a smart move in terms of putting back together that Democratic Coalition that seems 12 faltered after 2012. Host two gloria in maryland. A democrat. Good morning. Caller good morning. Thank you for all that you do. In this day when there is so much oppression lets be honest, an off a lot of it is blowing out of our white house. It is just wonderful to be able to enter the conversation. Only physically blind, dont get nervous. Im not spiritually blind. Blind pastor, social justice activist. I have been here a little while. America is pining for change, because the hope bucket of rocks and the white house does not know how to convey those things. Covid would not be the horror that is, had donald trump taken it seriously and not called a democratic hoax designed to bring down a president. We need to vote for change. ,nd having a woman come forward i wouldnt care if she was needs to mama, there be ideas that can coalesce to causing us to be america again. America isnt a place where people apply for asylum and diet the border. America isnt a place where we snatch babies out of the arms of their parents and then deport the parents so that family can never be whole. America, open your bibles. This country belongs to god. Get on your knees and lets vote america back into becoming america. God bless you. Host gloria with her thoughts. Green coveout of springs, florida. Republican. Good morning. Myler thank you for taking call. She just described how a biden, a lady called and wanted to know why he picked a woman. Well, he was forced to do that. Why she is not reporting that is incorrect. Theot letters saying that lacs would not support him if he did not pick a black woman. Ok . She is not reporting that right. Host jennifer lawless, do you want to jump in . Guest thats not true. It is simply not true. If you linton listen to the interviews with james clyburn, who was a pivotal actor in helping joe biden securities South Carolina vote, he said very clearly that he would love to see black women on the ticket. But there cannot be a litmus test. Joe biden said he was going to choose a woman and he has also said he wants to make sure his administration reflect the american public. At no point did anybody say that there was no choice, at no point did joe biden say he would only look at women of caller. Frank lee, we are at the point right now, is 2020. I dont think we should be having these conversations. Kamala harris is by far the most qualified Vice President ial candidate we have seen in quite some time. Let me put joe biden aside. There is no question that she is as qualified as mike pence or paul ryan. The idea that she has only on this ticket because she is a woman or black woman i think is an affront to the Democratic Partys goals, it also Kamala Harris qualifications. Host we have shown stats in this segment. American women and politics at rutgers university, Debbie Wallace is the director of that center. She was interviewed this week after the Kamala Harris pick. This is what she had to say when comparing it to Geraldine Ferraro or sarah palin. Think in both those cases, putting a woman on the ticket felt like a hail mary. Which i dont get the sense that it has that same field this time around. What are your thoughts on that . Guest i agree with that entirely. He1984 Walter Mondale knew was going to lose the election. A very, he lost by regrettable margin for democrats. Putting Geraldine Ferraro on the ticket was a way to signal that he stood for change. It wasnt enough. Sarah palin, this was a situation where john mccain and the people who worked on john mccains campaign acknowledged, he didnt know what they were getting with palin, but they were willing to take a shot because they knew they were facing a very uphill. This time around, that is not the case. If you look at the media coverage, if you look at the responses to Kamala Harris being named Vice President , there is no discussion of this being a hail mary pass. This has just been seen as a strong woman put on the ticket because it makes the ticket stronger. Cindy. Wo to you are on with professor lawless. Caller thank you for taking my call. I have been an independent since i started to vote. I dont believe that people should stay in office for years and years. I believe in term limits. I believe we should go to public funding. I wish they had chosen the black woman who was the police chief. I think that would have been a verse of the of thought. Im a little bit tired of politicians all being attorneys, because i believe they all think the same. Not to vote for anybody who is an attorney. Voted for trump because they are sick and tired of politicians, regardless of party. That was a vote for change. That was the vote for change, donald trump. Onn i was on the other day cspan, somebody referred to la aslah kama unamerican. How can you be africanamerican but be, have. To that is jamaican and asian . Thank you. Host professor lawless, do you want to pick that up . Guest i will say that i think the slate of candidates is strong. Val demings was certainly at the top of that list. At the end of the day i think the Biden Campaign a decision about who they thought he could work best with, who he thought would be the best asset in the white house and help deliver him to vote in november. As to diversity of thought among candidates, it is true. For a decade now the overwhelming majority of congress, governors, and president s have been lawyers, misleaders, educators, or political activists. And of the ways we can expand that pool is for people who are not in those positions to start running for office. Experience and ultimately run for higher office. Federal office. The final piece will adhere, in terms of a vote for change is that we saw in 2016 that people were tired of politics as usual. They did want to give somebody who didnt have a political history chance. I think we have all seen what can happen when we do that. Im not talking about Donald Trumps bluster, im talking about the fact we are amid a pandemic, we are amid a depression and we have people in the white house who dont have the expertise and dont have the political connections or will to do anything about it. There are pros and cons to continuing to elect the same kinds of people. And there is a shock to the system and we get a new kind of candidate, the best we can do is hope we dont find ourselves in circumstances where a lot of experience would have been useful. Host he said something for the president ial ticket. Do you think Kamala Harris becomes a key sarah get in the battle for the senate and inhouse races as well . Do you see her being sent to arizona and maine and iowa and colorado to try to take back the senate . Guest it will vary by state. Joe biden is popular in arizona, colorado, maine, north carolina. It might be a better deployment of the campaigns resources to send him there and to deploy Kamala Harris to the aquatic areas where turnout could have the result last time around. If you look at michigan and pennsylvania, a few hundred thousand additional votes would have made Hillary Clinton president of the United States. I think the campaign has to decide there it is best to use her to shore up democratic support or stump for who would be her future colleagues in the senate. Regardless of whether they send biden or harris, good news is they now have two people who can be out there doing this, which is difficult even the conditions. Host going to take a look at it now from the republican side. If you are a Republican Senate strategist, do you use Kamala Harris as a foil . Guest in all of the top races. ,f you look at arizona colorado, montana, north carolina, maine these are places where the electorate is split. These are races where democrats and republicans have a good shot of winning or holding their seat. Can dothe best thing you is paint democrats as liberal crackpots. Kamala harris will be a way that. It is funny, because during the campaign she was being as seen as being a bit too moderate. Now we are hearing that she has is as left as they possibly come. You would expect that regardless of who joe biden chose, but i think in those senate races that is going to be the message. Host in the Washington Times today a graphic on Kamala Harris endorsement by various Interest Groups in the sea and around the country. They cite her ratings. All of these groups have voting ratings. Here are the ones they choose to side. The human rights campaign, which works for lgbtq rights issues, 100 rating. League of conservation voters, the environmental group, 100 rating. Planned parenthood action fund, 100 rating. The American Civil Liberties union, 86 rating. The u. S. Chamber of commerce, just a 30 rating. The club for growth, just a 19 rating. 0 rating. , a i wonder if your thoughts on those ratings and how they are being highlighted . Guest i think that those would likely be the ratings of virtually every highprofile democrat that we have in the country right now, whether it be in the United States senate, the u. S. House, or the people on the stage running for the presidency. We have reached a point where the democrats embrace certain issues. Right toing a womans choose, and lgbtq rights, and climate change. I can sure Immigration Reform and that we are not punishing little kids. These are things the democrats stand for. The republicans dont. These are clear differences between the two parties and a clear difference in the choices voters have. I think putting forward those ratings is actually fine. It should make democrats feel good about her as a peck and it should reinforce to republicans that this is a legitimate credit ticket. They have to decide whether they are willing to support these views because they dont like the direction the entry has headed, or whether they want four more years of the same. Int our next caller illustrate, pennsylvania. Public and. Good morning. Harris a wonderful choice. Of all of the women he had a choice to pick from, they were all wonderful. And myting for joe biden mind is made up. Four more years of trump and we wont have a country left. Thank you. Host before you go, would you have felt that way had not been come all harris is the peck. Not been Kamala Harris as the pack . Caller of all his choices, they were all good. Yes, i probably would have voted for joe biden no matter what. Whoever he peck. I like Kamala Harris. There is not a thing wrong with her. She helped the people in california get the bankers to give more money out when all of those people lost their houses. She is a fighter. She is for the little guy. I like her. Host jennifer lawless, what did you hear in that call . Guest i heard the general view that it is great when there is a Vice President ial candidate everybody likes, but it really doesnt matter that much. As long as it is a respectable choice, people are not going to vote for or against the ticket because of the person in the number two spot. Something i will note that is important about this pic is that it highlights the kind of decisionmaking that joe biden will bring with him to the white house. He had a very difficult decision. He had a lot of good options and he made a choice that i think most people agree was a smart one. Regardless of whether kamala the ticketsence on changes the outcome on election day, it does signal to voters that he is aware of the fact that he is old and needed to bring in someone in the next generation. That he is white and he needed to speak to a broader coalition of voters. And that he needs to be attentive to what is going on in the political environment. As far as decisionmaking is concerned, it was a really good first decision if joe biden was trying to signal to america that he can be trusted. Or two moreor one calls with jennifer lawless of the university of virginia. If you are enjoying the conversation, if her a follow on twitter. This is William Haley anderson, north carolina. Independent. Good morning. Caller good morning. I think Kamala Harris is going to be a good candidate. Think she would be a good and i had one other question that has been bothering me all day. Keep talking about the unemployment. When you file for unemployment, it dont last but 12 weeks. Italy this state. In this state. How are you going to stay that you are going to go to work and you are going to collect more money when it doesnt last . You have to have a job by then . You dont get no unemployment. Host jennifer lawless . Can you take that up . Guest sure. The struggles people arent doing on a daily basis and have been since february and march are what is at stake in this election. The fact that donald trump and congress are at a standstill and can figure out how to move forward and put together a package that helps people put food on the table highlights the lack of federal leadership we have, but it also shows that if the Party Control of congress changes, if we have somebody new in the white house, that could potentially be a jolt to the system to change the way these issues are handled. Whether you are a democrat or public and, i think this is one of those times you look around and say, this is not working. This unemployment arrangement is not working. Im not supposed to be scared about whether i am not going to get the next one. Right now the choice people are going to have on election day is whether they want to continue with that uncertainty or take a risk and try something new. They dont know what the Bidenharris Administration will bring, but the question is, is that uncertainty better than the certainty that nothing is getting done. Host i did want to ask, 80 days until election day. How much do you think we are going to be hearing about them across 2016 nominee, heller clinton over the next 80 days . Guest she is a prime time speaker at the convention. Next week it is going to be a lot about pointing. I prediction is that both hillary and bill clinton will be very careful about the language they use in their speeches so nothing they say can be used as a soundbite. It is a risky move, because neither of them are popular right now. It is the appropriate thing to do, because one is a former president and one was a woman who has gotten as far in president ial politics as anybody else. It is going to be threading a needle, my sense is that next week will be a week where we hear quite a bit about Hillary Clinton. Host jennifer lawless is a commonwealth professor of politics at the university of virginia. Thanks so much for your time. Guest thank you. Host for our last 30 minutes today we return to the question that we spoke about in our first hour. I day after we found out that 960 300066,000 americans filed new unemployment claims last week, we want to hear about how the pandemic has impacted your job. Special lines for those who are unemployed. Those who have had their hours cut, and those who have returned to work. We will talk to and just a minute. We will be right back. Binge watch book tv this summer, saturday evenings at 8 00 p. M. Eastern watch several hours of your favorite authors. We are featuring programs with toni morrison, whose books include song of solomon, and beloved. Tv all summerok on cspan2. History tv on cspan3. Exploring the people in events that tell the american story, every weekend. This weekend, saturday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern, library of theress curator on life in 1930s and 1940s through caller photographs. Eastern,y at 4 00 p. M. Three films on the 1976 election produced by the u. S. Information agency for international audience. , acceptance eastern president ial nominees. Exploring the american story. Watch American History tv this weekend on cspan3. Washington journal continues. 900 63,000 americans filed unemployment claims last week. The first time that number has been below one million since march. Usa today noting that that still is dwarfing the previous alltime high of 690 5000 back in 1982. The latest tally means a stunning 56 point 2 million americans saw unemployment date in the past 21 weeks. We want to talk to some of those 56. 2 million americans in the final minutes of our program today, asking you to call a on special phone lines. If you are unemployed, 202 7488000 is the number. If you have seen your hours reduced, 202 7488001. And if you have returned to work after being out of work, 202 7488002. We want to hear your stories, we want to talk about how the pandemic has impacted your job. Turning over our phone lines to you to end our program and in the week here at washington journal. Alexanders up first out of maryland. As recently returned to work. What kind of work do you do. Atler i am a driver varchellis pizza. Also occasionally i work at the dollar tree. It has been pretty wild. I went from barely having a chance to work at all i mean, i got another job at a dealership before the pandemic shut everything down and i was the first ticket let go. To get go. It has been interesting. I am also calling on behalf of the morgan project. What are we going to do about jobs . Here,want to make jobs why arent we investing abroad . We could be investing abroad making jobs here and having a chance to put people into work. Even in the time of the pandemic we could be, you know, we need to invest so that when eventually the lock down is in does end, you can rebound stronger than ever before. Host that is alexander. This is shannon out of florida on the line for those who are unemployed. Good morning. Caller good morning. I was in the health care industry. Host how long have you been out of work . Caller i have been out of work since the beginning of covid. Host how are you dealing with it . Ahead. Caller im dealing with it like everyone else. I wanted to comment on the 600 a week and the comments the president makes about people not wanting to go back to work. Is it any wonder nobody wants to go back to work in the minimum wage, people cant even live on minimum wage . They are going to put their lives at risk to go back to work for less money . Of course the not going to. They are not going to. The other thing i wanted to comment on is that 600 a week its going directly back into the economy. That is white retail sales are up. You take that away, watch what happens in the next month. The other thing wanted to comment on, the first of the month my unemployment was stopped. Reapply. It was an absolute nightmare. The santos even posted that rick scott and all of his wisdom when he created the new unemployment made it deliberately difficult so that people would just give up and not file for unemployment. Of people that i know of in the Restaurant Business who were rate uses were waitresses that did not qualify for unemployment. They did not get any of the 600 and did not know how to do it. Number three is, many people do not have a computer. Tos is a mess and they need step up and do something to get some help we are running out of food. It is awful. Thank you for your time. God bless and keep america safe. Host shannon in florida. In terms of what comes next when it comes to Unemployment Insurance, that is still up in the air. That is one of the issues that has been on the table and discussions over the next stimulus bill. Here is how usa today describes the negotiation. To be that they appear hopeless as of yesterday. The only thing anyone seems to agree on is that negotiations arent impasse. Here is what larry kudlow said about what the chances are of a deal. Clip] i dont want to bet on anything. It is a stalemate. Secretary mnuchin said yesterday the speaker wants a 2 million 2 trillion cup commitment. Do not going to get it. It doesnt have anything to do with covid for that matter. Having said that, there were things we would like to see. Including money for reopening schools. Our site is higher than theirs. We would like to see an expansion of the ppp and other matters. I dont want to handicap it. Bewill be what is going to it is going to be. Executive orders we think will provide crucial assistance and also a crucial pay increase to those 140 million who are working. That is our spot. We took action because the democrats wouldnt. Host larry kudlow at the white house yesterday. Continue, aons Small Business loan program that more than 5 billion 5 million businesses have used has ceased operation. U. S. Immigration Services Plans to furlough about 13,400 of its 20,000 employees. A 600 boost in Unemployment Benefits expire last month. Leaving many families desperate for help. A survey by the Census Bureau found 24 million americans said they had no or little competence confidence in their ability to pay rent in august. Usa today talking about the impasse on coronavirus stimulus. Back to your calls as we talk to those who are unemployed. This is wade on that line for those who are unemployed. South carolina. Good morning. Caller thank you for taking my call. 1 what did host what did you do, wade . Caller i am selfemployed. Folks homes. I dont blame my customers for not calling me. I wouldnt want anyone in my house right now. I am down to almost seven dollars per week on unemployment because that is all they give Unemployed People selfemployed people. This ought to be narrowed down. Unemployment, this rent situation, all of these pork projects ought to be out of this bill and lets get down to what helps the people. But trump says he wants that help, but i dont see it. I voted for him, but im not sure if im going to do so this time. ,m not going to vote democrat and lindsey graham, he has already said it will be over his dead body. Ive got news. I have voted for him since he took over for strom thurmond, but i will never vote for him again. This is horrible for the people, the working people in the country. Host he set the negotiation should be three things and you mentioned supplemental Unemployment Insurance, what happens with that. Eviction moratorium. What was your third . Foreclosures. Folks that own their homes. Such as myself. Theyve got to pull the pork out of it and lets get down to what will help the people first and then go for the rest of the stuff. This is horrible. Its on both sides. It aint just one side. Get itwish they could down to what is going to help the people. I think it has just gotten so people pathetic that are just disgusted with it. I know i am. Host thank for the call. Clearwater, florida. On that line for those who have seen their hours reduced. What kind of work . Caller i have done stonework. Host what are you down to . Marble, granite. Highend stuff. If you look on the schedule it says others. Have no job no more. Ive been unemployed since january. Change,rk for a little setting up dolls in a warehouse. Play dolls, stuff like that. That was 80 or Something Like that. But i do get unemployment. Worked at my business for when he. By illegalovered workers. Any time i ever apply for job, im just totally discounted because i am an american. That is my comment. Brendan florida, this is in maryland. That line for those who are unemployed. Good morning. Caller good morning. Thanks for taking my call. I wanted to say that i have been working all my life and midmarch i was unemployed. Actually furloughed, and i was furloughed midmarch and we did have Health Insurance until august 31. However, exploring Health Insurance, it is so costly that unemployed folks cannot afford Health Insurance. And for the government to say 600 is making us want to stay home, you know, that doesnt do anything for us. It helps, yes, and i am appreciative of it, however it doesnt pay the bills. Tolth insurance is close 800. I just wanted to say, first of trump, get the pandemic under control and then the economy will come back. That is what i have to say. Q for taking my call. Thank you for taking my call. Host this is lewis in South Carolina. Recently returned to work, doing what . Caller broadcasting. Good morning to the country. Manage the number one urban Internet Radio station in charleston. Been impactedhas by these current policies and actions. And that is basically my comment. I want folks to note this is why the spread is impacting the bottom line in our broadcasting industry. Thing i would like to pointou discuss at some is, from now until election, what is going on with the post office think . Thing . We need to be supervigilant about the post office and currently the attacks. It is making it really scary to think that our vote, my vote, your vote could be manipulated because of some of the things that are being instituted right now. When i listen and watch cspan just about every morning as a hear thed here comments from around the nation, we have got to realize that we cannot continue to exist like this. Whatever it is that is important right now, nothing is more important than those things and the fact that my vote is potentially in jeopardy host host . How canfore you go, people find your broadcast . Caller thank you. That is lewis out of charleston, South Carolina. On the issue of the post office. The headline, traumatize aid to male voting. President trump said his efforts to block new funding for the Postal Service is if successful would hamper efforts to expand mailin ballot in this fall, sparking charges that mr. Trump was trying to undercut voters. The president , who says he believes mailin voting benefits democrats. Here is some of the president s comments. Yesterday specifically about the post office. [video clip] it would need a lot more money if they are going to be taking in tens of millions of pallets that come out of the sky from nowhere. They need financial help. It is a part of the bill that the democrats dont want to make because they want 1 trillion to go to states that are run by governors who happen to be democrats, have not done a good job for many, years. Those are states that a lot of money and need a lot of money. Theyre talking about 1 trillion. The post office in 3. 5 billion for the votes themselves, which sounds like a lot of money. 3. 5 billion to have mailin ballots. Universalent a good, very bad. Mailin negotiations are ongoing about whether to get more money to the Postal Service. Why not put more resources and money herself, find a way to do . Hat to make sure if they make a deal, the Postal Service is taking care of. The money they need for mailin ballots would be taking care of if we agree to it. That doesnt mean we are going to agree to it. All they have to do is make a deal. More important to them is not that. That is a lot of money but it is smalltime compared to the other. What they want to do, and very strongly what they want to do is bail out cities run by democrats and have been for many years. These cities and states have been have done very badly. We are open to something, but we are not open to the kind of money they need. Host that was the president yesterday from the white house. For we leave the issue of hollande voting, this tweet from abby philip yesterday evening. President trump and the first lady have both requested their absentee hollande ballots. They were sent in the mail to the first family yesterday for the Palm Beach County elections website. President trump railed against mailin voting, including today and that press conference you just saw. Leonard is next out of lake city, florida. On that line for those who are unemployed. What did you do . Caller thank you for having me. I have been with my job or teen years and they put me back on the schedule for three hours per week. It is harder and harder. And march i filed for unemployment and i recently got it. What am i supposed to do in the next situation . I filed for my weeks yesterday, i got 280 today. Now they cut off the 600 a week. What do we do now . My sister is waiting for back pay. It is just harder. I dont know what to do at this point. Host what do you do for three hours a week . Caller i work for subway. Host you can work for three hours a week and that is what they will give you . Caller yes. Host have they promised more hours to come . Caller they said they could do what they could do, but they cant hire on their falstaff. They cannot give you more than three hours a week. It is harder. At this point, the unemployment is the only thing i have to lean on. Host were you doing 40 hours a week before this . Caller close to it. Host good luck. Appreciate the call. Out of georgia. Also on that line for those who are unemployed. Go ahead. Frustratedm very with this administration. In the Hospitality Industry for 25 years. I have never not work. The misnomer that those who are unemployed dont want to go back to work is really ridiculous. I have been working forever and for this administration to put this out there and make people have this image of us that we are not wanting to do the right thing and get back to where to work. And just really be a part of society is very frustrating. Evenpreciate the 600, though it is no longer available to us and we are down to 300. It is very frustrating because there are no Job Opportunities out there. Before the pandemic out was doing very well in my job. I was moving out, upper mobility was available in my company. Now my Hotel Industry that i love so much is completely decimated. Nobody is really talking about that. The hotels are crying for help and there is nothing coming. The companies i worked for that are trying Everything Possible to try to keep people as much as possible. But the funds are not there. People are afraid to travel. People are afraid to come to hotels internationally because the United States is viewed as, we are not doing what we are supposed to do. Place, we staying in are taking it as a joke, youre not caring for the elderly. And doing the right thing by wearing our masks. We are out here partying, having fun, and people that are in the Hospitality Industry, we are more and more finding and harder to even go back to the industry we worked for because the longer we are out, the more the hotels are closing, the more the restaurants are closing, and they are not coming back. Host what has your company said to you about your job . Have they said they will hire you back if they can . Caller they are restructuring. They dont know what they are going to do. They dont know because they didnt anticipate that this was going to happen. They were doing very well before the pandemic and now the hotel is completely decimated. That is the sad part about it. Host thanks for the call. ,e you just a little bit ago white house Economic Advisor larry kudlow, his thoughts on where negotiations are between Congressional Democrats and the white house when it comes to the next Coronavirus Relief bill. This is because nancy pelosi is today from capitol hill on the same topic. It is really important. We have sent to them, we are ready to compromise. We know of first offer is not something that would accept. But as a practical matter, where can we find Common Ground . Leader schumer and i said we will come down 1 trillion if you go up 1 trillion. We will meet you halfway. Howo that we can negotiate those resources are spent. But we do not subscribe to saying to the American People, the virus is intensifying and for you we have a benefit cut. Lets see how we can Work Together to get this done. They called yesterday, the secretary, and said, you like to sit down . We said what we have set all along, if you come down 1 trillion, we will go up 1 trillion. But we are not sitting down at the table to validate what you have proposed, because it does not meet the needs of the American People. And we will not contribute to benefit toa partial the public at the expense of Everything Else we want to do and to the benefit of the highend, which you are there to serve. Host Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday from capitol hill. A few minutes left. Asking you how coronavirus has impacted your job, specifically talking to those who are unemployed or who have returned to work, or who have seen their hours cut. Here is the text we received from sue in new jersey. I was furloughed back on april 1 after working in a Church Office for 15. 5 years. With the help of congressman chris smith i received Unemployment Benefits through the cares act. It was a godsend, since our youngest sun was working at a chef which was forced to close. His claim was originally denied and was just resolved april 6, so his we were his financial lifeline. He thankfully went back to work june 24 and i also returned to my job with reduced hours. I hope there isnt another shutdown in the fall. Sue, her text that came in. Is the number for our text service. Or you can call in, like laverne did out of virginia on that line for those who are unemployed. Good morning. Caller thank you for taking my call. About them upset senate being in recess. I shouldnt they shouldnt even be in the recess. They should still be there debating this on the floor. I want Mitch Mcconnell to bring this bill to the floor that Congress Already past. There is no reason for all of this. People are dying every day. This is a responsible of the president and the congress and the republicans to do this to the people of the United States. Host do you think the house should be in as well . Do you think Speaker Pelosi should have her members talking about this . Caller the senate and the house. They all need to be. We are paying them to protect and serve us. Everyone should be there. If theyve got issues with the bill, this is what democracy is all about. A debate. They are not doing it. It is he responsible for Mitch Mcconnell to not bring the bill to the floor to even debate it to see so that the American People can see exactly what they are talking about. These debates are in private. Nancy only know what pelosi and Chuck Schumer are saying. We are not hearing anything for Mitch Mcconnell let all. That is a responsible. Host a lot of these conversations happening between the white house and democrats, which mcconnell necessarily the lead of those negotiations. We have heard from President Trump about this and his key people. Steven mnuchin, treasury secretary, mark meadows, his chief of staff. Do you think they are not speaking enough about it . Not pushingthey are for the people. They are supposed to be there protecting and serving the people. They are not there to protect and serve themselves. This is the United States of america. Where we are all united. And mark meadows and steven mnuchin, nancy pelosi, mitch and Chuck Schumer, and the president should be sitting at a table and coming to some resolution because people are dying. Jobs are being lost. And these jobs is not going to come back as easy as everybody think they are. People are losing they flickered. Food is going up, all of the products are going up, but there is no money. How are you going to build the economy if the people dont have any money to spend back into the economy . Host this is robert out of tampa, florida. Recently returned to work. Doing what, robert . Caller i deliver medical equipment to hospitals. Just now getting back to fulltime status. Host how long were you out . Caller approximately four months. Host how did you get by . Did you file for unemployment . Caller no i didnt. I put money aside for issues that come up in life. That is what i did. Callingthe reason i was is that everybody is talking about this stimulus package. To beimulus package needs delivered, however if you go back in history, since 9 11 happened in 2001 when the towers were hit, the same states were running high deficits. California, new york, illinois, acid juices. As you look at the states, their deficits were out of control. After 9 11 happened, they all went and wanted a stimulus package to bail them out, not only for the disaster, which everyone needed help, but they had a huge deficit. The same states are doing the same thing today. They want to be bailed out. Of stick to the policies of unemployment, stick to the policies of masks and stuff like that. Dont add this billions of dollars to the american taxpayers who got to bail other states out because they are irresponsible with living within their own means. Washington in forgive me, i dont know the state. What state is it . Caller washington courthouse, ohio. I quit my job prior to either thing, but this stimulus package everybody is getting, do they 2009, 2010,008, people had unemployment for two years or three years and they did not get packages but extensions. , theeople getting it office is overwhelmed with the claims, but they not checking everything out. There are people in this town who babysit it and they are growing it. Just give them extensions and live off your regular unemployment and dont give them the big money. They are blowing the money. They do not save for a rainy day. They think it is free money, not knowing that taxpayers have to pay this back. Caller out ofa illinois. Go ahead. Caller thank you for taking my call. This is the first time i have been able to get through. On the issue of the president taking it to congress, people should watch cspan more, if not your Actual Television channel, then online. Mitch mcconnell and the president had taken us to theress several times, but comment politically is democrats and republicans. Andcomment on the stimulus on unemployment thing, we do pay taxes, and they are used for a number of programs. We pay taxes so that when america needs, the taxes paper what we need, and the extension of the unemployment is needed currently because of the damage from the virus and the economy itself. Peoplevirus, again, should pay more attention to cspan on television or online. You do really good coverage and a really good job. I am glad to have found you for the last two years and watch you because covid is affecting pretty much everywhere. Some states are higher, but congress in that area is trying to make all available to the states and people who need it. Is our last caller of washington journal. We will be back tomorrow morning at 7 00 a. M. Eastern and 4 00
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