| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
unidentified
|
For next year. | |
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| Coming up this morning on Washington Journal, we'll take your calls and comments live. | ||
| And then Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty McCary on the actions the agency has taken during his first 100 days in office and his goals during his tenure. | ||
| And Politico White House reporter Iri Settner previews the week ahead at the White House and news of the day. | ||
| Also, Forward Party CEO Lindsey Draft discusses efforts to expand the U.S.'s two-party political system. | ||
| C-SPAN's Washington Journal is next. | ||
| Join the conversation. | ||
| This is Washington Journal for Monday, July 21st. | ||
| According to new polling, while most consider President Trump somewhat effective at getting things done, people are more likely to say his policies have done more to hurt them than to help them since his second term began. | ||
| To start today's program, we're asking you, have President Trump's policies helped or hurt you? | ||
| Here are the lines. | ||
| If you say helped, 202-748-8000. | ||
| If you say hurt, 202-748-8001. | ||
| And if you're unsure, 202-748-8002. | ||
| You can text your comments to 202-748-8002. | ||
| Be sure to include your name and city. | ||
| You can also post a question or comment on Facebook at facebook.com/slash C-SPAN or on X at C-SPANWJ. | ||
| Good morning, and thank you for being with us on this Monday morning. | ||
| We'll get to your calls and comments. | ||
| Just a few moments, but want to give you more information on that new polling. | ||
| This from the Associated Press. | ||
| It says only about one quarter of U.S. adults say that President Donald Trump's policies have helped them since he took office. | ||
| According to new polling, that finds underwhelming marks for him on key issues, including the economy, immigration, government spending, and health care. | ||
| It says, in fact, the Republican president fails to earn majority approval on any of the issues included in the poll from the Associated Press Nork Center for Public Affairs Research. | ||
| He even slipped slightly since earlier this year on immigration, which has consistently been a strength for him in his second term. | ||
| It says, and while a majority of Americans do see Trump as at least somewhat capable of getting things done following the passage of his sprawling budget bill, fewer believe he understands the problems facing people like them. | ||
| It goes on to say that roughly half of U.S. adults report that Trump policies have done more to hurt them since his second term began six months ago. | ||
| The survey found says about one in two, one or say two in 10 say his policies have, quote, not made a difference in their life, with about one quarter saying his policies have done more to help them. | ||
| That polling is from the Associated Press Nork Center for Public Research. | ||
| It was based on interviews with 1,437 U.S. adults and was conducted July 10th through the 14th. | ||
| The margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points for the full sample. | ||
| Yesterday, President Trump mentioned his six months in office in a Truth Social post. | ||
| He says, Wow, time flies. | ||
| Today is a sixth-month anniversary of my second term. | ||
| Importantly, it's been hailed as one of the most consequential periods of any president. | ||
| In other words, we've got a lot of good and great things done, including ending numerous wars of countries not related to us other than through trade and/or in certain cases, friendship. | ||
| Six months is not a long time to have totally revived a major country. | ||
| One year ago, our country was dead with almost no hope of revival. | ||
| Today, the USA is the hottest and most respected country anywhere in the world. | ||
| Happy anniversary. | ||
| The Nork or the Associated Press article mentioned President Trump's and his spending bill. | ||
| It was last week at an event in Pennsylvania that President Trump touted the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. | ||
| Here are his remarks. | ||
| I also want to recognize your great congressman. | ||
| These are frenzies of warriors. | ||
| They just passed the great, big, beautiful. | ||
| See, I had the word great. | ||
| I like to say because there really was really supposed to be great, big, beautiful. | ||
| They call it the big, beautiful. | ||
| But I had great. | ||
| They took their word great out. | ||
| I was on a show called Deface the Nation or something like that, ladies and gentlemen, Deface the Nation. | ||
| And I said, I want a great, big, beautiful bill. | ||
| And they named it that. | ||
| And it really is. | ||
| It was supposed to be seven bills. | ||
| Could have been two or three, but it was supposed to be originally seven. | ||
| I said, let's put them all together. | ||
| And if you put them all together, there's going to be something for everybody. | ||
| And that's what happened. | ||
| And we got it passed. | ||
| And Republicans said we didn't get one Democrat vote. | ||
| Think of it. | ||
| The biggest tax cut in history, and we didn't get a Democrat vote, and so many other things. | ||
| No tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime, but the biggest tax cut in the history of our country. | ||
| You got that. | ||
| Also, the biggest deduction. | ||
| You know, you have a 10-year period. | ||
| Last time we had a one-year period, now you have a 10-year period. | ||
| And that's what made the first one. | ||
| We had the most successful economy in the history of our country during my first term. | ||
| And we had the passed a bill, but that bill, honestly, as good as it was, was nothing compared to this one. | ||
| And the biggest thing and the biggest reason for the success was the deduction. | ||
| And you're allowed to do it. | ||
| And this time we're including structure so you're able to deduct those big structures that you're building. | ||
| So nobody thought that was even possible. | ||
| For the first hour of today's program, we're asking you: have President Trump's policies helped or hurt you? | ||
| Again, the lines, if you say helped, 202-748-8000. | ||
| If you say hurt, it's 202-748-8001. | ||
| And if you're unsure, it's 202-748-8002. | ||
| More from the Associated Press. | ||
| It says the mixed reviews on Trump's policies come as he struggles to follow through on key campaign promises, including lowering costs for working-class Americans, preserving popular social welfare programs like Medicaid, and ending foreign wars and lowering government spending. | ||
| It says inflation rose last month to its highest level since February, as Trump's sweeping tariffs push up the cost of everything from groceries and clothes to furniture and appliances. | ||
| Separately, Trump's budget bill includes Medicaid cuts that will lead to 11.8 million Americans becoming uninsured and add $3.3 trillion to the national debt, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. | ||
| It was last week at a press conference that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke about President Trump's policies and track record. | ||
| Here is that clip. | ||
| And Donald Trump and House Republicans are driving the economy off of a cliff. | ||
| Donald Trump and House Republicans have done nothing, nothing, not a single thing to make life more affordable for hardworking American taxpayers. | ||
| The One Big Ugly Law will do nothing to meaningfully address the cost of living crisis that we have in this country. | ||
| In fact, the One Big Ugly Law will make life more expensive for everyday Americans, particularly as it relates to utility bills in this country. | ||
| Utility bills are going to go up as a result of the actions that have been taken by Donald Trump and Republicans. | ||
| More than 17 million people are going to lose their health care as a result of the action taken by Donald Trump and Republicans. | ||
| Children, veterans, and seniors who are hungry are going to lose their nutritional assistance as it relates to the actions taken by Donald Trump and House Republicans connected to the One Big Ugly law. | ||
| And all of this has been done to reward billionaires with massive tax breaks and at the same time skyrocket and explode the debt by more than $3 trillion. | ||
| It's unconscionable what Donald Trump and House Republicans have done to hurt the American people. | ||
| The job of those of us who are in public service should be at all times to make life better for everyday Americans, to improve the quality of life for the American people, to ensure, as Democrats are focused on, that when you work hard and play by the rules in the United States of America, you should be able to afford to live the good life. | ||
| Good paying job, good housing, good health care, good education for your children, and a good retirement. | ||
| That's the American dream. | ||
| And far too many people are unable to achieve it, even though they're working hard. | ||
| For this first hour of Washington Journal, we are asking you: have President Trump's policies helped or hurt you? | ||
| The lines, again, are: if you say that they've helped, it's 202-748-8000. | ||
| Hurt, 202-748-8001. | ||
| And if you're unsure, 202-748-8002. | ||
| We will start with Eddie in Atlanta, who says, Hurt. | ||
| Good morning, Eddie. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| It's hard to say. | ||
| It's hard to say. | ||
| It didn't help. | ||
| It's not helping. | ||
| It ain't helping us none. | ||
| But no, it didn't hurt me because I know the first term, his first term in office, I put it in my mind to save, buy what I need, not what I want, Cut back on a lot of stuff because I knew this monkey we got in the office that he wasn't, he ain't doing nothing for American people, but hurting American people. | ||
| So that's why you got to stay focused on your own household. | ||
| Do what you got to do to keep, you know, keep top what you're doing in your life. | ||
| Because Donald Trump, we already know he all by himself. | ||
| He ain't for nobody. | ||
| But the billionaires and millionaires, they dancing, they dancing to the bank, they dancing the bank. | ||
| But no, I ain't seen nothing in my went to my savings account. | ||
| I'm on Social Security. | ||
| They didn't give me no raises. | ||
| That's why I wish that the Democrat would have stayed in power because they did more for me. | ||
| Biden did more for me in his term than Trump did for anybody in his two terms he got. | ||
| That was Eddie in Atlanta. | ||
| Carol in Massachusetts says, helped. | ||
| Good morning, Carol. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Thanks for taking my call. | ||
| I just want to say that yes, President Trump has helped me, and I'll tell you how. | ||
| He is having these illegal immigrants in the country sent back to their home countries. | ||
| That is going to help my taxes, and that's going to help everybody's taxes. | ||
| And frankly, may I just say, I have seen enough of your showing Hank and Jeffries and what he has to say. | ||
| We hear it on the news, we hear it from you, we read it in the paper. | ||
| Enough is enough. | ||
| Your question, when you ask that question, I don't expect to hear from Hank and Jeffries. | ||
| He's going to say nothing but negative. | ||
| Just from the people, have they helped or not helped your independents? | ||
| But yes, he's helped, President Trump has helped everybody because of the illegal immigrants here have affected our housing, our health care, our taxes, in many, many ways. | ||
| So I give him plus plus. | ||
| And the other reason I wish the Democrats would remember is they were lied to about Biden's capabilities and mental status for years and years and years. | ||
| So how they can trust anything the Democrats show them now, I don't know. | ||
| So thank you again. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Goodbye. | ||
| That was Carol in Massachusetts. | ||
| And we're also hearing from people on social media. | ||
| Chip on Facebook says, helped. | ||
| Complete opposite of Biden. | ||
| Bob says, it's only been six months. | ||
| Gas is down. | ||
| And I've noticed that our local grocery chains have been having better weekly sales. | ||
| It's too early to really see what the rest of his agenda will do. | ||
| Greg says, hurt, our patients are afraid to bring their children, to bring their children for health care, and international students are unable to enter the country to attend our local university. | ||
| Our town is in serious trouble. | ||
| Next up, tariffs will increase prices by Christmas. | ||
| Buckle up America. | ||
| And this from Yosh says, I have two American citizen, young Hispanic girls, seven and nine. | ||
| The chance they will be profiled because of their skin color is high. | ||
| They now have to carry papers to avoid getting caught up in any immigration action. | ||
| Trump has made my children and myself second-class class of citizens, as my white brethren do not have the same problem because they have white skin. | ||
| And one more, this from Nikki says, I'm still living paycheck to paycheck, but I haven't had to choose between that of what I could afford and absolutely live without on a monthly basis or use a charity for food like I have three previous years. | ||
| Also, I had electric all summer, which is really nice considering my location's heat in the summer. | ||
| For this first hour, we're asking you, have President Trump's policies helped or hurt you? | ||
| The lines there on your screen, if you say helped, it's 202-748-8000. | ||
| If you say hurt, it's 202-748-8001. | ||
| And if you're unsure, it's 202-748-8002. | ||
| Let's hear from Chris in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who says hurt. | ||
| Good morning, Chris. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| How are you? | ||
| Damn well, Chris. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm calling about something that I think people don't really realize has happened. | |
| And that is the fact that the LIHEAP program is gone. | ||
| That's the low-income heating energy assistance program. | ||
| The RFK HHS under the Trump administration, they fired all the remaining workers at the end, excuse me, at the beginning of April, and then one was brought back because there was still a little bit of money left that was budgeted to go out to the states. | ||
| And I believe that with the energy, even though we just had this big energy summit here in Pittsburgh, energy prices are going through the roof. | ||
| The electric companies have raised their rates again June 1st. | ||
| I have never known utilities, especially with the increase of natural gas, also going up to power electricity now with all the data centers that are planned, that we're ever going to see any type of utility go down. | ||
| And that this is a problem that this money is, there's no funding for it left. | ||
| There's no funding currently. | ||
| And this is a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent. | ||
| This isn't everybody's problem. | ||
| And I just, I urge people to call their congressional representatives, no matter which side of the aisle you're on, no matter which side of the aisle they're on, call your senators because LIHEAP is a very important program. | ||
| And it's not just for the people in the North with the cold winters. | ||
| It's also for the people in the South with cooling bills in the summer. | ||
| And I've been very, very distressed about this. | ||
| And I have not heard anyone mention it at all. | ||
| And I just wanted to get this out there to people because they're going to have to try and figure something out now. | ||
| And even if there's a clawback on it, this program was originated by Ronald Reagan administration in 1981. | ||
| It has had bipartisan support for 44 years. | ||
| And now it's basically gone. | ||
| Thank you very much for your time and for letting me get this out there to everybody because I feel it's important for every citizen in the country, especially the working low-income people. | ||
| That was Chris in Pittsburgh. | ||
| Annie in Missouri says hurt. | ||
| Good morning, Annie. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yes. | |
| I just wanted to just say an overall view of how our country and democracy is really going to falter under this president. | ||
| And I can't understand why the people can't see the cruelty. | ||
| I just don't understand the people. | ||
| That's my problem. | ||
| This is just one man. | ||
| But we, the people, should see that he's mean and cruel and don't care for us and how they can get on there and just say he's a wonderful person. | ||
| We don't want the immigrants, the ones who are criminals, but he's not taking those. | ||
| He's taking everybody and anyone. | ||
| Please, and I pray every day, dear God, let us, the people, we want to blame the Democrats. | ||
| It's not the Democrats. | ||
| It's the people that's the problem. | ||
| It's us that's the problem. | ||
| That we can't see that what America is built on for all of us. | ||
| And it's so built here calling on the line for hurt that Trump's policies. | ||
| Is hurting? | ||
| Can you tell me, is there a specific way that you have been impacted? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yes, my utility bills have gone up. | |
| When I go to the store, it has gone up. | ||
| All factors, my health insurance, oh my gosh, my health insurance has gone scoff rocket. | ||
| It's just my whole lifestyle has changed because I have to rechange. | ||
| I say I have to change my whole lifestyle because of Trump's policy. | ||
| That was Annie. | ||
| Let's hear from Mary in Pennsylvania, who says, helped. | ||
| Good morning, Mary. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Good morning. | ||
| I think Trump has helped us. | ||
| I've seen the gas prices go down. | ||
| I'm slowly seeing some food prices go down. | ||
| I have to agree with people on the health care. | ||
| It's gone a little bit berserk, but I think in the long run, we have to fix the playing fields first with Trump and level things out, and then things should get better. | ||
| I believe when he was president before, things got better. | ||
| I don't know what to believe about the Democrats and this and that. | ||
| You know, I just trust what God has given us. | ||
| And I just can pray for who God has put in the place. | ||
| I don't look at what he's done or how he's been racially whatever that people say and how bad he is. | ||
| I don't think that. | ||
| I still think people should stand up more for their rights, too, but I think it's too early to really tell. | ||
| I think that things are coming down for the better. | ||
| That was Mary in Pennsylvania. | ||
| Ben in Mississippi says hurt. | ||
| Good morning, Ben. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| How are you this morning? | ||
| Doing well, Ben. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm here in Cleveland, Ohio now, and I travel by vehicle. | |
| Every gas station I stopped at from Cincinnati all the way up to Cleveland, gas went up and up and up. | ||
| Food went up and up and up. | ||
| Food mark, I went to food mark here in Cleveland. | ||
| I paid $23 for a plate of food. | ||
| $23. | ||
| Yes, ma'am. | ||
| And don't tell me that it's health. | ||
| It's not heaven. | ||
| And I want these people here in Ohio to hear me. | ||
| I hope somebody called from Ohio. | ||
| It is terrible here. | ||
| That's what I wanted to say. | ||
| Thank you, Tammy. | ||
| That was Ben in Mississippi and Ben, several other callers this morning mentioning the cost of groceries, gas, other goods. | ||
| And it was yesterday that Howard Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick spoke about the new potential new tariffs and the impact it could have on the economy. | ||
| Here is that clip. | ||
| There's already this baseline 10% tariff that we are seeing from the administration. | ||
| Is that set in stone or is it going to go to like 15 or 20 percent? | ||
| Well, I think what you've got is you should assume that the small countries, you know, the Latin American countries, the Caribbean countries, many countries in Africa, they will have a baseline tariff of 10%. | ||
| And then the bigger economies will either open themselves up or they'll pay a fair tariff to America for not opening themselves up and treating America unfairly. | ||
| So, what the president's view is, and what she's instructed me to do, is say, look, if you're willing to open yourself up and really open your economy to American business, to ranchers, fishermen, farmers, and businesses, then of course we'll make a better deal with you. | ||
| But if you're going to keep your tariffs and your tariff barriers holding us down, then of course it seems fair that you should pay a tariff to do business with the greatest customer on earth, the American consumer. | ||
| We're asking you: have President Trump's policies helped or hurt you? | ||
| The lines on your screen, if you say helped, it's 202-748-8000. | ||
| If you say hurt, it's 202-748-8001. | ||
| And if you're unsure, it's 202-748-8002. | ||
| We're also hearing from you on social media. | ||
| You can shoot us a text. | ||
| This coming in on Facebook from Virginia says grocery prices and gas prices are too high. | ||
| Food prices are twice as high as last year. | ||
| Gas is still $3.39 here. | ||
| If you're on a fixed income or retired, it hurts. | ||
| Justine says, neither, no difference between Biden and Trump that I can see to date. | ||
| Jackie says, my own personal life, I can say I have not seen much change. | ||
| Maybe lower gas prices, way more safe for our country. | ||
| Things are about the same, things about the same. | ||
| But my thought is it's only been six months. | ||
| Give the man some time. | ||
| And this from Sean says, they have helped us again. | ||
| Glad those tax cuts are now permanent. | ||
| Get rid of government waste will help Americans. | ||
| What would help us all is if there are some arrests of the people who tried so hard to destroy our country and take our elected out our elected President Trump. | ||
| They will continue to be a threat to the success of our country if they are not stopped. | ||
| Let's hear from Brian in Maryland on the line for HERT. | ||
| Good morning, Brian. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hi, I just wanted to say that I'm from a family that is like considered a high-income family, but it feels like we're paycheck to paycheck. | |
| I know we are fortunate, but we are not able to save as much as we were able to. | ||
| And our cost of living has gone up with like fuel prices, electric prices, and grocery prices. | ||
| And then we also have to deal with like the stress of our job insecurity and then worrying that if we do lose our jobs, that we won't be able to find one because the job market is just really flooded right now. | ||
| Brian, do you work for the federal government? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm a contractor. | |
| You're a contractor. | ||
| Do you want to say what agency department? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'd rather not. | |
| Okay. | ||
| And when you are talking about, you said gas prices, did you say your utility bills as well? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, our utility bill has like skyrootic, skyrocketing. | |
| So how much more would you say it is per month? | ||
|
unidentified
|
We used to pay about $300 and our last bill was $500. | |
| Are you doing anything to bridge that gap? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Just saving more, I guess. | |
| I mean, like, no, we haven't gotten additional income or anything. | ||
| That was Brian in Maryland. | ||
| Joanne in Tennessee says, helped. | ||
| Good morning, Joanne. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| I'm being helped tremendously because of the booming stock market. | ||
| I cannot say that I'm sorry economically. | ||
| It is a fantastic economical boom for me, but at the same time, I feel really sorry for all the people that are being hurt by this president. | ||
| Over. | ||
| And John, how do you feel that you're being helped specifically? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm much richer than I was in the beginning of this year because my portfolio is higher and higher and higher. | |
| It is absolutely wonderful economically. | ||
| But I feel sorry and almost guilty for the fact that so many people are being hurt by this president while I'm being helped. | ||
| What the hell is going on? | ||
| That was Jonna in Tennessee. | ||
| Mark in North Carolina says hurt. | ||
| Good morning, Mark. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Morning. | |
| Yeah, it's hurt me as far as my grocery bills have gone up significantly. | ||
| I do a weekly analysis of my spending and everything else. | ||
| And my food has gone up a good 20%. | ||
| And I don't change much in what I'm purchasing. | ||
| In addition to that, I calculated that I retired several years ago from the health care industry, but I have to, my wife raised our children and everything else. | ||
| So she never did. | ||
| She worked before we started having children, but then she quit once we started having children. | ||
| Then she started watching my grandchildren. | ||
| So then we agreed that that was a better use of her time. | ||
| So I'm a few years older than her, so because I have to purchase her health care through the Affordable Care Act, I've calculated from different sources that my cost per year is going to go up 75%, which currently we're spending $505 per month for her health care insurance on the Affordable Care Act. | ||
| And so that's going to significantly impact my spending next year. | ||
| In addition to that, many of my family members, some of which have worked for the federal government, some of which are just now getting out of college and looking for jobs. | ||
| And when they entered their, one of them entered their master's program, the job, basically he was told that he was going to be able to name his price when he graduated. | ||
| Right now, he's been looking for a job for over six months and still has been unable to find a job. | ||
| And two of my family members, one of which worked in the emergency services, lost his job and now is currently looking for a job in health care, but he has already been told that he will likely lose a good 50% of his original earnings. | ||
| And then I have another family member who worked at Camp Lejeune, and he is now looking for a job because of the Doge cuts. | ||
| So my family has significantly been hurt by this particular administration's actions. | ||
| I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. | ||
| Yeah, I've seen, as far as my 401k and my investments, they've been up and down. | ||
|
unidentified
|
They haven't gained significantly. | |
| Prior to this year, I've gained a good 10 to 20% over the course of the year. | ||
| This year, we're flat. | ||
| I mean, it goes up one day, it goes down the next day, but from January till now, my earnings are flat. | ||
| SP 500 and my investments in the stock market are flat. | ||
| So to me, that hurts. | ||
| I mean, I don't see a great improvement in that particular department. | ||
| So that's my take on what's going on in my particular situation. | ||
| Mark, you talked about several family members who you also say would fall under the hurt category. | ||
| Anyone you know that would feel like they have been helped? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I know nobody that's been helped. | |
| As a matter of fact, in addition to that, what I have seen is a lot of the people in our area, we know that a lot of people that work in the construction industry and in different jobs are being hurt significantly by these actions regarding the immigrants in this country. | ||
| I can tell you, I have another family member, which I didn't mention originally, that has a huge presence in the construction industry. | ||
| And they've told me that they are losing people by the day. | ||
| They cannot get people to show up construction sites. | ||
| And these people are eventually going to hurt because they have certain bars that they're supposed to meet, certain goals that they're supposed to meet. | ||
| They can't get people to show up for work. | ||
| I've been told by this particular person, who I will not mention, has lost 80% of his workforce. | ||
| Now, how can you get a promised construction job completed? | ||
| How is that not going to hurt the contractors? | ||
| I mean, I do not know anybody that has been helped by this administration. | ||
| That was Mark in North Carolina. | ||
| And Mark also talking about the cost of health care. | ||
| This in today's USA Today, the headline, ACA insures to expect rates to expect to up rates. | ||
| It says insurers plan a median premium increase of 15% for 2026 plans, which would be the largest ACA insurance price hike since 2018, according to a Peterson KFF Health System Tracker Analysis published on July 18th. | ||
| It says, and many working-age consumers who get their health insurance through the workplace won't be spared either. | ||
| Benefits consultant Mercer said more than half of big employers expect to shift a larger share of insurance costs to employees and their families next year by raising deductibles, co-pays, or out-of-pocket requirements. | ||
| KFF says the said the ACA insurers cite factors such as medical costs, medical cost inflation, the expiration of tax credits instituted during former President Joe Biden's administration that made plans cheaper, | ||
| and tariffs on prescription drugs and medical device imports say still unknown is how President Donald Trump's and Congressional Republicans' tax cuts and spending law might impact next year's ACA health insurance rates, experts say. | ||
| Little under 30 minutes left in this first hour asking, have President Trump's policies helped or hurt you? | ||
| We'll hear from Bob in Florida who says helped. | ||
| Good morning, Bob. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Boy, I see his help. | ||
| First and foremost, he's solved the inflation problem. | ||
| I don't know how he managed to negotiate to get oil prices down, bring pressure on OPEC or whatever, but inflation has been consistently down over the past six months, and that helps every American. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Second is this tax cut extension that was just passed. | |
| Well, that's a brilliant thing. | ||
| You know, the economy we had in 2018, 2019, and early 2020 before it was ended by COVID was the best economy of our lifetimes. | ||
| He's continuing and even expanding those policies a little bit. | ||
| That's going to help every American. | ||
| You know, some of those extensions, I know some people who have been, I know a government worker, for example, who is now, you know, looking for a new job. | ||
| But ultimately, that's going to be a wonderful thing because we've got 30 or 40 or 50,000 government employees who, by definition, produce nothing. | ||
| Some of them will go into productive labor and will have things and services that we really need. | ||
| I think it's a great thing. | ||
| And that's also been a downward pressure on inflation because they were still getting paid as government workers, but not producing anything. | ||
| And so, so they add to demand. | ||
| Now, at least some of the large number of them will have private industry jobs where they'll actually produce something. | ||
| That's another way, a deflationary force, too. | ||
| The third thing, or the other thing I'd say, is this guy really has proven to be just a real peacemaker. | ||
| I don't know how else to say it. | ||
| It's, you know, peace through strength. | ||
| It's not like there aren't some very minor warlike actions, but I mean, at least to try and get some sort of peace in the Gaza affair, I mean, my whole lifetime, that's been a problem area. | ||
| And at least there's some kind of ceasefire there. | ||
| I'm not saying it's completely solved. | ||
| Likewise, in Ukraine and Russia, he's put real effort into that. | ||
| I think he's really got NATO on the woken them up and helped with the Europeans. | ||
| And then the little areas, there was one in Africa the other day that I think he's moderated. | ||
| He's a real man of peace. | ||
| I think the thing with this guy is he actually does stuff that's good for the whole country, the country as a whole, rather than particular groups that he favors or not. | ||
| And I just see across the board benefits, and it's only been six months. | ||
| This guy has more energy. | ||
| I'm a much younger man. | ||
| He has much more energy than I do. | ||
| I'll tell you that. | ||
| Anyway, they're my thoughts. | ||
| And I just thought I'd anyway. | ||
| That was Bob in Florida. | ||
| Frank in Maryland is on the line for Unsure. | ||
| Good morning, Frank. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| I'm happy to hear so much enthusiasm for what's currently happening. | ||
| But in my case, I don't know whether it's going to be good for me personally or not. | ||
| I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. | ||
| A lot of these things that, especially the previous caller, was praising, seem to be expiring in two years or have been timed to manipulate us into thinking in a certain way. | ||
| I credit the president with the best of intentions by his lights. | ||
| The question is, are his lights correct? | ||
| That's all pretty much I have to say personally, because I'm still waiting to see what happens next. | ||
| Thank you so much for being willing to hear me out. | ||
| And I hope and pray that all of us do better. | ||
| That was Frank in Maryland. | ||
| Serana in Florida says, Hurt. | ||
| Good morning, Serana. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Go ahead, Your Honor. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Okay. | |
| The first thing I want to talk about is the fact that many of us, red states, okay, during the summer, light bills can run into the hundreds. | ||
| During the winter, light bill, can run into the hundreds. | ||
| And many people, they cannot pay their bill. | ||
| They just cannot afford it. | ||
| And the agency that existed to help them to meet the payments so that they're not frozen during the winter and bag of heat during the summer, that agency is no more. | ||
| And we say things are great. | ||
| Immigrants, without food, there is no life. | ||
| The immigrants that are on their knees reaping our food for our belly, they're being dragged out of the country mercilessly. | ||
| Their children scattered. | ||
| They're going into schools, pulling them out. | ||
| These people literally feed us. | ||
| They harvest. | ||
| They work the way that we could not or would not. | ||
| And we are okay with this. | ||
| And we are just great. | ||
| Taxes for the wealthiest tax break. | ||
| While ours, in two years, it expires. | ||
| But all is great. | ||
| I don't get this, people. | ||
| I do not get this. | ||
| Have a good day, everyone. | ||
| That was Serana in Florida and Serana mentioning immigration. | ||
| That is one of the areas that the Associated Press looked at in terms of President Donald Trump's approval. | ||
| And you can see here that 43% approve of the job he's done with immigration. | ||
| 55% disapprove. | ||
| It was yesterday on ABC This Week that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass spoke about President Trump and his immigration policies. | ||
| Here's a clip from that interview. | ||
|
unidentified
|
When you look at the raids and the deportations, just tell me who you think should be deported. | |
| Is it just people who've been convicted of crimes? | ||
| You have, what, almost a million undocumented workers in Los Angeles. | ||
| What should happen to those workers? | ||
| So let me just say that because we are a city of immigrants, we have entire sectors of our economy that are dependent on immigrant labor. | ||
| We have to get the fire areas rebuilt. | ||
| We're not going to get our city rebuilt without immigrant labor. | ||
| And it's not just the deportation. | ||
| It's the fear that sets in when raids occur, when people are snatched off the street. | ||
| And I know you are aware that even people who are here legally, even people who are U.S. citizens have been detained. | ||
| Immigrants who had their papers and were showing up for their annual immigration appointment were detained when they showed up doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing. | ||
|
unidentified
|
So they should not be deported. | |
| I don't think they should stay. | ||
| Well, this is what. | ||
|
unidentified
|
A million undocumented people. | |
| No, let me just tell you. | ||
| What I think we need is comprehensive immigration reform. | ||
| I served in Congress for 12 years. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And didn't get it. | |
| Well, and didn't get it. | ||
| And why didn't we get it? | ||
| I mean, after I left, there was an immigration reform bill that had bipartisan support. | ||
| This was during the campaign. | ||
| The president decided he didn't want to have it happen because he didn't want immigration reform to happen where he didn't take credit for it. | ||
|
unidentified
|
But back to that question of undocumented workers. | |
| I'm thinking back, and a border control agent once said to me as we saw migrants during a very bad time for so many migrants coming across when Joe Biden was president, and you know that. | ||
| Just massive numbers. | ||
| And I said, Do you feel bad for these people? | ||
| And the border agent said, You know what? | ||
| I do, but I also know they're cutting in line in front of those people who want to do it legally in the right way. | ||
| Let me just tell you that the people that make that trek, many of whom walk from Central America and even South America up to our border, risk their lives. | ||
| I don't believe that all of these people are sitting at home dreaming of coming to Los Angeles. | ||
| They're coming here out of desperation. | ||
| Just about 15 minutes left in this first hour asking: Have President Donald Trump's policies helped or hurt you? | ||
| We're taking your calls, also getting reaction on social media and via text. | ||
| This coming in on X from A. Downinger Sr. says, I'm split on Trump's first six months. | ||
| Prices are still much too high in every sector: utilities, taxes, food, insurance, and inflation. | ||
| Let me also say that the Communist Party is responsible for tax and spend regulation and making America unaffordable. | ||
| They have no answers or solutions. | ||
| This coming in from Patty says, Patty in Ohio says, It's too soon to tell, but I do see lower gas prices in my area. | ||
| We paid $2.78 a gallon yesterday. | ||
| Some grocery stores items have come down, but meats have gone up. | ||
| Medical, no change. | ||
| I hear people say, quote, whites have it better, but I don't see white people only signs. | ||
| And this from BC Venice says, groceries got more expensive, up to 50% on some items because of Trump's idiotic tariffs. | ||
| Is it even legal for him to do that? | ||
| Congress alone has the power to levy taxes, and that's exactly what tariffs are. | ||
| And one more, this from KE Wong says, my grocery bill is down $100. | ||
| Gas prices are down. | ||
| It's safer to travel. | ||
| I would say it's obviously helping. | ||
| Back to your calls. | ||
| Let's hear from Ed in Ohio who says helped. | ||
| Good morning, Ed. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| How are you today? | ||
| Doing well, Ed. | ||
| How are you? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm wonderful. | |
| I think from a year ago, my family is doing much better. | ||
| Our savings has gone up. | ||
| We're able to pay our bills. | ||
| I think some of the people need to look at where they're living. | ||
| I don't know if they can move, but my electric bill is $110 a month, and we have our air conditioning on, and our prices are low. | ||
| Our gas prices are in the home. | ||
| I'm on a budget, which is $70 a month. | ||
| And, you know, we have a three-bedroom home. | ||
| I have five children, not three, four-bedroom with five children. | ||
| So I think I'm doing a lot better than I was a year ago. | ||
| So eggs are down. | ||
| Everything that I can see is down. | ||
| Our grocery bill is down. | ||
| So we're very happy with how things are going from a year ago. | ||
| That was Ed in Ohio. | ||
| Sue in Michigan says, hurt. | ||
| Good morning, Sue. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| It's like all the people calling in are a different universe. | ||
| I don't understand how they could say everything is down. | ||
| I'm retired. | ||
| My husband still works, but everything is actually higher. | ||
| Fossil insurance has gone up. | ||
| It's supposed to go up even more, like you were saying earlier. | ||
| And then prices of groceries, I don't see any difference in it where they've gone down. | ||
| They've gone up. | ||
| Gas, $3.09. | ||
| At one time, Trump was saying that gas was $1.95. | ||
| It's never been $1.95. | ||
| So it's like we're in parallel universe. | ||
| I don't know. | ||
| And we live in a northern community. | ||
| We live within our means. | ||
| And I don't see where things are going to get any better, especially I'm on a fixed income. | ||
| So that's my opinion on it. | ||
| Sue, you said that you're in the northern area of Michigan. | ||
| I don't have the city on my screen, but I do have my next caller up is from Applegate, Michigan. | ||
| How close are you to Applegate? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, I'm not familiar with Apple K. I'm an hour from the Mackinac Bridge, okay? | |
| And like I said, when I retired, we moved to a smaller house. | ||
| And like I said, we live well within our means. | ||
| But if you're on a fixed income, you know, you notice when prices go up. | ||
| And I go grocery shopping. | ||
| I could see what goes up and what goes down. | ||
| Okay. | ||
| The other problem is, you know, people are talking about the, you know, people that are not here legally. | ||
| We're having a hard time. | ||
| We always had a hard time getting help. | ||
| My husband's self-employed, and he it's very, very difficult to find anybody that wants to work. | ||
| And I think it's going to be worse in the future because, you know, we can't find help up here. | ||
| So that's another thing that is going to have an effect on us, especially if you're self-employed up here. | ||
| It's going to be very, very difficult. | ||
| That was Sue in Michigan. | ||
| Also in Michigan is Dutch, who says it's helped. | ||
| Good morning, Dutch. | ||
| You probably just heard Sue, your fellow Michiganite. | ||
| What do you see happening there in Michigan? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, Michigan shoots itself in its own foot. | |
| I mean, Trump, I hope, is going to take a look at everything. | ||
| That's one thing we have to look forward to is he does look at everything. | ||
| But just take a look at the commercial fisheries in Michigan. | ||
| There used to be 1,800 of us. | ||
| We're down to five. | ||
| And we're still being put out of business every day. | ||
| The state works at putting us out of business. | ||
| There's 100 million pounds of fish here that goes yearly to the market in the United States. | ||
| Not just Michigan, but New York and Chicago, Detroit are big markets for Great Lakes fish. | ||
| So, you know, we live in a small town here on Lake Euron, and this lake is empty day after day after day. | ||
| It's like these sports fishermen claim that they own the lake, but they never use it. | ||
| They use it one week in the year. | ||
| They have a tournament here. | ||
| And then they use a town north of us one week a year. | ||
| And then they're gone. | ||
| It's not right. | ||
| There's 35 families that were put out of business in 1984. | ||
| Their businesses were taken away from them and giving them to a different race of people. | ||
| Dutch, you're calling on the line. | ||
| You're saying that President Trump's policies have helped you. | ||
| Do you want to explain how they've helped? | ||
|
unidentified
|
They've given me hope that President Trump would take somebody with knowledge and look at what they've done to the Great Lakes commercial fisheries. | |
| I mean, this should be feeding half of America. | ||
| And Dutch, are you? | ||
| Dutch, are you a commercial fisherman yourself? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Though I'm a I'm from the family of one that was put out of business in 1984. | |
| And to sit here and live here on the lake and look at it sit there empty day after day after day and only used that occasion. | ||
| It's a sportsman-run this state. | ||
| It used to be, you know, the federal government put so much money into this waters, and when they get nothing back now. | ||
| And hopefully President Trump will hear about this and put somebody with knowledge on look at what they've done to the fisheries over the years. | ||
| They've taken people's rights away. | ||
| There's no trick that the DNR hasn't pulled to take away a license. | ||
| That was Dutch in Michigan. | ||
| Uriah in Texas says Hurt. | ||
| Good morning, Uriah. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hi, can you hear me? | |
| Yes, I can. | ||
| Go ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Oh, that's great. | |
| And listen, my biggest concern with, and I love this conversation, but I'm wondering what the people that are saying it's a great thing and all of that. | ||
| I always wonder how much money do they make where they don't notice that we can't buy groceries anymore. | ||
| Like I'm on Social Security. | ||
| And this is insane. | ||
| I mean, I buy a few items and it's over $100. | ||
| And I'm just wondering why they, not so much why they think Trump is great or not, because that's kind of written in the politics. | ||
| But I'm wondering why is it they can't hear the rest of the country? | ||
| The people that are saying Trump is helping them. | ||
| I get why they're saying it. | ||
| But so many people are saying it's not. | ||
| Do they think that these people are delusional? | ||
| Do our senators and congressmen think that everyone's delusional? | ||
| You know, I personally think that the people that make the decisions make too much money. | ||
| So they can't see what we're talking about. | ||
| People are suffering. | ||
| And some of the folks like that come onto this line. | ||
| I appreciate what they have to say. | ||
| But what are they talking about? | ||
| What do they think? | ||
| Do they think all the average American makes $38 something a year? | ||
| Retirees make much less. | ||
| I mean, if they're in Social Security, what do they think those people are talking about? | ||
| That's all. | ||
| I'm not blaming Trump. | ||
| You know, it'll be another president in four years. | ||
| I bring congressmen and senators who know, literally see us every day. | ||
| So what is it? | ||
| I mean, and especially to the people that are saying Trump helps or this whole thing helps. | ||
| What about the rest of us? | ||
| That was Uriah in Texas. | ||
| Let's hear from Patrick in Overland Park, Kansas, who says, helped. | ||
| Good morning, Patrick. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| I think the media is the problem here. | ||
| When you have a constant drumbeat of negativity about the Trump administration from the New York Times, Washington Post, the networks, cable news, it's just a steady drumbeat of negativity. | ||
| The stock market is at an all-time high. | ||
| Unemployment is falling. | ||
| Trump is trying to reduce interest rates, tell people to buy a home. | ||
| He's trying to bring manufacturing back. | ||
| You can argue whether the tariffs are effective or not. | ||
| But when you take a poll and you see what's happening in America with all of these good things, people's 401ks are at record highs. | ||
| And yet the polls say Trump's not helping the economy. | ||
| Well, that's the effectiveness of the negativity of the media. | ||
| You have a steady drumbeat of Trump is bad, Trump is bad, Trump is bad. | ||
| Then you take a poll, and people say, Well, I heard Trump is bad. | ||
| I mean, it's silly. | ||
| It's just a tragedy what's happening. | ||
| Patrick, thank you for taking my call. | ||
| Patrick, can I ask you your personal experience so far the past six months? | ||
| You were calling on the line that helped, and you were talking about the stock market. | ||
| Is that something that you've seen improve? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yes, absolutely. | |
| I'm retired, and I have most of my retirement plan and investments. | ||
| And in April, I saw it obviously hurt by the tariff announcement. | ||
| But since then, it's just been almost a straight line up. | ||
| I mean, my 401k and my IRA are, I mean, they're doing great. | ||
| And my kids are doing great because the economy is booming. | ||
| I just don't get it. | ||
| What's all the negativity about? | ||
| That was Patrick in Kansas. | ||
| Carol in Appleton, Wisconsin says hurt. | ||
| Good morning, Carol. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Yes, I was going to say, about 50 years ago, my church built a little church on the edge of town and bought some land with it. | ||
| And we were going to sell that land to Habitat of Humanity so we could make some improvements needed in our church. | ||
| Well, DOES cut habitat to humanity subsidies. | ||
| Of course, you know, there's a lot of donations to habitat to humanity. | ||
| So we can't afford to make the improvements of our church. | ||
| So local contractors can't sell things to build the houses for habitat for humanity. | ||
| So people that could live in those houses won't have those houses. | ||
| So when DOES comes along and cuts just swatch out, they're going to save money. | ||
| The little bit that the government put in was just seed money, but it's enough to cut it out. | ||
| And I could also say in nursing homes around here, we're really struggling to find employment because so many people were immigrants, legal immigrants, but even legal immigrants are afraid to come in. | ||
| It's getting worse and worse. | ||
| Thank you so much. | ||
| That was Carol in Wisconsin. | ||
| Jerry in New Jersey says, helped. | ||
| Good morning, Jerry. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| My IRA has just done nothing but go up under Trump and down under Biden. | ||
| So he's helped that way. | ||
| I'm a nurse who I worked with, another nurse whose daughter was killed by an illegal Mexican, and now she has no children, and he's back in Mexico. | ||
| He fled. | ||
| I know that also he's helped in New Jersey since then because he's gotten 250 violent illegals that have been caught in New Jersey. | ||
| And I think that we're also doing much better. | ||
| Eggs under Biden went up to $8 a dozen. | ||
| And now I just paid $2.08 for a dozen eggs at Aldi's here. | ||
| So my finances have done nothing but gotten better. | ||
| Lower gas, lower food, higher IRA, violent offenders out of New Jersey. | ||
| I know a nurse who lost her child. | ||
| And the $450 billion that Biden spent on illegals over the last four years. | ||
| I mean, we don't have to put that out. | ||
| Thank goodness. | ||
| Thank you, Trump. | ||
| But also, you show the mayor of L.A. the most far-left-leaning who hates Trump, and that's who you show. | ||
| I'm surprised that you would go that far because, let's face it, she doesn't care about the, what, how many thousands of homes that were burned. | ||
| She's worried about the illegals. | ||
| I don't understand that. | ||
| It doesn't make sense. | ||
| And the 300 children that disappeared under Biden, they have found hundreds and hundreds of them, many of them sex trafficked and labor trafficked. | ||
| Trump has done things. | ||
| Now, three years ago, I put on Facebook that I saw that Biden was becoming had dementia. | ||
| As a critical care nurse at 30 years, I saw that, but no one believed it. | ||
| Now, obviously, other people were controlling Biden, and I'm doing much, much, much better, and I feel safer now that at least 250 violent illegals have been caught in New Jersey. | ||
| That was Jerry in New Jersey. | ||
| Our last call for this hour. | ||
| Later on, Washington Journal, Forward Party CEO Lindsay Drath will join us to discuss her organization's efforts to expand the U.S.'s two-party political system. | ||
| But next, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty McCary sits down with us to talk about actions the agency has taken during his first 100 days in office and goals for his tenure. | ||
| We'll be right back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
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