This week, The Brian Lehrer Show wants to hear from listeners across generations call in with their top political concerns ahead of the midterm elections. Today, people in their 50s and 60s call in to share their top issues.
Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now we continue a week of midterm election call-ins for callers of different generations. Today if you're in your 50s or 60s, what issues are most likely to inspire you to vote in the midterm elections? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. We're doing these call-ins to give all of you input and to ask for your help really in planning our midterm election series 30 Issues in 30 Days, which will begin next month.
We know from polling and from this program's own call-in experience that people from different generations sometimes have different issues that they key on as the most relevant or salient to their voting decisions, so we want to make sure we're reflecting everybody's priorities when we do 30 Issues in 30 Days this year. We're taking it in different chunks this week. It was callers in your 20s or below on Monday, 30s and 40s yesterday. Today it's for those of you in your 50s and 60s. Open phones in this 11:40-ish time slot all this week on what issues you would like to hear us address in 30 Issues in 30 Days. In this fraught election year with so many issues at stake, we want to know what's really on your mind.
Today if you're in your 50s or 60s, 212-433-WNYC. While age, as I've said on the first two segments, is the organizing demographic of this call-in, we know it's obviously not the only one that affects what issues you tend to find relevant to your life, so we really hope to get to diversity within the age groups as well. Black listeners in your 50s and 60s, Latino listeners in your 50s and 60s, AAPI listeners in your 50s and 60s, white listeners too. Everyone is welcome and encouraged. What issue is most important to you for the midterm elections?
Same thing for listeners in different income groups or sexual or gender identities, or other groups that you may see yourself as part of, every person, welcome, every issue welcome. To be sure, this is not a poll. The sample is too unscientific and self-selecting. We often say that when we do call-ins asking people to name some kind of priority. For what it's worth, I will note that our 20s and below cohort on Monday mentioned climate in January 6th more than our 30s and 40s cohort yesterday, which seem more focused on economic challenges for families.
Public education came up a lot for both generations so did abortion rights, which makes sense, right? As people who could potentially get pregnant are concentrated in those ages for the most part. How about you in your 50s and 60s? How does January 6th or let's call it democracy itself affected how you've prioritized this year? How about abortion rights? Other than abortion rights, nobody the first two days mention healthcare. How much do you have that in your sight since older people use healthcare more than younger people?
That might be the stereotype anyway, but you get it. Whatever it is, if you're in your 50s or 60s, what issues are most likely to inspire you to vote in the midterm elections? Put an issue on our radar for our upcoming 30 Issues in 30 Days midterm election series. 212-433-WNYC, or tweet, we'll follow our Twitter feed too on this, @wnyc.org. We'll take your calls right after this.
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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to your calls if you're in your 50s or 60s as we're going up the age groups this week on what issues are more likely to inspire you to vote in the midterm elections than other issues. Put an issue on our radar for our upcoming 30 Issues in 30 Days midterm election series. We will begin with Nancy in Westchester. You're on WNYC. Hi, Nancy.
Nancy: Hi, Brian. Long-time listener, first-time caller. I just wanted to say that my overriding issue is voting rights because I believe if we get voting rights and everybody gets to vote, we will get all the other things that we want. Also, even though I'm 66, I'm very annoyed, I feel like some of the younger people too about the age of some of the people in office, some of those people were in office before me and you're still there. I don't think it's ageism because you could have young ideas, but I think many of them are more concerned with staying in office than getting things done.
Brian Lehrer: Nancy, thank you very much. Interesting that that comes up in our first caller in the 50s and 60s group. It did come up earlier in the week that some people felt that the much older Democrats who are leading the party, obviously president, speaker of the house, others, were not in touch, didn't get it with what's really facing younger generations today. Even Nancy who's 66 worried about that out-of-touchness from some of the old leaders as well. Marie in Woodside, you're on WNYC. Hi, Marie.
Marie: Hi, Brian. I have just a number of things. I'll keep it brief, but voting rights, abortion rights, climate, and showing up our democracy in general with laws, like for instance, requiring presidents to disclose their tax returns or, let's say, candidates for presidents once they've won the primary or something. All kinds of little laws they could make to prevent twiddling with electoral votes and stuff like that. Then finally, I really believe we need reform of the Supreme Court and also the Senate. I'm nervous. I'm blanking out on the term, but when you need 60 votes, I really think we need to reform that.
Brian Lehrer: Yes, the filibuster.
Marie: The filibuster. Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry. Go on.
Brian Lehrer: Do you think you've become more concerned with democracy over the course of your life? Do you think you would have given different answers 10 or 20 years ago about top issues?
Marie: Absolutely. The Trump administration, many of the Supreme Court decisions weakening federal oversight of voting are one of them, in particular, I think it was in the '90s. Yes, things have been happening in the past 20 years or so, and most brightly with the Trump administration that I'm really concerned.
Brian Lehrer: Marie, thank you so much for your call. We really appreciate it. Dwayne in Whippany, you are on WNYC. Hi, Dwayne.
Dwayne: Good morning, Brian. Thank you. I'm 67 and my concern for midterm elections, if you want me to come out and vote, then I really would like to hear some more voice given to the Gilded Age in which we now live. The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act completely ignored the carried or the profit interests that both private equity and hedge funds operate under. In other words, they pay a tax rate at 20% as opposed to 37%. It's interesting that recent Councilman Lincoln Restler was just on, was talking about private equity is just inundating some of his Brooklyn neighbors.
This is not Adam Smith's invisible hand. This is just gross, gross capitalism that is unfettered. So often we hear that Trumpers feel that they're not heard. I detest Trump, but I share so much of that sentiment that the common man, his needs, his interests are in no way being addressed, answered, heard. We have a political system that is in dire need of reform and it's not going to do it for itself. You want me to vote, then let's fix the Gilded Age because it is class right now. This is no longer about a democracy and one man, one vote.
Brian Lehrer: Dwayne, thank you very much. We really appreciate that. Of course, that piece that would have made many hedge fund managers pay taxes on their income as if it was a paycheck like most people do failed in the Inflation Reduction Act, thanks apparently to the Democratic senator from Arizona, Kyrsten Sinema. Hedge fund managers continue to get that advantage capital gains tax rate even if they're not the investors themselves is how I've had that explained to me. Linda in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Linda.
Linda: Hi. Thanks for taking my call. I am 66 years old and I think the most important issue for me is going into the future with climate disaster that affects everyone on the globe. If I was a millennial, that would be hanging over my head. I think we need to address that, number one. Number one is fascism. Somehow they seem to me to be related. The gentleman who was just speaking, I could ditto everything he says because that income inequality is what leads to this kind of populism that Trump is so brilliant at tapping into. I think we need to reform our system from its uber capitalist projection that it's going in now. I guess that's all I have to say for now.
Brian Lehrer: Linda, thank you very much. We're taking calls from people in your 50s and 60s today. Tomorrow, 70s and 80s on what your most important midterm elections issues are. Theresa in Manasquan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Theresa.
Theresa: Hi. Thank you very much for taking my call. My primary issue is climate change. I think that it's a wonderful opportunity. I think it's going to fix a lot of things, including the issues with the economy. I'm excited to see potential changes in the infrastructure that is crumbling in this country. I really hope that the candidates have really strong platforms in terms of that.
My other issue is education. I just think that we're falling behind in education and that there's got to be more focus on that. My third thing is the political system. I completely agree with your previous callers that there has got to be changes to our political system, especially the incredible conflicts of interest that exists. I just always feel like these candidates, our leaders, a lot of times they're setting themselves up for their next job in the corporate world and it just drives me nuts.
Brian Lehrer: Theresa, thank you very much. You know what's interesting so far, folks? As I look up and down the board of the majority of people who are waiting to get on, not everybody, and this is a thoroughly unscientific sample, I will say again, but the callers in your 50s and 60s are matching up more with the callers in Monday in their teens and 20s than you are with the 30s and 40s from yesterday. Teens and 20s and you guys are saying climate, democracy, capitalist excesses. With your kids or for some of you, that would be your grandkids, [chuckles] an indication of generational alignment. Peter in Midtown, you're on WYNC. Hi, Peter.
Peter: Hi, Brian. Thanks for taking my call. I am 55 and I am somebody who is considered to be approaching the runway to retirement. My top concerns are entitlement reform. I'm not somebody who is going to need to rely on social security for my retirement, not by any stretch of imagination. However, I do have people in my family who certainly are going to be relying on social security and Medicare, and Medicaid. These are programs that I think are vitally important, but they are so out of whack in terms of actually being sustainable that the entire body in politics seems to have lost track of this and is either too afraid, cowardly, or just polarized to make any approach to doing some sensible entitlement reform.
Brian Lehrer: Yes. You have an interesting view on it because a lot of people as they approach retirement age and likely eligibility for social security and Medicare say, "Don't reform the system because this is going to be a dirty trick on us and we're not going to get what we've paid into and what we're entitled to and we're not going to be secure in our old age." You are saying, "No, do reform the system so people can grow through many years of old age plus the next generations, but do it in a smart way."
Peter: Absolutely.
Brian Lehrer: You're almost volunteering, if I heard you correctly, to give up some social security because you won't personally need it to live on.
Peter: I wouldn't go so far as to say give up, but I understand that it's a reality that unless something is done to change it, benefits will be cut. I just accept that. I don't like it, but I accept it and I'm not planning for social security really as a part of my retirement precisely because I don't trust the politicians of either party. It used to be that for some time we had Tea Party Republicans who were at least nominally focused on doing something about debt and deficit and crazy spending. Now I have to give the Democrats some props for actually passing a bill which seems to have tipped the hat towards deficit reduction, although--
Brian Lehrer: Yes, in that Inflation Reduction Act and we'll see how much. Peter, thank you. We'll sneak one more in here. Rika in Brooklyn on a different kind of elder care issue. Rika, we have 30 seconds for you. Thanks so much for calling.
Rika: Thank you, Brian. I'm also the first time I got through and I've listened to your show a lot, especially since I am older and educated. My concern is not just for social security and all other sorts of so-called benefits. It is paying for caregiving. I am someone who has an 80-year-old sister with Alzheimer's and cancer, and I find myself in the position of if not taking care of her all of the time, then engaging--
Brian Lehrer: I have to jump in because the show's about over, but I'll bet you were very disappointed that the elder care provisions got negotiated out of Build Back Better to satisfy Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.
Rika: Absolutely.
Brian Lehrer: Rika, thank you very much. Thanks for all your calls. This series continues tomorrow.
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