American Morning
Broken Government: How to fix Congress?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/22/tanner.davis.cnn.art.jpg caption="Rep. John Tanner and Tom Davis spoke with John Roberts on CNN's "American Morning" Monday."]
(CNN) - Gridlock. These days, many Americans feel that is all they are getting from their government.
To examine the problem and potential solutions as part of CNN's special series "Broken Government," we spoke with two men who decided to get out of government entirely.
Tom Davis served 14 years as a Republican congressman from Virginia. He retired in 2008 and is now the president of Main Street Advocacy.
And Rep. John Tanner, a Democrat from Tennessee, announced his retirement in December after more than 20 years in office.
They spoke with John Roberts on CNN's "American Morning" Monday. Below is an edited transcript of the interview.
John Roberts: Congressman Tanner, let's start with you. Evan Bayh said last week, when he announced that he wasn’t going to stand for re-election, that Congress is not functioning as it should. Do you believe Congress is broken?
John Tanner: I do, and I think it goes back really to 1962 in a case from Tennessee, Baker v. Karr, where the Supreme Court of the United States ruled every congressional district ... based on population, had to have approximately the same number of people. That has been refined, and now the gerrymandering that goes with that … that has gone all over the country.
What it means is the most partisan elements of our society, those on the left and right who believe their party is right and the other guy is always wrong, are electing, to the best of our count, almost 350 members of the 435 members here in the House. And so people are responsive to the people that elect them, so you have the left and the right here, and there’s very little in the middle.
Roberts: Congressman Davis, do you agree with that, that redistricting is the problem? We had a poll out last week, 63% of respondents think most members of Congress don’t deserve to be re-elected. Yet, on average, in an election, 90% of House members return.
Survey: 86% believe government broken
Tom Davis: 80% of the members come from districts where their race is their primary, it's not the general election. They don't get rewarded for compromising, they get punished if they compromise with the other side. By the way, the Voting Rights Act, [is] in concert with Baker v. Karr – because the Voting Rights Act … has made the districts even more partisan. The difficulty is a lot of these members’ races are in primary elections and not in generals. In primaries, you don't get rewarded for compromising with the other side, you get punished.
Beck rants against GOP
Conservative commentator Glenn Beck has a warning for the GOP. He says an "economic holocaust is coming."
Beck was the keynote speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington this weekend. Our Jim Acosta breaks it all down for us.
Related: Conservatives wrap up meeting, eye midterm elections
Broken Government: Middle class fed up?
Editor's Note: All this week in our special series "Broken Government," CNN is taking a hard look at our nation's government; the frustrating problems and the potential solutions. Today, our Carol Costello reports on the growing struggles of the American middle class. Tomorrow on American Morning, we look at why banks still aren't loaning and what the answer is for small businesses.
By Bob Ruff and Carol Costello
What does it take to be part of the American middle class?
Here’s the tried and true way: Get an education, work hard, get a good paying job with benefits, raise a family, buy a house and a car or two and take a vacation once a year.
Put it all together and you’re describing not just the dream, but the fulfillment of that dream by tens of millions of Americans during the last century. But that was then, before the hard economic times following 9/11, and this is now.
Meet the Bindners of Alexandria, Virginia.
“I think the middle class,” says Moira Bindner, “is trying to get a handle on where their feet are because it feels like the rug has been totally pulled out, and it’s really challenging on a day to day basis to accomplish everything with the paycheck coming in the door.”
For example: “You don’t go to the dentist, you don’t get your car repaired until it’s desperate...the retirement plan went out the window and our credit card debt went up,” says Moira.
Gay conservatives sponsor CPAC event
CPAC is under way in Washington right now. It's the conservative event of the year.
The economic, foreign policy and social conservatives have turned out in force. But this year, gay conservatives also have a voice. And as our Brianna Keilar tells us, it's getting a mixed response.
Tea Party organizer not for a third party
From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
(CNN) – Karin Hoffman, the founder of a Florida Tea Party chapter called DC Works for Us, is echoing Sarah Palin's recent comments that the organization should not field third-party candidates.
"Until a third party would actually pull away from both sides of the equation, it really would be disruptive and kind of diminish what we're trying to do," Hoffman said on CNN's American Morning Thursday. "Our goal is in this election cycle… is on a local level we will identify the candidates that best represent us."
Bickering over stimulus bill
Democrats are marking the stimulus program's one year anniversary with a new name for Republicans: Hypocrites.
The White House is leading the charge, accusing House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of reaping stimulus rewards in his home district while telling the media the program hasn't helped the economy at all.
There was plenty more partisan bickering over the $787 billion bill yesterday, which is now estimated to cost tax payers $862 billion over the next ten years. Our Jim Acosta has the report from Washington.
About this Show
Welcome to the American Morning blog where you can get daily news updates from American Morning's reporters and producers. Join us for "the most news in the morning," weekdays from 6-9 a.m. ET, only on CNN.
On Twitter
