Former "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart knows a lot about the entrenched problems in Washington. He's concerned that is the culprit behind Congressional resistance to continue funding the 9/11 account that helps survivors and those who helped in the aftermath.
In an interview with MSNBC host David Gura questioned how Stewart's "advantage on Washington" has changed since leaving Comedy Central. But Stewart swore it was about the same. He brought up the "brokenness" in Washington and the remembrance of some things that bring people together for bipartisan support. Sept. 11 was once that.
"The optimism comes from being part of a more grassroots efforts and realizing that something happens when they come together in that town that the politics of that town I think supersede any of -- I like to say politics is where solutions go to die," Stewart explained. "They go to die because calculation starts to change. Everything they do down there is a self-conscious calculation."
He said that politicians make it less about people and more about doing the bare minimum they have to get re-elected and spending the rest of their time working to keep their jobs.
"'I've got a constituency and if I make a move over here and they forget the reality is on the ground for people,'" was Stewart's assessment. "That's generally what I see there. Washington is about reelection, not about service because there's a whole other argument. In the perpetual campaign that it's become, the idea of campaigns and reelections are so far removed from the idea of governance and we have a system that's really good at reelecting people and not very effective at governing."
He went on to say that there is a shift in the system for the incentives. If people look back on Sen. John McCain with nostalgia they should understand Washington was never a place that functioned smoothly. Rather, it took people like McCain working diligently for solutions.
"I think, as I've seen the grassroots rise up and you're seeing it in different areas, hopefully, they'll be able to break through that in permanent -- that shield that's -- you know," he continued. "Man, you've been down there. What do Congress people do four or five hours a day? They're on the phone making calls. For what? For money."
Watch the full interview below:
