Bob Corker: Senate is "most dysfunctional" place ever
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., on Wednesday called the Senate the "most dysfunctional place I've ever been in in my life," and urged his fellow lawmakers to "quit bashing each other" and engage in a civilized conversation over the deficit and the debt ceiling.
(Watch Corker and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., discuss the debt ceiling debate at left.)
In an appearance on CBS' "The Early Show," Corker called the debate over raising the debt limit a "seminal moment, where we have an opportunity to dramatically change the character of spending in our country" and lamented partisan bickering in the Senate, and its affect on lawmaking.
"We haven't had a budget in the Senate now for 798 days," he told "Early Show" co-anchor Erica Hill. "Now think about that. So we haven't even gone through the budget process."
"It's the most dysfunctional place I've ever been in in my life," Corker added. "My hope is that over the next month or so we can rectify that, move ahead, do some great things for our country while we have this wonderful opportunity to do so."
Corker did not rule out some potentially major changes to the tax code.
"I agree with, 'Hey let's do away with most if not all of the $1.2 trillion in tax expenditures and lower everybody's rates,'" Corker said. "There are two ways of scoring revenues -- one is static, one is dynamic and what that means is, if you really make the tax code more simple you create tremendous economic growth, which creates revenue."
"I do think that is something that many of us would be willing to work on," Corker continued. "So look, I think we have an opportunity; I think the best way for us to reach a deal is for both sides to quit bashing each other, and let's sit down, let's have a real proposal before us, let's hash it out, let's do something great for our country while we have this opportunity."
