How to Fix a Broken Government
PHILLIPS: Well, our CNN in-depth series continues on our broken government. So, how do average Americans see it? Our latest CNN/ORC poll shows your trust in the federal government is now at an all-time low. Just 15 percent of you trust the government to do what's right always or most of the time. So, what's the solution? Author and lawyer Philip K. Howard has some suggestions. He's chair of Common Good, which advocates a good approach to running the government. I read a number of your ideas, Philip. So, why don't we start with cleaning out the staples of government? I was reading, you say, entitlements, mandates, regulations, boom, out the window.</s>PHILIP K. HOWARD, CHAIRMAN, COMMON GOOD: Yes, the problem is, we've sort of all stuffed up with obsolete law so the regulations pile up over the years and the problem is not that we're re regulating the wrong thing. We don't want to get rid of environmental regulation, but you've got to let people take responsibility to actually meet their environmental requirements and give the freedom to enforce it.</s>PHILLIPS: Well, you talk about not understanding the law and that is one thing you say we need to do is radically simplify the law. I mean, they've got to be understandable in order to be effective.</s>HOWARD: That's completely right. I mean, there are 180 million words of binding federal law and regulation. Nobody can read it all, much less comply with it. We need to go back to old principles, which is basic responsibility.</s>PHILLIPS: How did we get out of touch with basic responsibility? It seems so simple.</s>HOWARD: You know, we had this idea that you could create a legal system that was like a software program. You know, if you, but humans don't have a hard drive and a processor. Humans are pretty good at getting things done. You tell them that they have to meet a certain standard pollution, they can figure out how to do it. But if you give them thousands of pages to comply with, they'll just end up catching the pollution in the wrong place. So, that's happened at every level, really -- even teachers. Teachers are drowning in bureaucracy.</s>PHILLIPS: Well, and you actually point that out that we need revive accountability for public employees and you specifically address overhauling civil service and teachers' tenure.</s>HOWARD: Yes. There is a great deal to be made here. You can liberate, for example, teachers. You can let them be themselves, again. Take back control of the classroom, be spontaneous and do the stuff that humans need to do, teachers need to do to -- to interest the children, but only if they can be accountable if they do a lousy job.</s>PHILLIPS: So Phillip, you've got about a few weeks. Why aren't you putting your hat in the ring and run for president? You seem to know exactly how to fix our broken government, my friend. What are you doing?</s>HOWARD: Well, you know, the American people know that it all boils down to humans. Rules don't make anything happen and -- and we are talking to the presidential candidates and President Obama has actually endorsed some of our reforms and some of the Republican candidates look like they're going to, as well. So our goal is to try to change the dialogue and move it away from this partisan baloney towards the actual conditions under which we could break out of this paralysis and get something done.</s>PHILLIPS: Well, I can see why your book "The Death of Common Sense" is a "New York Times" bestseller. Phillip, thanks so much for weighing in this morning. I really appreciate it.</s>HOWARD: It's great to be with you.</s>PHILLIPS: You bet. All right, for more on Phillip's ideas on government fixes, you can just check out his Web site, it's just his name, right there. There you go, there's his book, too, PhilipKHoward.com. And coming up all this week more of CNN's In Depth series, "Our Broken Government". So what do you get for someone who just lost their job? How about a sympathy card? Well, some people question whether this gesture could be a bit misinterpreted.