The hosts of Morning Joe talk with Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig about his latest Nation piece “How to Get Our Democracy Back” that calls for reforming Congress. Mika asks Lessig to explain his opinion that Obama betrayed Washington. Lessig argues that Obama campaigned on a promise to fight for changing the way Congress works, something Obama has given up as President. But the need for reforming Congress is imperative.

“This institution is so weighed down with the favors that it needs to give to those who fund it that it can’t possibly affect substantial reform,” Lessig says. “As president, he gave up that fight… and what he’s discovering is… that nothing will change until he changes that institution.” The “real problem,” Lessig says, is the tight grip of lobbyists.

—Morgan Ashenfelter

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