2014 TN Senate debate: on Government Reform

Joe Carr: Reduce crossover voting in Tennessee primary elections

Carr is running in the August GOP primary against Sen. Lamar Alexander. But Carr has maintained all along his bill has nothing to do with that. The bill was opposed by the Tennessee Republican Party Chairman among others. In the end, fellow Republicans on the GOP-controlled Local Government Committee refused to go along with Carr's bill.

In response to questions posed earlier by Rep. Vince Dean, Carr said those refusing to sign the declaration would not be allowed to vote in that primary. Dean questioned whether the bill would really accomplish anything, noting "they could still be honest, so this wouldn't help.

Lamar Alexander: The Era of the 1,000-Page Bill Is Over

"I think it's obvious that we in Congress have been biting off more than we can chew on immigration, health care, and other issues. We've been producing 1,000-page bills which most members of Congress haven't even read, in which voters have no confidence, and out of which will come unintended consequences and results that are bad for our country. It inevitably adds to the national debt, at a time when we're adding $9 trillion to the debt in just ten years and everyone is worried about how we're going to pay that back. And at a time, fairly or unfairly, where the American people are seeing a new administration propose, it seems like, a new Washington takeover every other day--the banks, insurance companies, student loans, and now health care."