the main reason congressman steve latourette gave for not running for reelection is because compromiserty word. the maddening frustrations of the job often find themselves telling more truths than they ever did when they were committed to their jobs and committed to their reelection campaigns. but no one -- no one has rewritten his attitude toward congress more colorfully and perhaps more honestly than steve latourette did today now that he is, as he put it, unchained. >> well, thank you all. i'm on the second day of my unchained tour. everybody's most important issue has to be where we find ourselves on this fiscal cliff. if i thought my presence here could accomplish what we're talking about here today, i would stay. but the current atmosphere is a little bit like an alcoholic in my mind. i think the place has to hit bottom before they realize they have a problem and start to fix it. >> so steve latourette thinks congress is an alcoholic who hasn't hit bottom yet, and he says grover norquist is the bartender. he talked about the simpson/bowles plan which reduces income tax rates but

and six republican congressmen, including steve latourette of ohio, have rescinded their pledges altogether who signed his back in 1994, says his driver's license expires, the milk in his refrigerator expires; the only thing that never expires is the grover norquist pledge. >> steve latourette: my word has been good on this tax pledge for 18 years. to be bound by something based upon circumstances that existed 18 years ago, when the circumstances are different, i think that's a little naÏve. >> kroft: grover norquist says he's not losing any sleep over the defections. he's convinced that the republicans have no intention of raising taxes, and he still has signed markers from 279 members of congress promising that they will never let it happen. >> norquist: most of the republicans i know are very pleased that we make it easy for them to credibly make that commitment. they're smiling when they're getting their picture taken with me and... and the pledge. not grumpy, smiling. >> kroft: do you believe that everybody who smiles at a press conference is actually happy? >> norquist: ( laughs ) no,

congressman steve latourette. what ended up having the most impact on steve latourette's long-term career prospects was not that he criticized politicians sphincters and what sounds they could make, but when he levied it, he levied it at politicians of both parties and politicians in the white house and in the congress. steve latourettte was not the most partisan or the most conservative republican in the world, and if you are not the most partisan and not the most conservative, it is a difficult thing to be in today's republican party. and so steve latourettte is leaving congress. he's quitting. he's stepping down, unexpectedly announcing that he will not run again. we first got news of this yesterday on the same day that another not-that-partisan, not-that-conservative republican congressman from new york told his hometown paper that his own republican party is, quote, rendering ourselves incapable of governing when all we do is take severe sides. congressman richard hanna telling the post standard of syracuse,

steve latourette, republican congressman, nine terms, a player on the health, respected on both sidesthe aisle, a republican, close to speaker boehner. but because he strayed occasionally from the orthodoxy of his party, because he didn't raise enough money for the party coffers, he was going to be denied a leadership position and finally said, and he said in his farewell remarks, compromise what become a dirty word among my party. >> woodruff: how do you see all that? we don't know whether ted cruz is going to win. it is expected he will win in november. >> right. >> so i would say mark used the word conviction and that's the right word here this is a guy at age 13 was going to seminars and learning about hyack and-- went to prince toon, studied with robert george, a serious conservative intellectual. he goes to harvard law, then for justice rehnquist, he has come up through the ranks of the conservative intellectual machine f you want to put it that way. he has a very madisonian vision that the government has really, the u.s. has really strayed off from this madisonian vision and he

. >>> republican congressman steve latourette of ohio is blaming the political climate in washington for his decision not to seek a tenth term in congress. his decision comes less than 100 days before voters head to the polls. his more moderate positions often clash with the party line, a reality he alluded to yesterday when announcing his retirement. >> for a long time now, words like "compromise" have been considered to be dirty words. and there are people on the right and the left who think that if you compromise, you're a coward. you're a facilitator, you're an appeaser, you're a rhino. i don't know what the democratic term is. i suppose it's a dino. the art of being a legislator is to find common ground and get the things you can get to pass legislation, to solve the country's problems. >> more than three dozen members of the house have decided to retire after this term. >>> overseas, the battle for aleppo. syria's largest city is intensifying as rebels reportedly get their hands on more sophisticated military gear and take control of critical pro-assad outposts. two weeks of sb

this is notable, because congressman steve latourette is one of the last gop moderates remaining in congress. he said today washington has changed so much since he first got there. and he lamented the fact that compromise has now become a dirty word. >>> the folks who measure such things say the time we are spending following these summer olympics, in some cases while being paid to follow other things, like what's going on at work, could cost american businesses $650 million in productivity before it's all over. 12% of workers admit they plan to watch some olympics coverage while at work. other surveys put that number closer to 4 in 10 americans in the american workplace. >>> word arrived today from not far away from here in ireland, that the author maeve binchy has died. she was among the great contemporary irish writers and sold 40 million books worldwide. she authored circle of friends and tara road among her 16 novels, countless short stories. the prime minister there said today ireland has lost a national treasure. maeve binchy of county, dublin was 72. >>> up next here tonight, here in

congressman steve latourette, thank you so much. >>> waging war from thousands of miles away.ce. how the u.s. drone program is revolutionizing america's military and what it means for the people pulling the trigger. you're watching "morning joe," brew bid starbucks. with the spark cash card from capital one, sven's home security gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. there it is ! there it is ! where ? where ? it's getting away ! where is it ? it's gone. we'll find it. any day can be an adventure. that's why we got a subaru. love wherever the road takes you. wow, there it is. >>> the world is

with steve latourette, that's true. despite being in in different political parties, i respect him for having the resources to rebuild and renew america is as refreshing as it is important. he's willing to call to call for an increase in fees while right sizing government in a way that's going to pinch almost everyone. his approach is courageous and consistent and ultimately we will follow that balanced path. he has a sense of justice and regular order as when he took to the floor as a lonely voice arguing for due process on behalf of a disgraced former member. he does what he believes in. another overused phrase in this body is wake-up call, but steve's decision and announcement should be a wake-up call, a wake-up call to the majority party to think about what this portends for their ability to govern and what will happen when the political winds shift just a little which they surely will. it's a wake-up call for the people on my side of the aisle as we fight against what we think are shortsighted and destructive polic

that's ohio congressman steve latourette announcing his retirement from congress and his frustrationith the republican party after serving nearly 20 years. he's not the only one. republican congressman richard hanna of new york told a syracuse newspaper, quote, i have to say that i'm frustrated by how much we, i mean the republican party, are willing to give deferential treatment to our extremes in this moment in history. fissures in the party appear to be growing. michael sper convi itch is a rao host and michael steele is former chair of the republican national committee. they're both msnbc political analysts. now it's important to note latourette took a shot at both parties but clearly retiring from one. his problem was at home is that often as in politics tougher than your brothers and sisters than you are on the other side. for years now i noticed you tried to carve something of a moderate position near the center coming from the republican side that the suburban voters tend to adhere to. they are not wingers. they are not tea partiers. they tend to want less government but they

and today, steve latourette announced his resignation from congress and blamed the polarizing climate for his departure. >> we're talking about building roads and bridges. we're not talking about democrats and republican initiatives. more than an embarrassment to the house of representatives, it was indicative to the fact people are more interested in fighting with each other than they are in getting the no-brainers done. >> these are republican statesman, republican congressmen who are assaulting the party or at least the extremes from within. why isn't the republican party any longer able to govern according to its own members? >> you know, i want to make an important point about this because you know, so many people in washington and around the country say a pox on both your houses, both parties do that. if you look at what happened in the last two years, you saw a republican party that moved far to the right. with the congressman who is no moderate by any means was talking about was the fact that republicans were opposing a transportation bill. house republicans have supported tra

families famously hates the word "compromise," today lost the service of his friend and colleague, steve latourette's retiring and that he's doing it over the fear of compromise. >> for a long time now, words like "compromise" have been considered to be dirty words. and there are people on the right and the left who think that if you compromise, you're a coward, you're a facilitator, you're an appeaser. i have always believed, and ralph taught me, that the art of being a legislator is to find common ground and get the things that you can get, to pass legislation, to solve the country's problems. >> latourette in his 18th year of congressional service was in line for a committee chairmanship, but he decided he didn't want to play the republican game you have to play these days to get it. >> i had one fellow who is interested in running for the chair and says that, the expectation is that you want to go up in the ranks of either party, you've got to give them your wallet and your voting card. and the overwhelming criticism with me over the years is that sometimes i vote funny, according to my party a

. >> that's steve latourette in ohio. he's not going to be seeking a seventh congress., white house correspondent, political director, chuck todd. there aren't many moderate republicans left. what happened to governor latourette? >> it was an automatic win. it was done, he didn't have a real democratic opponent. and let me throw something else out, the afl-cio was going to endorse him. i think they may already have. it wasn't that long ago, mike, in the '80s and '90s when there were, you needed your hands and your feet to count the number of republicans in the house that would regularly get labor endorsements, particularly in states like ohio, upstate new york, basically any state in the v in the northeast. you could find pro labor republicans, it was just another aspect of the republican coalition. >> what provoked him to leave now and under these circumstances? >> you know, what he says, th e there's some, it has to do with some committee assignments. remember he was the republican co-sponsor of bowls-simpson when he brought -- i think it got 36 votes in the legislatu

also, retiring congressman steve latourette on why he's calling it quits in washington, plus former whiten. and coming up next, what the victory tea party means in texas and can it survive? johnny continues to rebrand the movement. "morning joe", back in a moment. done without rehearsal. in florida we had more suntans... in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf. this year we are out to do even better... and now is a great time to start. our beatches are even more relaxing... the fishing's great. so pick your favorite spot on the gulf... and come on down. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about market volatility. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 in times like these, it can be tough to know which ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 way the wind is blowing. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we're ready with objective insights about ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 the present market and economic conditions. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 an

the simpson-bowles proposal to be -- i mean, what really distressed me just the other day was steve latourette's resignation. you kind of just want to repeat his punchline at the end which was devastating and very poignant. he offered the simpson-bowles budget, amendment to the budget resolution and went down in flames. so the ability of moderates to influence policy needs to be, i mean, the american people have to be aware of it, and i don't know how that, how that happens. but it has to happen over time. yes. >> so what would your specific recommendations for procedural reform be, and how would that go about happening? are there signs that you've seen that folks are actually interested in, on the house side -- >> on the house side? >> -- moving towards that? >> it depends on the composition of the next house, i think. but i mean, again, i'm not privy to a lot of day-to-day discussions among rules committee people. i know chairman dreier has that institutional sense. if he had his druthers, he perhaps would have been able to advocate more openness. there has been, as i said, there's been a retu

steve latourette, we endorse him. i don't think he will run again this time. that's what i say, the more moderate ones are sort of falling off. and that's a tragedy for the country. and the viciousness of politics is really driving the best and the brightest away from politics. why do this? of the best and the brightest aren't going into politics like they used to. that's a real loss for the country as far as i'm concerned. >> on the second bill of rights -- [inaudible] has president obama signed off on it? >> we sent a letter to, one, the head of the democratic national committee and the republican national committee. we sent them a common letter by the way so that no one would say weighted to favor one or the other. we sent it off to them. we sent word to the president that we want him to sign it, and i have no reason to believe that he will sign at the he won't be supportive of all of those things. all of those things -- [inaudible] >> robert? [inaudible] on the presidential election, what does the obama team need to be doing better, and what is the romney