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KCBS In Depth: Fixing Washington

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – Former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley has said in the past that politics is broken and has now published a book about what can be done to possibly fix it.

The new book, "We Can All Do Better" focuses on the political gridlock in Washington and address the challenges of fixing issues such as the economy and foreign policy.

"There are two structural deficiencies with our political system. One is gerrymandering, how you draw Congressional district lines. Out of 435 Congressional seats, only 50 are competitive," Bradley said. "The second problem is the role of money in politics. When I ran for the Senate the first time in 1978, I spent $1.68 million on the primary and general election. Jon Corzine won that seat in 2000 and spent $63 million, much of it his own money. If we're going to get a hold of this, we're going to need to have a Constitutional amendment that says federal, state and local governments may limit the amount of money in politics."

KCBS Interviews Bill Bradley:

Bradley said Congress is being distorted by the money. But he said it truly all starts with the people and citizens, who have more power nowadays because of their ability to organize efforts, especially online.

"People have to realize that our history tells us that the major changes in America have come not from congressmen or senators, but from the people, from citizens. Most of the major social changes started with citizens who had convictions and took actions to bring pressure and change to take place on those who were elected," he said.

Bradley said that political change can come, but it has to come first from the people, from citizens who want change to happen. He said part of the problem is that people don't truly understand the amount of power they hold.

You can hear KCBS In Depth, a weekly half-hour news interview, Saturdays at 5:30a.m. and Sundays at 8:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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