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Program host Edwin Newman mentions the White House recently seized the narrative on budget talks, angering some members of Congress, though this is only possible due to the tacit acquiescence of the majority of Congress. Newman asks U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers (D-AR) if Congress has lost its preeminence to the Presidency. Sen. Bumpers says the Presidency has gotten too powerful relative to Congress, due to Congress taking a pass on tough issues. He includes himself in this. U.S. Representative Dick Cheney (R-WY) admits to the same, argues this is a dynamic process and that in the 1970's Congress passed several bills limiting the President's military powers in a number of foreign conflicts. Rep. Cheney thinks Congress has adapted well to the changes of modern society, does not think the government could function properly if it was intent on conducting business in the same manner the Founding Fathers did. Thomas Mann of the American Political Science Association says by comparison to other democracies, the legislative branch is plenty powerful. There also is a need to think about balance of power less in terms of supremacy between the branches, but in terms of whether each branch is fulfilling its function. Norman Ornstein says the American system operates to push the politics toward the center which creates the balance that Rep. Cheney had touched upon.