"That was a joke by the way, is anybody awake out there?," Mica quipped. "But I take it at face value."

Mica, who recently traveled to Eastern Europe and heard many comments about the popular television show, House of Cards, said it is sad that the rest of the world thinks Hollywood's portrayal of Washington is accurate.

"You get more comments about Frank Underwood, about House of Cards and Scandal," he said.

Nussle, the former White House Office of Management and Budget under former President George W. Bush, said he has "high tolerance" but no longer watches the television series Scandal.

"There's nothing in there that is even plausible, truly plausible. I'm sorry. I'll debate anybody on that topic," Nussle said. "It doesn't mean it isn't fun to watch but don't watch it because you won't learn anything about the White House or Washington at all."

Mica called Casino Jack, a film about former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, an extreme portrayal of advocacy in Washington.

"The movie that really bothered me to the point where I felt like I had to wash my hands after I watched it was Casino Jack," he said. "Maybe the thing that made me mad is that one probably was a bit true. They hyped it – they'll always take license but it was a terrible portrayal. A lobbyist is somebody in this room who believes in a cause and works for an organization that pushes that cause."

Mica said 20 people in a homeowners association that decide to send someone to Washington to testify before Congress on their behalf is considered "dirty."

"They're criticized; they are the worst of the worst so that movie really upset me greatly," he said.

The moderator of the discussion played clips from the film, Thank You For Smoking, and asked the former congressmen if Hollywood would ever allow the public to see an accurate portrayal of lobbying.

"Probably not because it's not interesting," Nussle said. "The role of a lobbyist which is – for everyone's purposes – remember this is a first amendment responsibility and right for us to petition our government and the fact that there are a few bad apples that spoil it for the rest of the bunch is no different than what we're seeing right now with police officers, as an example."

Nussle said there are police officers out there that do a fantastic job for their communities.

"[Yet] you can argue that there are always going to be bad apples in every bunch and of course, you will have this situation. You'll have a Jack Abramoff," he noted. "There are lots of examples out there where you could say, 'well, that's unfortunately what they will portray because that's more interesting than the boring job of representing constituents and groups and everything else to Congress.'"

Nussle said members of Congress listen to their constituents over lobbyists, contrary to what's shown in Hollywood productions.

"If I'm lobbying on behalf of, for instance, my credit unions and I'm the guy that has to make the pitch, you're in trouble and here's the reason why: because members of Congress and senators don't listen to lobbyists, what they listen to is the support behind the advocate in the room. It's how many constituents, what are the issues in your district and how does that connect to your voters and the interests back home," he said.

Nussle continued, "I'm only as good as, for instance in my situation, the credit unions that are coming to Washington and advocating on their own behalf. If they're not doing that, I can't possibly be effective. I don't care how much money or anything else you throw at the issue. You can do it maybe for a little while but it won't be there long term."

Mica agreed with Nussle's assessment and cited a study done by the Congressional Management Foundation, a Washington-based group that works with members of Congress and staff to enhance their operations and interactions with constituents.

"It said exactly what Jim [Nussle] said. They'll listen to the lobbyist but who is most effective? That's your constituency who is a part of their constituency," Mica said.

"We would always make the point when we went in that we have 100 million credit union members and we have 350,000 average in every congressional district. That would get their attention," Mica said. "I don't care who you are, a lobbyist, an advocate,  if you don't have the support at home you're pretty much dead up here."