Tonight's guests include:
Ed Schultz, host of “The Ed Show” on MSNBC
Steve Bullock, (D) Montana Attorney General
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Video: US failure to maintain infrastructure betrays national legacy
Video: Foolhardy budget cuts cripple government operations
Video: Canada, home of many nice things
Video: Social conservative extremists fill Virginia GOP slate
Video: Rare confirmation of Obama pick prompts Supreme Court talk
Video: Crack smoking video claim dogs Toronto mayor
Video: A genuine Maddow show
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Hmmmm, Bullock talking about what Montana is doing to keep money out of politics???
Does he not remember when Goldman Sachs came to Montana and convinced the legislature to deregulate the utilities? Does not not remember what happened to Montana Power? I used to work for Montana Power and it was a nice, solid blue chip company that many retirees held stock in because it was so stable. After Goldman Sachs got done with it, it no longer exists.
CBS actually did a good (and truthful) report on "Who killed Montana Power"? This happened back in the late 90's and had nothing to do with 2007, but it is instructive of what big banks do, what they did ten years later, and what they are continuing to do because no one has the guts to reign them in!
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18560_162-539719.html
Just hilarious as Hell....so damned funny I forgot to laugh. There is probably nothing more stomach turning in this universe than a political gigolo who tries to be a standup comedian.
"Transplant" did you say Rachel Magpie?.....both the Bush and the Obotulism regimes needed to be transplanted by people who didn't take their oaths with their fingers crossed behind their backs.
Also from Montana is Renew Democracy, an advocacy group for a constitutional amendment for campaign finance reform,It is our contention that the constitutional basis currently for any restrictions to any type of political or campaign spending by any entity group or individual is tenuous at best. The First Amendment is plain. This places our political system in crisis as there is no constitutional basis for regulating what the vast
majority of Americans realizes needs to be regulated. We feel that just as many of the constitutional restrictions on social behavior ensure the primacy of individual rights to protect from the tyranny of the majority by making the rights of the group subservient to the rights of the individual, it is crucial to ensure the rights of the individual voter have primacy in the political process. For this reason we advocate for a constitutional amendment. The outline of the proposal of the Renew Democracy amendment goes far beyond the bumper sticker solutions of "corporations are not people" and "money is not speech" that many advocacy groups have latched onto as easy fundraisers. Our proposal would be a significant restructuring of the current motivation that present campaign "pay for play" creates in our representatives. We feel that unless our representatives are motivated to represent only the voters, our current broken system cannot be transformed. http://www.renewdemocracy.org/
Just watched the 9 pm show on Friday. Interesting stuff:
1. Clip of John Kasich calling a cop an "idiot". Looks like a VERY old clip. Yes, Kasich call the cop and idiot. It would have been nice for Maddow to actually explain to the viewers why Kasich call him the cop and idiot. However I guess the point wasn't to inform people. The selective editing was done to simply make it look like Kasich was waging war on Cops now that he's the Governor of Ohio. Pretty slick but despicable editing.
2. Lots of discussion of "stripping union rights". Not really sure why a public service union has a right to bargain for a raise as a union could in the private sector. If the private sector union makes too many demands, the business runs out of money and closes. So there are checks and balances. If the public sector, if the union demands too much, the state just collects more taxes from it's citizens. States don't have to worry about going out of business.
3. Not quite sure how the Wisconsin Law has "killed" unions. Sure, union membership has dropped since 1954, but then our country has become much less industrialized too (39% to 11%). To herald 36% of public sector employees being unionized is like "not seeing the forest through the trees." Our states and cities are bankrupt, mostly due to the incredibly lucrative union rules for municipal workers. Again, the private sector has checks and balances. Excess union demands, the company dies. Not so in the public sector. Excessive demands, simply mean a higher tax levy, or cuts to other municipal services. There's a reason why people are outraged that a lifeguard in California can retire at age 50 with $100,000 life time annuity.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/16/local/la-me-lifeguards-20110616
4. The chart on "2010" Campaign Spending" by "Outside Groups" is a bit confusing. I would have been nice to define what an "outside group" is. I'm a bit surprised that Hollywood isn't listed there. Since President Obama just collected $15M in a single event in Hollywood, I have to wonder just what this chart is supposed to be saying. It seems a bit manipulative to me.
5. Interesting commentary on the May 30th Wall Street Journal article titled "WisconsinUnions See Ranks Drop Ahead of Recall Vote." Maddow claims it's because of the "Republicans set out to kill unions, and that is what they've done". She then goes on to show the reduction in membership from 62K to 28K. But what she fails to say is, most of the decline in membership is because people are "voting with their feet". Something Maddow doesn't tell you is the sinister part of the law she despisesis a provision that "that eliminated automatic dues collection." If people WANTED to be a member of the union, they could just pay their dues. Since there is no longer COMPULSORY collection of due, people are CHOOSING to not be a member. Who's fault is that? Governor Walker or the Unions, who provide no value added to the employee. Here's the article to read for yourself.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304821304577436462413999718.html
6. Maddow then goes on to say that "unions play a political role" in helping Democrats. That fact that she says this with a straight face is remarkable. I suppose it never occurred to her that some of the union members are not Democrats and do not agree with having their union dues used to support candidates they don't support. That's the salient point in this whole matter, but something lost on the Uberleftist Maddow
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OK...1) the clip of Kasich is two years old. When he was elected and tried to bash unions right off the bat. 2) A public sector union has the right to negotiate because the government made a DEAL with them. You know like a CONTRAT but when they wanted to renig they denigrated them instead of living up to the terms they negotiated. Why on earth would you think that was WRONG? 3)Where to begin. Walker killed 'collective bargaining' and welched on the deals that previous administrations had agreed to. There wasn't 'excessive demands'...the unions agreed to everything to help the state but Walker wanted to destroy them. THAT'S how they 'killed' public sector unions. 4) The chart showed spending by UNIONS...try to keep up. 5) membership dropped because of collective bargaining being eviserated. Please stop being obtuse. 6) yes I'm sure Rachel understands that not all union members are Democrats. However, the UNIONS (like PACS) overwhelmingly supported Dems. If you get rid of the unions, you do not have a strong coalition to combat SUPERPACS. If you think the 'members' are against this I have a bridge to sell you. The GOP went after ACORN (coalition), unions and any PAC that may support the Dems. They had their buddies on the Supremes pass Citizens United where 400 million = 1 voice. If this is the country you want then vote Republican. But please don't act like the founders wanted this, the Constitution advocates it or the average voter agrees with.
Poor poor Mego.
1) The clip might might have been two years old, but Maddow omitted why Kasich called the cop an idiot. Maybe the cop was being an idiot, like the Cleveland cop who ticketed a guy who dropped a dollar bill to a pan handler for "littering".
2) A deal was made. OK, got it, however it's not a suicide pact. These deals are killing our municipal Governments.
3) Unions who support official for public office, who then negotiation with the union leaders who helped elected them is inherently wrong. That's probably why the Federal Government employee unions like AFGE have NO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS. My GOD, how will our nation survive (mock indignation)
4) Please tell me how "Americans for Prosperity" and the "Crossroads GPS" are unions. Please try to keep up Missy
5) Membership dropped because people are no longer forced to pay union due. Please stop being vapid.
6) My wife is an RN. SEIU unionized the nurses and admin staff with bold promises that have never materialized. Her annual raise used to be based on merit and for her was quite good. She's a good nurse and works hard. Now her raise is the same as everyone else, regardless of skill or experience. She hates SEIU and wishes they could "unring the bell" and certainly DO NOT support the policies of the fat cat Union Kingpins in SEIU.
Do try to get out more and listen to things other than MSNBC.
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Poor, poor John.
Look, if you think the GOP isn't trying to destroy the unions, you are dumb! When you've got GOP Governors like Nicki Haley proudly proclaiming herself an "union buster," you can't ignore that.
Besides, you seem to ignore that fact raised by Mego that the public sector unions in Wisconsin were willing to settle for less, but Walker went after them anyway. You also seem to think that unions always make excessive demands when they don't. Many times, they are just as aware of hard economic times and are willing to compromise.
By the way, just because your wife had a bad experience with SEIU doesn't make all unions bad. And despite your animosity towards them; you have benefited from unions. Employers today have to treat you and me fairly because of reforms pushed by UNIONS! The right wing knows this and that's why they want to get rid of them.
And Hello! Rachel's chart didn't say that "Americans for Prosperity" or "Crossroads GPS" were unions. It's clear that you still aren't keeping up! The chart simply lists organizations (whether they are fake grassroots organizations like AFP or SuperPacs or Unions) who have spent considerable money in politics. That's it!
As for the Kasich comment, you keep focusing on the fact that it was a two-year clip, but ignore the fact that Kasich ended up kicking the police unions to curb. He did this despite the fact that many in these unions would either be sympathetic to or flat-out support the GOP. Not even Scott Walker made this dumb move in Wisconsin!
You have a problem with fat cat union kingpins, but no issues at all with the corporate fat cats trying to buy Wisconsin through Scott Walker. Typical. Tyranny can come from both sides of the political aisle and its time for right-wingers like you to realize that. The current GOP wants to take us back to 1912 (not deal with the real issues of 2012).
John, I was elected to be a contract negotiator by my coworkers for three contracts. It was my duty to get the best contract possible for my coworkers. On the other side of the table was the company negotiators who were trying to get the best contract for the company. It's the same for public unions. There are people negotiating for the taxpayers. These are the people who should take the heat if you think the unions are getting too much.
The thought that unions are getting too much, drives me nuts. At least know enough to focus your displeasure at the ones responsible.
What really needed to be pointed out to Wisconsin voters is the POWER PLANT ISSUE -- every single Wisconsinite turns on the lights every morning and every single manufacturing plant relies on those power plants.
The focus for the last two months should have been on 16.896 - which Walker passed which allows him to sell those power plants on a no-bid basis. Awesome and amazing power put in the hands of a man who just has to look around and see who has been a good friend to him.
Once the title to those plants is turned over to the Kochs, you can't go back. Just look at what happened in Montana with Montana Power Company. MPC was not owned by the state, but when it was deregulated and allowed to split into 3 pieces, it was a disaster -- rates doubled and then re-doubled, and doubled again. Businesses were closed which relied on the cheap electricity we had to break even, pensions were lost, and people's stock and savings were wiped out. Cost to consumers is in the billions -- which is a pretty terrible return for a mere $10 million or in more campaign contributions for 3 years more on the job.
Loved the show tonight (6/1/12). Great closing comeback to Boehner's inane comments. Appreciate your continuing coverage of "the mess" Citizens United has spawned. Still wondering if there is any way to push back. Maybe a national TV boycott the last two weeks before the election? Your program not included. Keep up the good fight, and thank you!
The closing comment was as stupid as the rest of the show. The HOUSE has sent numerous bills to the Senate where the DEMOCRAT CONTROLLED Senate sits on them, Harry Reid (D-NV) even refusing the allow votes.
BTW, what ever happened to Obama's pledge to focus like a laser beam on the economy. Don't think he's really focusing today, what with six fundraisers occurring, while we're treated to new that the jobs numbers for March, April and May are all LOWER THAT REPORTED for the past 90 days.
Funny, all I recall hearing for the past few months is how Obama's polices are starting to show results "trending upward" when the reality is MUCH different. Too bad Maddow and MSNBC haven't been focused like a laser beam on the truth, instead of being a talking mouth for the Obama Administration.
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Yeah, I've seen those "jobs" bill sent by the House. And they are nothing more than the same economic policies that got us in this mess in the first place. Obama introduces the American Jobs Bill that includes policies favored by both parties in the past and it gets nowhere. Instead, the House rather focus on social issues like abortion and reproductive rights.
By the way, if you are so certain that Obama's policies are failing, then how do you explain what's happening in Europe? Europe has followed the economic advice of the GOP (austerity) and Britain is now in a double-dip recession. Europe, overall, hasn't seen the improvements we have.
It's you who's being deceived. You have no laser beam focus on the truth at all. You focus on Obama's six fundraisers but ignore the millions of dollars Romney has backing him through Super-Pacs. Heaven forbid if Obama tries to raise any money so he can get re-elected? Oh please, save the BS for somebody who doesn't know any better.
It's discouraging that so many important points seem to elude those in the media. What is happening with unions began years ago. It isn't that workers don't want to unionize, but that they no longer have the freedom to do so, the way they do in the more advanced nations. Who doesn't know that the day you start talking about unionizing is usually followed by the day that you get a pink slip? Who doesn't know that most workers can be replaced immediately with cheap "workfare" labor? And in view of the hundreds of thousands of jobs shipped out, combined with ending the entitlement to poverty relief, how many people are going to risk even whispering the word "union"?
As long as we continue to focus exclusively on "middle class workers," while ignoring the poor, it's a lost cause. Nearly 1/3 of that celebrated "working middle class" has been pushed into poverty so far, at which point they disappear from the public political discussion. What previous generations understood was that if the poor and middle classes are divided, standing up for each other, they both lose. So far, the only response we hear to US poverty is to call for job creation, as we've been doing for 30+ years. You can't buy a loaf of bread with a promise of eventual job creation.