Chris Hayes will let the democrats to take on the investor class

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Matt Taibbi on Imus the heisting of America by the banks and GE

I actually agree with John McCain: one vote, one campaign contribution of a limited amount, one voice

McCain must be back to being a reformer again now that he's safely back for another six year term.

You're Welcome -- BP Voices From The Gulf

We'll leave you with one final word from Texas Congressman Barton to his BP overlords. Please I apologize to you good and decent people...  I'm ashamed for even thinking of representing my constituents. 

The best thing about the clip is the head of BP who thought he was being put on trial and instead had Barton kissing his ring. For god sake have get up off your knees man

Breaking '08 Pledge, Leaked Doc Shows Obama Wants to Help Corporations A...

Resolve to Overturn 'Citizens United' Spreads Through the States | The Nation

Resolve to Overturn 'Citizens United' Spreads Through the States | The Nation:

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Writing for the majority in the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy argued that independent expenditures by corporations “do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.”

Since then, Super-PACs and corporations have spent record amounts of money in elections nationwide. Corporate spending soared during the 2010 election cycle to $294 million, 427 percent over the previous midterm elections in 2006. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer both suggested that given these “huge sums currently deployed to buy candidates’ allegiance,” Kennedy’s assertion doesn’t hold and the court should reconsider its ruling.

It will have the opportunity to do just that on Thursday when it considers the Montana Supreme Court’sdecision in December to uphold the state’s century-old ban on corporate political expenditures in state elections. In February the US Supreme Court informed Montana that it could no longer enforce that law until further notice, and now it must decide whether to hear the state’s case. This is perhaps the most serious challenge to date to the Citizens United decision.

In a recent New York Times op-ed, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer writes that the effects of not being able to enforce the state’s anti-corruption statute “are already being felt here.” He describes “corporate front groups funneling cash into our legislative races,” and bills “ghostwritten by a host of industries looking to weaken state laws,” including overturning a state ban on the use of cyanide to mine gold, and developers seeking “to build condos right on the edge of our legendary trout streams.”

Schweitzer notes that he vetoed the bills but “these big players will eventually get what they seek” if they are allowed to continue their efforts to buy the electoral process.

It is that kind of corruption—which Justice Kennedy minimized—that has moved dozens of local communities across the country to speak out during Resolutions Week, an effort to pass local and state resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment to get money out of politics. Over 100 resolutions have already been proposed.

People don’t want to see a repeat of Wisconsin, where more than $63 million was spent in the recall election ($50 million went to Walker)—much of it from out of state, including $24 million from outside groups. Local public officials also realize that they can’t raise the kind of resources a handpicked, corporate-favored candidate can now access. There is also an obscenely exorbitant presidential campaign on the horizon with a price tag expected to reach $2 billion or more, including hundreds of millions of dollars flowing in from wealthy and corporate interests. In May alone, conservative groups spent $20 million in just nine swing states and Michigan.

Legislators have clearly reached their own conclusion that there is an “appearance of corruption.” Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have joined Montana in asking the Supreme Court to uphold the state’s ban on corporate expenditures. This coalition is a mix of red, blue, and purple states, including New York, Arkansas, California, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia. Senators John McCain and Sheldon Whitehouse also filed an amicus brief in support of Montana,writing, “Evidence from the 2010 and 2012 electoral cycles has demonstrated that so-called independent expenditures create a strong potential for corruption and the perception thereof.”

This Resolutions Week, many members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, including co-chairs Raúl M. Grijalva and Keith Ellison, are supporting city and town councils and state legislatures as they push for a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. Local efforts will be held across the nation: from Baker City, Oregon, to Huntsville, Alabama; Wichita, Kansas, to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Provo, Utah, to Corpus Christi, Texas. Dozens of localities have already approved similar resolutions.

Original post: http://www.thenation.com/blog/168346/resolve-overturn-citizens-united-spreads-through-states

From the daily Daily Kos: friends with benefits: Senators roll out red carpet for Jamie Dimon

Daily Kos: Open thread for night owls: Senators roll out red carpet for Jamie Dimon:

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You give this kind of cash and you have plenty of friends with benefits.

 SEN. BOB CORKER (R-TN): We’re here quizzing you. If you were sitting on this side of the dais, what would you do to make our system safer than it is and still meet the needs of a global economy like we have?

(American Banker)

SEN. MIKE CRAPO (R-ID): Many people say our primary focus from our perspective in terms of policy should be to make sure the banks are properly capitalized. Should that be our primary focus and what other areas of oversight would be the most effective for us in terms of our regulatory structure?

SEN. JIM DEMINT (R-SC): I would like to come away from the hearing today with some ideas on what you think we need to do, what we maybe need to take apart that we’ve already done, to allow the industry to operate better.

SEN. ROGER WICKER (R-MS): And you said something else that really sort caught me by surprise, and that was this testimony that nobody got all the parties in a room with people in your industry — Democrats, Republicans, and folks affected — and talked about what was needed and what really needed to be fixed. Did I hear you correctly there? Did you volunteer to be part of that conversation?

Full story here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/13/1099792/-Open-thread-for-night-owls-Senators-roll-out-red-carpet-for-Jamie-Dimon

This reminds me of the tough response Texas congressman Joe Barton apologizing to BP for getting any Texas sand under BPs oil because that's what you want in a congress someone who genuflects to business on site.

After the meeting Barton went into the full grovel.

Old home week Jamie Dimon and the politicians he buys

JP Morgan Jamie Dimon gets softball inside from political pals while abused by those on the outside

Ginsu Romney

The cost of buying a state. We need one more graphic as to tax breaks these "citizens" get

Tom Toles: the one vote that counts

How The Banks Bought The Tea Party

How The Banks Bought The Tea Party:

 "The 15 freshmen Republican representatives in the House Tea Party Caucus each ran in 2010 on a populist anti-Wall Street message, highlighting their opposition to bank bailouts like the 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and criticizing Washington for enabling the banking sector as it became “Too Big to Fail.” After winning, all fifteen received significant PAC contributions from the banking industry — and have become a reliable vote and mouthpiece for the financial industry, a ThinkProgress analysis of campaign contributions, voting records and public statements reveals.

Rather than campaigning on a typical pro-business platform, the Tea Party freshmen tapped into public resentment of big banks and bailouts. For example, then-candidate Sandy Adams (R-FL) said on her campaign website that she “opposes government bailouts” and “would have voted against TARP and the auto bailout.” Jeff Landry (R-LA) said bailouts of private businesses had “corrupted our free market system by rewarding the irresponsible and penalizing the responsible,” blasting “bank bailouts, which led to taxpayer money directly or indirectly going into multi-million dollar bonuses.”

But in Congress, the Tea Party has toed the line for big banks. Eleven of the 15 have become co-sponsors of H.R. 3461, a top priority for the ABA. According to Americans for Financial Reform, the legislation would “tilt the playing field further in the direction of excessive deference to industry interests and tie the hands of regulators attempting to protect the public interest.” The bill would make it harder for bank examiners to do their job, giving regulatory responsibilities to an industry that’s already shown it can’t police itself.

Here is what happened:

full story here: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/05/21/484283/how-banks-bought-the-tea-party/?mobile=nc

"

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Bill Moyers has some real must see television on the television stations and its connection with politics

Daily Kos: Scott Brown in league with the Evil Empire?

Daily Kos: Scott Brown in league with the Evil Empire?:

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Scott Brown doesn't mind whoring for whoever

Republican Sen. Scott Brown will apparently take campaign money from anyone. And I mean anyone.

Randy Levine, president of the New York Yankees, donated the maximum $2,500 to the Massachusetts Republican’s re-election campaign last month, according to newly released campaign finance records.[...]

Last week, the GOP incumbent began airing a radio ad heaping praise on Fenway Park and the team owners, finishing with “Go Red Sox!” [...] Now, it turns out, the president of the Yankees helped pay for those ads.

No big deal when you're busy taking money from whoever

Another solid effort on the real news connection of money and politics

A golden oldy Michael Moore absolutely one of the best of the old clips that was on television