millions and the democrats getting those millions. does this nation protect its corporations or its people? all that and more now on "countdown. "snchl good evening from new york. a so-called grass roots movement as fake as the reportedly spontaneous tea party protests that broke out on tax day, as fake as the kenyan birth certificate of president obama that has been posted online which refers to a city and republic that did not yet exist. as fake as governor palin's oath to serve the people of alaska for four years. our fifth story on the "countdown" the astro-turfing of health care reform in a desperate bid to defeat it. remarkable new video tonight of fake grass roots protestors working from scripps, disrupting. town hall meetings of democratic lawmakers. [ chanting ] >> in austin, texas over the weekend protestors shouting down

congressman lloyd doggit after he said he probably would vote for a single payor health care plan even if he found out his constituents were against it. exactly as demonstrators were told to do in the memo of instructions titled rocking the town halls best practices written and distributed by freedom works the same organization that brought you the fake tea party protests. freedom works run by lobbyist dick armey the former republican majority leader funded by the usual group of right wing billionaires. it is likely most voters in that congressman's district are in favor of significant health care reform, the texas 25th, and he is one of the most liberal in that state. it is even more likely more protestors in that audience did not even live in the congressman's district. patients united, a front group maintained by corporate funded americans for prosperity now busing people all over the country to town halls. probably including to this one in philadelphia yesterday. the speakers were hhs secretary sebelius and senator arlen

specter. the protestor there is holding a bible. >> boss limbaugh today falsely describing that philadelphia town hall as senator specter and secretary sebelius getting hell from average americans who know they're full of it. minority leader boehner and michelle malkin also applauding the disruptions, malkin evoking the bloodshed of iraq in describing the scripted protests as, quote, counterinsurgencies.

>> i've been covering these counterinsurgencys among taxpayer rights groups and i think that this administration of democrats have vastly under estimated just how grass roots this movement is. >> she also believes in ghosts. time now to call in senator sanders, independent of vermont, member of the health, education, labor, and pensions committee. good to talk to you again. >> good to be with you, keith. >> these tactics, both the phony protests and the applause, do the tactics surprise you at all? >> not at all. the fact is these people talk about freedom and what they are doing is trying to disrupt meetings, which is the absolute opposite of what freedom of discussions about. and the reason for that is they are afraid to debate the real issues, the fact that we have a disintegrating health care system with tens of millions uninsured, under insured, 18,000 americans die every year because they don't get to a doctor on time. we got a million americans this year going bankrupt because of medically related bills and these people are screaming and yelling so we can't have a real discussion of the real issues.

>> presuming you have to win both on the issues and the screaming and yelling how do you win on the screaming and yelling when that is spun as the rage of average americans in most of the media? >> you know, it gets back to the media doing what they did in iraq, which is distorting reality. you remember during the debate in iraq, keith, we'd hold iraq had weapons of mass destruction and it turned out not to be true. what these guys are doing and saying is grossly untrue. they are talking about a government takeover of health care. untrue. they are talking if you can believe this in 2009 about the president of the united states wanting to kill off older people. so the answer is, if you want to have a real debate on the real issues, let's do it. let's ask for example why countries around the world are providing better quality of care than we are at one-half the cost. we are the only nation in the industrialized world that does

not have a national health care program guaranteeing all of their people. those are the kinds of questions that we've got to be debating. >> a question about senator enzi of wyoming. last week he said he wanted a guarantee that anything that came out of the finance committee ends up in the final legislation that's passed and today he's rejected the september 15th deadline for his committee to reach agreement on the bill. is this -- are we seeing outlines of the latest republican plan, just never let the legislation out of committee? >> look. let's be clear. there are virtually no republicans in the senate who are serious about health care reform. that's the simple reality. and what they keep doing is stalling and stalling and stalling and trying to confuse people. now, the truth of the matter is the democrats have not been particularly effective in also stating the case as to why we need real health care reform. bottom line is the system is disintegrating. bottom line is we spent twice as much as any other country. our outcomes are worse. bottom line is the vast majority

of people want a public option among other reforms. >> is just delaying this victory enough for the health industries? how many million a day do they collectively profit that would go out the window if there was this public option that would tamp down insurance prices? >> that's absolutely right. according to the papers just today the health care industry has spent $130 million in the last quarter. and that is the reason why our private insurance companies are reaping huge profits, why the drug companies charge the american people by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. of course they don't want health care reform. of course they'll do everything to try to stop us. >> last question, senator. a prediction. is this legislation eventually going to require passage by reconciliation? >> reconciliation is one of the tools that we have. my hope is that every democrat will vote against the republican filibuster, will pick up maybe one republican, do something serious and real for the american people. >> amen. senator bernie sanders the great

independent of vermont, once again, thanks for your time tonight. >> good to be with you. >> for more on how democrats can handle the so-called grass roots protestors let's turn to democratic strategist chris kofinis. good evening. does it take that much to hijack a town hall meeting and how did democratic lawmakers or speakers combat that? >> unfortunately, it doesn't take a lot to disrupt these meetings and that's the whole point. the republicans and these grass roots groups clearly being backed by republican groups and operatives have a very simple strategy which is to delay, disrupt, disturb. it's basically to take over these town halls and make them a media spectacle and create this facade of opposition. the overwhelming majority of americans want health care reform. there may be disagreements or discussions about what kind but the notion we don't need health care reform is laughable. now, in terms of what democrats need to do, it's a difficult thing. when you have a town hall, 150

people, 10 or 20 can disrupt that. my perspective is a good strategy is shame them. the way i think you can shame them, i would suggest to every democratic member of congress that has one of these town halls, bring one of your constituents who have suffered through this health care crisis that can tell you a personal story, that can start that town hall telling them, telling those people in that audience what the consequences are when an insurance company cuts their coverage and their child couldn't get the treatment they needed. and let those protestors get up and fight that. i think that is a very powerful approach. >> would it be of any use to foster a backlash against the phony backlash to say where are you from? have you ever been in this district before? did you come on a bus from another state? is that any use, confront them? >> i think it helps but the problem is it's one of the things i think the media is going to have to expose. i mean, what is clearly happening here is the republicans know that the country has moved in a different direction. that it clearly wants to tackle these issues like health care reform. so they're trying to slow it down.

you see that both in the legislative tactics they're using in congress and now you're saying it in these grass roots tactics. they did the same thing i think in a weird way that's very reminiscent to what happened back with the 2000 election and now you're seeing the very same thing. have small groups disrupt it. exposing them is a good thing but not enough. i think you have to tackle it head on, basically disprove their lies and their falsehoods because the reality is when you explain to the american people the enormous benefits of this health care reform, it's going to control costs, that it's going to expand coverage, that we basically are going to tackle a problem we cannot ignore anymore people will support it but you can't let a small group dominate the agenda or town hall. >> all right. if you take the august recess as kind of a collective town hall and media perceptions of town halls you've got those, tv radio ads, stunts we can't even imagine, you got rush limbaugh who might as well be funded by the republican party reading whatever it is they hand him.

could this slip into a groove that cripples health care reform? >> well, it's possible but, you know, i'll be optimistic about it. i think what you're seeing from the democrats in terms of the strategy coming out of congress as well as out of the white house is a very aggressive strategy on multiple levels both in the grass roots, the media, in terms of using, you know, ofa, the grass roots arm of the obama campaign, as well as other progressive groups. but let's make no mistake about it. this really is a battle for health care reform and in terms of the next four, six, eight weeks it is the groups that are going to fight the hardest that i think are going to have an incredible influence in terms of who wins the agenda both at the media level as well as the legislative agenda. so this is a real challenge i think to progressive groups, democrats, to go out there and fight for the health care reform. we all know this country needs. >> the democratic strategist chris kofinis. great thanks for your time. >> thanks, keith.

>> behind all of this of course is the money and the great struggle in this american experiment, the people versus the corporation. as i suggested in my question to senator sanders if the health care giants can afford to spend a reported $1,400,000 per day to thwart the public insurance option how much are they making per day? and to whom is that money going? sadly it is going to our politicians. and in car load lots. your assumption about the republicans is correct but there are also democrats who have sold their soul and i will call them out by name tonight in a special comment on health care. prize inside the prize. pecans! pecans! baked into crunchy oat bunches. taste the delicious surprise in every spoonful. new honey bunches of oats with pecan bunches. beautiful. i felt amazingly joe uses the contour)en i was td meter from bayer. (joe) my meter absolutely adapts to me and my lifestyle. i'm joe james, and being outside of the box is my simple win. (announcer) now available in five vibrant colors.

tonight a special comment on the urgency of health care reform and the price the health care industry is willing to pay to prevent it and the fate that awaits those who place corporations ahead of citizens. john mccain says there is good news about the economy so of course we have to change course. the air national guard placed on new york's long island is a fema

camp. "the new york times" rupert murdoch and billo the clown vi for worst person honors. country first. (announcer) your doctor knows tylenol doesn't interfere with certain high blood pressure medicines the way aleve metimes can. that's one reason why doctors recommend tylenol more than any other brand of pain reliever.

country first. john mccain's campaign slogan even after he put sarah palin first in line to become president if he could not serve country first. even when economic confidence or a lack thereof could be self-fulfilling prophesy john mccain says the sky is falling. why now? because the sun has started to peek through the clouds in the sky. the gdp fell just 1% last quarter lower than expectations and slowing its fall, stabilized

largely by the obama stimulus plan which fueled spending by local governments letting them hire 12,000 workers and subsidizing capital projects. ford today credited the cash for clunkers program for its first sales increase since 2007. chrysler has lowered incentives and is low on inventory because it has sold so many cars. car dealers are calling for the senate to renew the cash for clunkers program but one senator threatens to filibuster to stop it -- john mccain. when asked whether or not mr. obama deserves credit for the good economic news mr. mccain tried to deflate any confidence consumers or wall street might have. >> i think you could say that it is a short-term improvement in the economy and i'll be glad to give him credit for that, but the question that i think we should be asking are the long-term consequences of this unprecedented debts and deficits. are they beneficial to the country? and i think the answer is no. >> let's turn to dan gross, senior editor at "newsweek" magazine. thanks for your time, dan.

>> good to be here. >> why does mr. mccain and the right worry so much about incurring this debt now when its purpose is, even if it's a failed idea the idea is economic recovery, they, themselves, approved more than a trillion in tax cuts under mr. bush for rich people. >> well, all of this is in the realm of theology. in their world view government spending cannot stimulate the economy. the rnc chairman michael steele has said that. their politicians have said that over and over. they think the only thing that works aside from low interest rates is tax cuts. they went down on record opposing the stimulus package. not a single republican voted for it. so they are heavily invested in its failure. >> there are obviously differences about this cash for clunkers program and how much it is really goosing sales. but car sales are up so if you're the mccain economic advisor what's the strategy to be the guy who tries to block

the cash for clunkers program when it seems to possibly be working? >> you know, you pointed out in your intro to this that we've seen something out of detroit almost as rare as a detroit lions win and that is a year over year gain on sales. ford sold more cars in july, '09 than in july, '08. cash for clunkers only kicked in in the last week. it had something to do with it. all sorts of good things happen when a lot of cars are sold. there are huge retail sales, taxes are paid, it draws down inventory which means car factories may have to start making cars and employing people and of course all sorts of bad things happen when they don't sell. and there's a sort of mentality, you know, if the senate doesn't act quickly tens of thousands of new cars might be sold. run for the hills. >> i'm told by my producer you made a football reference in there. if you know my body of work i don't know anything about football so we'll just let that one pass. >> you must know the detroit lions were 0-16 last year. >> we wound up hiring their

general manager for a while. another story. speaking of things seeming to go well or seeming not to go well, the premise of economic recovery, some percentage being psychological, that confidence will fuel spending, etcetera, how do republicans run next year as country first if the primary economic message of this year is to yell whatever you do, do not have confidence? >> well, this is the great challenge i think they've had. they put themselves on record and said we're saying the stimulus is a disaster, won't work. it can't work. it's just physically impossible for this to work. and then they're talking about health care and all of these other things that are going to sabotage whatever very fragile recovery exists now. they are basically rooting for failure. for them to be in a better position in october, 2010, than they are now, lots of people have to be out of work. the stock market has to be down. every piece of good, economic data that comes out, whether the stock market, rising to a level it hasn't been at in a year,

whether it's the gdp maybe going into positive territory, is a reputation of their basic premise that these programs can't work. or they have to concoct new reasons why the economy is growing in spite of everything that the obama administration is doing. >> dan gross of "newsweek" many thanks for that. >> thank you. worsts ahead. oh, look! speaking of things collapsing of their own weight. do not try this at home. leave it to the experts. or whoever is walking down the street. next on "countdown." crest whitestrips has created a strip so revolutionary...

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the woman with the automatic weapon knew that was a fema concentration camp because she saw it on glenn beck. first on this date in 1940 was born in dayton, ohio. ramon, antonio, gerard estevaz who played the attorney general, white house counsel, and actual historical president of the united states, a future fascist president of the united states and a fictional liberal president of the united states. also he was dobbs in "catch-22" and was great. you know him best by his stage name and thus it is by that we will say happy birthday to martin sheen. let's play "oddball." hallelujah. we begin with yesterday's buick open in michigan. before finishing the 18th hole this is the eventual winner, tiger woods i believe the name is?

standing alongside his caddy steve williams and standing in the vicinity of one high-powered course microphone. >> just going to try and let it release a little bit more. >> tiger waits. >> it's interesting that all three of his '09 wins have been in -- >> tiger would break 70 yesterday perhaps after breaking something else. we can't say for sure that was the tiger who roared. he and his caddy chuckled toward the gallery where somebody might have had one of those leslie nielsen machines or maybe john daly stepped on a duck. then the turkey where they demolished the old flower factory on saturday. controlled demolition as you see. controlled quite poorly as a matter of fact. the engineering teams figured the building would collapse under its own weight but as you can see the thing instead tumbled onto its roof like a rubrics cube. as experts determine the next move the old factory is going to go back to work pumping out

upside down cakes. in birther land they found president obama's birth certificate. apparently he was born in a city that didn't exist yet in a republic that wasn't a republic yet. at what price america's politicians? senator john thune, his obstruction of health care reform was worth $1,206,176 in contributions from the insurance, hospital, and pharma industries. special comment ahead. first the best persons in the world. "dateline" the newseum in washington, d.c., number three best wheels coming off michelle malkin saying if you put enough cheese in front of people they'll just keep eating it which explains why america never has grown tired of cheap cheese and why it's totally led to nobody wanting to strive or excel for three decades. it started when reagan was president? if you're going to insult president reagan i have to ask

you to step outside. "dateline" the air national guard base, long island, new york. number two best proof that watching crazy man on tv will make you crazy. nancy genovese was arrested while illegally photographing the base. she was armed with an assault rifle, shotgun, 500 rounds of ammunition. she was hysterical and falling to the ground. she decided the base was a secret fema detention camp. you know where she got that idea? from glenn beck. she says so on her my space page. but he's just an entertainer. dateline the parallel glenn beck universe. number one best illusion glenn beck. the cash for clunkers program? it's actually a secret conspiracy to let the president take over your computer because the cars.gov website says anybody using it is giving the government lawful access to all files on their computer. well it doesn't say that and that's not on the cars.gov website but something called the esc.gov website where car dealers have to log in to register car transactions.

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good news, everyone. we don't have to worry about the whacked out birthers anymore because in our third story on the "countdown" they have found the holy grail. the head birther, russian emigree and correspondent school lawyer orli tate has found barack obama's birth certificate and is trying to introduce it as evidence in a florida lawsuit. there are a few problems. but only a few more than say a millionaire nigerian prince's e-mail. it was produced yesterday. this piece of something showing obama was born at the general hospital in mombasa, kenya on august 4th, 1961. a little detail as sagely noted on a dozen websites, the city of mombasa was not part of kenya in

1961 but part of zanzabar and didn't become part of kenya until 1963. this bombshell the joseph farrell white supremacists crowd calls it a smoking gun was supposedly issued by the republic of kenya february 14, 1964. whoopsy. on february 14, 1964 kenya was not a republic. it was still a british dominion. the 1964 documents read the dominion of kenya. it did not become a republic until december 12th, 1964. the registrar who is supposed to have signed this turns out to be the name of a popular detergent to say nothing of a brand of specially bred show gekos. also the registration number on the document. 44, the letter "o" 47. just a coincidence that obama is the 44th president, his last name starts with the letter o and when this other fellow ed hale says he obtained the document last september obama was 47 years old. but a lovely try, ms. tate and

very nice artificial aging of the document. you've been a wonderful contestant and please enjoy your parting gifts and this home version of the forgery game. not every democrat who has taken contributions, campaign contributions from the health care sector is a blue dog but some are like congressman mike ross of arkansas. prepared to be called out, sir, in tonight's special comment. the provision is personal history and worst persons, billo denies one of his most beautiful quotes, the one about, i want more iced tea. when rachel joins you at the top of the hour knee details from the saga of john ensign suggesting some of the gop knew about his scandal much earlier than claimed. every sunday, lasagna at mom's was a family tradition.

when she started forgetting things, i was hoping it was nothing. grandma! what a nice surprise! mom, it's sunday. that's when i knew i couldn't wait. mom's doctor said these were signs of alzheimer's, a type of dementia, and that prescription aricept could help. he said it's the only treatment proven effective... for all stages of alzheimer's. studies showed aricept slows the progression... of alzheimer's symptoms. it improves cognition... and slows the decline of overall function. aricept is well tolerated but not for everyone. people at risk for stomach ulcers... or who take certain other medicines... should tell their doctors... because serious stomach problems... such as bleeding may get worse. some people may experience fainting. some people may have nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bruising, or not sleep well. some people may have muscle cramps... or loss of appetite or may feel tired.

in studies, these were usually mild and temporary. mom. talk to your doctor about aricept. don't wait. alzheimer's isn't waiting. the illusion of the liberal media. "the new york times" carrying water for fox news and printing a story about a truce that never was. democratic congressmen and senators taking big money from the health care monopolies to stifle health care reform who are democrats. fortunately there are some things you can always rely on like the endless hypocrisy and

revisionism both hysterical and historical of billo the clown. a special comment ahead. first worst persons next on "countdown." (announcer) some people don't just work. they work to make a difference. to make an impact. to improve the lives of others. they're people in positions of great power. the power to effect change.

for them, career advancement is a goal. but not the only goal. for them, it's not about the money. although money is always nice. it's not about a corner office. it's about a greater good. there's a school for people like this. an online university where advanced degrees advance the quality of life. walden university. a higher degree. a higher purpose. tonight's special comment on the politicians of both parties holding up health care reform and the health care companies to whom they have sold their souls. this's next. first our number two story. tonight's worst persons in the world brought to you tonight by fix news celebrating six days without having fired glenn beck even after he called the president of the united states a racist and even they basically claimed he didn't really work for them.

brian stelter of "the new york times" front page story, front page story saturday about a, quote, deal in which as the headline read, voices from above silence a cable tv feud. problem, mr. stelter asks me at least twice last week if there was such a deal and i told him on and off the record there was not and i rather obviously would have to be a party to such a deal and i told him not only wasn't i but i hadn't even been asked to be by my bosses, and he printed it anyway and i had even written to him this was merely a misinterpretation of an announcement i made on june 1 that because bill o'reilly at fox news had vetted the assassination of dr. tiller he had become too serious to joke about, which i would continue with unless of course i decided to change the rules. ed it's a half-baked television newscast and i make up all the rules. so tonight's runner-up, billo

the clown. after the arrest of professor gates the frank burns of news went back to his excursion two years ago to meet some black people. remember when i went up to sylvia's and had dinner with al sharpton and said it's like any other restaurant in america. it's a nice place with nice people. i got served great. then the left wing turned it into i was denigrating saying oh, he didn't think sylvia's was going to be nice. yes. that's not what you said. billo on september 19th, 2007. i couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in new york city. i mean, it was -- it was exactly the same. even though it's run by blacks. primarily black patronship. it was the same. that's really what this society is all about now. there wasn't one person in sylvia's screaming, i want more iced tea. you know, i mean everybody was, it was like going into an italian restaurant in an all white suburb. in the sense of people were sitting there and ordering and having fun and there wasn't any craziness at all. >> bill thought there might be a human sacrifice between the salad and the entree'.

race its clown. >> i'm nicely surprised you haven't stabbed me with the steak knife, dear. our winner rupert murdoch. how would you like to be bill o'reilly or anybody else who thinks they decide what goes on even for a minute on fox news channel? rupert murdoch according to "the new york times" piece has muzzled billo and kept him from speaking his mind because, quote, what billo said could create real consequences for fox's parent corporation. how dare you muzzle o'reilly, mr. murdoch. this is the essence of corporate interference in the marketplace of ideas and it is shameful. solidarity, brother bill. free yourself from your corporate shackles. solidarity! rupert murdoch, who could never get away with that here, today's worst person in the world! (announcer) your doctor knows

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finally tonight as promised a special comment on health care reform in this country and in particular the public insurance option. in march of 1911 after a wave of minor factory fires in new york city the fire commissioner issued emergency rules about fire prevention, protection, escape sprinklers. the city's manufacturers association in turn called an emergency meeting to attack the fire commissioner and his interference with commerce. the new rules were delayed. just days later a fire broke out at the triangle shirt waist factory. the door to the fire escape had been bolted shut to keep employees from leaving prematurely. 150 of those employees died. many by jumping from the seventh floor windows to avoid the flames. firefighters setting up their

ladders literally had to dodge the falling often burning bodies of women. this was the spirit of the american corporation then. it is the spirit of the american corporation now. it is what the corporation will do when it is left alone for a week. you know the drill. we all know the drill. you get something done at the doctor, at a dentist, at an emergency room and the bills are in your hands before the pain medication wears off. if you're one of the lucky ones and have insurance you submit endless paperwork and no matter whether it is insurance through your company or union or nonprofit or on your own dime you then get your turn at the roulette wheel. how much of it is the insurance company going to pay this time? how much of it is the insurance company about which you have had next to no choice and against which you have virtually no appeal, how much is this giant corporation going to give you back? what small percentage of what they told you they were going to pay you will they actually pay you? you know the answer and you know the answer if you don't have insurance.

but do you know why that's the answer? because the insurance industry owns the republican party. not exclusively. pharma owns part of it too. hospitals and hmos and nursing homes have a share. you name a republican, any republican, and he is literally brought to you by campaign donations from the health sector. senator thune of south dakota, he gave that republican rebuttal to the president's weekly address day before yesterday and said the democrats plan was, for, quote, government run health care that would disrupt our current system and force millions of americans who currently enjoy their employer-based coverage into a new plan run by government bureaucrats. that's a bald-faced lie, senator and you're a bald-faced liar whose bald face happens to be covered by your own health care plan run by government bureaucrats. nobody would be forced into anything and the public insurance option is no more a disruption than is letting the government sell you water and

not just poland springs and sparklets. but as corrupt hypocrites go senator at least you're well paid. what was that one statement worth to you in contributions from the health sector, senator thune? $5,000? $10,000? we know what you are, sir. we're arguing about the price. what about your other quote? we can accomplish health care reform while keeping patients and their doctors in charge, not bureaucrats and politicians. wow, senator. this illustrates how desperate you and the other republicans are, right? because, senator thune, if you really think bureaucrats and politicians need to get out of the way of patients and their doctors then you support obviously a woman patient's right to get an abortion and you supported michael schiavo's right to take his wife off life support and oppose bureaucrats and politicians getting in the way and we'll mark you down on the pro choice list. that's a rare misstep for you, senator thune. no $12,000 payoff for that statement. i'm not being hyperbollic am i, senator, about the money? senator thune has thus far received from the health sector campaign contributions and all these numbers from the center

for responsive politics, campaign contributions amounting to $1,206,176. so much for senator thune. how about congresswoman ginny brown-wait the florida representative who claimed on the floor democrats had released a health care bill which essentially said to america's seniors drop dead. those are strong and terrorizing words. that is exactly what your insurance and medical overlords wanted to hear but are you truly worth every dollar of the $369,255 of them you have received over the years from the health sector? i'd read the rest of your operative speech myself but your rendition cannot be matched. >> listen up america. seniors have special needs. this bill ignores the needs of florida's health care system. we should be fixing what is broke not disseminating --

decimating the care of our senior population. >> you can always tell, can't you, congresswoman, when the hostage is reading her own ransom note and when she is reading one written for her. so much for congresswoman brown-waite. there are so many other republicans bought and sold like that unfortunate congresswoman there by the health sector. minority leader mcconnell of the senate? you're worth $3.1 million to the health sector? $1.5 million just for last year's election? i'm supposed to think you aren't a sellout, liar, paid spokesman, shill, carnival barker? so much for senator mcconnell. congressman joe barton of oklahoma. $2,660,000, congressman? that is ten times what senator robert byrd has accepted from the health sector. congressman, what a guy. so much for congressman barton. senator mccain, $1.6 million to serve the hospitals and serve the drug companies and serve the nursing homes and not to serve the retirement communities of arizona or the cancer survivors

or the veterans. so much for senator mccain. i could go on all night here and never exaggerate in the slightest. pbs pointed out the health and insurance industries spend more than $1,400,000 a day just to destroy the public option, the nonprofit, wieldly, round up and not round down government from helping you pay your medical bills with about a billionth of the recklessness it is still paying halliburton and its spinoffs to kill your kids. much of this money is going to and through republicans. that's the real point tonight. not all of it is going through republicans because the evil truth is the insurance industry along with the hospitals, hmos, pharma, nursing homes, owns democrats, too. not the whole party. candidate barack obama got more than $18 million from the health sector just last year and you can bet somebody in the health trust, somebody responsible for buying influence, got fired over what obama has done. you know, the democrats are not wholly owned. hundreds of democrats have taken

campaign money from the health sector without handing over their souls as receipts but conveniently the ones who are owned have made themselves easy to spot in a crowd. they've called themselves blue dogs and they are out there hand in hand with the republicans who they are happy to condemn day and night on everything else, singing kumbaya with the men and women bought and sold to defend this con game of american health care system against the slightest encroachment. congressman mike ross of arkansas. leader of the blue dogs in the house. you're the guy demanding a guarantee that reform will not add to the deficit. i'm guessing you just forgot to demand that about, say, iraq. you're a democrat you say, congressman. you saw what sandy barham said? she is 62 years old with a bad heart and is hoping her valves hold together for three more years until medicaid kicks in because she can't afford insurance. not just for herself, mind you. for her employees, too. she needs the public option. so do those six people who work at that restaurant of hers,

congressman ross. and why should you give a crap? because sandy's restaurant is the broadway railroad cafe and it is at 123 west first street north in prescott, arkansas. prescott, arkansas, congressman ross. your hometown. you are sandy's congressman. hers, sir, not blue cross and blue shield's even if they insure 75% of the state and they own you. the top donor so far to congressman ross's bid for re-election next year? the blue dog pac, ten thousand bucks. something called invicare, 7300. they make wheelchairs and rollers and slings. they're big in slings. tied for third the american dental association another grand. five grand as a matter of fact. your top donors by industry, congressman ross, health professionals $29,250. then pharma and health products $12,250. and so far in your career, congressman ross, your total haul from the health sector is $921,000. that is 90th out of 537.

you should be proud, congressman. except for the fact that before you started living off the public dime you owned a pharmacy. and your grandmother was a nurse. and it turns out you're not sandy barham's congressman after all. you are blue cross'. so much for congressman ross. congressman bart gordon of tennessee. congressman, undecided on the public option? at $1,173,000 in donations from the health sector i'm surprised. you should have already said no and loudly. the only thing you should be undecided about is whether you're really a democrat. so much for congressman gordon. senator max bachus of montana, good evening, senator. so you're supposed to be negotiating all this out with the republicans and the hesitant democrats to gain bipartisanship with a wholly owned subsidiary of the health sector. bipartisanship that will get you what? a total of no votes?

and your price has been, let's see, $414,000 in donations from hospitals, $667,000 in donations from insurance companies, just over a million from big pharma, $1.2 00,000 from nursing homes. when you think of getting $237,000 in campaign contributions from nursing homes, senator baucus, do you ever think about whether they subtract that amount of money evenly from all the patients suffering and dying in the lousy ones or just a few of the lousy ones? so much for senator baucus. sadly, this list could go on almost all night, too. i could ask blue dog congressman democrat john tanner, tennessee, if since he has gotten $215,000 from hospitals over the years if i and the appropriate number of my friends were willing to make it $216,000 if we could buy his vote or would there still have to be an auction? we could bring up senator hagen

and congressman pomerroy, who with $628,000 appears to represent the insurance agency and not north dakota. i could bring up senator carper and senator lincoln and by the way, senator lincoln, considering how you're obstructing health care reform how do you feel? every time you actually see senator kennedy? i could bring up all the other democrats doing their masters bidding in the house and senate, all the others who get an extra thousand from somebody if they just postpone the vote another year, another month, another week. right now without the competition of a government funded insurance company in one hour the health care industry can make so much money that they would kill you for that extra hour of profit. i could call them all out by name. but i think you get the point. we do not need to call the democrats holding this up blue dogs. that one word, dogs, is perfectly sufficient. let me speak to them collectively anyway. i warn you all. you were not elected to create a

democratic majority. you were elected to restore this country. you were not elected to serve the corporations and the trusts who the government has enabled for these last eight years. you were elected to serve the people. and if you fail to pass or support this legislation, the full wrath of the progressive and the moderate movements in this country will come down on your heads. explain yourselves not to me but to them. they elected you. and in the blink of an eye they will replace you. if you will be behave as if you are republicans, as if you are the prostitutes of our system, you will be judged as such. and you will lose not merely our respect, you will lose your jobs. every poll, every analysis, every vote, every region of this country supports health care reform and the essential great leveling agent of a government funded alternative to the

unchecked duopoly of profiteering private insurance corporations. cross us all at your peril. because, congressman ross, you are not the representative from blue cross. and mr. baucus, you are not the senator from schering-plough global health care even if they have given you 76 grand toward your re-election. ms. lincoln, you are not the senator from devita dialysis. because, ladies and gentlemen, president lincoln did not promise that this nation shall have a new death of freedom and that government of the corporation by the corporation for the corporation shall not perish from this earth. good night and good luck. my very great pleasure now to once again say good evening to my dear friend, rachel mads dow. >> hi, keith. become back. we missed you a lot.

tonight we report on the somewhat scary turn toward a political tactic in this country. we have upsetting footage to show you from settings that used to be for politics that are now descending toward something that looks a lot more like street fights. the senator john ensign scandal also takes a turn today raising some difficult questions now for the republican party itself. and cash for clunkers worked so perfectly that obviously it must now die. senator sherrod brown of ohio will join us. we begin tonight with recess. recess. it's recess time. as of friday the u.s. house of representatives is officially on recess. they're on recess for the rest of august. while that sounds like an awesome summer vacation, what it means for house members is does tradition dictates they go home to their districts and they meet with their constituents about the hot issues on the political stove right now. hottest among them of course is health care reform. now, whatever the political

issues are this recess happens every year. and the meetings with constituents thing happens every year. what's different about this year? well, i'll let you judge for yourself. to my mind, this is not your typical meeting with constituents. >> it's a question of time. that's the issue.