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tv   Countdown With Keith Olbermann  MSNBC  October 4, 2010 11:00pm-12:00am EDT

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you can have the last word online on our blog, which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? the republican party's war on the middle class, alaska candidate joins the connecticut one attacking the minimum wage. he said it's unconstitutional. but you won't have to work for less, you will have to work forever. it's kentucky candidate's plan to gut social security. >> for the younger generations, there will be changes in eligibility. >> you raising the retirement age? >> for younger people, yes.
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>> my special guest, rachel maddow. >> now mainstream republicans railing in nevada. she says this while trying to make a back room deal to get a sprinter candidate. i have juice with da mint. isn't that the recipe? my special guest is rachel maddow. glen beck's latest historical whopper. slavery in america started with "seemingly innocent ideas ", but then. >> a little more regulation here and there and before we knew it, america had slavery. >> big government ruined slavery's good name. a preview of the tea party's america. government ala kart.
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they didn't pay a surcharge to the tennessee fire department so when his house caught fire, the firemen came out and watched. >> i thought they would come out and put it out. even if you hadn't paid your $75. i was wrong. >> our special guest and all the news and commentary now on countdown. good evening from new york. democrats are working on a campaign strategy to push back on the tea party agenda even republicans know is so unpopular they do not want you to know about it. class warfare, a war against the middle class and the working poor. the position americans are not working enough and not poor enough. alaska candidate joe miller is only the most noteworthy. at politico reading the
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constitution literally to declare the minimum wage unconstitutional. it's not in there and the tenth amendment prohibits in his mind any federal program or power not identified by name in the constitution. even if it were constitutional to require americans make at least $7.25 an hour, it's still a bad idea. >> there should not be a federal minimum wage? >> there should not be. it's not within the scope of powers. let me make it clear. it's not a simple checklist. let's think of this pragmatically. even if you agree with the approach that's the thing you ought to be following, it makes more sense to have the decisions made at the level closest to the people. more accountability and less efficiency and more understanding. we said this many times. if you like big government, move to massachusetts.
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>> in fact the supreme court upheld the constitutionality in 1941 in a battle that involved the constitutional the child labor laws that do not appear in the constitution. miller law school and yale not responding and the minimum wage is constitutional. the national journal reports that democrats are planning to use the issue not only against miller, but against the surprisingly large number republicans that are challenging it. the senate candidate called for a review of the minimum wage and did not know what her state's minimum wage was. the senate candidate called like miller for simply eliminating the minimum wage. candidate geno rossy supported lower wages for teens and called for freezing the minimum wage for grown ups. bill brady wants to lower the minimum wage. tom emmer argued that waiters make too much money. $100,000 a year thanks to tips and he wants to cut the minimum
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wage for anyone who makes tips. the median wage is $9.36 an hour. $19,000 a year. . chris dudley has a problem with waitresses. he made headline when is he said it doesn't make sense that waitresses get tips and minimum wage. how high is the minimum wage? $8.50 an hour. the average salary of 35 to $50,000, well below the $450,000 that is the minimum wage for the old job in the nba. why haven't you heard about this from republicans? ask dudley. >> i'm not going to make a campaign issue out of it because it's a hot button. at some point in time i will go over the issue. >> that's a rich former pro athlete explaining how he will keep everyone else poor. working for lower wages is not all that working people must do.
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minimum wage people must work longer and retire on less. that kentucky candidate rand paul is how they will pay for the tax cuts and those making more than a quarter million a year. >> i think you don't do anything to people currently receiving medicare or social security, but we have to admit the baby boom generation. we will double the amount of retirees and to put our head in the sand and say we will keep borrowing more money is not going to work. there will have to be changes for the younger generation. there will be up to changes in eligibility. >> raise the retirement age? >> there may have to be for younger people. longevity is out there. the average life expectancy in the 30s is 65. >> i'm not talking about people 55 and younger. >> you will have to have eligibility changes. younger people if they are honest if they admit to it will
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admit that younger people have different rules. >> okay. let's bring in rachel maddow the host of the rachel maddow show. >> thanks for having me. >> how real is the anti-pathy behind the minimum wage? how can it sell? >> knowing you were going to be leading with this and we talked to it, i ended up going through my own files on the minimum wage and i was surprised to sort of find there all the stuff about acorn. remember all the republican hysteria about acorn when it was a conservative movement and it blew up and the republicans started piling on against them? the thing that acorn was really, really good at was advocating for a living wage. not only making sure there was a minimum wage that was enforced everywhere, but when you made minimum wage, it allowed you to live out of poverty in a way that had dignity. if you worked full time, you
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ought to not be poor. acorn was great because the minimum wage and a living wage is popular when you put it on the ballot. that freaked out the right. it started off with the corporations trying to unseat them and they got the republicans across the board to pile on to them. that was the threat that acorn posed to conservatives and the republicans that support them. that's why they had to go after them. >> my head hurts. how can you sell this? at any point is a democrat going to make it clear that the tea partiers are appealing to little class and working poor who may feel overtax and have a natural affinity to the candidates with the guy with the 5:00 shadow in alaska and they are not only out to wage class warfare on them, but actually seem intent on making sure that they shoot any survivor who is might slip through the cracks? >> at this point the democratic
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challenge is to turn policy here any politics. the reason all of these republican candidates feel like they can say stuff this radical is because they think they are only talking to their base and talking about issues that only they will engage in if there is no democratic counter argument and seem too extreme from the right. it's all about mobilizing the conservative movement base and there is no cost to pay for being very, very radical. democrat when is they try to call republicans out on these, they find themselves to be targets and attack out of rand paul's position on what it is to not be an ophthalmologist in this country. people who do have great success. it's a matter of democrats being willing to swing at the targets. >> let's try this. on joe miller's argument, can you pack this thing about constitutionality regarding this and social security and
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everything considered a social safety net? what is his argument? >> he 4 birthers and deather, he has a radical fringe interpretation of what the tenth amendment means. he not only thinks they ought not be a minimum wage and that's against the constitution and whether or not it's a good idea literally cannot have programs like social security, medicare, medicaid. there can't be unemployment insurance. joe miller is who won't engage to the nonconservative media. his campaign won't make it to my show or your show. we asked many, many times with him. i would love for someone who doesn't agree with him and want him to win that election to ask him questions. if you ask him if it's constitutional for there to be an income tax, we may find out that joe miller is like wesley snipes.
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if someone asked if it's constitutional for there to be a civil rights act that prohibits businesses for refusing to serve black patrons, it's a lot like rand paul. as long as he stays, that's the question. >> the argument that states no best to is appealing to anyone who ever took a course in american history recently. what is the reality of the society they wanted to bring about or should they say bring back? is this the kickoff for the migrants and the immigrants so you can put americans back in the jobs picking tomatoes and such? what's the end of this? >> it's an argument that has overt historical precedent. it's a war-like argument. if the federal government does not have the power to set rules for things under the interstate powers that are in the constitution, then the federal government can't say hey deep south state, you have to pay
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people for working for you. for example. when you have a radical proposition on state rights like for example joe miller does. the slippery slope is slippery and steep back to civil war era arguments about nullification and ultimately slavery. i'm not saying he's pro slavery, but he uses it to justify the position of the south during the civil war. >> i have been waiting for tea party candidate john c. calhoun to show up. that's brooks and senator sumner too. to what extent is it this not just class, but generational? this republican tea party wants our grand kidses to pay for the rich right now and the interest and the money they borrow to pay for them. they want to cut the benefits of the younger people which they will need more because they have to work longer before they can retire. >> i think it is in part
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generational. that is some of what's going on. more than that, i think it's magic. the idea is that you par e down what the government wants in a nonsocial state environment and you do it with arguments that are magic. rand paul this weekend on fox news sunday is talking about how his first priority is to get rid of government debt. first priority is to get rid of government debt and he wants massive tax cuts. it's magic. it's magic, it's magic. he can talk about it as if there is a shell game they are playing to move resources from generation to generation. honestly the arguments don't make sense. the math doesn't work. >> lastly looking ahead to the story, she is caught on tape saying she has juice with da mint. you are the mixologist. what is it? >> the orange juice and cream
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demengt. if they were brandy, that would mean she was delicious, if we are talk about orange juice, we are in for not only a bad night, but a very, very sick morning. >> the rachel maddow show, see you in 46 minutes when you follow us as always. >> thank you so much. >> amazing revelation. third parties can't get traction as she explains on tape how she used the tea party to get her nomination and using the republican party to get to washington where she will have the juice she needs. all this is said as she tries to persuade another candidate to dropout and get out of her way in the race for the senate in nevada, next. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price.
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it's the 50% of contributors we don't know who they are that's the real problem. it's simple in texas. donate to his campaign and get grants from the technology fund. this tennessee homeowner thought the preview for america. government ala cart was a scare tactic until the fire department came it his house and watched with him as it burned down. he joins us.
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it is in a word remarkable. an awe at the pointic back room exchange of what happens when the tea party that has taken control of the republican party is not quite enough. it inspired another third party group and when the candidate
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talks out of both sides of her mouth in an effort to get back another third party candidate to dropout of the race. in the fourth story, it's the nevada nominee sharon angle. they lost their standard and their principal. i will work with it. you want to see dement? in a meeting at the home of an angle adviser, the committee tries to persuade scott ash to dropout of the race to support her instead. also present tea party chairman syd james and the angle adviser. a completely legal audio tape of the meeting was obtained by john ralston. angle wastes no time crashing the party when he expresses his disdain. >> i don't see a difference between a republican and a democrat.
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angle tries to pivot and explains she has the machinery where she wants it. >> the one thing you said about the machinery that has endorsed me, they have no choice. it's me. that's what with wha they got. in some ways it's exactly where we wanted that good old boy thing is in the box. >> candidate angle watches through a lengthy analogy in which she is david. leading harry read as the apparent goliath. republicans are also villains by weighing her down with the armor of machinery that she needs to cast off. she ramps up the david and goliath analogy with this.
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>> that's exactly what i'm doing is trying to get them to leave me alone long enough so i can get my sling and go after this guy. you go like i do on character and principle and they have got this political machinery that they would like to wear out there. you are tapped into it. you have tapped into the essence of america. and the essence of america is we are tired of politics as usual. the only thing that's different between you and i is, i guess i was pragmatic enough to than third parties can't get traction so i said show me what the rules
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are and i will work with them. >> that's right. by gosh, she will work with it. angle talks about the grass roots power of the tea party movement and how she can use it. >> that gives me some juice. and that gives me juice to help those and that's really all i can offer to you is whatever juice i have and you have as well. you want to see demint, i will have juice with him. i go to washington, d.c. and i see what they are doing. i say i want to see tom coburn. he's right there for me. >> let's turn to political reporter with slate.com, david, good evening. holy crap. this is how she gained the tea party and gained the republican party and how much of a pro she
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sounds like in a smoke-filled room. is anyone listening besides democrats? >> it's hard to listen to. the audio reminds me of next to a wall in a poltergeist. the campaign had only gotten 30 of these left to attack harry reid and this was a mistake, but the way it's spun is it's not a bad thing ever for a republican to be on tape saying the people in d.c. are a bunch of morons. that's the message. they are gullible and she has beaten them and doesn't need them to succeed. she can promise access which i think i guess is the only really upsetting part of this. >> the back room stuff and she has replaced the republicans in their own hierarchy. she is the virus that comes and takes over the cell. that doesn't change what it will do. is that going to resonate or
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they don't bother to listen because the audio is poor? >> they will side with her because the story is odd. he declared as a tea party candidate more than a year ago and immediately the tea party express among other groups dog piled on him and had an ad campaign and a pr campaign to drive him down from 14% in the polls to single digits with a message he was going to split it. this was the first example of how the tea party movement despite lots of talk about how they were not pro republican or pro democrat wanted to make sure republicans won. there was no sympathy here. it is -- and she is right about the republican party in d.c. there have not been a lost appetite for not giving tea party act vivs whatever they want. the best example is in delaware where they lost their preferred candidate. christine o'donnell came in.
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the national republicans said they weren't going to support him to giving her a donation and supporting her in the press and saying she had a chance after all. i think she will either she will get played for a a sucker. she can promise it. >> ash is not dropping out of the race and can get that support. she correctly described that as possibly being enough to cause her to lose to harry reid. the audio tape came from mr. ashton. he is taking the real district line it's better to lose than to win with juice? >> he's hard to read. since he was kind of chased down in the polls, he has not done a lot of media appearances. it's curious that he decided to have this meeting. some people said they really didn't want to. they shouldn't have. it was a bit of a trek.
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i don't think there is anything horse race-wise or anything reveal being the election apart from the fact that if she needs to grub for votes from this guy, she not beating harry reid the way people thought he was going to be beaten. at the beginning of the cycle a couple of months ago who assumes that harry reid was the ultimate example of how doomed the democrats were because nevada is the worst place for foreclosures and he is the leader in the senate. the fact that it's this close is the thing that should give democrats the most hope. you don't want to read too much more. this is unfortunately for democrats and this is not a case that is repeating itself. republicans for the most part and tea party activists have swarmed into the party without many questions. >> slate.com political reporter, thanks for your insight. >> thank you. >> you thought citizens united would be the end of democracy? nonsense. it's far worse.
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thank you, citizens united. half of the money spent on outside from unknown individuals. first the sanity group. i read in a new york magazine quoting there is a rule against
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mentioning it on twitter or me and my 121,000 followers in trouble. from caylee donaldson is you don't not talk about the ol ber tweet club. i'm in more trouble. let's play odd ball. we begin in british columbia where this bear does note wait for the picnic basks to come to him. he breaks into the store and puts them together his own self. walking up the aisles, he wandered and leaves his own winnie the pooh. realizing he forgot his coupon, he doesn't take any. hey, boo-boo! to budapest, it's the rubik's cube contest. they battle to see who would be the king of the squares. after nearly 30 years of these
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competitions they needed a new twist. this guy provided us. this guy combined the skill of ckie sack with the rubik's cube. you don't know what he can do with a slinky. the best way to sweep a girl off her feet is with killer dance moves. down goes his chances. that vanilla ice wannabe knocks her foot loose and she got a different idea when he said he was going to take her out. time marches on. the first early results of the supreme court's democracy citizens united decision. at least $40 million spent on the mitt terms from unidentified donors. next with howard fineman. dancing there? flying there? how about eating soup to get there? delicious campbell's soups fill you with good nutrition, energy, farm-grown ingredients,
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>> per in his state of the union address, president obama warned of special interest money flooding into politics in the citizens united. nine months after the decision
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in the post citizens united election, the president's stampede proved to be an under statement. there is hard evidence that corporate interests are use unprecedented sums of cash, possibly foreign to push their radical right wing candidates over the finish line. "the washington post" reported one month before the 2006 elections was $16 million. so far in this cycle, it's 80 million and half of that is untraceable. the money is being spend by conservatives that swamped the competition by 7-1. the federal election committee filings with the weekending september 26th, they spent nearly three times what the republican senatorial committee spent. back in august, american cross roads raised 2.4 million from three billionaires. rove using that money to beat democrats in missouri, nevada and colorado.
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we have no idea who or what gave the future fund the seven million it spent this cycle. we know the group is based in iowa and paid the same guy who created the 1988 ad to make ads playing on ground zero. now the nonprofit is rolling out cash to defeat 16 democrats in 16 races across 13 states outside iowa. american future fund mass producing democrat bashing ads henry ford style. insert your democratic name here. >> on election day, take the right path. vote against. on election take the right path.
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let's call the "huffington post" senior editor howard fineman. good evening. the post called this a spending frenzy conducted largely in the shadows. what does the government elected by karl rove and this future fund look like? >> well, a cross between the bush administration and the mckinley administration. the last time it was like this, it was a wholly owned subsidiary of jpmorgan and the pennsylvania railroad and andrew carnegie. that's where things are headed now on the republican side. that citizens united decision was in the court to listen to that hearing because i knew how important it was going to be. it was important legally and psychologically for corporations and their leaders and republicans in general. republicans like rove have
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solicited the money and saying don't worry, nothing is legally to fear anymore. corporations which are caught just by nature were worried about lawsuits and not worried about it anymore. >> the dnc said it had its best fund-raising month of the year. $16 a month from low dollar donors and special dollar specialing money on its behalf. this all balances out? >> no. it does not balance out. first of all, on the advertising side as the post said 7-1, i heard estimates as high as nine or ten to one. it almost all the money is going tv advertising and going to help republican candidates. the democrats are focusing on get out the vote and focusing on the ground game. they are facing a difficult choice. do they leave the airwaves unanswered and take the scarce
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resources and put it in television ads to answer the wave with karl rove or try to do it on the ground? the problem in a mid-term election is ads are easy if they have the money, but union ranks and you just don't see the troops willing to get out there in the way they were in 2008. >> one of the things from being in the roman citizens united is the foreign entities is having a clearer path. is there evidence with this new report today? >> there might be. i think progress with the research progressive blog. they are saying that they think there is a lot more foreign money coming in through the chamber of commerce. there have always been a lot of former employees that get
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involved in activities and other lobbying activities. the difference here is post citizens unite and an atmosphere of no holds barred. directly to advocate directly or for the ads you just show and there is going to be a lot of foreign money and corporate money and a lot of it will be untraceable. it's not required that it be reported in many cases. >> this is about a new breaking advertising story. this is not soft money. this is not this money from citizen united. this is from the campaign of christine o'donnell. a new ad is out. it's non-witch news. i want to get your reaction. the non-witch advertisement. >> i'm not a witch. i'm nothing you have heard. i'm you. none of us are perfect, but none of us can be happy with what we see all-around us. politicians who think spending, trading favors, and back room deals are the ways to stay in
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office. i will go to washington and do what you do. i'm christine o'donnell and i approved this message. i'm you. >> if she's me, i'm jumping out the window. did she say bathroom deals? the piano in the background, i couldn't really hear anything. is that a really good ad or really bad one? >> you don't even need "saturday night live" i'm afraid to say in this case. not since richard nixon declared i am not a crook has there been such a moment to start an ad by saying i am not a witch. they did their best to make her look like the junior league. the pearls and the piano in the background and the shy black dress. i will tell you who didn't make that ad. karl rove. he is running the republican party now didn't want her in this case and is still
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vehemently against her even though he claims otherwise. the republicans he thinks could lose their shot at taking the senate because of her. she didn't do anything to get in his good graces with that ad. >> better the junior league than the anti-sex league. thanks for your time and neither of us are witches either. the tea party american where you have to pay taxes for the fire department and a special fee. it is a fact for one family and they'll join us. did you know he thinks slavery started with innocent inside and big government screwed it up. this guy is nuts. when rachel joins us again, we go to the threat on america's water supply. ♪ ♪ ♪ another day ♪ another dollar ♪ daylight comes ♪ i'm on my way [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ another day
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♪ another dollar ♪ working my whole life away [ dogs barking ] ♪ the boss told me ♪ i'd get paid weakly ♪ and that's exactly [ bull lows ] ♪ how i'm paid ♪ another day ♪ another dollar ♪ working my whole life away ♪ another day ♪ another dollar ♪ daylight comes ♪ i'm on my way
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>> did you know slavery was not evil at first. only when big government got involved that it went wrong. so what if you pay your taxes.
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a fireman will not put out your burning house. a family had a symbol of a pay as you go government. join us next on countdown. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it's beach homes or it's starting a vineyard. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 come on! tdd# 1-800-345-2550 just help me figure it out in a practical, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's-make-this-happen kind of way. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 a vineyard? give me a break. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 [ male announcer ] looking for real-life answers tdd# 1-800-345-2550 to your retirement questions? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 get real. get started. talk to chuck. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 [ male announcer ] an everyday moment can turn romantic anytime. and when it does, men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment's right. ♪
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executive director of stock well prep in bright on michigan. she suspended a student and told him to find a way to raise $1,000 after he designed a cover for the school year book that she didn't like. probably because corey misspelled the name of the school. he spelled it shock well. maybe not the brightest kid in the school, but at least 10 other students and teachers looked at the cover before they printed it and none of them noticed the mistake. the runner up is glen beck. did you know slavery was caused by big government? it's true. >> it also took a long time to start slavery. it started small and started with seemingly innocent inside. then a little court order here and a court order there and a little more regulation here and a little more regulation there and before we knew it, america had slavery. it didn't come over on a ship to begin with as an evil slave
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trade. the government began to regulate things before people needed answers and needed solutions. it started in a room and went to the legislatures. that's how slavery began. and it took a long time to enslave an entire race of people and convince another race of people that they were somehow a little less than them. >> in fact america was born with slavery and the lack of government regulation is what allowed each state whether to continue. with the fugitive slave act made it a crime to help it escape, that was signed into law by the foundingest father of them all, george washington. any claim it didn't come overo a ship to begin with on an evil ship was silly even as a 9-year-old child. we conducted a poll with alfred
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e. nelson included such details memory of his schooling. the merits were the 110 pages and leather binding. glenn beck is alfred e. nelson. rick perry of texas, "the dallas morning news" had a searing analysis. a government in which he takes taxpayer money and gives it to those who donate to his campaign. the paper has found records that more than $16 million from perry's emerging technology fund has been awarded to companies whose officials or investors are large donors to governor perry's campaign. this is no accident. the emerging fund was not only created by perry, the awards not
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shrouded in secrecy, not only administered by his office but boy law he must personally approve each dallas awarded. say it partner, why don't you follow through on that session idea of yours and seed yourself right out of that office. what do you get? another deeper in debt perry. today's worst person in the world ♪ 16 tons what do you get ♪ another day older d leave your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go. be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru.
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a look now into the america envisioned by the tea party. a home catches fire. firefighters arrive on the scene, watch the place burn down. all because the homeowner did not pay an extra fee. our number one story. pay to spray. just a preview of what would come in the kind of a la carte government where the man
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victimized by this policy will speak out. it happened in tennessee. the grandson of gene and paulette was burning trash. near the family home when the fire got out of control. they called 911 several times. the fire department would not respond. why not? each year, residents must pay a $75 fee on top of taxes. if they want fire protection from the city of south fulton. the family did not pay. the fire department did show up when the fire spread to a neighbor's house that paid the fee. firefighters put out the blaze on the neighbor's property while the other family's home continued to burn. south fulton's mayor defended what is a 20-year-old policy. >> anybody that's not inside the city limits of south fulton, it's a service we offer. they accept it or they don't. >> crocker telling the area newspaper that if the fire department operated on a per call basis, there would be no incentive for rural county residents to pay the fee. he likened the policy to auto insurance.
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as an analogy, he said, if an auto owner allowed the insurance to lapse, they would not expect the insurance company to pay for a vehicle once it is wrecked. in obion county, three out of eight fire departments require the fee. they say they will not respond without payment. one of them says maybe. the county commission's latest report applauds the progressive credentials. fire service is without question a basic life, property-saving emergency service. it's no less important than law enforcement, rescue and emergency medical services. joining me now is gene kranek. thanks for some of your time tonight under these circumstances. allow me to express our regret here over the loss of your home. >> thank you. >> thankfully, your family is okay. you're now reduced to living in a trailer on that property. can you tell us what was lost in the fire?
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>> everything we possessed was lost in the fire. three dogs and a cat. that belonged to my grandchildren. was lost in it. and they could have been saved if they had put water on it. but they didn't do it. that's just a loss. >> when you all called 911, as i understand it, you told the operator you would pay whatever was necessary to have the fire firers come out and prevent the fire from spreading to your house. what was their response? >> that we wasn't on their list. >> and -- did they say, when they finally got there and started to work on the flames because they had spread to the adjoining property, what did the firefighters say to you? were they sorry about this? did they express regret? >> they put water out on the fence line. never said nothing to me. never acknowledged. just stood out here and watched
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it burn. >> if your neighbors hadn't paid either and the flames jumped to their house, that would have burned down, too? if nobody out there had paid, we would have had the entire rural community on fire? >> it was -- it was in a cornfield. it was already harvested. they had a tractor in the distance. they had the flame contained in the field. the man that owned the field told them to put the water on the house. they said they couldn't do it because it wasn't on the list. >> has the fire department, to your knowledge, ever made an exception to the rule? >> yes, they have. back when we had a real fire chief. >> boy. >> he had enough gull about him that he would do things. about three years ago. in december, this december. had the fire up here in my boy's house. and they waived the fee until the next day.
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but we had done the thing out before they got there, which doesn't make any difference. they waived the fee until the next day and i went in and paid it. >> have other houses in the area burned down while the fire department watched because people hadn't paid the fee? >> yes, sir. they -- let, as far as mine, i know for sure, they let three. and i heard of four. and then on the other side of union city in a community, they let a barn burn that had horses in it. so i don't know what about that. >> is your insurance going to help at all in this? >> my insurance is -- i talked to the adjuster. they're right on the ball. so insurance is going to pay for what money i had on the policy, looks like.