more news today is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of kenya that. operations are today. oh i john harshman in washington d.c. and here's what's coming up tonight on the big picture so much for shutting down wisconsin governor scott walker's radical agenda last night's recall elections in the badger state livered bad news i just for democrats but also for our democracy and i will discuss what we can do to get oligarchy hash out of our elections and the supercommittee gang of twelve starting to come together so looking at the names is there a chance that millionaires and billionaires will be bailed their fair share of

deficit reduction and people actually want or are we headed for another gang failure and finally we know hollywood is full of multi-millionaires was it but is it also full of discrimination against conservatives for the hollywood insider who actually believes the movies coming out of tinseltown are promoting a liberal agenda. you need to know this last night when the polls in wisconsin close in the votes were counted our democracy well wasn't watched but it was troubling you know what was the largest recall election in the history of this country six republican state senators desperately trying to cling on to their jobs in the face of a surging grassroots movement fueled by workers and middle class families across the state of wisconsin and elsewhere who were fed up with governor scott walker's

union busting agenda and fed up with a republican cronies in the senate who rubber stamped it if democrats just picked off three of those six republican seats and it was constant state senate would flip giving democrats control and putting an end to scott walker's radical agenda for good but in the end democrats came. up one seat short republicans won the first three races yesterday the democrats won the next two and then both parties turn their bat their attention to the ballots and more keesha county were county clerk kathy nicholas the same person who mysteriously found fourteen thousand uncounted votes during the wisconsin supreme court election a few months ago to put scott walker crony david prosser back on the bench was again inexplicably inexplicably late in reporting the results and prompted wisconsin democratic party chair mike tate to accuse nichols of tampering with the votes a claim that he later backed away from filing when it was came forward after the results were with the results after midnight showing

a republican incumbent alberta darling winning by a mere five thousand votes the open door to a democratically controlled state senate was slammed shut so what happened here we go from an historic groundswell of activism and support for organized labor for average working people it shut down the capitol building in madison back in march and that in no time at all collected more than enough signatures to put six republican senators are recall ballot unprecedented to where we are today defeated how did early polls that show republicans getting swept out of office a few weeks ago translate into republican victories last night the answer cold our corporate and billionaire cash and a lot of it this was cause a recall election was another major test of the new era in american politics a new era began in january of two thousand and ten when the u.s. supreme court ruled that citizens united versus f.e.c.

at the political voice of you and me we the people is no longer as important as the voices of billionaires and transnational corporations so the first round of consequences of the citizens united ruling during the midterm elections last year that's what almost three hundred five million dollars in outside. and ends to this day mostly unknown spending was dumped into the races propelling republicans to landslide victories compare that with the last the outside spending the last midterm election when only sixty nine million dollars was spent and democrats came up big and now we're seeing the results of another post citizens united election and a bodes ill for both twenty two well and for the tattered future of our small d. to mock or c. in this nation's republic a few of america's most notorious all of groups including the koch and the deposed billionaires as well as untraceable millions from donors who could easily be the uranian government. corporations run by them giant american companies who do most

of their business and keep most of the profits outside the us apparently played big in this election i say apparently because the supreme court has ruled that we no longer have the right to know who is really funding our election commercials or even our candidates themselves thanks to an irrational and likely illegal supreme court ruling we have moved into an era in the united states oligarchy run politics as much as forty million dollars of oligarchy money was spent was consonant and full of local races a testing laboratory for strategies that will now be used against democrats nationwide next year two thousand and twelve and so now we enter the battle of the olive guards that will last over the next fifteen or so months and as the old saying goes when the elephants fight the mice get trampled in this case the mice are just the voters it's democracy itself america is now demonstrably as we saw in wisconsin over the last couple weeks just a few years away from the possibility of

a totally corrupted totally billionaire and corporate controlled political system political scientists call it was oligarchy the citizens united election experiment is over and it seems the oligarchy swan long live the oligarchy. before settling into despair and accepting that american democracy is lost we need to first ask the question is there anything that we the people can do to fight back you know it turns out there's actually a lot all around the country likely in your home state there are movements underway to amend the constitution of the united states to strip corporations of the personhood that has been granted to them by the supreme court and declare that money is not a form of free speech essentially overturning the supreme court's citizens united decision and a whole series of ones over the years that led up to it so how do we find out more about this and how do we get involved to answer these questions i'm joined by david

cobb a former green party candidate for president of the united states in two thousand and four and spokes person for the website move to amend dot org david welcome thank you so much time for your pleasure to be on your program thank you great to have you with us these six wisconsin races may have been the most expensive in american history with tens of millions spent by billionaires and corporations how can we do as americans to take back our political processes from these and foreign corporations. well first of all time i appreciate the time that you've always taken which is that we never give up and we won't give up we will take our inspiration from the great social movements of poor us like the women suffrage movement the abolitionist movement the trade union movement the civil rights movement you don't real movements don't just gauge their success or failure on one alexion or the other they gauge their success on whether or not they're connecting with the american people whether or not they are were running and eating their message and

i'm happy to tell you that the message that we needed people are going to rise up and take our country back from these oligarchy is resonating across the country and that's why i'm so excited that the effort it moves to and it doesn't know our g. and the effort to and then the constitution to make it clear to corporations do not have any legitimate constitutional rights whatsoever is gaining traction so people say that it's impossible to amend the constitution that they're bent and this is a fact they have been literally twenty nine thousand and sounds since the founding of the republic of men and senators in the congress it's only succeeded twenty seven times what do you say to people who say you know your. time here. well i write knowledge that they're correct and i also acknowledge the fact that it will like me and your viewers have not taken up the challenge anyway and we would not have the nineteenth amendment which guarantees women the right to vote we wouldn't

have the thirteenth amendment which abolished slavery we would have the fourteenth amendment which guarantee equal protection of the laws in this country the reality is that virtually the entire fabric this country that makes it a decent and just place that that group was woven together thread by thread by ordinary people like your viewers who are willing to do the impossible to challenge the oligarchy of their day to band together to believe that they had the attentional the ability to actually transform and shape the culture yes a knowledge that it's going to be a difficult task but it's no more difficult than the task that the abolitionists based in being slavery or that women faced in guaranteeing that they had rights under law or that the civil rights movement faced with a training in movement based it's a difficult task but one that i not only will undertake but i'll tell you this i undertake it with joy because i know that i carry in my heart that it believe that

we can change this country and i know your viewers believe that too why i remember the early efforts of jan and bill and california lens in pennsylvania there have been actually a lot of successes in this battle to deny corporate personhood if not just successes of education in some cases actually successes of what tell us about the successes that we're having where are they what you know what can you give us an aspiration or david absolutely i mean i think first of all we have to acknowledge that across the country literally there are hundreds of examples of either organizations or even local communities passing binding laws that make it clear that we the people do not believe the. should have constitutional rights but in the citizens united case is the only came down in january of two thousand and ten and already there's a movement taking shape you well know time having mitch and jan and bill and when to read it california that they passed

a resolution against corporate personhood back in two thousand and five and it belittles spattering examples of that in humboldt county california week passed a binding law that said corporations can't spend money in our local elections and should not be entitled to constitutional rights to overturn the law now that market overturned but this is the thing we're not starting this movement is broadening and deepening and i'm going to invite your viewers to go to the web site move to amend it out o. r g and get connected i will tell you earlier today time your viewers crash and i and he because it was such a popular thing that in result we believe so if your viewers go and can't get on please be patient and come back you can also call us at seven zero seven two six nine zero nine eight board and talk to a live human being but here's the thing tom there are communities passing binding laws a third in their right to protect their environment and saying that corporations

should not be able to claim constitutional rights to overturn that environmental protection are there are communities across the country passing binding laws to protect the integrity of the elections and including a notation that operation and should not be able to overturn this is happening it we're in conversation with trade unionists and unions trying to convince them to take the same approach really a strategy that you absolutely do have sorry we're out of time just a quick ten second question here bernie sanders has sort of my radio show that he thinks of this is a good idea he's generally willing to support the idea of america station you have any other politicians on board or should our viewers be calling their their elected representatives as well. they should be calling their elected representatives as well and i say this with the exception of bernie sanders and currently dennis q senate bill those congress people who are going to pass the constitutional amendment to move to a man are not in congress now but they are already born and many of them are

already serving as your state representatives i say this we reach out to those progressives who had the and the courage to fight back against corporate america and we support them and we elevate them and we move them into congress that's great david cobb thank you so much for being with us tonight. thank you tom think from what you're doing you're fifty we are fifteen months away from next year's elections and what happened last night was constant didn't make it clear enough that our democracies in big trouble with the flood of corporate cash next year will if we're going to save our democracy that we have to start fighting back right now against the whole idea of corporate personhood go to move to amend dot org and fight a. it's time for our daily poll your chance to tell us what you think here's the day's question citizens united allowed forty million dollars to be spent wisconsin's recall election is this a testing laboratory to be used against democrats in two thousand and twelve and choices are a political science is called an oligarchy or be transnational corporations should

have their say in politics like that it's our backyard let us know what you think will be open till tomorrow morning. coming up next another bad day on wall street as the dell plunges more than five hundred points on fears of a budget cutting recession so is this the result of republicans who were representing gore grover norquist and his billionaire funders instead of working people in their districts and states all as daniel healthy and jamie weinstein that question and tonight's own little debate. let's not forget that we had an apartheid regime right.

i think. the the bill on the oil. we never got to that says they're going to keep you safe get ready because you're going to. freedoms. is what is it that i when i'm alone liberal and all begins to expert political commentators to debate the week's biggest stories on our panel tonight daniel helper at any online editor the weekly standard and jamie weinstein senior editor at the daily caller has a nice little piece about me in it is yes tuesday is very nice and you let's get

started. number one market plunge five hundred one thousand points the second time this week that we've seen these bloodbath crashes over a thousand points or distance over fifteen hundred points for for what the last week and a half or so. we can have a year ago last september three hundred of the world's leading economists whole bunch of nobel prize winners wrote to president obama a letter because you're going to have great fun this letter said well we'll put it on the screen here a turn by major governments away from the promotion of growth in jobs and to premature focus on deficit reduction could slow growth and increase unemployment and pushes back into a recession history suggests that a tenuous recovery is no time to practice austerity and the great depression franklin roosevelt's new deal generated growth and reduce the unemployment rate from twenty five percent and thirty two to less than ten percent in one hundred thirty seven however the deficit hawks that area persuaded era persuaded president

roosevelt to reverse course prematurely and move toward budget balance the result was a severe recession because the economy to contract sharply and sent the unemployment rate soaring ok so that's these economists recapping basically history so why do the republicans want to lead us down the exact same road rather. austerity cut cut which we know is going to reduce g.d.p. which will reduce employment in a time of crisis maybe in the short term but in the long term because business is confidence to invest and openly get in trouble should you be making long term decisions though when you've got good time the fact of the matter is the president the president president obama reagan president president obama did the opposite when he came into office and had a seven hundred billion dollars stimulus package actually eight hundred billion what about a billion of it is what it was actually five hundred bush actually contracts economy less during during times of contraction recession but here's the point he said that his his economic wizards through their mathematical formulas said that the unemployment rate wouldn't go below eight percent and went up to ten percent

and it stands above nine percent today president obama's approach failed that policy that approach president on his approach wasn't didn't go far enough paul krugman who was operating in the new york times at the time and i was saying anybody who's ready could omics would say if you've got a two point seven trillion dollars hole blown in the side of the economy you know put a five hundred billion dollars patch i don't think it's going to make things better but we did go from losing eight hundred thousand jobs a month under bush to fourteen consecutive months now of good job growth in the private sector. i think i'm not sure what austerity measures you're talking about what the congress happened just last wish just cut the lowered future spending slightly but it's still a ball of actual current spending so there actually have been no no here's the thing called inflation there is a thing called inflation and that's the problem that the fed is now creating with quantitative easing and i think that back up that's that's a separate rob we'll see that's a separate problem that will also continue to be

a big problem is going to oppose our goddess and five as far as austerity measures go there actually haven't been austerity measures put in place so the fact that the market went down the fact that the fact that we've had in the last week a volatile market doesn't act. really reflect on what happened in the bet and the budget crisis there are many other factors that are now. moving to got what he wanted ninety eight percent of what he what he wanted he said and he said he got ninety eight percent of what he said i want to consult a plan he said that this is not and that was he said i'm a very happy man i got ninety percent of what i want to be only two percent he didn't it was a plan is a billion has nothing to do with the last one we got a volatility in the market that you don't think that if you look at and look at it in the u.k. when they are there and they hear austerity program their g.d.p. drop by half a point six there's also been a downgrade also been volatility in the european bonds raters also there's also been various other factors that don't actually have to do with with what your know

what your thinking is which is the keynesian model which as james said has been tried has failed but what of the treaty model we have this introduced we haven't gone away he wasn't we have he obviously a problem here's the problem or a bomb why did seven hundred billion now you say you want to do more to get us even more in a dead hole when there's going to be some pain there's going to be some time of economic recession but in the agent isn't how long it is in general if you do then the long term you'll see he in one thousand sixty one corporations are paying forty four percent or forty four point five percent in income tax now their pain eleven percent rich people in one thousand sixty one we're paying for some you can't have it both ways you can't you can't do both cheney you can say you can let us go back the i.m.f. has a study the i.m.f. has a study showing that raising taxes in a downturn is worse than spending cuts and taxes you raise if you raise the taxes of working people you're absolutely right when you raise the taxes of rich people what you're doing is reducing the balance in their swiss bank accounts and that doesn't affect you or aren't but you're also heard of employment rate those people

are going to hire fewer poem and you probably have to lay off you know look i guess i'm saying i may have that notion that if i've got an extra million dollars my pocket i'm going to hire you know but i don't know that i'm your yes that could be the case but also i'm also going to invest in the market which is investing in various other companies. which boosts the market that's the problem every time they're down this is this is what worried her is that it is looking for additional entire twentieth century and every time the rate at the top marginal rate was below fifty percent you had market bubbles and whenever it was above fifty percent you didn't he was people going to hell and it's not even if we've got it right but which it isn't slapping it on in the middle of a session repeat tired of the economy actually there's no evidence of that there's absolutely no evidence of that we have we have had recessions with high marginal top or no mortgage i think obama had warned against that as well as president kennedy what during the why did ronald reagan raise capital gains tax to twenty eight percent. while he raised the point he says that this is part of the deal but he raised taxes i mean you know if you're on the i'm going to have to do ok. i gave

my tape about what happened with scott's and i think that any time you go forty million dollars spent in six. local senate districts you've got a problem it's a problem for small d democracy or small our republic what's your take who are the biggest funders of democrats unions you've approached unions spending lots of money in the district i think that both unions and corporations should not have personhood rights but they at this moment they do and they both spend lots of money in these races the fact of the matter is you know the results are indifferent to me because it means that what it means to me if democrats want to back the house that doesn't concern i want to have their ocracy by oligarchy we've got about as i think you're reading it wrong the democrats the democrats overspent the republicans by a hundred percent it was two to one spending on the democratic side so you can wisco you're talking about the official party spending you know i'm not i'm talking about no i'm talking i would say the interest groups are we don't know about it we don't know the numbers what we do know we don't know the numbers karl rove went

into that state and spent we don't know how much we know it was over a million dollars we don't know how much the koch brothers went to the state we don't know how much they spent on that they got you have to hold everybody's a share an asset that democrats spent overspent the republicans to do one of the last so if anything it's anything that's a win for democracy no is it shows it shows that your point is what it shows is that a party had to spend the money because the outside interests were funding their problem not true to say they're not just don't have to raise any money as you are because they got over the battle over the last few months wisconsin has been a rallying cry a clarion call for democratic support this the democratic way has been under assault right this is this is what you've been saying on this show this is what by scribe people like scott walker and all the nasty republicans it's been under assault and then an election came the democrats that we are going all in first they recalled the local representatives they forced the elections and begin with and then they said we're going all in and we're going to win this and in fact they lost

it and i think i think if anything it shows that the republican governor it shows and by the way deval patrick in massachusetts is doing the same thing with this fires occurring backhoe. the bargaining rights and and showing it is showing voters around the country is it so you're going to go should go to truth about the new stand that hard times so hard message to this issue you guys don't have a problem with foreign corporations unaccountable unlimited let me just tell me just finish the sentence unaccountable corporations unaccountable unions for that matter you guys don't have a problem with outside interests come in and pouring money in here the truth of what i do i don't feel you know those ninety eight percent of all elections where the person who spends the most is the person who was well that's historical it's roadsides both sides were very well funded they both got their message and messages out in this case the democrats lost i don't see where this is the old you are you could say the democrats lost actually two democrats one in highly republican

districts and one came gates so obviously obviously there was competitive elections both sides are well funded but its own ideas are in his words were the million dollar what is the difference there were they were both they were both ways we both were well one more on the edge of a three billion dollar election year first of all it is this is now it should be fine doesn't pay to ship how did how much money did americans spend a potato chips every year i mean i think i'm i think elections are significant things that people are spending lots of money to get their message out in the election is not worrisome to leverage that it would mean that they're looking for a stimulus to take on this pretty good stimulus i really think it really does for the t.v. industry it's not just the t.v. industry there are lots of facets to this who will run for the record you guys have no problem with people pouring money into a campaign and then i know transparency is through the eyes of the i'm produces and improve but i agree the transparency is ok don't you think you disagree of the citizens united i'm supporting that in this case i mean you know i think different i mean it's you disagree with your karl rove and i just didn't waste i'm just pointing out is the unions were totally i'm just pointing out that i'm just

pointing out that both sides had equal right had a well well funded and they got their message out this is this is obama's team actually have an answer for her question already spent more because the outside. the on the republicans i poured a lot more than i think them in going to all of them saying they're both well funded even though we have a chance here as well apt apropos of political spending and the consequences there are political spending and actually i think probably more austerity this is the fourth night deadly riots in the united kingdom prime minister david cameron finally after three days came home from vacation and said ok and now nothing is off the table nothing off the table for police to confront the rioters presumably you know machine guns are ok eleven hundred people have been arrested some serious damages in this is this is awful stuff this reminds me and i remember the watts riots that detroit writes. but the conservative government's austerity measure some would say share some of the blame for this one of one of the rioters this is the ghetto this is the slums they don't care about us there's no jobs they still want

to cut benefits there's injustice we had enough we had enough we had to victoria jones on this program last night in london forty four million it's like sixty million dollars was cut from programs for youth and in very very poor areas that were principally community centers and you know and educational programs and. secondary and interfering education trade schools they've all gone i mean just literally caught and before a five out of out of sixty or seventy of these of these youth centers that were closed before five that still remained open started charging admission to people who have no money this is it what do you expect this is just justification for who you know it's about that's nonsense the idea is it is a symptom of what happens when you become the most an equal society you see as people in the streets who are cleaning up those are rich people those those are middle class workers who work hard well aren't getting loads of money from the government but there was sponsible citizens what we saw here is who gives them pure and simple and david cameron is absolutely right increase the amount of police to

sixteen thousand from six thousand and they have to take a harder measure the police have not been and they've been running away they haven't been you know having a force there they should put it down. gary hart ok there is and there are hooligans in your your groceries all over the world but why is it that spain greece portugal israel china and the middle east in the countries where you're having these problems and they're the countries where you're having economic. you're not happy when israel is or has great group kidding they're great when seen going to have protested israel but they have great you're saying they have economic problems or they have had relatively good growth as are protests and riots are not the same what we're seeing are right these are people who actually or have the millions if all the reporters not all the reporters i'm sure you could find some rare examples but the people when they're asked they're saying we're having fun this is a free hell of it now it was once a spontaneous we have another now with more or less yes with this isn't with this gone down if they had frankly you could just as easily be here good people better

get a better take i do going into shores and breaking windows so you realize that these are those who have the this is the philosophy that you're laying out is is kind of similar to what we were saying in the united states in the eighteen eight hundred seventy s. when the irish were rioting and wasn and books or be published about the irish gene it's genetic or an eighteen when i would you know say. it's of all races in class they had. people that are going to speculation about why people need to be ninety and as there's a clear difference it was the italians a little kid why they don't know that there's a clear difference you're suggesting i'm. giving a race to this have i ever mentioned race and i'm saying that people generally no matter what race they come from that are engaging in this who would you have yes say it's a good or bad bad circumstance oh well you has or not you have a little bit of religious love this is not a quality and this is not really since he this is the this is this is really michael is inequality in the united kingdom says and this is not later miserables where he stole a loaf of bread and was sent to prison because he was hungry there's always shoppers to the leader see.