to overturn citizens united by letting congress and by letting states regulate how much corporate money is said to be going to grow in our in our election cycle. so we have that amendment out there but that amendment doesn't say anything about stripping corporations of their personhood so where does that amendment kind of fall short and how do we i guess coalesce the people who support that amendment behind congressman mcgovern's amendment that goes a step further and says you know not only not only should we be regulating the spending but we need to address corporate personhood too so we think that free speech for people and progressive democrats america both we think you need to do but you have to address the money is speech question because the core years ago in buckley diva layo messed that up but the egregious ruling that thom hartmann has taught so many of us about starting in one thousand nine hundred six where the headers that was mean part of the ruling made a corporation a person and twisted the fourteenth amendment. that needs to be addressed in a fundamental way and that's w

makes an experience of the young turks about an amendment that was introduced to overturn the citizens united ruling and we'll speak to dean baker to hash out a proposed transaction attacks other countries haven't acted but how has wall street in a fight back against the effort here have all that and more few night including a dose of happy hour but first let's take a look at the mainstream media has decided to miss. our boy it's another day at the mainstream media is still going absolutely crazy over the herman cain sexual harassment story or maybe non-story now as i mentioned yesterday this kind of stuff is the bread and butter that catnip of the mainstream media and let's admit viewers always love to get the juicy details of a good scandal too it's like high school because it doesn't matter which side you're on you still want to know everything about everybody and the gossip mongers who are the mainstream media are happy to provide. herman cain is surging in the polls but he's now fighting factual harassment allegations herman cain still not being able to shake the sexual harassment story

it's citizens united.rday, citizens united, the group for whom the supreme court case is named will, quote, begin blasting six figures worth of advertisements throughout ohio. the president of citizen the united said running this anti-union rights ad would cost them at least $100,000. at least. which puts the total amount of money citizens united is spending in ohio somewhere between 100 grand and infinity. beyond the actual group, citizens united, when you think after shady third party out of state groups driving dump trucks of money into an ideologically charged issue, what do you think of? which individuals come to mind? perhaps the koch brothers? yes, that's right. the koch brothers are not just herman cain's brothers from another mother or sisters from another mister, but the americans behind americans for prosperity. the ohio state chapter hosted 13 town halls in the last 2 1/2 months to convince people to not repeal kasich's union stripping bill. the koch brothers and privately held company are the

to ask you what role the supreme court has played in further crutchting congress because that citizens united case, as far as i'm concerned, i'm curious to hear your take on this, but that citizens yeened case is going to make this problem even worse because now money flows in unlimited, from across the country. corporations are treated as people. what do you make of how that decision, and you clerked for antonin scalia and he's on the wrong side, as far as i'm concerned, of that vote, but how do you think they affect it? >> i think that -- no doubt it makes it worse. i think the particulars, whether citizens united should have been aloud to spend its money, this particulars were fine. of course they should have. but the decision makes it sound like congress has no power to address the kind of corruption i'm talking about. you're right. what it means is an explosion in independent expenditures. the supreme court thought that those would be disclosed. it took a commeed can, colbert, to demonstrate on his show about how there's a huge fwp in regulations allowing most of it to be anonymous. it m

and this was you know two years after the citizens are not citizens united decision santa clara county decision this is entirely made up by the supreme court meanwhile house republicans are in their own squat about creating jobs yesterday they voted to reaffirm in god we trust as the as the model our model from george washington and so on one hundred fifty six was the pluribus unum out of many one and then in fifty six in the midst of all the and mostly godless communism hysteria got changed to in god we trust and so here's what president obama and others. and if congress tells you they don't have time they've got time to do it have we been in the house of representatives what are you guys been debating john you've been debating a commemorative coin for baseball. you're have legislation. reaffirming the good god we trust is our motto. let's not put people back to work. so republicans have been in control of the house of representatives for ten months where the jobs they promised jobs with the senate's promise to i mean the president it's laughable for him to make fun of the house of re

they've already done it with the supreme court of citizens united. this is how you fight back against citizens united. you come together and you don't give up. and we want you to get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. how would you vote on issue 2? here in ohio? text "a" for yes, text "b" for no to 622639. you can always go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. we also want to hear from you on twitter. tell us what you think on @edshow. a man sitting over here said he wants to start tweeting right now because he wants to see it tonight. joining me tonight, afl-cio president richard trumka, herald shapeburger, president of international association of firefighters. and former governor of the state of ohio, mr. ted strickland. gentlemen, great to have you with us tonight. governor, let's visit with you, first. i appreciate you being here. why didn't ohio see this coming in 2010? what was it? where was the disconnect? >> you know, people were hurting and are hurting, and i understand that. we all understand that. i met a young man on the sidewa

david, the head of citizens united. >> thank you all very much.itizens united. i want to thank brett for this conference. i want to associate myself with his comments. elections have consequences. the over 500,000 members of citizens united are tired of the games. we are tired of the republican and democrat games. we are in the midst of an obama recession, and president obama and the democrats in congress status quo. that is unacceptable to the american people. the status quo is more spending and more taxes and more debt. america needs lou -- new leadership to chart us back to fiscal sanity. by following the same old policies, president obama has failed the american people. just last year, you have to remember that even president obama said you cannot raise taxes during a recession. last week, 72 republicans to a common sense step in sending a letter to the now defunct super committee, urging them to not raise taxes on their fellow americans. of that number, 43 of the 72 were supported by the citizens united political victory fund. i am happy with

or any of these other groups that or people who are able to put together money that under citizens united doesn't even have to be reported and we probably won't even know about for a year or two if ever we're tracking some of it but they're so well funded they have so much money at their disposal right now we're really going to do need to get together with the shoe leather that this would we know that the appetites there for this recall but they can shake a tree and did come up with one hundred million bucks like nothing would be this is a quid pro quo government that's been created here the koch brothers have these little basket little organs here in the state that have bought this thing called the kiver institute and this thing called media trackers they have all these little weird organs and tools here that are placed by elections and it's on a comical unregulated money to scott walker and his racing right now he's trying to places like arizona california kansas new york and see all these places to raise unregulated corporate cash which is triggered when there's a recall election and n

would roll back the bill oddie decision the first national bank decision and a good chunk of citizens united in that regard what are your thoughts on that. if you look in the right direction to be sure and it's exciting to see that there are some in washington that are hearing that people ought but really we believe this is the key moment and it's really critical that we get out rate because if an amendment that isn't able to rock why not those who are free that will do the end of the discussion and will have to muster up all the explanation to explain why that doesn't go far enough workers the hurt is not just about money in elections to be sure that is a big part of it but corporations are also able to overturn democratically. laws that protect labor rates that protect the environment that protect communities rights and until we get rid of corporate personhood the idea that operations have rights of human beings under the constitution we're not going to really be able to get under corporations under our control so we believe we have minimal needs if not some you know as the moment we're en

this is how you fight back against citizens united. you come together and you work it out. and we want you to get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. how would you vote on issue 2 here in ohio? text a for yes, text b for no to it 622639. you can go to our blog. we want to hear from you on twitter. tell us what you think @edshow. we'll have a tweet live at the screen. this gentleman is going to starts tweeting right now because he wants to see it on the screen. we'll deliver. joining me tonight is richard trumka, harold shade burger of the international association of firefighters and former governor of the state of ohio mr. ted strickland. >> gentlemen, great to have you with us tonight. governor, let's visit with you first. i appreciate you being here. why didn't ohio see this coming in 2010? what was it? where was the disconnect? >> people were hurting and are hurting, and i understand that. we all understand that. i met a young man on the sidewalk walking here this evening who is homeless and hungry, and across this country people have lost their jobs. l

in the corruption that it grieves isn't talked about enough i've spoken extensively about the citizens united decision is decision on the show and other media personalities people like dylan ratigan jane huger they've tried to raise awareness about getting money out of politics too but despite those attempts or personal. it still remains and we need to see it more concrete steps to changing that reality and i for one think that it's time that americans stand up get serious about tackling that issue starting with a constitutional amendment overturning the citizens united decision and finally i want to respond to the viewer who tweeted out this government flew to we did thank you very much alone of the alone a show for your comments about us veterans out here felt more real than those of us and reporters just like to say thank you so much for watching there really isn't nearly enough coverage out there in my opinion about the issues that veterans face as consequences of our politicians constantly wanting more war so please continue to watch and i'll continue to bring my best efforts at covering

you know the fourteenth amendment of the united states says that if you're born here you're a citizen it was passed after the civil war and it's got it's what's called birthright citizenship if we're going to continue to be one of the small minorities of countries in the world that has birthright citizenship and arguably it would take a constitutional amendment change that but oddly the fourteenth the number is also where the supreme court is finding corporate human ship corporate personhood so maybe we should think about a vow to fight it but in any case we're going to continue to be one of the small minorities of countries birthright citizenship we need to figure out a way to echo or associate those rights that the children have as citizens to their parents who are not citizens or else we have had to go the direction of other nations in the most other nations say you know europe you're a citizen if both your parents are citizens of the doubt that's the best the most common system you know it's not about where you're born but you know who you're born. but in no matter how we end up r

speech one speech that decision was up held expanded in the supreme court just last year and citizens united decision ruled that money is in fact speech and even certain speakers a phrase from the ruling by corporations can use this to make political statements there just as kennedy wrote the creative dynamic inherent in the concept of free expression counsels against upholding a law that restricts political speech in certain media or by certain speakers so why is it going off the decision by the high court in buckley versus vallejo that when political expression is given the broadest possible protection this people piece of paper is protected as a people a piece of cotton but a tent is not and why is it one right one one recognizing the creative dynamic of free expression that again money is protected but tents are not i think the answer is actually fairly obvious corporations have a lot of ace a lot of money and not a lot of sense the ironic thing is occupy wall street is demonstrating in large part against these two court cases buckley and citizens united against the idea that money is sp

i mean, is it starting to grow the infrastructure, and how to work against citizens united? use this is just a sprinkling of the money that we're going to be seeing in 2012. >> absolutely. what this shows is when our members are motivated, when they're united, no one can turn them around. they simply cannot beat us with their money because we put too many people on the floor. they hire campaign workers. we have thousands, thousands of volunteers that came out that were motivated, that believed in what they're doing, that wanted to protect public safety, that wanted to protect the public education and wanted to protect the middle class. they'll do the same thing next year for candidates that stand with us. >> what about the divide that has been created? i mean, the republicans have come out and done the class warfare conversation. they pitted american against american. they say that the top 2%, they're already paying enough. obviously with the turnout, and with the 99%ers out there, there's a different stream of thought out there with working americans. but how would you win o

post citizens united, that decision was sanctioned.n followed a the creation of independent exposure -- independent expenditure-only committees. all you had to do was filed a letter. host: to go back to the callers earlier point. earlier point. guest: you can limit contributions, you can not limit spending. this is unlimited and unregulated spending by outside groups. all we need to do is to report as superpac to the federal election commission. these groups also have this nonprofit counterparts, which allows them to offer any debtor the option of either being public and allowing or to be completely under the radar. and raised money secretly through their nonprofit. through their nonprofit. host: we have a different number for this segment. guest: as long as we have money in politics, which has how it has been since the beginning of our country's founding, there will be this cat and mouse game following the money and seeing how it is being used and if limits are put in place, to make sure that disclosure is provided. as with various la

. >> rachel, i think we have seen the template clearly develop to fight back on citizens united, the supreme court ruling. we have seen here in ohio an unbelievable effort on the ground. is this the model? what do you think? >> i think the thing we talked about earlier, ed, about the difference between the democratic base and what the democrats have thought they could rely on to win elections moving forward is a distinction i think that can no longer be lost on national democrats. you actually have to give people something to go vote for. you've got to give people something to stand up for. you've got to give people something to fight for. and if you do it, and if you stand with people on issues of fundamental american rights, the people will stand with you. and to see the kind of turnout that ohio saw tonight is a template for democratic victories. i think heading into the 2012 election and beyond. it's the kind of victory that put a senator like sherrod brown from ohio in the senate, frankly. he didn't run as a third way triangulating democrat. he ran as an economic populist, someo

is it the template to beat citizens united? you're watching "the ed show" live from columbus, ohio. >>> coming up, the defeat of senate bill 5 and a big victory for the unions. larry handily of the emalgamated transit union will join me next. we'll hear from former rnc chairman michael steele. he's weighing in on the latest explosive allegations against herman cain. stay tuned. this is "the ed show" live from columbus, ohio. wriac" 's ysta io dr. scholl's custom fit orthotic center recommends the custom-fit orthotic that's best for your tired feet. foot-care scientists are behind it. you'll get all-day relief. for your tired achy feet. for locations, see drscholls.com. thank you... >>> welcome back to "the ed show." on the night of an overwhelming defeat of issue 2 and a huge victory for workers' rights, it doesn't get any better than this. when it comes to the middle class workers. joining me now, larry handily, international president of the transit unit and jack reall, president of firefighters union local 67. congratulation

just a citizen of the united states without trial. and that's a basic right of this democracy. it's given to us because we are a citizen of the united states. now, where i profoundly disagree with the very distinguished chairman and ranking member of the armed services committee is by saying that ex party querin and essentially set the law. it did not. and i went to the hamdi opinion and i'd like to read some of the majority opinion as written by justice o'connor. "as critical as the government's interest may be, this is on page 23 of her opinion -- may be in detaining those who actually pose an immediate threat to the national security of the united states during ongoing international conflict, history and common sense teach us that an unchecked system of detention carries the potential to become a means for oppression and abuse of others who do not present that sort of threat." it goes on, "we reaffirm today -- this is in hamdi, page 24 -- the fundamental nature of a citizen's right to be free from involuntary confinement by his own

vallejo decisions, and the citizens united, which is buckley on steroids, undos the democracy. it was an absurd decision, and we want to repeal it. >> now, do you feel that a lot of this money that is being poured in, and a lot of this changing the rules is because they're losing ground? when you look at the latest polls, not only is the president edging up, you have polls saying that 42% of people would vote democrat as opposed to 34% republican. >> yes. good, you're -- >> does that mean that congress may even -- we may see the house change a little? >> one of the things we did, starting in august, and i played a role in this, and i'm proud of it, is we started focusing on jobs and the economy, and we started showing the american people who's for creating jobs, such as this infrastructure bill and who's against it. the president to his credit has called out republicans on it, day in and day out. it's changing the whole political structure. the president's numbers are going up. let me give you one interesting one. in august, who is better at creating jobs and getting the econom

it is time to repeal yits citizens united and get money out of politics. can we have elections federally funded? that's what these folks want. it is time to invest in infrastructure and education, which mr. king your party has consistently voted down every effort to do. it's time to stop busting labor unions whether they are private, public, five employees or 5,000. it is time to stand and defend medicare, medicaid and social security because they are not in the streets marching for that kind of change. it is time to stop spending cuts and start to invest in america. the list goes on and on and if any of this stuff sounds familiar, you know what it is, have you ever heard of it before, all the things we mentioned here, hell, this is nothing but the democratic platform that the party adopted in 2008 at the national convention. that's all it is. go right down the list. citizens united obviously happened after the 2008 convention, but you look at what they are talking about, what they are protesting about, we have been there with the party. it is called the d

is it the template to beat citizens united? you're watching "the ed show" live from columbus, ohio. [ coughs ] what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick. you don't cough, you don't show defeat. give me your war face! raaah! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop. ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us. >>> coming up, the defeat of senate bill 5 and a big victory for the unions. larry handily of the emalgamated transit union will joi

now, citizens united obviously happened after the 2008 convention. but you look at what they are talking about, what they're protesting about. we've been there with the party. it's called the democratic party. and so it's par for the course for republicans like peter king to call them losers and druggies and filthy and they don't know what they want. hell, we've heard all that before. the fact of the matter is this movement is not over and this movement isn't going to subside anytime soon and when these folks go home at night, when they disband, they may not be able to tent out anymore where they want to, but believe me, these protests are only going to grow in number and they're going to be a hell of a lot more often. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, is the 99% movement getting stronger or getting weaker? text a for stronger. text b for weaker to 622639. you can always go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. now, you heard a very strong definition and description f

before we had citizens united, there was other money pouring into the system. i have been covering this particular part of american politics since i've. began in california, went to the secretary of state's office after an expensive senate race to look at the records about who was giving money and they could file by submitting all the names but withbetween the names and one line bond up against another so it was almost impossible to read pages and pages of documents. money is mother's milk of politics. so many people in this country who are not directly involved in the culture have come to accept a. that is hard to get the public aroused about the impact of money. they are inclined to say it has always been that way and always will probably be that way. now we're talking about numbers that are unimaginable. we will send a couple of billion dollars -- we will spend a couple of billion dollars on the presidential election and that money could be used in some many different ways to move the country forward. >> is the impact of that pushing people away from their g

there are no limits with citizens united. they can spend all they want. they don't have to put the name republican on it. >> right. he is going to face an onslaught. romney is really going to try to be a centrist here. you hear him on the stump saying obama is a nice guy, he is in over his head. we have the superp.a.c.s who can donate money and put them on the trail. is obama himself saying that the country is not better off now than it was four years ago? you'll see that on a constant loop as well as him when he talks about he owns the economy and if the economy hasn't turned around that he deserves to be a one-term president. >> there is a basic rule here. i mean, this is god help me, the 10th one of these that i have done, the 10th presidential campaign. negative ads work in campaigns for years and i'm still only 38. negative ads work in campaigns where the public isn't that interested. they don't work in campaigns like 2008, the jeremiah wright ad didn't work. in 1992, the stuff they threw at clinton didn't work. in 1980 the stuff theythrough at reaga

because of citizens united, what the people watching this theater want is not evenly -- they can't even get to the table to represent their own agenda. >> if this is what the voters wanted, how come congress has single digit approval? >> exactly. thank you very much. absolutely. it doesn't look good. it's not pretty. it's not effective. [ overlapping speakers ] >> how can you justify it? how do you justify theater like this? how does it serve people? >> when boehner came in in 2010 and proim promised 160 billion this spending cuts and then only came out with 38 billion in spending cuts, i think a lot of republicans and especially tea party republicans were disappointed. but that was probably twice as much as they were going to get if this theater you call it precipice politics hadn't come about. it's small changes but people want to see the process. >> i think they want to participate in the process. they don't just want to watch from the sidelines. that's why new york city was practically brought to a standstill in certain neighborhoods yesterday. >> that was really effective. >> we wi

as we know, when citizens united first, the decision fest came out down, a lot of what freaked so manyut was this idea, money as speech. but the amount of money that we know is going to be spend and the fact that we have no idea who these people are spending this money, so in theory, literally, you have corporations buying politicians. i know that there are those, that there are ways they already do that, but my god, maybe politicians should have to -- if we can't get the amendment passed, maybe they should have to wear on race cars, have the patches, so at least you know who is paying for whom. >> exactly. >> but you're right. i've got to say, one of the things -- and this keeps coming back. i noticed what lessig didn't like about what you guys have proposed, i again, just think it's simpler to say, no money, period. not 50 bucks, not this, not that. why create a whole another bureaucracy of deciding who's paid their $50 and who hasn't? >> listen, i understand -- and there is a counter argument that goes to the incumbency bias, where if i'm running and you're running, karen and you're