forcing viacom to report sensitive financial secrets. for instance, that vh1 annual operating budget is $14. (laughter) >> stephen: those bon jovi videos aren't going to pay for themselves. now folks, we've all waited two months for this decision. let's get straight to today's explosive committee room action. jim? >> the first item is an a advisory opinion request submitted on behalf of stephen colbert. >> by contrast, b and c conclude that cost associated with those -- ab and c, reach the same conclusions on the following issues. >> a couple of things. >> earlier -- set forth in agenda document 11-38 question one. >> the certain something -- do not have to be required. and but if you do, then -- (laughter) >> stephen: if only, if only there had been more arcane bureaucratic jargon we might have been carried on c-span 3. of course, i was there to get my rights by any means necessary. and i let those commissioners have it with both barrels. >> good morning. >> yes. >> you're welcome. (laughter) >> stephen: oh yeah. oh yeah! (cheers and ap

if's not clear if viacom want to.ads run during the show, viacom doesn't have to disclose whether it produced them or how much it paid. if the ads run outside the network, they do have to report all that. what is the impact of today's decision on what super pacs can and can't do? >> i not the super pac -- i think the super pacs are here to stay. they're raising money now and will impact 2012. the colbert juadvisory opinion the sign of what role he's having in the process and is making fun of it. >> reporter: the ceo says a super pac like colbert's and a traditional she and that a standard kpak raise limited amounts from individuals, can contribute to candidates and buy ads. a super pac, he says, can accept unlimited money from corporations or unions but cannot contribute to specific candidates. >> knock, knock -- >> who's there? >> unlimited union and corporate campaign contributions. >> reporter: so what's colbert going to do with the super pac? he's not given details about the content or when ads will air. he does j

said today is if you discuss the pac on your show, that will not be considered a contribution from viacom or comedy central. it was a very minor point. it doesn't really change the landscape much. let's listen to colbert's answer to the question of, is this a joke? >> now, some people have cynically asked, is this some kind of joke? i for one don't think that participating in democracy is a joke. but i do have one federal election law joke if you'd like to hear it. knock, knock. >> who's there? >> unlimited union and corporate campaign contributions. that's the thing. i don't think i should have to tell you. >> ahead of the ruling, some advocacy groups like democracy 21, campaign legal center, they urged the fec to not allow this definition, this technical definition of it not being a contribution. i'm not sure exactly what there is to fear there. they mentioned that sarah palin has a pac. mike huckabee has a pac. the question is what happens when they mention it on fox news. fox news can just say, you can't discuss your pac. >> actually, colbert was pushing for broader press freedoms if

com -- viacom. colbert contained himself and allowed his attorney to handle most of the questions.ut once it was approved, the artist currently known as colbert returned to form. >> i am here to represent your voice, so please quiet down. so we can all hear what you have to say with my mouth. there will be others who say stephen colbert, what will you do with that unrestricted super pac money? to which i say, i don't know. give it to me and let's find out. because i don't know about you, but i do not accept limits on my free speech. i don't know about you, but i do not accept the status quo. but i do accept visa, master card, and american express. >> joining me now, "huffington post" reporter and msnbc contributor alex wagner. have you made your contribution yet to the colbert super pac? >> in a donation under $50 so that he does not have to disclose it. >> so the question of the day is, is this a joke? >> no. the fec ruled in his favor, and the fec is a very serious body. my favorite part of that whole sort of scene in washington today was that they panned out from the rest of the

you do not [beep] with viacom. yes, sir. over there. ow! captioning made possible by mtv networks from comedy central's world news headquarters in new york, this is "the daily show with jon stewart." captioning sponsored by comedy central [theme song playing] [applause] >> jon: hey, everybody. welcome to "the daily show." my name is jon stewart. we have a very special show, very special guest tonight. medal of honor recipient sergeant first class leroy petry will be joining us on the program tonight. we're honored. we begin tonight, of course, with the looming crisis. as you know, on august 2nd, if america fails to raise the debt ceiling, we default on our debt. people lose the capacity to love. [laughter] and animals lose the capacity to lick their own genitals. that's right. if we don't raise the debt ceiling on august 2nd, man will be sentenced to an eternity of licking our own pet's genital, because what would we really do? let them dry out? of course not. [laughter] so hopefully our president, barack obama, can in one swift rooseveltia

colbert's pac allows him to use the resources of his parent company viacom to create ads for the upcoming election without having to report them.

t viacom's chief got $85 million. on average? ceo pay went up 23%. while wages for r e rest of us rose a meg earl half percent. >> what's really troubling for me, as well asco eos did better. >> reporter: in some ways, executives are being rewarded for not hiring, or getting more work out of fewer workers. but what about the workers? why aren't they rewarded, too? >> the worker gets paid what the market will bare. and because of that, you see wages that tend to reflect market value. by contrast, ceo pay is not set in a fully competitive mark. >> reporter: not fair, maybe, but not surprising. so, worker wages may have to wait awhile to increase, but the boss still gets his? >> that's right. the boss still gets his. which is okay. so long as investors get theirs. >> reporter: aaron katersky, abc news, new york. >> our look at the economy for tonight. >>> we turn now william and kate north of the border. this weekend, a huge welcome there. but tonight, their first taste of another side of public life. protests. bob woodruff is in quebec city tonight. >>

of viacom took home eighty four point five million dollars. he got to take eighty four million three hundred ninety four thousand dollars of it totally free of any social security tax not a penny while business robert iger took twenty eight million dollars in income but only paid social security taxes on the first hundred six thousand and that's twenty seven million eight hundred ninety four thousand dollars that he took those tax free at least with regard to social security taxes this is what's referred to as the social security happened and fix social security forever just do away with the cap and then the millionaires and billionaires are paying the same rate as everybody and when the and when they pay the same percentage as you do it'll start to work truly easy except that if you even mention it to a republican like eric cantor paul ryan or mitch mcconnell they'll walk out of the room got a pretty hard nosed billionaires so let's stop all the stupidity and the demagoguery and and stop scaring the average working people and make these relat

worried might turn into a loophole in that they ruled the fcc ruled that the money that comes from viacomcolbert starts working on his super pac. the fear that some people say is that this is allowing media organizations to have an unprecedented way of funneling resources then into campaigns and into the super pacs. >> okay. that happened on thursday. and just two days before, he was tightlipped when he met with me in his studio, and we taped an upcoming appearance by me on his show. take a look at some of the pictures that we were shooting. anyway, there's me in front of the colbert set. i can't give it away because i've been sworn to secrecy until it happens, but it's a skit that involves obviously cnn. and there's stephen colbert, also my book that you see when the banner's down. i'll be on there. but there's no air date for it. he didn't tell me anything about this. he wouldn't talk. he wouldn't talk. he's a very funny guy. i'll be on the upcoming stephen colbert, "the colbert report," short shortly. there's his producer in the middle. maureen, look for me. make sure you watch. tell e

. >> reporter: rapping after being ejected from viacom's mtv while trying to hand out cds.r truck up against it and inflated an air bag in case 34-year-old raymond velasquez of brooklyn fell or jumped. some in the crowd yelled. >> jump! >> reporter: for two hours police tried to talk him down while he talked on his cell. witnesses downloaded videos of the times square pole guy to youtube. while his times square pole performance was unaudible, you can hear him on his myspace page rapping under the name c.i. joan, coney island joe. his pole performance wasn't his first public disruption. posted grainy video of himself crashing the cbs "early show" as they were tossing to a snowstorm. >> that was nutty. >> reporter: not as nutty as refusing to come down from a pole. >> i think he was a moron. he went up there to make a show and cost new york city so much money. >> reporter: this harkens back to the 1920s when pole sitting was a fad. the last time something like this happened in new york city, it was too nearly naked people, one a transexual, another a guy guy refusing to climb

colbert's employer viacom would o revealreveal any financial top it gives to colbert's superpac outsidedonations. s. i do not accept the status >> i do not s o. do not but i do accept visa, mastercard and american express. $50 becauseess, please, because then i don't have to keep a record of record of who gave it to me. colbert has been n on something of a crusade against outside interest groups pouring money outside into the electoral process. groups like crossroads gps. > obama's $830 billion stimulus failed. >> a conservative money machine money machine advised by karl rove launched a $20 million ad campaign this summer targeting president obama. its democratic competition priorities usa is also getting in on the act. >> we know the ads blaming president obama for the economy re politics at its worse. >> reporter: colbert says his t beyond will not cater to any ery, hisy or candidate. his plans remain unclear. unclear. >> there will be others who say stephen colbert, what will you do with that unrestricted superpac money? 't know, i say, i don't know. give it to me and let's find and

his point was to address weather or not his corporate company, viacom would have to view it as an unkindxpenditure. fcc said they would not. it's not seen as a watershed moment. there was a lot of fear the fcc would say any corporate company can use their news media outlets and not have to disclose. >> it is obviously very into the weak stuff. what are you doing this weekend with your cats? >> laying low. staying here in washington, d.c. no road trips. >> he's got three cats. >> have you been to the cat rodeo before? >> i have not been to the cat rodeo. >> you should. tyson's corner has the best cat rodeo. fourth of july, 2:00 p.m. >> right outside. >> i have no way of getting through this without cat commentary. >> right outside pf chang's. take the cats there. >> mika, are you going to support me? >> i cats aren't getting along so i'm going to get rid of them. i'm a foster mother. >> you going to bump him off in. >> get him a good home. >> have a good fourth of july. see you later. >> you know, i love cats. >> he's a sweet boy. >> he's a good man. that was one of the most boring politi

the panel also concluded that his employer, a viacom, would have to publicly disclose any help against to colbert. is the american dream dead? here is barry smith. "if the american dream is not dead, but we are watching of the spent -- we're watching on defense." next is a republican from san diego. caller: i would not say the american dream is dead for everybody. as far as illegal aliens, they can come over here, have kids, get free education and free health care. it is probably not dead for them. it's probably over for white men over 50. that would be me, a few million others. host: are you still working? caller: no, i lost my job last november. host: what field were you? caller: transportation. it was kind of a dead-end job to begin with. host: so what are you doing with yourself these days? i'm a 99'er. host: so you're on support -- caller: unemployment, yeah, a 99'er. host: what are your prospects for the future? caller: ool, i'm 60 years old, so i don't have much longer to be in the workforce anyway. but i don't know. i'm just taking it a day at a time. i've just been on unemploy