Bill O'Reilly Tries to Force Ben Carson to Accept Failure

Bill O'Reilly tells Ben Carson that he's going to lose on Super Tuesday and asks him who he will endorse for president. Dr. Ben Carson will not accept the premise of this discussion, because even whilst causally mentioning the insane financial mismanagement of his own campaign, he seems to think he still has a chance. Michael Brooks is filling in for Sam Seder today...
https://youtu.be/7KjkcCCLt_o

It’s Official, The Government Only Works For The Wealthy

In America today, we have too many people going hungry, too many people living on the streets, and too many people who don’t know how they’re going to pay their medical bills. This isn’t the result of a lack of leadership, it’s the result of bad leadership. Republicans in America have worked very hard to create these problems just so they can give a few more handouts to the already-wealthy.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/p25Gk2sZIbs

The Sugar Daddies Of The 2016 Election

Political sugar daddies have a strong grip on the 2016 election. These billionaires know what they want, and what they want is candidates who will return the favor once they're president.
https://youtu.be/1rvuiRZMdh0

How the Kochs Are Writing America's Story Through Wealth and Power — and What Progressives Can Do to Counter It

One side fights against collectivism. The other, against inequality. For the latter to win, the government must protect and provide for all...
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/how-kochs-are-writing-americas-story-through-wealth-and-power-and-what

The Sad Truth About Donald Trump (Penn Jillette, Penn's Sunday School)

Director's Cut screens at Slamdance, & the Donald Trump conundrum.
Interview:
http://www.podcastone.com/pg/jsp/program/episode.jsp?programID=336&pid=100600355

Congress: Owned By Corporations (Ring of Fire On Free Speech TV | Episode 234)

Believe it or not, there was a time in American politics when the agenda of Congress wasn’t dictated by corporations and the wealthy elite, and we’ll explain how we got to this point, and where we’re headed if we stay on this path…
https://youtu.be/-XcvdK9LNv4

How Dark Money Stays Dark: The Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson and the Right's Destructive Racket

Internal memos reveal the slimy tactics political donors use to hide their campaign contributions from the public.
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/how-dark-money-stays-dark-koch-brothers-sheldon-adelson-and-rights-destructive-racket

Senator Elizabeth Warren Calls for Action to Root Out Influence of Money in Politics

In a Senate floor speech on the sixth anniversary of Citizens United, Senator Elizabeth Warren laid out steps that Congress and the Administration can take to root out the influence of money in politics.
https://youtu.be/wmO8fvcWpkY

The Story Behind Clinton's Jab At Sanders' One Wall Street Vote | ThinkProgress

Sanders voted in favor of passing Ewing’s original CFMA in October of 2000 and for the appropriations package that included Gramm’s end-around rewrite of it in December of that year. It’s that second vote that helped slam the door on regulations for derivatives. Again, such regulation wouldn’t have prevented the housing bubble, but it could at very least have put a canary in the mine on the elaborate system of interlocking wagers that investors placed on and around that bubble...
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/02/05/3746742/clinton-sanders-derivatives-regulation/

Controversial Israel Supporter Funneling Millions Into Clinton Campaign

While the contributions are not surprising from long-time Clinton-backers, $3 million of them notably poured in after the presidential hopeful authored a letter to Haim Saban in July of 2015, seeking advice on "how we can work together” to defeat the growing movement to Boycott, Divest from, and Sanction (BDS) Israel...
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/controversial-israel-supporter-funneling-millions-clinton-campaign

Mr. Deity and the Donations

Mr. Deity asks Lucy's assistant about some suspicious donations.
https://youtu.be/lv8qkfJRPNk

Can the Koch Brothers Stop Trump? | Vanity Fair

“Everything is on the table,” says one source. That includes sitting out 2016.
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/02/koch-brothers-take-on-trump

This Is How Much the Koch Brothers Hate Donald Trump

If Trump performs poorly in New Hampshire, the Koch network may be able to avoid a damaging showdown. But if he wins, it may already be too late to halt the runaway Trump train, especially if there's no Trump-targeting campaign in the can. So what happens if Trump seizes the nomination? Here's where things get very interesting...
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2016/02/koch-brothers-have-donald-trump-problem

The Road to the White House Begins in Iowa, But Is It Already Sold to Wealthy Donors?

Spending by so-called "dark money" groups—political super PACs and other organizations who can hide their funders—is already far ahead of previous election cycles, with estimates it could reach up to half a billion dollars. Outside spending has surged since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which removed limits on campaign spending by ruling that donor money is a form of free speech. We are joined by The Intercept reporter Lee Fang, who’s been following the money trail, from the politicians at the podiums to the money in the shadows.
https://youtu.be/fwiXlDZcLZM

Koch-linked group blasts John Kasich in ad buy

“John Kasich — not a conservative. Not even a moderate. An Obama Republican,” the ad’s narrator says. The ad zeroes in on Kasich’s purported support of Common Core educational standards, Medicaid expansion and tax increases...
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/1/28/koch-linked-group-blasts-john-kasich-in-ad-buy.html

How The One Percent Reshaped Democracy In Their Image

It’s no secret that our democracy today is owned by large corporations and the wealthy elite. And for most Americans coming of age today, this is simply how things have always been. But rest assured – this is not how the government has always been run.
https://youtu.be/B0JymEu4VrE

Terrified Republicans Try One Final Time To Derail Trump’s Insane Campaign

A week out, and Donald Trump is still in the lead, with Ted Cruz in a distant second. This comes as no surprise to anyone who’s looked at a poll in the last two months, but it isn’t what the Republican establishment wanted to see a week before the first caucus.

Like most of us, the Republican establishment never imagined that Donald Trump would make it this far in his campaign. They assumed that Jeb Bush would be the frontrunner and that the race would basically be over before voters in Iowa even made it to the polls. But as we’ve explained in the past, the establishment grossly underestimated their own base – a base that they lost touch with when the Tea Party burst onto the scene with the help of the Koch brothers.
https://youtu.be/ccBvL2-7E0k

What is political 'dark money' — and is it bad?

Secret cash is influencing elections. Here’s how...
http://www.publicintegrity.org/node/19156

How secret donations influence US elections

The two most common vehicles for dark money are politically active nonprofits and corporate entities, such as limited liability companies. Certain politically active nonprofits — notably those formed under sections 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) of the tax code — are generally not required to publicly disclose their donors. And limited liability companies formed in states such as Delaware and Wyoming are essentially black boxes through which donors can make secret donations to super PACs or to intervene directly in election campaigns...
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/1/20/how-secret-donations-influence-us-elections.html

A Republican Congressman's Surprisingly Smart Plan To Keep Lawmakers Away From Their Donors | ThinkProgress

On Tuesday, Rep. David Jolly (R-FL) rolled out a proposal to, at the very least, mitigate the impact of fundraising on members of Congress: banning all members from personally soliciting campaign funds. Under Jolly’s proposed legislation, which he calls the “Stop Act,” lawmakers and candidates would still be allowed to attend fundraisers and communicate with donors, but they could not specifically make the ask for money...
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/01/19/3740666/a-republican-congressmans-surprisingly-smart-plan-to-keep-lawmakers-away-from-their-donors