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Chris Hayes gave a little send-off to Sen. Max Baucus on the news of his upcoming retirement from the United States Senate. After running down a list of why the only people who are really going to miss him are the lobbyists who will likely see their salaries go down once he leaves, Hayes reminded his viewers of what it really means when we hear pundits talk about so-called "centrists" in Washington.

HAYES: I know some of Max Baucus' defenders. I like some of Max Baucus' defenders. And they will say to liberal critics like me that we don't understand that the man is from Montana, the conservative state, and he wouldn't have lasted very long in Washington voting or sounding like say, Elizabeth Warren.

But here's what's so notable about so many of the items in Max Baucus' record that are objectionable. When you scratch the surface, they don't seem to have a lot to do with public opinion, either in Montana or anywhere else. I doubt there's a groundswell of public opinion in favor of the very tax extenders included in the fiscal cliff deal, or for raising the payroll taxes for that matter. Or permanently repealing the estate tax, which he voted for in 2006. Or disallowing the government from using its purchasing power to negotiate lower drug prices with big pHARMA.

No. The way to understand Max Baucus and the center isn't in terms of where the median voter is, or the peak in the bell curve distribution of Americans' political views, because the center in American politics is much less often the place of sensible moderation and much more often, the name we give to the place where power resides.

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Ed Schultz spoke to "Gasland" director Josh Fox about his arrest this Wednesday while attempting to film a Congressional hearing on hydraulic fracturing.

'Gasland' Journalists Arrested At Hearing By Order Of House Republicans (UPDATES):

In a stunning break with First Amendment policy, House Republicans directed Capitol Hill police to detain a highly regarded documentary crew that was attempting to film a Wednesday hearing on a controversial natural gas procurement practice. Initial reports from sources suggested that an ABC News camera was also prevented from taping the hearing; ABC has since denied that they sent a crew to the hearing.

Josh Fox, director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary "Gasland" was taken into custody by Capitol Hill police this morning, along with his crew, after Republicans objected to their presence, according to Democratic sources present at the hearing. The meeting of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment had been taking place in room 2318 of the Rayburn building.

After showing video of his arrest, Schultz asked Fox to describe what happened.

FOX: Well, I didn't expect to be arrested for documentary film making and journalism on Capitol Hill today. I was prepared for it, but I didn't expect it. I did think they would come to their senses and just let us film the public hearing. We were there covering a very crucial hearing about a case of groundwater contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming, a three and a half year investigation by the EPA where it shows subjects from the first film, Gasland, from Pavillion with groundwater contamination resulting in fifty times the level of benzine in groundwater.

And EPA has pointed in this case that hydraulic fracturing is the likely cause. And what was happening on the Hill today was Republicans have called, in the Science and Space and Technology Committee, a hearing to challenge science. Their panel was made up of gas industry lobbyists. And we were there to expose what I believe is actually a rather ugly and brazen attack on science itself, on what's happening across the country with this hydraulic fracturing and water contamination.

So we were there actually doing our jobs as journalists. I was not interested in disrupting that hearing. I was not charged with disrupting that hearing. I was simply interested in capturing on film in a broadcast quality camera what the Republicans were going to be doing right there, putting the EPA and citizens of Pavillion and everyone across the nation who is complaining of contamination due to hydraulic fracturing on trial. We wanted to make sure people knew that that was happening.

You can read more about the Pavillion case here and here.

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From Up With Chris Hayes -- Exclusive: Lobbying Firm's Memo Spells Out Plan to Undermine Occupy Wall Street:

A well-known Washington lobbying firm with links to the financial industry has proposed an $850,000 plan to take on Occupy Wall Street and politicians who might express sympathy for the protests, according to a memo obtained by the MSNBC program “Up w/ Chris Hayes.”

The proposal was written on the letterhead of the lobbying firm Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford and addressed to one of CLGC’s clients, the American Bankers Association.

CLGC’s memo proposes that the ABA pay CLGC $850,000 to conduct “opposition research” on Occupy Wall Street in order to construct “negative narratives” about the protests and allied politicians. The memo also asserts that Democratic victories in 2012 would be detrimental for Wall Street and targets specific races in which it says Wall Street would benefit by electing Republicans instead.

According to the memo, if Democrats embrace OWS, “This would mean more than just short-term political discomfort for Wall Street. … It has the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.”

The memo also suggests that Democratic victories in 2012 should not be the ABA’s biggest concern. “… (T)he bigger concern,” the memo says, “should be that Republicans will no longer defend Wall Street companies.”

Two of the memo’s authors, partners Sam Geduldig and Jay Cranford, previously worked for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Geduldig joined CLGC before Boehner became speaker; Cranford joined CLGC this year after serving as the speaker’s assistant for policy. A third partner, Steve Clark, is reportedly “tight” with Boehner, according to a story by Roll Call that CLGC features on its website. Read on...

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I don't know if anyone else is as sick of the Tom Brokaw/Chris Matthews consecutive book tours that we've got going on at MSNBC along with a couple of other networks, but this bit from Tuesday's Morning Joe where Brokaw was pushing his book along with some Villager conventional wisdom about what needs to be done to cure our country's ails left me feeling even more disgusted than I was with him after his appearance on Meet the Press this past Sunday.

The amount of cognitive dissonance necessary for either Tom Brokaw to make these statements in the first place, or the viewers that he thinks should be buying into his clap-trap here is really quite astounding.

After being asked by Willie Geist about American's “incredible levels of cynicism in government” and our Congress' nine percent approval level rating, and how some faith is potentially restored in our government, Brokaw responds this way.

BROKAW: Well again, it really requires the citizenry from the ground up to get involved in reclaiming their government. I've used this almost everywhere I go as an example. However you feel about the tea party, they got angry. Then they got organized. Then they got to Washington and they stayed disciplined and they were having an affect, out of proportion to their numbers, frankly, in the Republican debate.

But that's a demonstration of organization and power. And the other things is that I think both parties have to look at the enormous impact of big money on politics. K Street and the lobbyists and they're in there all day, every day.

Brokaw is apparently either completely detached from the reality, or just doesn't mind lying to the viewers since he's willing to ignore the fact that the “tea party” AstroTurf movement has been organized and co-opted by... lobbyists. Dick Armey... lobbyist. Matt Kibbe... lobbyist. Tim Phillips... lobbyist. And there are a lot more there where I could go on and on with who's pumping money into this “tea party”, another of which is one we've covered here extensively, the Koch brothers.

If Tom Brokaw honestly thinks that lobbyists have too much influence on our government, then the last thing he should be doing is trying to paint the “tea party” as grass roots and a cure for getting the influence of money out of politics.

After poo-pooing agriculture subsidies as one of the problems we have with lobbying groups having too much influence, which I do not disagree with by the way, Brokaw went on to champion our government having more “public/private partnerships” and used examples such as privatizing our schools, roads and water districts.

So Brokaw thinks we need to get rid of the influence of lobbyists in our government, but doesn't seem to mind so much the commons and institutions that should belong to the taxpayers being sold off to private industry so they can make a profit off of them.

This was followed by him talking to billionaire Mort Zuckerman who was touting his usual lines about how Washington is broken and complaints that there's not enough upward mobility in the United States any more, of course ignoring the fact that trickle-down economics, a race to the bottom on wages and labor protections due to globalization, lack of regulation of the financial industry among a host of other issues are what brought us to where we are now.

Nothing like MSNBC getting the opinion of one of the “little guys” like Zuckerman to let everyone know what the opinion of the one percent is so they can have a “fair and balanced” discussion on Morning Joe. So much for that "liberal" MSNBC. A lot of MSNBC's programming is really horrid but if there was ever one show anyone could consider pre-packaged for Fox and ready to move directly over there, Morning Joe definitely qualifies.

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As Chris Hayes reminded us before Harper's Thomas Franks joined him in the segment, "the Gingrich revolution in Washington gave way to crime and corruption with impressively staggering speed" and as he discussed with Frank here, this new lot coming in and their embrace of lobbyists looks like it's just business as usual for the GOP and their new leadership in the House.

HAYES: What begins as a movement becomes a business, which quickly turns into a racket.

Now, to be clear, this is not just a Republican problem. Congress is fundamentally broken and corrupt, and the Democrats are part of that problem, too. But over the past two decades, right up until today, Republicans really are proving themselves to be gold medallists in the race to become a racket.

Joining us now is Thomas Frank, columnist for "Harper`s" magazine, author of the book "The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule."

Thomas, how are you?

THOMAS FRANK, HARPER`S MAGAZINE: I`m good. Yourself, Chris?

HAYES: I`m good. So, OK, what do you think of that thesis about that quote, the ark of the `94 Gingrich revolution sort of --

FRANK: I disagree with all that. I mean, you know, I remember exactly where I was when - I was living in Chicago at the time when they came in `94 and `95, and all the stuff about the idealistic freshmen that was the mime in the mass media, the idealistic freshman, they`re so idealistic. I don`t know if you know about this, Chris, but they had great idealists.

And it is not like it took a really long time for them to come in and sell out. They are sold out already. Remember, they believe salesmanship is a virtue. These are people who think that the market is something holy, and that government is a criminal enterprise, OK.

We`re not just talking about -- you know, I grew up around Republicans, there`s a lot of good Republicans in America. We`re talking about true believers in a very strange, you know, pretty right-wing doctrine.

HAYES: Right.

FRANK: Ideologues. And the listen that I -- this is the -- I mean, "The Wrecking Crew" is largely about Jack Abramoff`s career. He was really one of this group, although he was a member of Congress. He came to Washington with the freshmen -- the idealistic freshmen in 1994 and stayed here and helped bring them down.

HAYES: Right.

FRANK: But the lesson that I kept trying to hammer away at in "The Wrecking Crew" is that in this conservative world, in the world of conservative D.C., you can be an idealist and a boodler (ph) at the same time. They don`t -- they don`t contradict each other.

HAYES: That`s the first time boodler has been said on cable news.

(CROSSTALK)

HAYES: So, what you`re saying -- what you`re saying is the racket is the cause. The cause and the racket are one and the same.

FRANK: Yes, conservatism in this town anyway. Look, you go back to place like Wichita or Kansas City, you know, where I`m from and conservatism can be something very idealistic and often something very noble, OK? Here in Washington, D.C., it is an industry. People don`t go into it, you know, because they really, really believe in it. I mean, that`s helpful, of course.

Continue reading »

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Casino Jack, starring Kevin Spacey, is in limited release right now if you're interested in the machinations of D.C. politics. Part straightforward re-telling of past events, and part fiction based on said events, the two often mix so it's hard to tell what is real and what is a story device. A bit confusing but worthwhile.

Take this short fantasy scene where the real Senator John McCain asks Abramoff a question in a Senate hearing. Abramoff daydreams what he'd really like to say to McCain, and others situated in the room who've benefited by his actions but are now there condemning him, instead of invoking his Fifth Amendment rights as he knows he must.

This scene is NSFW. Easily Kevin Spacey's best performance since Recount, and maybe his best in a film role since winning an Oscar for American Beauty.

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Unlike Chris Matthews who wants to pretend this is not what goes on daily in D.C., Cenk Uygur goes through what is pretty much standard operating procedure in Washington; lobbyists influencing legislation, the revolving door between holding office and working for corporate America and the influence campaign donations have on our politicians.

And the end result, we have the TSA using useless scanners that violate our privacy and don't detect explosives or putting up with overly intrusive pat-downs.

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Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont held a town hall meeting on August 29th and was asked by one of his constituents from the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign what as Vermonters those who are supporting that movement can do about the amount of money that is going to flood into their state and how to stand against it and stop it. Bernie explained just how powerful the interests are that they are fighting against and how the recent Supreme Court decision to allow massive amounts of money to be poured into campaigns has made that worse. He also explained that if Vermont leads the country in trying to prove that a single payer, Medicare for all system can work, they are going to be deluged with special interest money trying to fight it.

As Bernie pointed out, the reason there is going to be so much money poured into trying to make sure Vermont doesn't go to a single payer system is that if they can prove that it works, other states won't be far behind and you'll see it spread across the country state by state. Sanders then explained what needs to be done to fight those special interests.

SANDERS: In my view, if we are serious about having a cost effective, high quality health care system which guarantees health care to every man, woman and child, the way to go is a Medicare for all single payer system. If Vermont leads the country, you are absolutely right that we are going to be deluged with lobbyists and big money interests. Why? Because if the small state of Vermont, with all of 630,000 people, if we can show that a Medicare for all, single payer system works, then New York state is not far behind, then next New Hampshire and then California. The rest of the country comes.

That is why what we're doing here is so important and you are absolutely right. Well what do we do?

You know what, you're doing it. The answer those with big money, the only way I know to effectively fight back is by educating, by organizing. At the end of the day you knock on doors, you talk to people, you explain the issue. When we make it clear that they understand who our opponents are, there are people out there who are making billions and billions of dollars off of human misery.

You mentioned earlier, somebody mentioned, in this country, last year, you know how many Americans died because they didn't get to a doctor on time? 45,000 people died and god knows how many others became much ill than they should have because they didn't go to a doctor.

What we have now is a system designed to make profits for the insurance companies. There is a reason why we pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs and that is because these guys are making huge sums of money. They don't want a strong nonprofit system. Will they fight us? They sure will. So what you're going to have to do is give real support to the elected officials, to the legislature and hopefully the new Governor who has the guts to stand up to these people.

Bernie wrapped it up with pointing out that those who call single payer radical are talking about Medicare and SCHIP and those who bemoan "socialized" healthcare like John McCain are trashing the Veterans Administration.

This fight in Vermont is going to be very important to the entire country, so go show your support for the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign.

And here's more from Truthout on Vermont struggling to keep single payer alive. Single Payer Isn't Dead: How States Are Keeping the Movement Alive

Sadly I suspect what is going on in Vermont will be ignored by our mainstream media who along with those corporate interests are going to flood that state, don't want to see them succeed either.

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Rachel Maddow followed up with KPHO's Morgan Loew on Arizona's private prison industry and on the sponsor of SB1070, Arizona Sen. Russell Pearce, who's lobbying ties run even deeper than those of their Governor Jan Brewer. An article by In These Times summed up why as Rachel noted these Arizona pols are pushing the anti-immigrant hysteria even though it is not a very smart political strategy in the long term for the Republican Party. It's a Corporate Con Game:

Yet the fact is, some backers of S.B. 1070 are wrapping themselves in the flag all the way to the bank.

An In These Times investigation shows that the bill’s promoters are as equally dedicated to border politics as they are to promoting the fortunes of private prison companies, like Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and Geo Group, which stand to reap substantial profits as more undocumented residents end up in jail.

As Loew reported back in May, here are Pearce's plans for legislation he wants to try to push through next year.

'Anchor Babies' Could Be Ariz.'s Next Target:

E-mails to and from Ariz.state Sen. Russell Pearce reveal the immigration enforcement debate may not stop with SB 1070, the controversial immigration law.

Pearce, R-Mesa, the author of Arizona’s immigration law, has been writing to some of his constituents about what he plans to accomplish next.

In e-mails obtained by CBS 5 News, Pearce said he intends to push for a bill that would enable Arizona to no longer grant citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants born on U.S. soil.

Pearce wrote in one e-mail: "I also intend to push for an Arizona bill that would refuse to accept or issue a birth certificate that recognizes citizenship to those born to illegal aliens, unless one parent is a citizen."

CBS 5 Investigates looked through hundreds of e-mails Pearce had sent to constituents and some of their replies. The e-mails varied from praise to criticism and outlined Pearce’s future plans. Most were about SB 1070, his immigration law.

E-mails from the law’s supporters outnumbered those from critics by seven to one.

One supporter wrote, "I think it is about time we take our state and country back from the Mexicans."

One opponent wrote, "Mr. Pearce, you are a sick, racist bigot..."

Pearce replied to some opponents: "Do you not care about the deaths…maimings…billions in cost to America..."

One of the more remarkable e-mails sent to a list of supporters detailed his next steps. The e-mail, several pages long, includes articles critical of the 14th Amendment, which gives babies born on U.S. soil automatic citizenship.

One of the e-mails written by someone else but forwarded by Pearce reads: "If we are going to have an effect on the anchor baby racket, we need to target the mother. Call it sexist, but that's the way nature made it. Men don't drop anchor babies, illegal alien mothers do."

Lovely. What a guy. You can read the rest of the emails here. As the article said Pearce didn't seem to understand why anyone might be offended by that language. But then that's about what I'd expect from someone who's been palling around with Neo-Nazis. In These Times has a really great article with more on his lobbyist ties here.

Ties That Bind: Arizona Politicians and the Private Prison Industry

Go read the whole thing but I wanted to share this chart from that article here. The picture pretty much says it all. It's all about money and lining their pockets, but then what else is new? Fear mongering always seems to pay well for the ones monopolizing off of the fear whether it be wars or the prison industrial complex.

Gee, I wonder if Greta Van Susteren will ask Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer about this the next time she comes on her show fear mongering about Arizona's illegal immigration problem? Seems she has some advisers that have lobbying ties to the private prison industry. Color me not shocked. From KPHO-5, Phoenix, AZ:

Hotel Owners: Ariz. Politicians Scaring Tourists - Private Prisons Might Gain From New Immigration Law:

Between the economy and boycotts related to Arizona’s tough new immigration law, SB 1070, tourism in the state is down 10 percent.

They said state politicians are not helping matters. Just flip on cable news, and you’re likely to see an anchor or reporter talking about an invasion at the border, or headless bodies in the desert, or a rash of kidnappings.

During this election cycle, Arizona politicians have touted the potential danger of illegal immigration. Gov. Jan Brewer is one of the loudest voices.

She has made several statements to the national media, the validity of which CBS 5 Investigates could not confirm. The governor told one media outlet that almost all illegal immigrants are bringing drugs across the border. U.S. Border Patrol officials said that statement is false.

Brewer also said law enforcement officials have found decapitated bodies in the desert. Calls to all of Arizona’s border county medical examiners revealed no decapitated bodies have been reported to them.

A look at data from the FBI shows crime in Arizona is actually down. Murders in Phoenix have dropped by 50 percent since 2003. The violent crime rate across the state has dropped every year since at least 2004. Even the number of illegal border crossers is down. Border Patrol numbers show they are arresting half as many illegal immigrants as they did in 2004. [...]

In the meantime, a CBS 5 investigation revealed that there is one business that could gain from the implementation of SB 1070 and similar immigration measures. The private prison industry houses illegal immigrant detainees for the federal government. Those companies could gain contracts with state and local agencies to house illegal immigrants arrested for state violations.

Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA, holds the federal contract to house detainees in Arizona. The company bills $11 million per month. CBS 5 Investigates has learned that two of Brewer’s top advisers have connections to CCA.

Paul Senseman is the governor’s deputy chief of staff. He is also a former lobbyist for CCA. His wife is listed as a current lobbyist for the company.

Chuck Coughlin is one of the governor’s policy advisers and her campaign chairman. Coughlin’s company, HighGround Public Affairs Consultants, currently lobbies for CCA.

CCA issued the following statement to CBS 5 Investigates:

“CCA, unequivocally, did not at any time lobby - nor did we have any outside consultants lobby - anyone in Arizona on the immigration law. Nor are we proposing to house detainee immigrants as a result of SB 1070. We currently have no contracts with the State or any counties. CCA very proudly does have a presence in Arizona, as we own and operate 6 correctional facilities, employing more than 2,500 Arizona residents. These contracts are with other state and federal jurisdictions.”

Meanwhile, at Rancho de la Osa, Richard and Veronica Schultz said they don’t know much about the motives behind the politicians making alarming statements about the border. Read on...