>>YOU WILL BE SHOCKED TO FIND THAT THE MONEY CURRENTLY BEING
RAISED TO PAY FOR THE GIGANTIC DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICAN
CONVENTIONS THAT WILL HAPPEN IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS IS BEING
RAISED FROM CORPORATIONS AND THE EXTREMELY WEALTHY, TWO SOURCES
THAT UP UNTIL RECENTLY WE BELIEVED HAD A NEGATIVE
INFLUENCE ON POLITICIANS, UP UNTIL HILLARY STARTED GETTING
PAID FOR WALL STREET SPEECHES AND SUDDENLY WE DON'T CARE ABOUT IT
ANYMORE.
ESPECIALLY ON THE LEFT.
UNTIL 1972 THIS IS HOW THINGS
HAVE BEEN DONE, THEY RAISED THE MONEY, THEY THREW THE
CONVENTIONS, AND THAT WAS THAT.
IN 1972 IT WAS A $400,000
DONATION TO THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION FUNDRAISING EFFORT,
THAT WAS TRACED TO A FAVORABLE ANTITRUST LEGISLATIVE OUTCOME
FOR THAT COMPANY, ITT, AND THAT LED TO REFORMS WHICH CAME IN THE
FORM OF PUBLIC FINANCING FOR CONVENTIONS.
YOU MIGHT THINK WE
HAVE GOT SOME OF THE MONEY OUT OF POLITICS.
THEY QUICKLY FOUND
A BUNCH OF LOOPHOLES AND DECIDED EVEN WITH THOSE LOOPHOLES THEY
WILL KILL IT IN 2014 --
>>I LOVE THE IDEA OF INCREASED FUNDING FOR PEDIATRIC DISEASE
RESEARCH, I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE WHY IT NEEDS TO COME AS A RESULT
OF ALLOWING CORPORATIONS TO GIVE MILLIONS TO THE POLITICAL
PARTIES, BUT THAT IS WHAT THEY HAVE COME UP WITH.
FOR
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE --
>>THAT IS NOT INCLUDING THE EXTRA PARTIES AND ALL THAT THEY
THREW.
THE DEMOCRATIC ONE --
>>THAT IS AN AMAZING BIT OF CHARITY FROM ONE OF THE LARGEST
ELECTRIC POWER PROVIDERS IN THE COUNTRY, AND HAD NO IMPACT ON
ANYONE AFTER THAT.
>>LET'S BREAK THIS DOWN.
NUMBER ONE, THEY ARE SET TO SPEND ABOUT
$150 MILLION ON THE CONVENTIONS THIS YEAR.
IF CORPORATIONS GIVE
YOU $150 MILLION, THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO GIVE IT TO YOU UNLESS
THEY EXPECT A BETTER RETURN FOR THAT MONEY.
IT IS THEIR
FIDUCIARY AND LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE EVERY
DOLLAR THEY CAN.
THEY CAN'T GIVE IT OUT OF THE GOODNESS OF THEIR
HEART, THEY CAN'T GIVE IT TO YOU BECAUSE THEY LIKE YOU.
SO THEY
PUT IN THE $150 MILLION BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE THE GOVERNMENT
GOODIES THEY'LL GET FAR EXCEEDS $150 MILLION.
WHEN YOU LET PRIVATE
INTERESTS BUY OUR POLITICIANS, AND A CONVENTION IS ONE WAY OF
DOING THAT, THAT IS A LOT OF MONEY.
WHEN YOU LET THEM BUY OUR
POLITICIANS, THEN THE POLITICIANS ARE GOING TO RETURN
THE FAVOR AND WILL HAVE TO SHOW THEM THAT RETURN ON INVESTMENT,
OTHERWISE THEY WON'T GET THEIR NEXT CONVENTION SPONSORED BY
AT&T AND ALL THESE OTHER COMPANIES.
THIS IS SICK, HOW IT
IS BEING CONDUCTED, AND JOHN WAS TALKING ABOUT IN THE BEGINNING,
NOW DEMOCRATS ARE LIKE NO, THAT MONEY NEVER CORRUPTED
HILLARY CLINTON, ALL THE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS THEY RAISED
THROUGHOUT THEIR CAREER, HILLARY AND BILL CLINTON, NEVER
CORRUPTED THEM.
MONEY CORRUPTING POLITICIANS?
I DON'T KNOW WHAT
YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.
NOW THEY ARE TAKING IT TO ANOTHER LEVEL,
WE WILL TAKE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS FOR THE CONVENTION.
IF
YOU ARE PARTISAN AND YOU THINK I'M WITH HER, I DON'T GIVE A
DAMN WHAT SHE SAYS, THEN YOU WILL FIND THAT PERSUASIVE.
BUT NO OTHER RATIONAL HUMAN BEING THINKS THAT SOMEONE GIVES
YOU HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS AND YOU DON'T DO ANYTHING FOR THEM.
>>THEY GIVE IT TO YOU, AND TO YOUR MORTAL ENEMY.
MANY
CORPORATIONS ARE DONATING TO BOTH CONVENTIONS, THEY GIVE
MONEY TO BOTH OF THEM SO THEY GET THE FAVORS REGARDLESS OF WHO
GETS INTO OFFICE.
AND IT IS NOT LIKE THEY ARE SAYING, WE NEED
FUNDING, DONATIONS FOR THESE CONVENTIONS -- WE WOULD LOVE IT
IF IT CAME IN THE FORM OF $27 DONATIONS FROM INDIVIDUALS.
THEY
ARE SETTING IT UP WITH PEOPLE, I WILL TELL YOU SOME OF THESE
PEOPLE, ON THE HOST COMMITTEE ON THE DEMOCRATIC SIDE, THEY ARE
GOING TO SET UP AN ORGANIZATION, LOOK AT WHO WAS CHOSEN.
YOU DECIDE
IF
THEY WILL BE LOOKING FOR $27 DONATIONS --
>>IS A WEIRD COINCIDENCE THAT HILLARY DOESN'T THINK WE SHOULD
RADICALLY EXPAND ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE AND GO FAR BEYOND THE
ACA.
WEIRD, THAT.
ALLYSON SCHWARTZ --
>>CURTAILED UP
UNTIL THE NEAR FUTURE, PERHAPS, UNLESS WE
CHANGE THE LAW AND SUDDENLY THEY BECOME SOMETHING WE CAN EXPAND
AGAIN.
FINALLY WE HAVE DAVID COHEN --
>>SPECIAL ADVISOR.
VERY SPECIAL, FROM WHERE I AM SITTING.
>>THEY WONDER WHY YOUNG PEOPLE GET TURNED OFF AND DON'T COME
OUT TO VOTE, AND THEY YELL AT THEM, LIKE BARNEY FRANK WOULD GO,
IT IS YOUR FAULT, YOU SHOULD HAVE VOTED MORE FOR ME BECAUSE
I'M A BETTER CORPORATIST THAN THE OTHER SIDE.
NO, YOU ARE BOTH
TAKING MONEY FROM THE SAME CORPORATIONS AND YOU SERVE THOSE
CORPORATIONS.
THOSE CORPORATIONS LIKELY DON'T CARE ABOUT BEING
RACIST, THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO BE RACIST BECAUSE THEY WANT TO
SELL TO EVERY KIND OF RACE AND ETHNICITY, THAT IS THE GOOD
NEWS.
THE BAD NEWS IS, YOU BASICALLY WORK FOR THEM AND
THEIR ECONOMIC INTERESTS, SO THEY WILL SHIFT THE TAX BURDEN
ON TO YOU, WHICH THEY HAVE, WE HAVE SHOWN THAT OVER AND OVER
AGAIN, CORPORATIONS PAY FAR LESS TAXES AND WE, THE AVERAGE
AMERICAN, THE MIDDLE CLASS, PAY A LOT MORE TAXES.
THEY SCREWED
YOU FOR TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
PLUS DEREGULATION, PLUS EVERY
MERGER, PLUS MONOPOLIES ON THE MEDIA, ALL THE THINGS THEY EVER
WANTED, WHILE REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS GIVE THEM EXACTLY WHAT
THEY WANT ON THAT.
THEY WONDER WHY THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE A)
DISCOURAGED, AND B)
LOOKING FOR SOME SORT OF POPULIST VOTE,
WHETHER IT IS TRUMP, SANDERS, ANYONE WHO IS NOT A SLIMY
POLITICIAN LIKE ALL OF THESE GUYS.
AND YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT
SLIMY POLITICIANS, THEY ENDED THE PUBLIC FINANCING OF CONVENTIONS,
THE ONLY THING THAT KEPT THEM HONEST --
>>TO SOME EXTENT.
>>BY PUTTING IT IN THE FORM OF PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH.
WE
ARE DOING THIS FOR THE KIDS.
NO, YOU ARE REDIRECTING THE MONEY SO
THAT CORPORATIONS CAN OWE YOU EVEN MORE AND YOU ARE HIDING
BEHIND THOSE KIDS.
IT IS GROTESQUE.