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Every day while the right-wing Super PACs pour millions of dollars into attack ads, canvassers for Working America, the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate, knock on nearly 25,000 doors and talk to more than 10,000 actual voters in town after town and state after state.

Each conversation is a little bit different, but together they amount to something like a series of giant nightly focus groups with people who are as “real” as you can get.

Voters care most about big issues like taxes and jobs and education. People want the richest Americans to pay reasonable taxes so our country can create good jobs in construction, transportation and more, and so we can hire police officers, firefighters, teachers and other public workers for our communities.

Those same people tell us without question that they’re counting on Medicare and Social Security. They can’t afford any cuts. None. Especially not to give more tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires.

Voters at the doors in Wisconsin last week associated Medicare cuts and a voucher system with Mitt Romney’s campaign and Republicans in general. They told our canvassers that Republican plans to switch Medicare to a voucher program “worried” and “scared” them.

When canvassers explained that Mitt Romney did more than simply discuss the voucher plan, he actually picked its author as his running mate, the voters overwhelmingly made up their minds in favor of President Obama.

Here’s something we hear all the time.

Millions of Americans support the particulars of health care reform. If anything, they’d like to speed up and expand implementation. Parents of school-age children and young adults tell us they’ve already been helped by Obamacare, and they reject Mitt Romney’s plan to overturn the Affordable Care Act on his first day in office.

Undecided voters often report confusion about the Republican candidate’s actual vision for America. That was the case in Colorado after the first debate, where voters thought Mitt Romney forcefully defended his positions. Those voters just couldn’t nail down what those positions were. (more…)

A few years ago, when I was teaching Advanced Robotics at MIT, a representative from an anonymous Republican PAC offered me an obscene amount of money to build a generic Republican candidate. “Nothing fancy,” he said. “Just something that will fill a suit.”

I was confused. “But you already have live candidates,” I said. He snickered. “Too human,” he said. “Human doesn’t work for us. Too unpredictable. Sometimes they think for themselves. That can be dangerous. So can you do it?”

“Fill a suit?” I asked. “Sure. That’s easy enough. Bodies are fairly simple. But I should warn you, creating a brain that can think is not easy. Brains are very complex. We haven’t worked out all the glitches yet.”

The representative informed me that his bosses didn’t really care that much about the thinking part of the brain as long as the candidate could walk, shake hands, wave at crowds, kiss babies, make speeches, lie convincingly, look presidential and have good hair. They added that if there was a screw loose somewhere, that wouldn’t matter. In fact, he said it might actually be a plus.

“The Japanese are better at this,” I told him. “Better school system there.” The rep thought I was joking. “We don’t want him to speak Japanese,” he said humorously. “Gibberish is fine, but Japanese might confuse people. Our base isn’t too bright.”

“Can you make a remote device?” he asked. “You know, one of those thingies people use to fly those model planes.” I shrugged. “Sure,” I replied. “That’s simple enough, but it will be a complicated device and whoever works it has to be technologically savvy enough to know what he’s doing or it could be a disaster.” (more…)

An activist group has declared: We’re sick and tired of being stomped on by the Powers That Be in Washington, and by gollies, we’re not going to take it anymore!

Hooray! It’s about time for regular folks ro rebel and make big-shot Congress critters of both parties listen to us. But – uh-oh – wait a minute, these mad-as-hellers aren’t wielding pitchforks and torches, but big bags of cash. Holy Thom Paine – they’re bankers!

Very few Americans on this side of the ATM machine think that the biggest problem in Washington is that the moneychangers don’t have enough clout. But, incredibly, here they come with a SuperPAC intended to force lawmakers to bow even deeper to their needs. “Congress isn’t afraid of bankers,” declared one of the honchos who organized Friends of Traditional Banking SuperPAC. “They don’t think we’ll do anything to kick them out of office,” he said, but that’s exactly the plan.

In a dramatic escalation of Big Money’s assault on America’s democracy, FTB’s funders are not out to support candidates, but “to defeat our enemies.” A Utah banker who chairs the new political entity explains that an incumbent who sides with the people against bankers is not intimidated when the banking lobby puts a mere $10,000 in an opponent’s campaign. “But if you say the bankers are going to put… $1 million into your opponent’s campaign, that starts to draw some attention.” He calls this a “surgical” approach to carving out political power. Yeah – like doing surgery with a chainsaw! (more…)

It comes to us all, eventually: that epiphanic, “come to Jesus moment” when the light of day finally penetrates our cloud of delusion, and undeniable reality slaps us hard across the face. That moment finally came for Newt Gingrich, who annouced that he will suspend his bid for the presidency. Tuesday night’s five-state Romney sweep apparently did what a bounced check and a penguin bitecould not.

Since it’s unlikely that he’s going away anytime soon, it’s time to say “See you later” to Newt Gingrich. Oh, and “Thank you.”

Why thank New Gingrich? It’s only right to thank someone for giving a gift, especially one that keeps on giving like Newt’s viciously accurate attack on Mitt Romney’s vulture capitalist resume.

Let’s look back for a moment.

It was early in January, and Newt Gingrich was having a “moment.” We’re not talking about your garden variety “moment,” either, but one to rival the 1995 history-making, career-breaking “Air Force One” moment that got Newt immortalized on the front page of the New York Daily News. Stung by his fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, and angry at being the subject of negative ads paid for by Mitt Romney’s super PAC, Newt stomped off to New Hampshire.

Gingrich didn’t retreat to the Granite State to lick his wounds. Newt hit back with his own super-PAC-funded attack on Mitt Romney.

Thanks to a $5 million donation from a wealthy casino owner, a group supporting Newt Gingrich plans to place advertisements in South Carolina this week attacking Mitt Romney as a predatory capitalist who destroyed jobs and communities, a full-scale Republican assault on Mr. Romney’s business background.

The advertisements, a counterpunch to a campaign waged against Mr. Gingrich by a group backing Mr. Romney, will be built on excerpts from a scathing movie about Bain Capital, the private equity firm Mr. Romney once ran. The movie, financed by a Republican operative opposed to Mr. Romney, includes emotional interviews with people who lost jobs at companies that Bain bought and later sold. (more…)

Look out – the Kleptocrat Gang is loose on the land!

Unlike thieves of old, this gang is not out to rob bags of cash from banks and railroads. Instead, they are bankers and high-rolling railroaders who’re using their own heavy bags of cash as weapons to steal our elections and turn our government into their servant. A small group of Wall Street billionaires, for example, has stuffed some $20 million into a super-sized bag of cash that Mitt Romney has used to club his GOP opponents into submission. Their money has gone into a SuperPAC, appropriately named “Restore Our Future.” They definitely mean their future, not yours and mine.

Among the members of Romney’s attack-PAC are four hedge-fund hustlers who put up a million dollars or more each. Ed Conard, another million-dollar member, literally tried to be a masked robber – this Wall Streeter tried to disguise his donation by using a fake name.

Why are these high-finance billionaires riding with Romney? Because he has sworn a blood oath to protect the very special speculator’s tax break that they get for doing practically nothing of social value. Unlike most Americans, they make their money on other people’s money, rather than work, and their lobbyists have gouged a loophole in the law allowing them to be taxed at less than half the rate assessed on the rest of us. President Obama is proposing to tax their income like everyone else’s, and the Kleptocrats see Romney – who, after all, is one of them – as their best bet to beat Obama and save their lucrative piece of tax favoritism.

These and other financial elites are now rearming their Restore Our Future PAC with many more million-dollar donations to buy attack ads that’ll pound Obama. These self-serving billionaire Kleptocrats are turning our elections into highway robbery.

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National radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the book, Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow, Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be – consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks. Twice elected Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Hightower believes that the true political spectrum is not right to left but top to bottom, and he has become a leading national voice for the 80 percent of the public who no longer find themselves within shouting distance of the Washington and Wall Street powers at the top. He publishes a populist political newsletter, “The Hightower Lowdown.” He is a New York Times best-selling author, and has written seven books including, Thieves In High Places: They’ve Stolen Our Country And It’s Time To Take It Back; If the Gods Had Meant Us To Vote They Would Have Given Us Candidates; and There’s Nothing In the Middle Of the Road But Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos. His newspaper column is distributed nationally by Creators Syndicate.

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This piece was first published on Jim Hightower’s website.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Karl Rove is set to unleash an unprecedented attack on President Obama via his SuperPAC. Howard Fineman and Sam Stein of The Huffington Post join Ed to discuss the ramifications in the era of Citizens United.

Has anyone besides me noticed that not only is Mitt Romney the GOP’s rich-man candidate for president, but his last name actually spells “money.” Just drop the “R,” move the “m” in front of the “o” – and there it is! In fact, put the “R” in parentheses, add it back, and you’ve got “(Republican) Money.”

But with Mitt, we really don’t have to spell it out, because he keeps showing and even stumbling over his richness. With his money connections, his SuperPAC quickly became the superest of them all. Not only has he spent more than every one of his rivals combined, but some of the cash has gone into ads portraying him as just a regular guy.

But, like ugly on a hog, he just can’t hide the depth of his personal wealth. Most recently came news that he’s doing a little “renovation” on his California home – a relatively modest place on the beach in La Jolla. It’s one of three homes he owns, but he’s decided that its 3,000 square feet of space is a bit cramped for him. So, he’s having it bulldozed and replaced with a more Romneyesque $12 million, 8,600-square-foot McMansion-By-The-Sea, complete with a basement larger than the existing house.

Aside from it’s size and cost, his re-do has a couple of features that “regular guys” couldn’t even dream of having. First is a split level, four-car garage with a special elevator to lift vehicles up and down, in and out. No word yet on whether the cars will have their own white-gloved elevator operator. Second, the new digs come with an unusual built-in feature: a lobbyist. Romney has paid some $21,000 so far to hire one of San Diego’s premier real estate lobbyists to wheel and deal at City Hall to get the permits and any exemptions needed to build Mr. Money’s sea castle.

It’s hard to connect with average Joes when you’ve got a house with an attached lobbyist.

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National radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the book, Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow, Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be – consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks. Twice elected Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Hightower believes that the true political spectrum is not right to left but top to bottom, and he has become a leading national voice for the 80 percent of the public who no longer find themselves within shouting distance of the Washington and Wall Street powers at the top. He publishes a populist political newsletter, “The Hightower Lowdown.” He is a New York Times best-selling author, and has written seven books including, Thieves In High Places: They’ve Stolen Our Country And It’s Time To Take It Back; If the Gods Had Meant Us To Vote They Would Have Given Us Candidates; and There’s Nothing In the Middle Of the Road But Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos. His newspaper column is distributed nationally by Creators Syndicate.

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This piece was first published on Jim Hightower’s website.

Watching what’s happening to our democracy is like watching the cruise ship Costa Concordia founder and sink slowly into the sea off the coast of Italy, as the passengers, shorn of life vests, scramble for safety as best they can, while the captain trips and falls conveniently into a waiting life boat.
We are drowning here, with gaping holes torn into the hull of the ship of state from charges detonated by the owners and manipulators of capital. Their wealth has become a demonic force in politics. Nothing can stop them. Not the law, which has been written to accommodate them. Not scrutiny — they have no shame. Not a decent respect for the welfare of others — the people without means, their safety net shredded, left helpless before events beyond their control.

The obstacles facing the millennial generation didn’t just happen. Take an economy skewed to the top, low wages and missing jobs, predatory interest rates on college loans: these are politically engineered consequences of government of, by and for the 1 percent. So, too, is our tax code the product of money and politics, influence and favoritism, lobbyists and the laws they draft for rented politicians to enact.

Here’s what we’re up against. Read it and weep: “America’s Plutocrats Play the Political Ponies.” That’s a headline in “Too Much,” an Internet publication from the Institute for Policy Studies that describes itself as “an online weekly on excess and inequality.”

Yes, the results are in and our elections have replaced horse racing as the sport of kings. Only these kings aren’t your everyday poobahs and potentates. These kings are multi-billionaire, corporate moguls who by the divine right, not of God, but the United States Supreme Court and its Citizens United decision, are now buying politicians like so much pricey horseflesh. All that money pouring into Super PACs, much of it from secret sources: merely an investment, should their horse pay off in November, in the best government money can buy. (more…)

Mitt Romney is taking a lot of heat for saying that he’s “not concerned about the very poor.” To be fair, he also said he’s not concerned about the very rich either. Lucky for him the feeling isn’t mutual that that side of the economic divide. According to recent FEC filings, the very rich are very concerned with Mitt Romney’s campaign for his party’s presidential nomination. And why shouldn’t they be concerned? After all, some of them are Mitt’s friends and former colleagues.

One of Mitt Romney’s strongest assets as the GOP presidential front-runner is also a potentially serious liability in the race: his heavy reliance on a small group of millionaires and billionaires for financial support.

A quarter of the money amassed by Romney’s campaign and an allied super PAC has come from just 41 people, each of whom has given more than $100,000, according to a Washington Post analysis of disclosure data. Nearly a dozen of the donors have contributed $1 million or more.

The preponderance of mega-rich supporters poses a political challenge for Romney, who has struggled for weeks over questions about his vast wealth, his history as a private equity manager and a series of gaffes that seemed to highlight his privileged station. He stumbled again on Wednesday when he told a CNN interviewer that he was “not concerned about the very poor, because they have a safety net.”

Some of Romney’s biggest supporters include executives at Bain Capital, his former firm; bankers at Goldman Sachs; and a hedge fund mogul who made billions betting on the housing crash. These and other donor details follow the release last week of Romney’s tax returns, which showed millions held in the Cayman Islands and other overseas havens and a tax rate that is far lower than that paid by most American workers.

In Romney’s case, it looks like the Citizens United ruling has had the effect of uniting the 1 percent behind one of their own, and their support for Romney’s primary campaign portends even greater investment a Romney victory in the general election, if betting on him in the primaries pays off. (more…)

Feb. 1, 2012, will go down in infamy in the state of Indiana.   The Republican legislature voted for “Right-To-Work” and Governor Mitch Daniels signed it into law.     I was there for the Senate vote.   Let me tell you what happened and what I learned.  Most importantly, we may have lost a battle but the war has just begun and our weapon is the ballot box.   We must VOTE out those who do not represent working people.
If you have never participated in a union protest trip, I recommend it.   Get on the bus next time; the more, the better.  No matter the outcome, there are many benefits.   Learn about how our democracy works (or doesn’t).     All you need to do is sign up and get yourself on the big comfortable bus.   There was a good mix of ages, some couples and just a lot of good people who share a common interest.      

One valiant man who had lost both legs in a mill accident a few years ago came with his wife.  He told us how the union was there for him when he needed it most.   His presence inspired us to stand up for him and the union.  We gave each other strength. 

Sarah was a great trip coordinator.   She directed us to either the 4^th floor to try and get into the limited seats of the gallery or the 2^nd floor where thousands of union members congregated outside the open senate doors chanting and marching with our signs.  We made up a few signs and T-shirts that said “Stand Union Strong” and “No RTW.”  There were many great slogans but I soon realized that “Remember in November” would be our new line.     

After the Senate session, I got a chance to self-tour the Capitol building and get into the gallery.  We even had time to walk around outside and see the stadium and grandiose preparations for Super Bowl Sunday in person.    On the bus ride home, we enjoyed great sandwiches provided by the union while Bob talked to us about the plan to fight back. (more…)