Had reached that limit after contributing to 16 different congressional candidates. Mccutcheon wanted to contribute to more congressional candidates, but the laws limit prohibited him from doing so. Until now. That limit, 48,600, was struck down this week by the high court declaring it to be unconstitutional. In the words of chief justice, john g. Roberts, jr. , there is no right in our democracy more basic than the right to participate in electing our political leaders, unquote. The law does nothing, however, to eliminate the 2,600 per candidate maximum for federal campaigns. Individuals are Still Limited to 2,600 maximum each for the primary campaign and general campaign of any given candidate. It is the agrigate that has been removed. Meaning wealthy donors, like the libertarian leaning coch brothers or billionaire and environmental activist, thomas stair, could contribute the individual maximum in every house and senate race in a given election year. That sum would equal approximately 2,500,000. Question, who are the winners and who are the losers in mccutcheon . First winners are the Political Parties which what you will get a lot more cash. Second winners are the consultants who get 15 cutoff and they make ads and things like that. They will do wonderfully well and the third guys who are the big winners in this thing are the Television Networks and television stations. They get all the money. Its going to be coming in, pouring into politics. The big losers are, i would say, individual candidates who are people of ideas who get in to races and dont have a National Name recognition, say like ron paul. But, they get in and fight for ideas. They can be overwelmed and wiped out by big money. Before you let this go, do you remember john mccain and Russ Finegold . I guess that was dumped out by the previous, citizen united decision. That was intended to limit special interest campaigns. That was already gone, john. You take folks like Sheldon Adelson and others, he put 90 million into mini campaigns. You have to be separate from your candidates and separate from the party to do that. That limit already was blown out. Does this Supreme Court ruling put those who are vilifying the coch brothers in the same camp as book burners and opponents of free speech. Yes or no . The American People are the big losers here and the ability of a class of billionaires to purchase the congress, in effect, and that has been made legal by the corporate five, majority of 54. They are on their way to deregulating all campaign contributions. Its the same group that calls corporations people and equates money with free speech. Which makes people with money have a lot more free speech than the rest of us. If you look at the gap between what the American People want and what the congress is doing on everything from gun regulation to minimum wage, to tax reform to immigration reform, you can see the impact of the purchases, if you will, of these people who have not just a thumb on the capitol hill. They have a whole fist on it. And i think it really is a denigration of our democracy. Here we have the Washington Examiner as can be seen. The war against the coch, democrats to make the billionaire conservatives a central issue in the midterm elections. Written by our own, susan. It says here, however, that a great deal of union spending on behalf of candidates includes not only direct donations, but spending on other activities. Those efforts include hiring workers to staff phone banks and stage getting out the vote efforts. Do you think that labor unions, given enormous amount to campaigns that goes relatively unnoticed whenever we get into a dogood mode with regard with how we spend our Campaign Money and whether its fair, that the labor unions do more to raise money and support campaigns than practically any other constitution or person. They do a lot. And reacting to what eleanor was saying, i dont feel like this is going to give anyone an unfair advantage. Both parties are raising so much money. The candidate the donors you just mentioned, others who have in the past, george, they kind of even each other out. So yes, they are raising a lot of money. The unions are raising a lot of money. Each is battling each other on what the issue should be and which candidate should be elected. Theres some protect afforded there and each sides are dumping money into the process. I would say if one side was able to raise that much money, then this latest ruling would give unfair advantage. But the smaller candidates, the less well financed candidates that cant attract big money, they are going to be drowned out by this ability to fund things in an unlimited fashion. You have an 18 million figure for the industries. Mostly republican. Thats during how many years . That is over from 1987 until now and this also only the coch industries. They support a super pack that raised more money than that. It is under their direction. And is having a really huge influence on the current election cycle, particularly the senate races, where the majorities hang in the balance. Here the sentence stuck with me. Six of the top donors on the crp list, labor unions whose total contributions during the same time period exceed 284 million. That goes to the point i made a moment ago. Right, its no secret. A lot of people know the unions are quite active and a big part of helping Democratic Candidates win. They helped president obama in both of his elections. They play a huge role, not just in donating money, but getting out there and getting people to the polls, showing up at campaign rallies, getting the signs out. They play a huge role. Do you agree that the figure is largely under known . I think exactly right. Its like now in politics, we have two super powers against each other and who gets crushed in the middle of that, its the little teeny countries. Labor union money is an old story. The new money, the new story is the coch brothers and billionaires and Sheldon Adelson can have people line up to audition for him. I have news for you, Labor Union Money is a sidelined story, i think. Absolutely. We bring it forward, everything is on the docket. Would you care to speak to this . I think thats a fair point that you raise. Everybody knows the labor unions have been hugely involved in campaigns and you can measure how much they contribute in very different ways. One of them is literally the shoes they have on the street for candidates and they do that on an enormous level. I have no objection to that. I have no objection to the amount of money that is going to go into these campaigns. Its the nature of the way we work. The parties now, in fact, will be benefiting in ways and having more control. Having said that, we have a ridiculous system in this country. Open question. Is anything about stair . Who stair . He is an environmentalist and he is going to spend his money to try and get the environmental agenda on the docket on capitol hill. He is a single issue contributor, yes, he is contributing big money. I still dont think he pails next to what the brothers are doing in terms of buying local state legislatures and influencing legislators. Is he one of these legislatures delaying the Keystone Pipeline . I hope so, john. You do . There you are. Theres a perfect example. Its hugely in our national interest. It is supported by a vast majority of the American Public in the most recent poll and a special Interest Group who are blocking it. Its a disgrace for this country. I dont know whether he is its a frame directly, but de facto has a very slowing effect and you know, whats the president waiting for . Its all there for him to do. Its all there. Exactly. John, look, lets take Sheldon Adelson. He had four president ial candidates out there. He gave 92 million the last time. This is going to cause political leaders. You go straight out to visit him in las vegas. He put 15 million that kept Newt Gingrich alive, then he gave romney 30 million. Thats the guys, people are going to go and court these people. He has a particular set of issues he cares about. Sheldon adelson, our kind of guy. A programming note. The fort hood shooting is still a developing national and International Story with press impact in the u. S. And around the globe. This will probably include press produced comment from worldwide notables, including u. N. And nato figures and possibly political figures like vladimir putin. The group will discuss this fort hood subject. Regrettably, its an on going press story. Issue two, pardon pollard . The president has not made a decision. Jonathan pollard, a u. S. Citizen has been in prison in the United States for nearly 30 years. His crime, espionage. Pollard was an Intelligence Analyst with the u. S. Navy when he was arrested in 1985. He had been passing thousands of classified documents to israel. A charge for which he pled guilty. The documents reportedly included top u. S. Secrets about soviet and arab states, military capabilities. For his crime, pollard was sentenced to life in prison. He is now nearly 60 years old and in poor health. His exwife says he suffers from diabetes and digestive and urilogical issues. He is eligible for patrol next year, 19 months from now. Wherein he will have served 30 years in prison. Half his life. But theres one way mr. Pollard could leave jail immediately. If president obama pardons him. Why would the president consider such an act . Answer. As a way to salvage the peace talks between the isrealis and the palestinians. Over the decades, Jonathan Pollard has become something of a pay tri patriarch to many in israel. His punishment is thought to be excessive. In fact, some isreali leaders have pled for his release. Benjamin netanyahu, the current Prime Minister of israel visited pollard in jail. And in 1998, 16 years ago, when bill clinton was president , netanyahu sought to link his release to Isreali Palestinian peace negotiations. President clinton rejected the proposal after a fire storm of criticism of it from the u. S. Intelligence community. In fact, mr. Clinton then cia director threatened to resign if pollard were released. Now, the issue is back on the table. And at a time when israel is showing reluctance to release palestinian prisoners. As demanded. But if pollard were released, the current palestinian deadlock would presumably be eased. Question, how much interest does israel have in jonathans release . Mort zuckerman. I dont think its decisive by a wide margin. People like robert gates and Henry Kissinger and head of the cia at the time all think he should be released because his sentence and netanyahu. He is directly involved. Im just saying his sentence was considered to be really disproportioned, given the fact israel was an ally and providing information for israel. Be that as it may, i dont believe you do that. I happen to be immigrant to this country. You put the United States first if youre an american citizen. I do not approve of what he did. Hes long been considered a potential bargaining chip in these negotiations. And when john kerry, the secretary of state, evidently floated it some time last week, it really looked like it was a desperate move by the part of the u. S. To keep the talks alive. The talks are really faltering and so i think pollard isnt going anywhere any time soon. He evidently was coming up for parole next year. He waived his rights, but his release could be part of any future frame or peace framework if they get that. He is a very sick man. John, let me give you the other view. I was in the white house and they prosecuted him. They said this guy is a real snake. He wanted to sell our secrets, not just to the isrealis, but to others. A lot of this stuff he sent over a room full. A lot went to the soviet union. I have been told he did more damage to American Security than robert hanson. It is right on the level with the rosenbergs. He got sentenced to 30 years. He is coming up for parole in 2015 and you should follow along. You should follow the law. It should be regarded as cruel and unusual punishment at this point in his life after how much time he served. I dont want to quote people wanted him executed back then. What kind of people are they . Americans. What kind of americans are they . Patriots. In your view, do you have anything to say on this . First of all, hes going to be paroled november 21, 2015, hes at a medium security prison. He is scheduled to be released oen that day. His time as a bargaining chip is limited at this point. But i dont think its going to happen. He doesnt want to be released under these circumstances. He refuses to do that. That has not been made clear. Well, yeah. More important thing is can these talks survive . And they are hanging by a thread and i think the portrait that we have gotten is john kerry, you know, really wants them to succeed and he is trying to convince these two leaders that this is the best, last opportunity. But he cant want it more than they do. Theres another reason why these talks may not survive. He may be dead. Okay. The u. S. Government believes the path to peace with israel and statehood for palestine lies in negotiations. The New York Times describes as a quote, unquote, defiant step. Washington was rattled this week when palestinian authority, president a base, abas, including the geneva convention. He signed the applications requesting to join these conventions. A meeting between mr. Abas and secretary of state, john kerry, was subsequently shut. Question, what is the significance of this move by mahmoud . They are frustrated with the state of the negotiations and they are moving ahead and i think that it is left the talks, really in shambles right now. The isrealis backed away. He wants to gain statehood without having to make the necessary conventions. Lets start with that. Thats the basic issue. This is reversible. He said this is reversible and let me get back to pollard. Kerry wanted pollard to give back to the isrealis as a concession, for netanyahu to turn loose the last 26 palestinian prisoners. When he didnt turn them loose, this is why he moved as he did, then the isrealis moved as he did. The talks are in tough shape, john, they are hanging by a thread, but there is a thread. Why did he do it . Because he wanted the prisoners out. He wants International Recognition of what . Of the sovereignty of the palestinians. He is being asked to recognize israel as a jewish state, to accept, to give up a lot of the west bank and he is over a barrel with his own people. Which go ahead. Thats the problem. Each of these leaders do better politically if theres no deal. If they make the hard decisions, they suffer politically. Thats the tradeoff they have to make. I would like to finish. Its not ridiculous. Politically its hard for each of these leaders to move. Basically did what he did going to the International Community because he wants to show the isrealis he, too, has cards to play and it was in retaliation to the isrealis backing away from a prisoner release they agreed to as part of the framework that was being put in place. There is a tease element in this as far as the palestinians are concerned. They did not join the International Criminal court. It is a significant omission because it leaves open a bargaining chip with israel. It means that the door is not shut. Do you and do your people understand that . I dont know if you want to call me my people. You know how to play it. I happen to represent the arabs in this situation. I think its in their interest to do this and the ideological hostility to israel mustnt my people, if you would say, is really overwelming. If you happen to be there and i have been involved in these talks, you will get some feel for it. This is not a negotiation. Mahmoud is not as strong of a leader to make the original deal. Israel was promised secure borders. All right, lets go with this exit question. Multiple choice. Are the isreali peace talks b, serious, but not critical condition, intensive care unit, d, on life support, and its time to pull the plug. Pat. Quickly. They are in the icu unit and watching them every hour of the day. I agree. Icu. I dont know its icu, but it is in a serious place. The important place for these talks is you have somebody like kerry who is very committed and very active in this thing. Im optimistic. I think now is the time to move it. Issue three, enzone chicken dance. Six months ago today, a big part of the Affordable Care act kicked in as healthcare. Gov and state insurance marketplaces went live. Despite several lost weeks out of the gate because problems with the website, 7. 1 million americans signed up for private insurance plans through this marketplaces. President obama took to the rose garden this week to announce that enrollees in the Affordable Care act,a. K. A. , obama care, by the march 31 deadline has climbed to 7. 1 million enrollees. It was no april fools joke. Despite the rollout, a last ditch effort paid off. The advanced social networking in the 2012 campaign, worked exactly 7 million is the number that the Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates as the minimum required to make the Affordable Care act sound. Translation, obama care will not collapse from inadequate enrollment. Assuming the cbos numbers are on target. Skeptics, however, point out that unless enrollees are the right mixture of healthy enrollees, and the chronically ill, obama care could still be in trouble. Barb, a healthcare expert, named 2013 pun dent of the year, says president obama may regret raising expectations for the success of the signups. Quote, what happens when the real number, the number of people who actually completed their enrollment comes in far below the 7 million . What happens when the hard data shows that most of these 7 million were people who had coverage before . What happens when it becomes clear that the obama Care Insurance exchanges are making hardly a dent in the number of those uninsured . Unquote. If costs are higher than projected, premiums will spiral. This will jeopardize another Obama Administration promise. Namely, that in 2014, the aca would lower the average familys Health Insurance premium by 2,300. Question, in keeping with our football analogy, is the end zone for obama care with us or is it more like the 50yard line or just the 10yard line and a new down . Eleanor clift. I dont accept the metaphor, but ill expand on one that pat suggested to me. Its a game changer. This is an important milestone that the law has net. I think the president needs to avoid any Mission Accomplished banners. There are plenty of land mines ahead. The story will now retreat more to the back pages and the republicans may find that they made a wrong bet by placing all of their confidence in hatred of obama care for the fall election. The polls show 49 approval now. 3 4 of democrats approve. Only 1 in 5 republicans. Its very partisan. Democrats like it. Obama returned to kickoff for 98 yards. He put some points on the board. He was elated with it and he aught to be. As eleanor said, its 49 all in the polls and clearly the momentum was all against obama for months and months and months and he has a touchdown and a big one and his folks in the stands are up on their feet cheering for the first time. Thank you for being fair. Thank you. Were not back to the football analogy. We arent near through the first half. There are so many things to come that are unanswered. First of all, 20 of these folks havent paid for premiums. That 7. 1 million figure is not a real number for one thing, and its only affecting 15 of the population. When and if the employer mandate kicks in, if, thats a big if, thats going to dump a whole lot more people on to the market with these narrower networks, fewer doctor choices, higher premiums, higher deductibles, then lets see what the polls say. The corporation has survey data showing 4. 5 million previously uninsured adults have enrolled in state Medicaid Programs where eligibility was expanded under the aca. Does that contradict any of your impressions or any data you have . Thats medicaid. So you know, thats people who are not paying in. When it comes to the exchanges, thats who is going to sign up . Who is going to pay for premiums. Those are the numbers were looking at. Medicaid is a big deal. 24 states have expanded medicaid. So you have a lot of people left out. Predictions, pat. John kerry is going after a deal on syria, a deal on israel and palestine. Both of those look bad. A deal on iran. Hes in real trouble. Theres a Washington Post piece that looks like an undercutting of kerry. Thanks for the lecture on kerry. John kerry has a willingness to take a risk, which is rare in public office. But the peace in the post that pat is referring to is a message to him that he owns the middle eastern crisis. Was it slimy . No, it wasnt slimy. It basically suggests that he lowered the volume on the middle east and maybe Pay Attention to some of these other areas that might have a better chance. You mean jumping around too much. Susan. I predict that in congress, youre going to see the beginnings of negotiations between the house and the senate on extending federal jobless pay. Mort zuckerman. China, which had this image as being a hugely dynamic economy is now facing the first real crisis because they have way over financed what they are doing and they have a collapse of debt and that countrys economy that will slow down and affect everybody in the world. Russia is planning military maneuvers in our area. These maneuvers will revive a cold war atmosphere between russia and the u. S. Bye bye. This week on Moyers Company all work and no pay food workers fight for a living wage. How is it that a major industry has basically convinced america, convinced congress, that they practically shouldnt have to pay their workers at all . Its purely money and power. And their control over our legislators. Announcer funding is provided by anne gumowitz, encouraging the renewal of democracy. Carnegie corporation of new york, celebrating 100 years of philanthropy, and committed to doing real and permanent good in the world. The ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. The herb alpert foundation, supporting organizations Whose Mission is to promote compassion and creativity in our society