Backing, and who very, very luckily for rand paul and his president ial aspirations lost badly. That candidate, who was going to be the Tea Party Darling in the race, is greg brannon. Brannon lost last night to tim tillis by nearly 20 points. Tillis will no go up against the incumbent, kay hagan, in a race that could make or break a republican takeover in the u. S. Senate. If you are a rand paul backer or staffer or friend or close associate, you are, today, wiping the sweat from your brow, because you dodged a bullet with that disastrous greg brannon performance. Why . Because if greg brannon had made it to a runoff or won the republican primary, then the full National Spotlight would have focused on the man who rand paul saw fit not only to endorse, but also to campaign for right up until election day. It isnt always about just attacking the other side, but it is about thinking the problems through. And i think as a physician, greg will do that. But im proud to be part of this effort, as much as i can. What america craves is a dragon slayer, and that dragon slayer is dr. Greg brannon. Im here today, because greg brannon is a believer. And we need true believers in congress. The neat thing about North Carolina is greg brannon is a doctor like myself. Hes a problem solver. And i think greg brannon would be a great choice. Senator paul campaigned for fellow dr. Brannon the day before the primary election. Well, here are just a few examples of greg brannons problem solving. I think it would be much better if we had a militia of North Carolina, militia of maryland, exactly the way the congress the constitution has stated, and when the executive has to act in a war, and Congress Declares a war, we would be stronger, because our state militias will go to the federal level for our protection. Please read karl marx communist manifesto. Government merges with big business control, and that is what they are over there. That is a small sampling of the greg brannon who also owes investors over 250,000 after a jury found he provided them bogus information about a deal. I mean this as basically one step away from endorsing cliven bundy and we all saw what happened to everyone who associated themselves with cliven bundy. How they had to go diving away from the grenade when it blew up. Rand paul has now dodged that kind of moment. Rand paul who has tied with jeb bush in the gop nomination. Hes at the top with bush. Rand paul who is assiduously cultivating the power base of the republican party, including the most powerful man in conservatism, rupert murdoch. Rand paul, who now that his really neat candidate has lost, today gave an entire speech in a republican baseball uniform and is now endorsing thom tillis. Now that the primary is over, paul said in a statement, it is time for our side to defeat the democrat who cast the deciding vote for obamacare in november, kay hagan. I endorse thom tillis. Joining me now is Stephanie Schrock and you guys are supporting is kay hagan in that race. Sure are. Heres the latest polling we have in the headtohead matchup, thom tillis and kay hagan, 4343. Its going to be a very closely fought battle. How do you see the dynamics of the race playing out . This race just started today. Thom tillis couldnt beat the tea party on his own until he became the tea party. All this conversation, as you started off with the establishment embracing thom tillis, if this is the republican establishment, i do believe the establishment has become the tea party. As we look at the weeks and months that are going to come, there is going to be a clear choice for North Carolina between a United States senator and kay hagan, who fighting for North Carolina families, economic opportunity, bringing common sense to the senate, versus a state senate speaker, or excuse me, a state speaker, who has really ushered in an incredibly rightwing legislative platform in the state legislature. What i think is fascinating about the dynamics of this race is that usually the challenger basically is going to run against the democrats and barack obama and everything and try to hang that around the neck of kay hagan. But in this case, no one is more associated with the years of reactionary governance in the state house of North Carolina than the speaker of the house, thom tillis, who has overseen one of the most restrictive voting laws, cuts to medicaid funding, blocking expansion, down the line and those state representatives are not very popular, nor is the governor that hes associated with. You are absolutely right. The state legislature in North Carolina has a 49 unapproval rating. They just do not like this legislature. They have just dismantled womens rights, voting rights, you know, economic opportunity. Is that a strategy, go after basically, make thom tillis the face for what the record in governance well, any election is about a choice. And its a choice between two candidates. And here thom tillis, who has really become a Tea Party Candidate with a tea party agenda, that is way out of whack with north carolinians, whether its, you know, again, womens rights, voting rights, economic opportunity, i mean, this is a guy who is okay with defunding the department of education, i mean, this is really on the outside edge of the republican party. Its only its funny, thom tillis is very far to the right and thom tillis governing agenda, not just what he says, but his governing agenda have been extremely far to the right, maybe one of the extreme rightness in the country. But it is only the total nuttiness of greg brannon that made him seem like that to begin with. That is right. Brannon said some pretty outrageous things. And it will be interesting to see how senator rand paul in the years and months to come explains that as he runs for president. But the truth is that thom tillis, you know, moved right a long time ago. And if this is the establishments desire for a candidacy, then they have embraced the Tea Party Politics of america. I want to play this clip of thom tillis. Its, i think, from a few years ago. Its been surfacing and going around a lot now. In which he has his own kind of 47 moment. Take a listen. What we have to do is find a way to divide and conquer the people who run assistance. We have to show respect for that woman that has Cerebral Palsy and had no choice in her condition, that needs help, and that we should help. And we need to get those folks to look down at these people who choose to get into a condition that makes them dependent on the government and say at some point, youre on your own. Ive never heard that from a politician. We need to get those folks to look down at these people who choose to get into a condition that makes them dependent thats pretty ugly stuff. That is not a leader of the citizenry of North Carolina. I mean, what kind of right. If you actually care about the entire people of North Carolina. You dont have a plan to divide and conquer the people of your own state. And to think that someone, today, and theres more of them, and theres a whole tea party that believes this, which, i think, as a republican party, thats beginning to believe it, that folks choose. They make a choice to struggle, to not have a job that pays enough. And that is outrageous. And that is not where, thats not where the people of North Carolina are that is the question, that remains to be seen in this race, and depends a lot about who shows up to the poll and what that electorate looks like in the midterms. Thank you. Thank you. Far beneath the headline election in North Carolina, theres a brutal and fascinating battle over the composition of the state Supreme Court with big money pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars to unseat democrats on the state Supreme Court, a Supreme Court that just happens to rule over adjudicating regulatory fines for oh, i dont know, Companies Like duke energy. Same duke energy currently embroiled in litigation and a criminal investigation over coal ash contamination. Joining me now is chris kromm with institute for southern studies, progressive Media Research and policy center based in North Carolina. And chris, what is going on with this deluge of big money coming into the state Supreme Court race there . Well, electing judges in North Carolina has become a big business. Record amounts of money, we expect, just shattering all records. Most outside money thats coming in. This primary election, so this is going to be a big year in North Carolina. We have four Supreme Court races on a sevenmember state Supreme Court. Seven state races total with the court of appeals. And in this stage, the judges are elected, and we used to have a Campaign Finance reform, public financing, which leveled the Playing Field and allowed a lot of different people to come into the races. That got eliminated last year, courtesy of our budget director, art pope, and now outside money has really flooded in this. You guyed had public funding and its probably not the best idea in the world to have the states highest court, which is going to be ruling over all sorts of cases for lots of bigmoney Enterprises Like duke energy, to have them funded by those same entities. And you had a law that stopped that. And then conservatives came in, the budget director, art koch, they came if and got rid of it. And a lot of cases before this very court, right . Thats the issue. Public financing didnt stop this outside super pac money, but at least it leveled the Playing Field, so an everyday candidate could at least get in the race. Now what were seeing is just records amounts coming in. And in this primary season, which was amazing, we saw 1. 4 million flooding into just a primary race. These two republicans trying to unseat the sitting democrat. A registered democratic judge, robin hudson. And out of nowhere, the super pac called justice for all nc. And when i use the word organization very elusive, we went to visit their office and it turned out to be the mailbox of a u. P. S. Mail center in a raleigh strip mall, but its basically a money funnel that took 900,000 from the Republican State Leadership Committee in d. C. And started is running these attack ads, accusing the sitting judge of coddling child predators. Everyone unanimously condemned the ad, said it was one of the nastiest in political history. And remember, this is North Carolina. Weve had jesse helms and other folks, so thats saying something. Right. But one i dont have the nastiest political ads in our political history, and they were trying to take out this sitting incumbent judge, take her out of the primary, so two republicans could run in november. The interesting story, though, is that robin hudson ended up winning that race and ended up becoming the top vote getter. And i think in some ways, it was a backlash to the growing influence of this big money in these court races. You know, the dollar figures youre talking about, i want to make sure people understand this, were talking about a state Supreme Court race in the state of North Carolina. Youre talking about 1. 4 million. Youre talking about 900,000. These are big amounts of money ff state Supreme Court races. And of course if you are a business or an interest that might have a case before that court, thats kind of a small amount of money to pay if youve got a 50 million settlement that might come before them. Or you might be appealing a regulatory fine that is in the tens of millions of dollars. And thats the issue. A lot of these are shadowy groups and it takes a while to figure out who the donors are. But we know for example, the Republican State Leadership Committee, one of their top donors is reynolds american, the tobacco giant, and the fact that the Republican State Leadership Committee was kind of indirectly involved in our redistricting of our states political lines, which also ends up in the state Supreme Court. So when those that money is backing the very people who are on those seats, you start to have to wonder, if they have business before the court, are these justices going to remember who helped get them in office . Chris kropp with the institute for southern studies, thank you. Thank you. Coming up, republicans have made benghazi their new obamacare, their new fast and furious, their new irs. This was all about getting to the truth. This is not going to be a side show. Theres not going to be a circus. This is a serious investigation. What do you think its like right now to be a republican trying to get a seat on that committee . Well talk about that, next. Bulldog oh boy mattress discounters Memorial Day Sale whats this . A queensize sealy gel memory Foam Mattress for just 497 . Mattress discounters has the Largest Selection of memory Foam Mattresses under one roof comforpedic. Icomfort. Optimum. And wow four years interestfree financing on the entire tempurpedic cloud collection dont miss the Memorial Day Sale. Mattress discounters coming up, last night we told you whether the Koch Brothers were out for jack hanna and the local zoo. What other local elections are they getting involved in and why . Well tell you, ahead. Any other way. But your erectile dysfunction it could be a question of blood flow. Cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be Ready Anytime the moments right. You can be more confident in your ability to be ready. And the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. Do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. Do not drink alcohol in excess. Side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. To avoid longterm injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. If you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or any allergic reactions like rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. Ask your doctor about experiencing cialis for daily use and a free 30tablet trial. I have never sought to raise a single penny on the backs of four murdered americans. Yeah. So to the extent that they would look to me as some evidence of whats appropriate and whats not, there are two, still, even in a culture of hyperpartisanship, certain things that ought to be above politics, like the murder of our four fellow americans. Trey gowdy of South Carolina has a very important job in the republican party. Hes the man heading up the scandallicious House Select Committee on benghazi. And earlier this morning, he talked about that job with great solemnity. But heres the thing. The people over the National Republican congressional committee, the organization tasked with electing republicans to the house, that tray goudy serves in, they did not get this email, based on this email. That email directs you to benghaziwatchdogs. Com, a website that says you can become a bgz watchdog right now, asking you to add your name and to, quote, help fight liberals by donating today. The site hails goudy as the chief benghazi watchdog, who at one point today asked them to stop fundraising off the investigation. I cannot and will not raise money. But the nrcc is, sir. I also advised my colleagues to follow suit, and i think i did so in a pretty unambiguous way. Not only the the website still up, they are explicitly using congressman trey gowdy, asking him to stand with him and, of course, contribute your money. If youve been wondering, why the heck has there been so much attention paid to benghazi the last few days . Its because of what we call on this show, benghazi. Benghazi is an immensely lucrative opportunity for anyone who can channel the benghazi fever, as evidenced by the fundraising, nrcc has been doing, and others have been doing on it since the end of last year. And wesmoreland tell says that 206 House Republicans have been asked to be considered for the benghazi select committee. They can all send out their own benghazi fundraising emails. Not only that, it gives republicans, well, something to talk about, because as weve ask on this show, what the hell are they running on in 2014 . Particularly, now, since the previous scandal they were campaigning on, the disaster of obamacare is actually out there quietly working, driving down the uninsured rate and Getting People Health Care they so desperately need. If you think this is some Conspiracy Theory ive cooked up about the cross fate between obamacare and benghazi, check out fox news programming on these two topics. As obamacare kicks in and starts working, actually providing people with healthcare, fox talks about it less and less, while shoring up benghazi returns with a vengeance. Joining me now, sam seder, host of majority report. The fundraising thing today, i mean, what galls me is, wants if you poke fun or you ridicule or you have con tempt for the gross obsession with trying to pin this on hillary clinton, this sort of benghazi, they get so angry and selfrighteous. How dare you spit on right, how can you talk about give me a break give me a break. Yeah, watchdog benghazi, you know, i dont know what to say. I think someone should start to submit a graphic with sort of a bloodhound and maybe wearing a, you know that would be as classy as what theyre doing. Yeah, its ridiculous. This is and i think that graphic, that graph shows really what the story is here, with benghazi. And i think the other thing that makes this sort of perfect is, you know, i remember living through the first Clinton Administration with travelgate, with watergate, with white watergate, with fostergate, i mean, it just went on and on and on. The beauty of benghazi for the republicans is that you can never solve the mystery. They can have smoking gun after smoking gun, but no one can even articulate to you, what is the point . What it is that the gun supposedly shot at. Thats right. Nobody knows what the scandal is. So it can never be debunked, because it changes. And its just going to keep going and going and take them through this election and it will come back after another year or so, so that they can gin up their base again with hillary clinton. So heres the big strategic political question, i think, is quite interesting. Do democrats participate in this. This is dccc chair steve israel. Saying, if this was a fair inquiry, the republicans wouldve accepted our offer for balanced rules. Instead, its meant to excite their base. We should have nothing to do with that. Is the last line of that statement. Do you agree with him . I do. I think they shouldnt even show up. Its a joke. And the bottom line i agree completely. Look, there is no convincing anyone whos interested in benghazi at this point, whatever the mystery is, theyre not going to vote for democrats. This is a Good Opportunity for democrats to actually continue ahead with an agenda and express the fact that while were trying to pursue an agenda, these guys are off with their benghazi watchdog tshirts, tote bags, mugs, whatever it is that theyre selling. Well, thats the thing. I think it does have a certain point i do think theres a disconnect between them understanding how it looks to their base and how it looks to everyone else. And frankly, the way the house is set up, they dont have the folks in the house dont have much to fear from everyone else. And its not even so much that they have so much to fear. All their incentive structure is built upon these type of things. They are playing a to a very small but very sort of pure segment of the population. Thats what these people want. This is whats going to bring them out to the polls. Its whats going to keep republicans in the thousands in office. And so for them, it makes total sense. Although, heres the danger. The danger is that the pack of horses get away from you. And john boehner has been trying to kind of ride this momentum and not let them get away from him. And naming a select committee is, lord knows where it goes. Oh, yeah. You know, i think this is but thats the perfect metaphor for what has happened to the republican party. I mean, it has gotten away from them. Frankenstein is now running through the streets, and theres nothing they can do about it. It wont hurt them, necessarily, in the midterms, but its going to hurt them longterm. Longterm, yeah. And you dont want to go back to the day of dan burton shooting a pumpkin in his backyard. You know, youre not that far from that. I think were past it. Well, were selling tote bags. You get a tote bag of benghazi watchdog its crazy. Msnbc contributor, sam seder, thank you. Thank you. Coming up, were doing a new series were calling all in america and traveling all over the country that you wont see anywhere else that you must see. And well show you one of those stories tonight. Stay tuned for that. There is nothing america loves more than a winner. There is nothing america is more obsessed with than the cult of success. Successful people tell us how they become successful. We love that stuff. But one of the most successful people in america to touch a basketball is Oklahoma City star, kevin durant. And yesterday, durant received the nbas most valuable player award, and in accepting that honor, he gave a speech i found profoundly moving, because every second of it was a rejection of the cult of the individual and the cult of success. Instead, it was a tribute to all the people in Kevin Durants life, his teammates, his coaches, his mother. All of the people who helped make the guy we know as kevin durant happen. First up, the Oklahoma City thunder. Durant went on to thank his teammates individually. Heres just a small sampling. The vets of this taken, fish, nick, koran, i just want to say thank you to you guys, man. Yall mean so much to me. Just because i can walk in and have a terrible day, and i can see hashim smiling at me at 73, with small pants on and thatll change my day. Koran, even though you just got here a few months ago, you know, weve grown so close over these last few weeks and i can remember when you first got here, you put a piece of paper in my locker. I dont know why im crying so much, man. You wrote a piece of paper in my locker and wrote, k. D. , mvp, and thats after we had lost two or three straight. Then it was the coaches turn. I know those days when you want to look at that film and kill me, for not playing defense, taking bad shots, getting too many techs. But you always believe that i can be the guy. After all that came durants tribute to his mother, wandra pratt, single mom who worked the night shift at the post office to make ends meet. When something good happens to you, i dont know about you guys, but i tend to look back to what brought me here. And you wake me up in the middle of the night, in the summertimes, making me run up the hill, making me do pushups, screaming at me from the sideline of my games at 8 or 9 years old. We werent supposed to be here. You made us believe, you kept us off the street, put clothes on our backs, food on the table. When you didnt eat, you made sure we ate. You went to sleep hungry. You sacrificed for us. You the real mvp. When you didnt eat, you made sure we ate. Think about that sentence for a second. A testament to durant, to his mom, to the millions of Single Parents struggling to get by. I just wish our politics were as gracious and largehearted as k. D. Is. i am very excited about a new series weve launched called all in america. The idea behind it is to get out of this studio, go out and find stories is across the country and across the political spectrum. Looking for things happening at the ground level of American Life that illuminate some of the biggest conflicts we have in this country. The last few days, weve brought you footage of our exclusive report, of what seems like a small battle over one gun, that happens to illustrate a whole lot about the way our gun politics work. These are the kinds of stories were looking into and we want you, our viewers, to help us out. We want you to send us pitches. You can tweet us at the allinamerica, you can post ideas to our facebook page, you can email us, allinwithchris msnbc. Com, subject line, all in america, tell us about the stories youre seeing on the ground that illustrate the big political fights in this country. Were working even harder to bring you the stories youre not going to see anywhere else, like this next story about one clinic in buffalo, new york, that we first brought you last week. Its a window into the violent history of the 90s abortion wars. In this country, what we do is we infantalize women, so the woman that comes for a termination of pregnancy, she just must be a completely deluded woman that stumbled into a Abortion Facility and had an abortion and didnt want it. And so what we do is we persecute the providers. And youll see that also in natural birth. For 30 years, dr. Katherine morrison has been providing abortion care in buffalo, new york. Hes an ob gyn by training, also attending to women giving birth. But now shes embarking on a new endeavor in her field, opening up the countrys very first Natural Birthing Center, housed inside of an abortion clinic. Something that would have been inconceivable just 22 years ago. And tonight, the city of buffalo, new york, is preparing for a street fight between the forces opposed to abortion and those in favor of abortion rights. Will be arrested immediately. Reporter buffalo was one of the major flash points of the abortion wars of the 1990. This is a dead baby this is a dead human being after staging successful demonstrations in witchta, kansas, the antiabortion Group Operation rescue found a receptive audience in the largely catholic area. Do you think reasonable people can set down and settle this issue . Well, personally, i dont think murder is debatable. The group was invited to come protest by the democratic mayor. If they can close down one abortion bill, i think theyve done their job. Reporter but buffalo was not witchta. Operation rescue was met with heavy resistance from prochoice groups. If we hold the line in buffalo, that will have an effect on what happens in milwaukee and what happens in columbus and what happens in schenectady. Reporter for two weeks, thousands took to the streets, leading to hundreds of arrests. Patients harassed, clinics blockaded, including one named buffalo womens services. I have a right to walk on the sidewalk why dont you go home and reconsider another day. In the wake of this sort of antiabortion interference, federal law was passed to address it. Blocking abortion clinics became a federal crime in this country today. Bill clinton signed a landmark bill, which includes harsh new penalties for demonstrators who block access to abortion clinics or who harass patients and workers. Reporter four years later, dr. Morrison began working at buffalo women services, a clinic providing abortion care, led by dr. Barnett slepian, a local ob gyn like morrison. At the time, morrison voiced her concerns over safety to the clinics owner. I said, isnt it dangerous to do abortions . Isnt it very political . And she said, no, not anymore. And i was quite naive. And it did seem that it wasnt, that it wasnt a huge deal anymore. Reporter it was an executionstyle killing. One bullet fired from a highprofile window crashed through the window of dr. Barnetts suburban home, striking him in the back. Slepians murder may fit a pattern of attacks that have occurred over the past fif years in upstate new york and canada. Theyre all doctors who provided abortions. They were all shot in their residences from outside the residence. We are outraged that someone would have the audacity and the terrible gall to come in and do that to another human being. Certainly, after dr. Slepian was murdered, a couple of providers stopped working right away. People dont want to take the chances and his family paid a terrible, terrible price for his courage. The right in the aftermath of him being murdered, i quit. Because i was, i was terrified. I had young children, my parents were still alive, i did not want to die. I really wanted to live and be a parent to my children and be a daughter to my parents. And then after three months, two or three months, i came here, and i really felt ashamed, you know, that there were people who were doing that important work, and so i came back. In the years since dr. Slepians murder, the abortion wars have left the streets and entered the statehouses, across the country, abortion rights are being stripped away. Through legislation designed to shame women, punish providers, and limit access to care. Little by little, hospitals and providers in red states and blue states have walked away from offering women the care they need because it has become too difficult. So, because abortion has been segregated, because its been removed from the hospital and because private practitioners either are afraid to do their own terminations, because they cant bring patients to the hospital or because they havent been trained for it, they dont know that women have unintended pregnancies and choose to terminate them. So, its the same patient who is getting pregnant and continuing a pregnancy, and maybe next time, getting pregnant and terminating a pregnancy, and next time maybe having a natural birth. These are all the same people. Its our beautiful birth room. It was ending that segregation that inspired morrison to open up a Natural Birthing Center under the same roof as an abortion clinic. Morrison collaborates with eileen stewart, a certified nurse midwife. Its this kind of comprehensive facility, offering women different kinds of care, that morrison and stewart hope take the stigma from both kinds of services. Stewart has seen an evolution of thinking over the course of her career. I just think that were moving, you know, in a direction where people are thinking about alternatives in lots of ways. Yet both women have found that the idea of natural birth is met in some circles with the same kind of vitriol as abortions are in others. I think im seen as someone who cares about the other kind of person and the good providers are taking care to have the good patients and theyre good because they continue their pregnancies and theyre good because they go to the hospitals to have their babies and they have a csection when theyre told to and im seen as somebody whos, who has a lesser practice. But the mission is to give women choices in their own health care. Nobody looks back in their life and doesnt think about the birth of their baby, or quite honestly, an abortion, as some significant aspect of their life. And being treated with respect and dignity around that, so important. Dr. Morrison is trying to do something that extends far beyond her own clinic in buffalo. Shes trying to upset the conventional wisdom on womens health. What shes after is nothing less than to fundamentally change the way pregnant women are treated in this country, not just by their doctors, but by all of us. Coming up, big money in politics goes local. Its coming to an election near you. More on that, ahead. I had to do something. I saw my doctor. A blood test showed it was low testosterone, not age. We talked about axiron the only underarm low t treatment that can restore t levels to normal in about two weeks in most men. Axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. Women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. Report these symptoms to your doctor. Tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. Serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer, worsening prostate symptoms, decreased sperm count, ankle, feet or body swelling, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing while sleeping and blood clots in the legs. Common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased red blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and increase in psa. Ask your doctor about axiron. Quick programming note to tell you about. On friday, well be broadcasting this show live from atlanta. Well be at the sweet auburn spring fest. So if youre in the area, please, come by and watch the show in person. Go to msnbc slash growinghope for more information. Hope to see you there. Back in a moment. Koch brothers were on the ballot in election day yesterday and we brought you the story of the weirdest race they got involved in. The billionaire Koch Brothers must be best known for spending big to influence president ial campaigns. But they are now trying to throw a Monkey Wrench into the columbus zoo levee. Thats right, the Koch Brothers net worth now stands at more than 100 billion, lobbied to defeat the issue six tax levee in franklin county, ohio, a small tax increase to expand expansion and maintenance at the columbus zoo and aquarium. Jungle jack hanna pushed hard for the measure to pass. Well, it went down hard, thanks to part to this. A flyer from americans for prosperitys ohio branch, which falsely claimed that property taxes would have gone up 105 if issue 6 had passed. We talked to columbus mayor Michael Coleman about this last night. He said he was surprised to see the Koch Brothers poking around a municipal tax levee issue and warned they were far from finished. This is incredible that the Koch Brothers are interested in a zoo levy. But that tells me that theyre going to be involved in our school board races, theyre going to be involved in our city council races. Theyre going to be involved in over tax issue that comes before the voters in the city of columbus. And theyre going to be telling us how we should with deciding how we govern ourselves. Joining me now, ryan grim, Washington Bureau chief for the huffington post. Ryan, i couldnt get over this story, the fact that they were like going big on this tax levy. So much of this is part of a much larger strategy . And tactically, its the exact same thing theyre doing on obamacare. When you have this kind of disproportionate amount of money, it doesnt matter if you lie, because you can say, look, this woman lost her Health Insurance and cant afford new Health Insurance because of obamacare. And it can be completely false and it can be alled out as false by the different Fact Checkers and the local paper can run thing and you can get tsktsked, but they dont have the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to air that ad. And the same on a different scale about this flyer. You put out a flyer saying your property taxes are going to go up, thats completely false, and a blogger might have picked that up in franklin county, a paper might have mentioned it, but voters see the flyer, they see them everywhere, theyre glossy so they look official, and you go in and you vote it down. And youve also got this situation, where the actual local issue 6 opponents, people who were trying to get rid of it, were basically saying, yeah, the 105 number is kind of nutty. Exactly. And this is scary on another level, too. Because there are two ways that money works out there. Theres reward, you know, they try to encourage action by rewarding it financially, but the threat of spending money also discourages action. For instance, i know, actually, of one progressive congressman who, you know, who votes the Democratic Party line in a lot of ways, but he happens to have a very energy et billionaire who gets a lot of his money from forprofit schools in his district. Now, i dont think theyve ever had a conversation where hes said, hey, look, you need to vote with me on forprofit schools or ill put together a war chest and come at you. He votes for these forprofit schools. And its out of character. But the threat of spending that money is what changes the calculus. This is a great point. Its called the i think i saw one political scientist called it the iceberg theory of money in politics, right . What you see and what you dont see. In this case, we have this very clear example. You see the flyers, american for prosperitys name is on them. The question is, the next time that you or some politician who wants to vote for a tax levy or bring some local tax levy up because you need a new Community Center to get people some health care or you need to hire some more teachers, right . Youre going to be thinking about the threat of the fact that maybe some, you know, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands of dollars is going to rain down from these outside groups to beat you up over it, and thats going to make people think twice. Right, because as much as people will say, you know, theres money on both sides, there really isnt. Taking an issue like forprofit schools. There isnt someone on the other side thats going to come in and defend this particular congressman, because, you know, nobody cares that specifically about that issue. That is wellfunded enough to come in and defend them. And you know, the same is true on a bigger issue, say, with Climate Change. You know, 10, 15 years ago, you know, environmentalism still had some republican supporters. The Koch Brothers have made sure that there is nobody on the right that will support any efforts to do anything about Climate Change or anything else to curb Carbon Emissions or anything else related to Climate Change. There was a group that tried to put together some kind of transpartisan coalition they usually run out. All they could find was gary bower. They had to dig up a relic from the 1980s and pay him some extraordinary sum like 60 grand. But thats what theyve resigned to. And Everybody Knows that moneys out there, just waiting to strike. Ryan grim from the huffington post, thank you. Thank you. Koch brothers are not the only billionaires that are getting all up in your local elections. Gambling magnate Sheldon Adelson is coming to a state and town near you. And thats next. She keeps you on your toes. You wouldnt have it any other way. But your erectile dysfunction it could be a question of blood flow. 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Ask your doctor about experiencing cialis for daily use and a free 30tablet trial. A cynic would say, basically, youre just trying to protect your own landbased casinos. Any skeptic could say that i am that money is the consideration. Money is not the consideration with me. I think its a train wreck. Thats it, its a cancer waiting to happen. Sheldon adelson runs a casino empire. He is worth an estimated 38 billion. And he has an Important Message for americas parents. Online gambling is coming for your kids. And Sheldon Adelson wants to outlaw it. Not, lets be clear, because it threatens his profits, but you know, for the children. With wifi, i figured out how to get on gambling sites with my dads logon. He doesnt know that im knowing it. Its a lot cooler knowing that im playing a real game, not just candy crush or fruit ninja. I especially like blackjack. Its fast and im getting pretty good at it. I still double down too much, but its so much fun. Unbelievable. There is a massive battle happening right now at every level of government, local, state, and federal over internet gambling and Sheldon Adelson has decided to make it rain. As the Washington Post laid out in a great piece, adelson is hiring both republicans and democrats to lobby in opposition to Online Gambling, and giving money to candidates at every level, including rick scott, who just happened to send a letter to members of congress in opposition to Online Gambling last month. And who also just happened to get 750,000 in support from adelson between 2010 and 2012. Joining me now, nevada political journalist, john ralston, host of ralston reports, which is broadcast on nevadas nbc affiliates. Youre a longtime sheldonologist. Do you believe him, hes about the kids . Chris, your voice is just dripping with cynicism. I cant handle it, you just cant believe this is about the kids. Listen, i can tell you that his friends in the gaming industry that arent too friendly toward him these days dont believe that. They think hes a total hypocrite. But he makes two arguments. One is that it will cannibalize landbased casinos. That it becomes too widespread. Google or facebook will set up a site and it will kill landbased casinos. The other argument is the argument that kids will get on there, that desperate folks will get on there and lose fortunes. But all of that doesnt matter. Look how hes going about it. And you mention rick scott. But there are other governors too who are writing letters, including mike pence and rick perry, saying, ban internet gaming. Dont forget, too, that hes hiring all these democrats. These democrats are willing to sell themselves. Blanche lincoln, wellington webb, chris la main, who used to be a bigtime democratic operative in california, because hes going into sacramento too. His assistant, his Government Affairs guy has said, and they love this phrase, chris, he will spend whatever it takes to stop this. And hes going to do state by state if he has to, if he cant get it oh, another coincidence, by the way. Lindsey graham, who introduced his ban, the internet gaming in congress, just happened to have his bill written by a guy who used to work for whop . Sheldon adelson. You know, first of all, this is just a perfect illustration of how politics actually works as opposed to how we pretend they work, first of all. Second of all, i love the ideological tangle here. Heres a guy whos giving money, tens of millions of dollars for republicans, who hates labor unions, doesnt like government regulation, free market up by his bootstraps, whos made all his money largely from the grant of a government monopoly, right, to open a casino, and the Chinese Government giving him a casino in macau, right . And who is now going to spend that money in the post Citizens United era, to make sure that government regulates his competitors the out of business. Yes. This is the classic crony capitalism and its not hard to connect the dots. Some people will say its a chicken and egg, but is it a surprise that Lindsey Graham is suddenly against this after he gets some money from Sheldon Adelson or rick scott is against internet gaming. We have a senator here, dean heller, who recently started parroting the adelson rhetoric. But even harry reid now sounds a little bit like Sheldon Adelson. And maybe its just the fear of what Sheldon Adelson will do a harry reid in 2016. Thats exactly right. You make a few examples of people and you dont have to spend a dollar for people to say, well, you know what, am i really going to is the hill i want to die on, internet government, john ralston, thank you . That is all in for this evening. The fantastic Rachel Maddow starts right now. Thank you, i like that very much. Every night, please. Every night it is. Thank you, chris, appreciate it. And thank you for you at home for staying with us on this fantastic night. In the year 2008, the great state of missouri got rid of its limits on campaign contributions. They said anyone could give any amount for candidates and election issues in that state. And when missouri made that issue in 2008, they got, drumroll please, they got their own missouri version of the Koch Brothers or their own Sheldon Adelson, their own art pope. Once missouri said, anybody could spend anything they wanted on missouri politics, think got their own homegrown missouri zillionaire who thought the rules should be remade in their image. We have these zillionaire guys, some of them operating national politics, some operating in their home state, but the one that missouri got, he turns out