so the u.s. is really still caught in this strategic trap of its own making. the saudis and the iranians will go after each other, whoever it doesn t matter whether the shah s in power or ahmadinejad s in power. it doesn t matter who s in power in saudi arabia. again, it s a north versus the south, so to speak. yes, sunni versus shia. yep. absolutely. all right, listen, congrats on the book. thanks on the conversation. andrew scott cooper, ladies and gentlemen. the book is the oil king there s the cover. coming up on hardball, chris matthews with all of the post-gop debate analysis from last night. but first, our friend toure s book is so big, ladies and gentlemen, my man has gone hollywood! and showing what a good guy he is, he s still going to take a little bit of time for a daily rant. he s up after the break. [ woman ] jogging stroller, you ve been stuck in the garage, while i took refuge from the pollen that made me sneeze. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescript
for our guns to dictate politics since the 1960s. and joining us now is andrew scott cooper, who has worked for the united nations as well as human rights watch, and is the author of the oil kings: how the u.s., iran, and saudi arabia changed the balance of power in the middle east. and before we get into this book, your thoughts on the news of the day? i m not surprised the saudis are putting the oil money into the palestinian authority. i mean, they are, as you say, the power brokers, and i suspect there have been a number of deals behind the scenes that have been going on for quite a few weeks. the subtitle of your book is how the u.s., iran, and the saudi arabia changed the balance of power in the middle east. yes, this goes back to the mid-1970s and the first oil shock. at that time, the u.s. was closely affiliated with iran. t the shah was the dominant power broker and he refused to cooperate on oil prices.
today it is all about the underlying problem, money and politics. we know americans are fed up with their politicians and the special interests that fund them to avoid reforming everything from health care to education to the banking system and energy. but how did we get where we are today? with washington separated from voters by a wall of cold, hard special interest cash. take a look. reporter: in 1976, presidential candidate spending totaled $67 million, and winning house candidates spent $87,000 on average. in 2008, presidential candidates spent a total of $1.3 billion and it cost more than $1.5 million to win a house seat. more than a billion versus $67 million for president. $1.5 million versus $87,000 for congress. and by twelve, spending on all the elections is projected to reach over $6 billion. prior to the 2010 elections, key energy sectors such as finance gave more to republicans than democrats. in 2008, it flipped giving more to victorious democrats. back befor
that s your money, that s not the government s money. that s the whole point. barack obama seems to think that when we earn money, it belongs to him. and we re lucky just to keep a little bit of it. i don t think that at all. i think when people make money, it s their money. all right. 0% tax rate, sign me up. we re all ge. i love it. do we just have bake sales and stuff? we have bake sales. you see those roads right there? bake sale. about to make a point about the roads. well, i guess, willie, it must be morning joe. good morning. all right. hey, good morning, it s friday, september 23rd. with us onset mike barnicle, also from new york magazine john heilemann, also harold ford jr. you know, i thought to myself, john heilemann, a fiscal conservative, never voted for a tax increase in my life, but michele bauchmann, she super sizes me. you should not have to pay any of your money to the government. who knew? who knew that for all of those years the governm
by an american president, international allies, and central bankers. and the only way we can begin to fix the foundational flaws in our banking and credit systems is to get the money out of politics. because they re the ones buying our politicians the most. today, we kick off our mad as hell series, get money out, done with our friends at the huffington post. today it is all about the underlying problem, money and politics. we know americans are fed up with their politicians and the special interests that fund them to avoid reforming everything from health care to education to the banking system and energy. but how did we get where we are today? with washington separated from voters by a wall of cold, hard special interest cash. take a look. reporter: in 1976, presidential candidate spending totaled $67 million, and winning house candidates spent $87,000 on average. in 2008, presidential candidates spent a total of $1.3 billion and it cost more than $1.5 million to win a