actually getting to know their colleagues and legislating. and you wonder why congress doesn t look like the rest of america? seriously? it s a joke. so it s been a year of hand wringing over money, who s rich, who should be rich. sure. and why congress isn t looking out. that s really the central message of this occupy movement. the game has been rigged inside washington so we know it s rigged. we know the game is bad. what s the big idea to clang it? it s not just occupy. it s tea party too. i think the tea party movement was founded very much on this ideal. you got to ban money in politics. that means you got to go to a federally financed election system. that is and aathema to most conservatives. at the end of the day, a $25 donation from a grandmother in dubuque, iowa is no different than a $25 million donation from one of the koch brothers. why? because there is a quid pro quo. she demands and expects you to
and this one is going after congress. let s take a look. if washington is the problem, why trust a congressman to fix it? among them they spend 63 years in congress leaving us with debt, earmarks and bailouts. congressmen get $174,000 a year and you get the bill. we need a solution. that s the reason i ve called for a part-time congress. cut their pay in half. cut their time in washington in half. cut their staff in half. send them home. let them get a job like everybody else has. i m rick perry and i approve this message. anna, we know his debate performances have been terrible. does he have one last push in him in iowa? could he surprise anybody? is the game over for him? this is his hail mary in the hawkeye state for sure. he, as you said, has had a dismal time trying to get any traction there. what he is trying to do is use what he did in the debates. one of the few lines that got any kind of response was this,
vote for her on social security and medicare. mr. koch, one of them, expects you to vote with him on energy, etcetera, taxes. there is no difference. it s just the zeroes. willie, as somebody has raised a lot of money, i raised $42 million for my first gubernatorial campaign and $42 million for my second because i didn t have a primary, he s absolutely right. the failure of the occupy movement to embrace this issue, to change the constitution, that is the only way you do it given the court interpretation, you have to amend the constitution. the failure of the occupy movement not to latch on to this issue which was central for everything they were saying is really disappointing. ezra, you ve written a lot about this this year about money in politics. what is the best idea you ve heard to change this game? they re tough. as the governor says, you probably need a constitutional amendment to do anything real big. i think the most promising thing we could do right now, and there are i
successful house candidate is $1.4 million. that number has quadrupled since 1976. jimmy, want to get you in on this. i watch you and dylan rhadigan 4:00 msnbc. get the money out. you guys have been big on that message. you ve read this the washington post piece. not just about the income disparity. right. but about the money and politics. a million and a half bucks for an average house race. what do we do to change the game? think about it like this. a smart member of congress, they wake up, go to a breakfast fundraiser. that is an hour. then they go to the committee hearing. who is there? the same lobbyist at the breakfast. then they go to lunch, a fundraiser. more lobbyist. i used to be a lobbyist for full disclosure. then another committee hearing. same lobbyist. then they go to a cocktail party. that s a fundraiser. they go to a dinner. that s a fundraiser. they just spent 75% of their legislative day raising money and about 25% of the day
you know, throw congress out, you know, mentality, which is play on congress s, you know, low approval rating and hope that his outsider status can somehow help him in iowa these last seven days. yeah. and congress controlled by republicans but i guess he s taking that out against ron paul and others who have served. i want to ask you, anna, because you write about money in politics for politico. i bring you in a little bit on the conversation we were just having. how can this game be changed in a meaningful way? we ve sort of nibbled around the edges over the years for campaign financing. what s the big idea that we ought to do but also that s possible? something that could get done? i think the hard thing right now is there s absolutely no movement in congress. the people that are there have no incentive to actually change it. they are in the system. right. they can make the money off the fundraisers. so really there s some around the edges, small legislation. but you really