corporations had the same rights as individuals. the court also ruled that political spending was a form of free speech. were you surprised by the decision on citizens united? i was shocked. i hadn t heard anybody really say that that was a legitimate thing to do. and, yet, the court went ahead and did it. the flood of political money unleashed by citizens united led to the rise of what we now know as super pacs. they can accept unlimited money from basically anyone, including corporations, labor unions and billionaire megadonors. donors names are disclosed and super pacs are not allowed to work directly with a candidate or campaign. i don t think there is any question. it s all a wink and a nod. these are former staff members who know exactly what to do. so the idea that somehow this is
unlimited corporations but unlimited anonymous corporations. not just super packs. you know all the donors. it s 501c4s. you have anonymous donors together giving to a super pac. although you know who is giving to a super pac, you don t know who is behind it. it is like some p.o. box and someone is writing some checks. exactly. americans for a better america. you don t know who they are. and, so, what they re doing in montana, and this is the light at the end of the tunnel, is that they have an act, a disclose act that says 90 days before an election, i don t care who you are or what you re getting at, you have to give your name. i had no idea. that s wild. i had no idea this existed. if you go to montana, they have a part-time state legislature where you have a boilermaker and a firefighter and teacher sitting in the state house, $180 is the maximum per person you can gave. they don t have obscene amounts of money pouring into the system. the supreme court, by the way, jus
fascinating because that did two things, right? so the first thing it does, it opens up unlimited contributions that are corporate. but very quickly people realize that corporations are very malleable entity that you create all kinds of difference with. what it opened up was not just unlimited corporations but unlimited anonymous corporations. not just super packs. you know all the donors. it s 501c4s. you have anonymous donors together giving to a super pac. although you know who is giving to a super pac, you don t know who is behind it. it is like some p.o. box and someone is writing some checks. exactly. americans for a better america. you don t know who they are. and, so, what they re doing in montana, and this is the light at the end of the tunnel, is that they have an act, a disclose act that says 90 days
wiest nature of 501c4s that allows a multimillionaire to spend undisclosed millions on tv ads. this delay is deeply disappointing and a real setback for democracy and faith in government. schumer says he hopes they don t give into political pressure. this isn t over. this rule is merely on hold and will not have an impact on this year s midterm election. mike, thank you so much. speaking of taxes, a stunning new report shedding light on our government. according to irs data obtained by usa today, federal employees owe more than $3 billion in back taxes. with the delinquency rate of just over 3% and an average tax bill of about $11,000. but to be fair, federal workers are doing better than average americans whose delinquency rates are closer to 10%. new video, alarming, showing three young children getting electrocuted in a swim l poog,
all right, i m sure you saw the obama interview with o reilly on sunday, the president sort of dismisses the entire thing as an isolated incident, boneheaded decisions by a handful of bureaucrats. isn t there an e-mail now that belies that, and what does it show? yeah, there is an e-mail that belies it. the president says there was not a smidgen of evidence of corruption, yet two days ago the house ways and means committee released an e-mail they got through their investigation which shows from the very highest level of the chief counsel s office, the office i used to work in of the irs, where deputy chief counsels and associate chief counsels were in communication with lois lerner to develop new rules regarding 501c4s to restrict those groups. they wanted to do what they called, quote, off plan which means off the books so it s not on the public calendar. and all of that was taking place while the targeting was going on. so this whole concept that a somehow we re dealing with a