the rachel maddow show, transcript 11/02/11 - household electrical appliances

Host: Good evening, ed.
Thank you very much, my friend.
Thank you for staying with us for the next hour.
I grew up in the eastern suburbs of San Francisco in the East Bay.
My parents still live in the house where I grew up.
San Francisco, loved or hated, is one of the most visually stunning places in the United States.
This is a compact city.
No spread.
Because San Francisco is surrounded by water on three sides, it is really impossible.
This is very, very hilly.
There are many interesting buildings here.
Part of the reason is the sad fact that after the president's 1906 magnitude earthquake and Great Fire burned the city, so many parts of the city had to be rebuilt immediately.
So when you're in San Francisco, you'll see amazing sights no matter where you work.
You know, the Golden Gate Bridge looks north, or the Bay Bridge looks east, and it's as beautiful as the Golden Gate, frankly.
With these views you will suddenly disappear from half a dramatic Valley
The rest was shrouded in fog in the bright sun.
San Francisco's Twin Peaks have these huge and beautiful radio towers that sometimes look like sailing boats hanging in the air in the fog.
The same view is better at night.
San Francisco is an incredibly visually dramatic place.
So when a child grows up, leaves San Francisco and drives back to East Bay, it's always a little visually disappointing, right?
The suburbs are lovely but not the same.
From the east of San Francisco to the suburbs of East Bay, I always feel that there are only two visual points of interest.
For a child who likes the bright lights of a big city, there are two visual interests on the whole drive.
Interestingly, the Mormon temple on the hillside of Oakland, California is in the middle of a residential area.
In the evening, it stands out like a prop in a movie in a future century.
Another visual point of interest is the Great Lakes Theater.
The Great Lakes Theatre is an ancient art deco theater that opened in Auckland in 1926.
It is magnificent.
When I grew up, the Great Lake was my date night movie theater.
But what's more important than the theater itself is its amazing, huge, Awesome Animated logo that you can see from anywhere.
Growing up, I think it's the coolest thing to live in East Bay, at least visually.
Now, I'm 38 and I think it's probably still the coolest thing on the East Bay sight.
This is what I would like to show you-this is a photo of the Great Lakes Theater today, its tent.
We are proud to support the Occupy Wall Street campaign, which was closed on Wednesday to support the strike.
Today, the entire city of Oakland, California is affected by what they call a big strike.
The idea, as suggested by "Occupy Auckland", is "strike, occupy, close it, Auckland is the town of people.
Also, "The occupation stays here every hour, every day.
"You have basic ideas.
What you're seeing right now is the live video of the Oakland strike tonight-the live video.
The idea of a strike is usually narrow, right?
This is a very targeted idea.
People who work in a particular place stop working there in order for them to better treat them as employees.
This is the idea of a strike.
The idea of a general strike is not targeted action against any business premises, any employer. It`s general.
It is not so much to raise beef with a particular target of the strike, it is to say that the people who have determined the strike are all on the same side.
There used to be a big strike in Auckland.
Just 1946 kilometres after the end of World War II.
There is one that is not very big.
Size of labor dispute in Auckland
The clerk at the retail store went on strike at the department store in the city center because they wanted better wages and better conditions.
There are pickets and some fierce confrontation.
Someone was arrested.
But in your average strike it's as high as you expected.
Until it's not just a dispute between these stores and the people who work for them, it's a dispute where the police force intervene on the side of the store, against the people who strike, against the employees. (
Start Video Editing)
Unidentified men: they drove us all out of the alley and pushed us with those damn billy clubs.
I have been here in black and blue for a few months.
The truck followed them, moving on and unloading.
Then they go back and get more.
The start of the general strike is not necessarily a strike breaker.
You know, I 've thought a lot since then.
We have seen the strike vandals.
But the thing is to use the police forces we pay taxes to beat us up on our own streets. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: the police work more for the store than they do for the strike workers, right?
The police should not stand aside in labor disputes.
They should just enforce the law.
But on the morning of December 1946, when the police were seen breaking the strike, standing on the side of the workers and joining the strike vandals, the general strike occurred spontaneously.
The bus driver saw what was going on.
They parked the bus there.
People from other businesses have just left.
It was a spontaneous strike, with the shop staff who had been doing their own thing standing aside.
At the age of 40, the Oakland strike was not an organized union --
Actually led.
It happened spontaneously for 1/2 days.
Maybe that's speculation, but the way they're telling the story now in Auckland is that every business in the city has been shut down for two days during the 1946 strike.
The only thing that was allowed to open during the strike was food shops and pharmacies so that people could buy medicines and bars.
But a bar with an asterisk.
During the general strike on 1946, the bar will be allowed to remain open.
It may be speculation, but that's what they say-only if they agree to two conditions.
First, they can only drink beer, not strong wine.
Second, they had to agree to put their automatic record machine on the sidewalk so that ordinary strikers could enjoy the music.
This year, "Occupy Auckland" began to become one of the dozens (if not hundreds) occupied camps in the country, representing 99% people, right?
For 99% of Americans who were underserved by our economy and our political system, it was captured by 1% of Americans.
But in October 25 of this year, the actions of the Oakland police again helped turn a small, isolated movement, at least relatively speaking, into a very, much bigger one.
Before the Oakland police made a bad decision, a shocking and awe-inspiring military campaign was launched in downtown Oakland against this small protest, which was before it amounted to the scale of the protest.
There are dozens of tents and hundreds of people in Auckland.
The protests have not only come back since the Oakland police operation in October 25, you see, they are now much bigger than before.
Even San Francisco across the bay, a city that itself is very progressive, a bigger city, does not have as much support as many people, and as much energy as "Occupy Auckland.
With new energy, this is partly due to a bad decision made by the police in October 25, "Occupy Auckland" decided today to do what Auckland did-they called for a big strike across the city.
Today, it is reported that thousands of Oakland residents took to the streets to protest, local media said it was the largest demonstration in East Bay since the Vietnam War.
In East Bay, Berkeley is there.
They knew something about the demonstrations against the Vietnam War.
Demonstrators "occupying Auckland", along with hundreds of teachers, students and nurses marched in the city center, gathered at the city's largest bank, for a force show to be held tonight in port Oakland, of course, it is the country's fifth largest port, one of the main channels for import from China to China.
Police in Auckland are on the sidelines most of today.
Some local businesses, including some of them, have just closed today.
Earlier today, some urban and port workers were sent home.
The Oakland school district reported that 18% of the city's teachers were on strike today.
But this is not a labor strike.
This is not a specific strike for a particular organization or specific business.
This is a rare strike.
This means that trying to get them to change is not about taking on any business.
In fact, many businesses in Auckland, not just the Great Lakes Theater, support the idea of 99%.
For example, the men's clothing store in the men's clothing warehouse posted these signs today, "We stand with 99%", closed on Wednesday, November 22.
While some businesses in Auckland are completely closed today and some banks remain open, it was decided to use cash only so that big banks and credit card companies would not be taken away by local businesses.
But that's normal, right?
There are no specific goals.
There is no specific agenda.
That is to say, the system should not only work for the rich.
But since the "Occupy Auckland" fundamentally blurs things and makes things common on the west coast, we're going to go into a weekend and people expect to take some very, very specific measures, very personal action as part of 99%.
This Saturday, November 5, bank transfer days across the country have been announced informally.
It's part of moving your money project, and it encourages people to move their money from big banks to community banks and credit unions, even though the big day is until Saturday, but the movement has spread across the country. (
Start Video Editing)
Reporter: In Seattle, in October alone, the number of new accounts for BECU credit unions surged from 7,000 to 16,000 per month.
Todd pitzsh: you will get a check for free.
In some cases you will be interested in your check.
You won't pay to see the teller.
You will not pay to transfer money from your savings account. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: the chief operating officer of nine schools and government credit cooperatives in Michigan said this week, citing "I will say that in the past few weeks, new members of one of our branches have increased by 25%, an increase of 50%.
The head of the National Association of Credit Cooperatives told "Reuters" that in the past month, credit cooperatives have seen a huge demand for current accounts, at least in the "thousands" of offers.
"People move money from big banks to smaller credit unions and local-owned institutions.
The Occupy Wall Street movement seems to have inspired this by inspiring people to get their own personal money from big banks.
Although all this has already happened, it is expected that there will be thousands of people doing so this weekend, if not thousands.
As we talked about last night on the show, the organizers of the Bank Transfer Day told us that more than 71,000 people promised to close their accounts at the Big Bank this weekend. MoveOn.
Org also now says that they have received a commitment from more than 60,000 people to transfer money this weekend.
In the meantime, it will occupy the Treasury Department tomorrow.
Members of the "Occupy Wall Street" and union members, especially nurses, will march in the United States. S.
The Treasury's request is as specific as the big strike in Auckland.
Their request is to tax financial transactions.
Talk directly to Wall Street.
After the Bush administration ended in 2008, Wall Street Exploded. one of the things that the Obama White House seriously considered was the tax on transfer funds and the tax on financial transactions.
Proportionally, it's a very small tax, but given that Wall Street has millions or billions of financial transactions, it can raise a lot of money from a place that has the ability to pay, by taxing an activity that has proven to be quite dangerous to economic health.
This is basically a victory, a victory, a victory.
The idea is not only on the Obama White House table, after the collapse, but it is clear that the head of the OMB, the people in the White House office, peter oszage, director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Obama, wants to do so, and I want a financial transaction tax.
President Obama reportedly mentioned the financial transaction tax at a meeting, saying, "we will do that.
So we did not.
It has not happened so far.
The author of the Pulitzer Prize winner, Ron Suskin, first reported "we're going to do this," and he's coming with us. (
Business break)
Tonight in Oakland, California.
The Port of Oakland, the fifth largest port in the United States, now says it has actually closed due to the "Occupy Auckland" general strike.
The big strike is a rare thing in this country.
Tomorrow, the move is expected to move to Washington, which is occupying the Treasury.
Protesters tomorrow are calling for very specific action.
Even if the strike was launched in California, it was a very high-profile scene, and the protests were very focused on communicating their messages.
Tomorrow, we will see a very specific demand for the financial transaction tax.
It is reported that this is what President Obama agreed after the Wall Street collapse at the end of 2008, but although he supported this, it has not happened yet.
Now here to tell us why, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Ron Suskind, author of the confident man.
"Ron, it's good to have you back.
Thank you for coming.
Ron Suskind of the author, the man of confidence: it's a pleasure to be here.
MADDOW: "Occupy Wall Street", "We are 99%" protesters whose demands have no clear purpose.
The protest tomorrow is specific.
You report that the financial transaction tax is a serious consideration for the Obama White House.
How do we know?
We know because I interviewed all the people involved in the long recording interview.
It is fascinating that during the tough days of market jitters in the spring of 2009, the president told his chief budget officer, Peter oszage, that if he had a bond option, no one would have appeared in the Treasury bonds, what happens?
One thing you can do, Orszag says, is to impose a financial transaction tax, which will increase revenue and curb speculative sex and behavior.
This is actually something to restore confidence in a broken system.
To remind you, Rachel, what we have here is that even Wall Street knows that it needs medicine deep inside.
May be strong medicine.
It's like a patient is sick and may even have a thorough surgery in terms of restructuring.
This is what they know deep inside, in fact, this is what people know now, because they have this book, "confident people," and they are talking about my kindness, the president wants to do this with his Wall Street in many cases.
Wall Street worship advisers say we won't let him do that.
Nothing happened.
But now, many advisers, Lawrence Summers and others, are gone.
The question is: what is Tim Geithner's position on the financial transaction tax?
It can raise a lot of money.
It will curb the volatility that is sweeping the global market.
The question is: what is the position of the president?
This question is being asked.
MADDOW: you specifically accuse Larry Summers of stopping the job, though it's a policy he's been supporting, supporting the public early in his career.
Is it possible that this kind of thing will happen as summer disappears?
For example, how strong is the resistance in the bond market?
Bond traders from Wall Street?
Well, it depends on who you are talking about.
Those who want to bring stability to these bond markets say, look, that's exactly what you need.
Those who make a lot of money on the information advantage, if you want, in the huge debt trading machine that now dominates Wall Street revenues, they have more time-well, of course, those people did not want to take the bread off the table.
But what we're talking about here is how we can help our financial markets build a sustainable model so that we don't run around these crazy parabola, frankly, the United States cannot accept the waves.
As far as most people's lives are concerned, we cannot accept this in terms of their kitchen table budget and American business.
Charming, Rachel, the Fortune 500 company has no love for Wall Street, not to mention the American street.
The question is: will the president come forward now when this call is clearly strongly called for action?
Ron, let me ask you a slightly wider question.
I really believe that the "We are 99%" movement is a movement that resonates and works.
Because their strategy is to stay where they are, I think it will last for a long time.
I think they have found something very real to almost all Americans.
From what you are reporting about how this government works, what are the main resistance to doing things for the president now, implementing policies that help 99% people, and helping the economy?
Even put Wall Street in their position.
Suskin: Well, look, I still think he and many leaders around the world feel that he has to be on the side of the bank when everything goes on.
Basically, in terms of supporting public wallets, with the support of the federal government, the existing banking system in the United States has collapsed.
Dodd/Frank, reform is really a mile wide, one inch deep.
It does not deal with major structural issues that, frankly speaking, are still really hurting and causing fear that slows job growth and slows investment.
You know, what's holding him back?
This is the question that people are asking.
Maybe they will wait until later and they want to use the issue in next year's campaign.
But I think deep down, the president has a few ideas here.
As I have shown in the book, he sometimes gets into trouble and makes tough decisions.
I think we have encountered another situation of "Yes, but" a lot of Hamlet.
He needs more Titus Andronicus at this point.
He needs to stand up and wave his sword.
But the truth is that it is difficult for the president to do so throughout his term.
Ron Suskind, a Pulitzer Prize winner for confident people-Ron, thank you for your time and insight this evening.
It's good to see you.
It will be interesting to see the protesters in Washington raise this issue tomorrow.
As Ron said, "Yes, but" the moment is no longer appropriate. All right.
Today, it's more useful to have a record company show than most in Washington.
There are actually some signs of life there, seriously, not joking.
It's coming. (
Business break)(
Start Video Editing)REP.
Jerrod Nadler (D)
New York: What happened to the Republican commitment, and we stopped implementing symbolic resolutions?
No one is threatening the slogan of the country. It`s there.
It's on our currency, it's on our wall, it's there.
This is the motto of our country.
No one denies the fact.
When we pass this resolution, nothing will change.
This is our national motto yesterday.
This is our national motto today.
Tomorrow will be our national motto.
This solution is just to shift attention from our real problem to a problem that does not exist. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: according to Jerry Nadler, there is no challenge to our national motto.
He is obviously a member of some kind of Communist Party.
Last night, Democratic Congressman Jerry Nadler defended the existence of our national slogan in the house.
President Obama is heading to G-
Twenty European summits, but before he left today, he made his own farewell to the Republicans --
Did take the time to do a floor vote last night to confirm that the motto of the United States of America is still "God We Trust ".
They are changing their motto.
They did not suggest getting rid of it.
They didn't do anything about it except for the affirmation of the existence of the motto.
The president gave them "what" here today ". (
Start Video Editing)
US President Barack Obama: everyone here, we are all Americans.
We are not the ones who sit and see what happens.
If Congress tells you they don't have time, they have time to do it.
What have you been debating in the house?
You 've been debating baseball commemorative coins, John.
Your legislation reaffirms that "we believe in God" is our motto.
It's not about getting people back to work.
I believe in God, but God wants to see us help ourselves by getting people back to work. (APPLAUSE)(END VIDEO CLIP)
John Boehner, God agrees with your $5 bill, but hope you and Congress do something about the economy.
Maybe God and your constituents.
Tomorrow, America. S.
The Senate is expected to vote on President Obama's other jobs bill, which we talked to Amy crobchar earlier this week.
She said the investment was $50 billion to build and repair roads and bridges.
While Republicans used to build infrastructure, 100% of them are now against it.
Not only that, but in the last infrastructure vote in Congress, Republicans opposed that Republicans did not support blocking Ben Nelson from the state of Neas and Jon Tester from Montana. Not this time.
At least we don't think so this time.
Senator Ben Nelson and Senator Jon Tester both said they would at least consider standing on the Republican side now and again blocking infrastructure construction.
They would at least consider voting to allow a vote on the bill.
Instead of joining the Republican blockade, this is progress.
Really, Joe Manchin, a very conservative Democrat, signed the bill in West Virginia.
Factory promotion Senator Klobuchar.
So, yes, we do want Republicans to oppose the jobs bill at this point, even on the infrastructure they used to support, but if Democrats no longer split on this issue, frankly, this is a huge political leap for Democrats.
For the record, as a strategic issue, Democrats were united in the 100% incident and did not defected, which was to get some Republicans out of their own party, a necessary step to vote for this matter.
Everyone said that the employment bill could not be passed even on roads and bridges.
But pay attention to this. It is moving.
There are more signs that in the past few days, Democrats have expressed their displeasure at Republican efforts to make voting more difficult, in order to shorten the time for early voting, or don't let you vote without documents you 've never presented before, and thousands or even millions of qualified American voters don't.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have called for hearings on new laws to make voting more difficult-new laws in 13 states and new laws on the table have tripled.
Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat who joined the Senate, has been calling on Democrats
Leading the Senate Judicial Committee out of Washington, D. C. C.
Going to the States for a field hearing on the new law makes voting more difficult.
Democratic Congressman Keith Ellison introduced two new bills today.
You can register and vote on the same day of the federal election.
Another bill from member Ellison will prohibit states from asking you to show a photo ID at the time of the vote because millions of eligible voters in the country do not have a photo ID.
As I said, we are now seeing some signs in Congress.
Also in Obama.
There are signs that they are taking these Republican laws seriously to make the 2012 vote even more difficult.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that President Obama's former White House lawyer, a lawyer named Bob Bauer, is trying to fight back with Republicans in this regard.
A two-pronged effort, including stopping these laws when they can be stopped, and helping voters who are targeted by these laws find out how to vote, although it has become more difficult for them.
The White House has picked lawyers like Bob Bauer, which shows that it will push the vote-the effort to protect it is not just to educate people what ID they need and how to get it.
The White House's selection of its own chief counsel shows that it is ready to bring serious legal power to this end.
It is also about prosecuting and blocking these laws in court as much as possible.
Most of the time, reporting political news means D. C.
I admit it.
You know the best luck, all the beliefs, and what's worse is the intensity of passion.
But on days like this, Yates was very happy.
It was one of the last few weeks that seemed to have the intensity of passion walking around Washington.
Even some good tactics on the Democratic side.
There are signs of life in Washington DC. C.
Let me tell you. (
Business break)
MADDOW: in this country, we have a census every 10 years.
The constitution stipulates that we must do so.
So the president of Kenya could better plan to bring Republicans together and put them in jail.
Sorry to have accidentally changed my notes to Michelle bach man's transcript.
In fact, the constitution stipulates that we must conduct a census every 10 years so that we can ensure that the government is still representative.
For example, we use census data to calculate how many members of Congress are in each state.
We use census data every 10 years to re-divide the constituency where we elect members of Congress.
Making sure that our Congress represents our people accurately is something that should be a technocrat and has nothing to do with politics at all.
This is not the case, of course.
What actually happens is that the ruling party draws strange, crazy lines on the map in order to give itself an advantage on election day, bringing together voters who are mainly Republicans or mainly Democrats, make the region a relaxed competition for their political parties over the next decade.
Look at the results of the constituency division.
This is the fourth district of Illinois.
How about 22 Florida?
Oh, by the way, this is the obvious place.
What about the second area of Arizona? Really?
But recently in Arizona, voters decided to change it.
They no longer want any party who happens to be in power when redrawing a constituency to have such a big impact on the drawing line.
On 2000, Arizona passed proposal 106, also known as Fair District, fair elections.
Proposal 106 states that the state legislature will no longer be entitled to demarcate these areas.
It was done by an independent committee.
Citing two Democrats, two Republicans and an independent, "in the hands of a politically neutral civil council, they are not active in party politics and will serve them free of charge, create a fair constituency for the benefit of a political party or incumbent. ” Awesome!
Now that the census is over, the Arizona Independent replanning commission has been working to map the new area on behalf of the people of Arizona.
They are about a month away from finishing their work.
They submitted a draft that had not yet been finalized.
But this is the case.
Republican Governor Brewer did not like their products in January.
Republican Governor Brewer did not like the advice made by this committee in January, nor did he like the advice made last night at a special meeting dedicated to this purpose
The Senate in Arizona voted for the governor and she needed to fire the head of the so-called independent committee. (Video clips)
Elizabeth Bernstein: this is a betrayal of the process that voters would like to see, because it just makes people very, very politically influential in the same legislature, we tried to exclude it from the process.
Reporter: The Republican majority in the Senate voted unanimously to remove the chairman of the remarking committee.
She is Colleen Masis because the governor said she had doubts about the work of the committee.
Republicans don't like the way the new map is drawn, although the map does give them an advantage. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Republicans have gained an applied advantage from the new map, but this advantage may not be enough for Republicans in Arizona.
When this happens, Governor Brewer is not even in Arizona.
She reportedly promoted her book in New York this week.
This is the back cover of her book.
Yes, this is true.
It should be Brewer in January.
But even on the road to trying to achieve this lovely comic, Governor Brewer took time out of her book trip to the United Nations
The independent commission was created by Arizona's voters specifically to get rid of politicians like her, completely out of partisan politics.
Senate Democrats say the dismissal is a political persecution and a shame.
On 2000, when Arizona was debating whether to pass proposal 106, it decided whether to take power from the legislature in the region, those who supported the measure were groups such as the women's voter Union and the Arizona School Board Association.
The opposition is Republican.
Voters and independent good government groups have won the fight to make this thing independent.
They won the vote.
They got the independent commission.
Now, Republicans have found a way to kill it with their majority anyway.
Now we are joined by Democratic Representative Raul grejarawa, who represents the Seventh District of Arizona.
Member Grijalva, thank you very much for your time tonight. REP. RAUL GRIJALVA (D)
Arizona: Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
MADDOW: I know that both Democrats and Republicans are not a huge fan of this rezoning committee's new map for Arizona.
But isn't that what you expect from the independent group that is engaged in this work?
Don't you want that?
Voters passed the independent committee.
The process is not going well.
This is for those of us who are in power.
It is long and hard.
But the truth is, it came into being like this, so most people in the legislature can't find their own feathers in their nests.
While, you know, on my behalf at least, there is no 100% satisfaction, what the governor and the state Senate have done is true, and I think it may be illegal, against the constitution, they had no time in the middle to do it, and the chairman of the committee was unable to respond.
More importantly, this is the kangaroo Stadium.
This is all booked.
This is to protect the four current Republicans in Congress and make sure they have a region that protects them.
I really believe that what is done here adds another very ugly and painful event to the legacy of Arizona that Brewer and the legislature provided to the nation in January.
This is not the people of Arizona, but our political leadership in the state will certainly continue to work hard and in the next 10 years they will try to guide politics and create a culture that they can control.
People in Arizona will fight because it's not what they voted.
Second, the fact of doing so is that the original political power, which is crude, clearly violates the constitutional principles that created this committee.
The story is not over yet.
MADDOW: Arizona has done smart things in removing the partisan advantage of either party from the political process.
Some political reforms are one-sided, such as public funding for Arizona's elections, and, of course, conservatives at the Roberts Supreme Court have also attacked them.
An independent committee, this independent committee, outside partisan politics in each region, to stop the division of constituencies, now seems to have been blown up by Republicans in the legislature.
Voters in Arizona say there seems to be a real difference between what they want and what they get from the political process.
GRIJALVA: Yes, regardless of the philosophical differences in Arizona, they do exist, and it's a very populist country.
This is a very independent one. minded voter.
Everything that has been done around public financing, the independent commission and other reforms to improve the ability of our democratic country to work, the Republican Party has a majority in the legislature, now the governor has gone out of his way to start revoking the practices and the referendum passed by the people who work for Arizona and make the game fair, giving Arizona voters the opportunity to elect people who represent their views.
They are taking risks-I just think they are taking risks not only on Arizona's reputation, but also on the democracy that the people of Arizona want.
MoDo: Senator Raul grejarrava of Arizona-it's a pleasure to have you on the show, Sir.
Thank you very much for your time tonight.
Thank you, Rachel. My pleasure.
Apparently, Herman Cain, the Republican presidential candidate, does not know that China already has nuclear weapons.
Missed the last 40 years or so.
Apparently, he is busy accusing other Republican candidates of sexual harassment charges.
Lawrence will break this tonight on the "last word.
We will be back soon. (
Business break)
MADDOW: in the fall of 2008, Mineral Management Services became the most famous institution in our country's notorious Interior Ministry.
Mineral Management Services.
But they are not famous for their good reputation.
This is the kind you are famous for winning such headlines.
Gender, drug use and corruption referred to in the Home Office report.
The inspector general's report found, quote, "a culture of moral failure.
More specifically, a number of officials at the Mineral Management Office cited "frequent drinking of alcohol, the use of cocaine and cannabis in industrial activities, and sexual relations with oil and gas company reps.
"In addition to working with the people of the oil companies they should supervise, the Bush administration's Mineral Management Department also makes its employees sigh with each other and take drugs with each other, even leading a relatively steady newspaper like the Houston Chronicle to lead the story in this way.
Quoting this sentence, "a project director allegedly snorted a meth on the toaster oven.
Take meth from the toaster.
In the Bush administration, this is your Mineral Management Service at work.
Its job is to regulate employees in the oil and gas industry and also get gifts from the industry, including overnight at an oil company --
After a hard hit with the oil and gas company's employees, they were not allowed to drive home by car and owned a holiday cabin.
The oil and gas industry scandals remain, but they have been less sexy since the Bush administration.
I mean, literally, they don't like shtooping very much.
For example, House Republicans hold hearings, including today's hearing, investigating federal loans to a company called Solyndra, which subsequently went bankrupt and attacked specific loans, but it also attacked the whole idea of the government offering loans to companies.
The embarrassment of the Republican debate is that the company was approved by George w. Bush to participate in the loan guarantee program.
The Bush administration and legislation to create a loan guarantee program were approved by the Republican Party.
Control Congress in 2005.
In fact, the legislation that created the Solyndra loan program has been approved by every Republican on the subcommittee and they are now holding hearings to investigate the program and say they are angry about it
The only Republicans on this angry committee who did not vote for the Solyndra plan were the four Republicans on the committee who did not enter Congress at the time of the vote.
Don't be distracted, though.
Conservative groups funded by oil and chemical wealth heirs, billionaire brothers, Koch brothers, Charles and David Koch, whose group, Americans, announced today that they will spend $2 for prosperity.
4 million big, $2.
4 million buying call times for this new ad requires a real answer to what they call a green energy scam.
A House committee is expected to issue a subpoena to the White House tomorrow for more documents related to loan guarantees.
So, this is the No sexy energy scandal on the right.
At the same time, on the left, there's a lot-and I think it's still safe to say that the unsexy consternation of the State Department is still waiting to approve the massive tar sands pipeline across the continent, from north to southE-
Last month's email showed a comfortable relationship between Hillary Clinton's State Department staff and pipeline lobbyists, who used to be Hillary Clinton's 08 president.
But, as the president made it clear yesterday, whether the Cornerstone Pipeline was built really doesn't depend on Secretary Clinton and the State Department.
The State Department can make suggestions, but the president will make a decision. (
Start Video Editing)
OBAMA: Because there is a pipeline from Canada, the State Department is responsible for analyzing this.
They will give me a report in the next few months.
You know, my overall attitude is the best for the American people, and I measure those suggestions when they come to me. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Environmental groups will protest the White House next week.
There have been a lot of protests and arrests and people have tried to stop the pipeline.
You may know that this new pipeline will go straight through the Ogalala aquifer.
This is 1/3 of the farms that cause groundwater aquifer in this country.
So it's not just trees-
Embrace environmental activists who are anxious and angry about the proposed pipeline.
Farmers too.
But if you think the solingdra and plumbing scandal lacks some sort of sensuality compared to the Bush administration sucking meth from the toaster oven, shaming lobbyists in the hot tub scandal, for my personal favorite energy scandal, there may be no hope for a nationwide panic unless we can figure out a way to get sex or drugs into the world in some way.
The East Coast earthquake in August 23, right?
Except in some very specific places, the damage to roads, houses and offices is not catastrophic.
However, the epicenter was only 12 miles from the North Anna nuclear power plant in Luisa County, Virginia.
The factory had to be closed due to the earthquake.
This is the first time this has happened at any nuclear power plant in the country.
They never shut down one before the earthquake.
Ten weeks after the August earthquake, the North Anna nuclear power plant was still not operational.
When that factory was closed, we were first told that it was closed because the power grid was cut off when the earthquake caused a power outage in the area.
It turns out this is not true.
Since then, we have learned that the North Anna factory was closed because of all the vibrations of the earthquake, and that the electricity was not closed until after the factory was closed because of all the shocks.
After 8 seconds of power failure, the generator starts and 3 diesel generators start.
One of the four generators at the North Anna plant tried to start but failed.
Now, the rule for nuclear power plants in the United States is that they must have four hours of spare generator capacity before resuming off-site power.
This is my problem.
What if it takes more than four hours to power up again?
Remember, if you can't keep the power on, if your diesel generator is not running to keep the cooling system running properly, Fukushima if you can't keep the cooling system running properly.
I know there is no sex scandal or partisan advantage here.
But today, we learned-well, the title of the "Associated Press" calls it a fault.
But officials at the utility said the gas inside the Fukushima plant's No. 2 reactor indicated the presence of radioactive xenon, which could be a by-product of accidental nuclear fission.
Today, unexpected nuclear fission occurred in Fukushima.
Nuclear fission is like an emergency rescue effort to prevent a nuclear leak in Fukushima, because a small explosion of nuclear fission could trigger a larger nuclear reaction.
This continues.
In the past few months, in the United States, except for earthquakes --
The damaged North Anna nuclear power plant is still not on line, and the palyside nuclear power plant in southwest Michigan was shut down for a week due to a mechanical failure that caused a small amount of radioactive tritium to be released into the air.
This is the same factory that was closed in September because the cooling system lost water.
At a factory in Buckley, Georgia, they found radioactive water tritium leaking from the factory again.
The Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire automatically shut down after the water pump failure caused the steam generator to have a low water level.
After three weeks on the line, it is now restarted.
At a factory in Ohio, more cracks were found in concrete shield buildings this week, which should be designed to protect the reactor from wind and tornadoes.
Since October 1, the plant has been closed due to cracks previously discovered.
The cracks were accidentally discovered when the owner of the factory was carrying out some unrelated renovations.
Yesterday, a non-radioactive ammonia leak at the San onovra plant in California triggered an alarm that led to partial evacuation of the plant.
In addition to that, GE-Hi boss said that the 35 nuclear reactors built from New York to Washington in the past 40 years may not be able to shut down normally during the earthquake.
The company recommends testing now to determine how much vibration is needed to stop the nuclear fission process in an earthquake in one of the factories.
They recommend doing additional testing after 40 years because we don't know the answer yet.
Some of these plants have a history of 40 years.
These plants have a history of 40 years.
We are now working on the idea that the earthquake will turn them from a disaster to a disaster.
All of our nuclear power plants have been around for decades and are constantly being influenced by little known and unprecedented mechanical failures, which is not the kind of scandal involving sexy things, for example, reality TV stars or regulators use home appliances for lobbyists or drugs in the name of American taxpayers.
But one day these things, these nuclear power plant stuff will drive me crazy so much that I will send cocaine
No pre-prepared divorce documents
To make someone angry, nup has reached the level of India. (
Business break)
MADDOW: Tonight, thousands of people went on a general strike on the streets of Oakland, California, a rare bird in American history.
The general strike is not a strike against a particular business, but a strike for a larger cause, a strike that shows solidarity-in this case, we all advocate an economic and political system that benefits not only the wealthiest of us.
Today's strike in Auckland culminates with a march into the port of Auckland.
The entrance is blocked.
The port tonight said the protests "effectively shut down maritime operations there.
Police say the crowd is peaceful.
They said no one was arrested.
Over the weekend, filmmaker Michael Moore in "Occupy Auckland" will join us on the Rachel McDo show tomorrow night.
And then on Friday, I'm happy to say that Daniel Handler will be joining us, and you may know that he is Lemmon snick.
He is one of the writers who supported Occupy Wall Street.
He wrote a wonderful article about sports for professional writers. com.
Michael Moore, Lemmon snickkett.
We hope you can join us on these two shows.
But Lawrence O'Donnell's "last word" begins now.
Thank you for being with us.
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