The Republicans’ top oligarch, foreign casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, is already plotting how he can buy the next election and protect himself from criminal prosecution. Adelson spent $150 million on Republicans in the 2012 election, more than anyone in any American election in history. But he’s already promising to spend double that amount come the next election, and has already met with prospective 2016 Republican Presidential candidates like Governors Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, and Bob McDonnell.

Now, Adelson is looking out for his own butt. The Washington Post reports the he’s flying to Washington, DC to meet with Republican leaders in hopes of changing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Currently, President Obama’s Department of Justice is investigating Adelson for violating the Act, as he’s accused of bribing officials in China to get his casinos built. Which is, of course, why Adelson, who otherwise supports gay marriage and socialized medicine, spent so much money to defeat President Obama and thus get a new Justice Department that won’t prosecute him.

This is the life of the rich and powerful in America. When they get in trouble with the law, they just buy new politicians and get new laws to protect themselves. It used to be called bribery, but today, thanks to the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, now it’s just business as usual.

-Thom

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Wednesday's Daily Stack

Hour One: Should Texas be forced to secede?
- Attorney Mike Papantonio, host of "Ring of Fire Radio"

Video: "Fiscal Cliff | The Simpsons | Animation on FOX ".

Article: "Bernie Sanders Rips John Boehner for Calling for Cuts to Disabled Veterans’ Benefits" by Jason Easley.

Article: "Starbucks agrees to pay more corporation tax" by BBC.

Article: "A quarter of Republicans want to secede, half think election stolen" by Public Policy Polling.

Article: "Lots of good stuff in PPP's post-election poll" by Hunter.

Article: "Senate Republicans Vote Down International Disabilities Treaty" by Hayes Brown.

Article: "Wheelchair-bound Bob Dole watches as GOP fails to ratify disability treaty" by AP.

Article: "Republicans cite abortion, home schooling to defeat UN disability treaty" by David Edwards.

Law: "The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Fox News Pushing Karl Rove, Dick Morris Off The Air " by Chris Gentilviso.

Article: "Radio's Michael Savage decries Obama attacks, sorta" by James Rainey.

Article: "Marco Rubio: Earth Is 4.5 Billion Years Old, Created By God" by Elise Foley.

The Big Picture
- Sam Sacks, The Big Picture producer, progressive commentator

Article: "Senate Republicans Block Ratification Of U.N. Treaty On Rights For The Disabled, Citing Impact On Home-Schoolers" by Sahil Kapur.

Article: "Costas: "Mistake" To Give Anti-Gun Commentary During Football Game" by Ian Schwartz .

Article: "Bob Costas Learns the Right Time to Talk About Guns in America: Never" by Will Bunch.

Article: "Bob Costas Doubles Down on Gun Comments on MSNBC" by Jeffrey Meyer.

Speech: "GDP" by Robert Kennedy, March 18, 1968.

Audio: "Norquil" by Rocky Mountain Mike.

Article: "House GOP offers plan to avoid fiscal cliff, but White House says no" by Dana Bash, Jessica Yellin and Tom Cohen.

Article: "Port strike ends in Los Angeles, Long Beach" by Brian Sumers.

Article: "Harry Reid: Filibuster Changes Will Take Place In January" by Sabrina Siddiqui, Sarah Bufkin.

Article: "Yes, Half of Republicans Think ACORN, Which Doesn't Exist, Stole the Election" by Alexander Abad-Santos.

Article: "Michigan Republicans Gear Up for Right to Work Legislation" by David Dayen.

Article: "Labor Day 1956: Young Republicans Salute Labor" by Young Republicans Labor Committee.

Hour Two: Secession...inevitable
- Vox Day, Christian libertarian & author of "A Throne of Bones"

Book: "A Throne of Bones (Arts of Dark and Light)" by Vox Day.

Article: "An American Independence Party" by Vox Day.

Article: "Acts of Union 1707" by Wikipedia (England and Scotland).

Article: "Articles of Confederation".

Law: "Federal Reserve Act" by 1913.

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Bob Ney

Article: "John Boehner’s Holiday Photo Snub & More Petty Political Moments" by Abby Haglage.

Article: "Two Santa Clauses or How The Republican Party Has Conned America for Thirty Years" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Hoyer: White House Plan a Start, Not the End" by Elahe Izadi.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Article: "Rep. Robin Vos wants to revisit the voter ID law; opponents wonder 'what now?'" by Jessica Vanegeren.

Article: "Boxer Bill Would Combat Long Voting Lines" by Ryan J. Reilly.

Article: "Poll Finds Minorities, Democrats Faced Longer Voting Lines" by Rebecca Leber.

Article: "How The Voter ID Crusade Backfired On Republicans " by Evan McMorris-Santoro.

Article: "Voter ID crusade continues into 2013: Four to watch" by Morgan Whitaker.

Article: "Sununu: Democrats won election by turning out voters who are dependent on government" by Ben Leubsdorf.

Article: "UFO Sightings Are More Common Than Voter Fraud" by Hamed Aleaziz, Dave Gilson, and Jaeah Lee.

Article: "Nugent: Welfare Recipients Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Vote" by Newsmax Wires.

Article: "Paul Weyrich - "I don't want everybody to vote" (Goo Goo) ".

Article: "O’Reilly: Minorities and women voting Obama because they ‘want stuff’" by David Edwards.

Article: "How NASA might build its very first warp drive" by George Dvorsky.

Article: "Revenue was up under Bush tax cuts" by Thomas Sowell.

The good: "Elizabeth Warren Wins Senate Banking Committee Seat: Sources" by Ryan Grim.

The bad: "NUGENT: U.S. sailed off the ‘fiscal cliff’ long ago" by Ted Nugent.

The very, very ugly: Greg Gutfeld: "Creepy: Fox News host giggles during talk about shooting deaths of inner-city teens" by David Edwards.

Article: "Why Insurers Are Wary Of Raising The Medicare Age" by Sahil Kapur.

Article: "100 Bangladeshi Garment Workers Died In Factory Fire After Walmart Refused To Finance Fire Safety Improvements" by Amanda Peterson Beadle.

Article: "The Monster of Monticello" by Paul Finkelman.

Article: "America Didn’t “End” Slavery After the Civil War -- We Simply Exported It" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform" (Bowles-Simpson/Simpson-Bowles) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Republicans not handling election results well" by Tom Jensen.

Article: "Pennsylvania was a blue state for the sixth consecutive cycle in 2012. By 2016, the state could award votes on a proportional basis – turning the state purple." by Eric Boehm.

Article: "L.A. ports reopen after crippling 8-day strike ends" by John Rogers.

Article: "First Global Terrorism Index Launched" by RFE/RL.

Article: "Global Terrorism Index".

Hour One: "Never" is the right time to talk about guns...
- Alan Korwin, Author/Publisher & Second Amendment supporter

Geeky Science Rocks! - animals are smarter than we think

Hour Three: To secede or not to secede...?
- Michael Cushman, South Carolinian and Southern nationalist

And, the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...

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