The latest stories from the front lines of the labor fight across the country...

The Green Miles: Ranked #4 on the Forbes 400, the Koch brothers now have $50 billion to buy American elections.

Oliver Willis: No needle and the damage done as measles outbreak hits Quebec.

The Political Carnival: GOP “Buffett Birthers” demand Warren Buffett release tax returns he already made public. Will Republican White House hopefuls like $250 million man Mitt Romney do the same?

Florida Politics: Governor Rick Scott’s approval rating dips just in time to play host to GOP debate and straw poll.

The Baseline Scenario: 75 years before the tea party, the right-wing war against taxes, unions and the New Deal was already well underway.

Speaking of which, your quote of the day: "Promises have been made that frankly are not going to be kept for many.” (Eric Cantor, August 3, 2011)

Guest blogging Mike's Blog Round Up today is Jon Perr from Perrspectives. Send your tips, recommendations, comments and angst to mbru AT crooksandliars DOT com.

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Credit: Signe Wilkinson

Open Thread below...

Thursday night dance party! Do you remember the 21st night of September? I hope so, seeing as it was just last night. If I was Dj'ing a party on a yacht, this would be the first song I would play.

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I'm not sure what's worse in this clip: Rick Santorum's answer or the audience booing the gay soldier.

Santorum's bottom line: No sex in the military. Celibacy, FTW! Also, he would reinstate DADT. I promise to add the transcript later.

Here is the transcript:

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At Thursday night's Republican presidential debate, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) proposed the elimination of all taxes, but then added that the government did need some money to run.

"You earned every dollar, you should get to keep every dollar that you earned," the candidate said. "That's your money, that's not the government's money."

"Barack Obama seems to think that when 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 that when people make money, it's their money."

Bachmann added: "Obviously we need to give money back to the government so that we can run the government."

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Newt Gingrich just came right out and put his middle finger up at the Republican debate. Asked by Megyn Kelly if he would extend unemployment benefits in this economy, he came out with this gem:

"I don't think people should get paid for 99 weeks to do nothing. That's why we reformed welfare."

Screw him with a hot poker. Hard.

His utter lack of understanding of how INSURANCE works should just be something he has to go back to school and be retrained for.

These people make me retch. Truly.

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Credit: John Cole / Scranton Times-Tribune

This is the third debate in 15 days for a party who really (really) loves to repeat themselves. They're more for saying the same things over and over again than expanding on an idea. So good thing they're debating so often this month. The real story is the race started late because not enough "real" candidates had announced by May when the Reagan Library debate was originally scheduled. So this pile up is a result of procrastination.

Speaking of putting things off - or off-putting things - the first deadline to get on the ballot is Oct. 31 (that's for Florida) and Sarah Palin told Hannity this week she'll make a decision if she's running by Nov. Which says it all really.

Tonight we have former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson joining the fringe. Brace yourself for a night of "Gary Johnson, who?" jokes. You know, the ones normally reserved for Jon Huntsman.

Check out all the cartoons about the GOP debates here.

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Tea party Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) thinks that the color of the president's skin will play a big part in next year's election.

"[Y]ou see this administration playing class warfare and race warfare games," Media Research Center's Brent Bozell told Walsh during a recent interview. "Now, that’s their problem. But what does it say about the national media that they are aiding and abetting this by not exposing the dishonesty here?"

"This guy pushed every one of the media’s buttons," Walsh replied. "He was liberal, he was different, he was new, he was black. Oh my God, it was the potpourri of everything."

"They are so vested in our first black president not being a failure that it's going to be amazing to watch the lengths they go to to protect him."

Earlier this year, Walsh claimed that Obama was elected because he was black.

"Why was he elected? Again, it comes back to who he was. He was black, he was historic," Walsh told Slate's Dave Weigel in May. "They were in love with him because they thought he was a good liberal guy and they were in love with him because he pushed that magical button: a black man who was articulate, liberal, the whole white guilt, all of that."

(H/T: ThinkProgress)

And so the Conservative assault on Elizabeth Warren begins.

Limbaugh: You know who the real parasite here is. It's Elizabeth Warren.

I'm familiar with being called a parasite by the likes of Glenn Beck. I wear as badge of honor.

Beck: Most Democrats still love America, they love the founders and they love the Constitution and believe in this country. But then there's another group and they have infiltrated not just the Democratic party, but the Republican party...

Speak softly and carry a big stick. blah, blah, blah...We got this from an insider. Wait until you hear this story. The co-chair of the CPC...

How many times have I said they are like a virus feeding on the host of republic.

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