MSNBC Host confronts GOP's former Senate leader over his party's unprecedented use of the filibuster

In a panel discussion on HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher Friday night, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow forcefully confronted the GOP's latest Senate leader over his party's unprecedented use of the filibuster this Congress.

"Republicans are filibustering everything," Maddow told former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), who retired in 2007. "It’s being used more frequently than it’s ever been used in American history before, and Republicans should answer for that, because it’s a really stupid way to run the country."

The audience erupted in applause and cheers.

Frist responded, "I agree, at times. Its purpose is to empower the minority and forbid the majority from exploiting them.”

Maddow wasn’t having any of it. "People just want Republicans to not ... put a filibuster on every single vote of consequence," she rejoined. "Every single one."

According to the Associated Press, Republicans have used the filibuster "at a record-setting pace" this Congress, including for uncontroversial legislation that overwhelmingly passes.

In February, six Senate Republicans who unsuccessfully filibustered the jobs bill turned around and voted for it, raising questions about their motives for using the procedure.

Maher argued that President Barack Obama’s call for expanding offshore oil drilling just weeks before the Gulf spill broke out was a politically-motivated attempt "to get a couple of Republican votes" on energy legislation and thus stave off a filibuster.

"The whole reason Obama was coming out for more drilling was as a sop to the conservatives," Maher said, "which would not be necessary if we didn’t have this filibuster nonsense."

When Frist said the filibuster could be bypassed, citing health care reform, Maddow noted that such a scenario could only occur when the reforms in question are "directly related to the budget."

Frist's response raised the eyebrows of the panelists and drew laughs from the crowd. "In the Senate, you can do anything, by the way. You can do anything that can’t be done," he said, sounding almost frivolously.

Congressman says 'Taliban' is killing US soldiers with American tax dollars

On June 7, the day Afghanistan became America’s longest-ever war, the New York Times reported on an ongoing investigation poised to prove that private security companies "are using American money to bribe the Taliban" to fuel combat and thus enhance demand for their services. The news follows a "series of events last month that suggested all-out collusion with the insurgents," the Times said.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), a leading opponent of the war, wondered, "Is the U.S. paying for attacks on U.S. troops?” "Our troops are dying in Afghanistan, and now it turns out we may be funding their killers," Kucinich said in a statement, renewing his longstanding call for a pullout. "Our continued presence in Afghanistan is detrimental to our security."

"The American people are paying to prop up a corrupt government that may be using our money to pay private companies to drum up business by paying the insurgents to attack our troops," he said.

Kucinich’s motion in March to implement a swift withdrawal of US troops from the region failed by a margin of 365-65 in the House.

"In the coming weeks, Congress is expected to be asked to give another $33 billion for war efforts... I will be bringing this report to the personal attention of individual Members of Congress prior to the vote on any additional war funding," the Ohio congressman said.

The Times interviewed a NATO official in Kabul who "believed millions of dollars were making their way to the Taliban."

A White House spokesperson did not return a request for comment. The administration and large bipartisan majorities in Congress continue to support and fund 8-year-long military operations in Afghanistan, warning that a pullout could lead to a Taliban takeover and greater threats to American interests.

Richard Holbrooke, US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, told reporters Monday that the US, Japan, Britain and other countries have “committed” roughly “200 million dollars” to fund peace efforts in Afghanistan, Agence-France Press reports. The Afghanistan Peace and Reconciliation Program aims to reintegrate Taliban fighters who have renounced violence into Afghan society.

Oil rig worker killed on BP's Gulf platform was so concerned for safety he got his final affairs in order on last trip home

One of the eleven men that died in the initial explosion that triggered a disaster in the Gulf was so concerned about BP’s safety practices on the oil rig that he spent his last trip getting his affairs in order.

Transocean tool pusher Jason Anderson told his wife Shelly that he was concerned about BP's safety practices on the rig. "Everything seemed to be pressing to Jason about getting things in order.

In case something happened. Teaching me how to do certain things on the motor home so that I could go and do things with the kids, make sure that I knew how to do everything," an emotional Shelly Anderson told NBC's Lisa Myers.

Her husband drew up a will and talked about his hopes for their daughter and son. The last few times Jason called her from the rig he was clearly worried.

"They were getting pressure from someplace higher up to do things that maybe weren't exactly the way Jason thought that they should be," she said. "It was a safety issue."

"Jason's father told us Jason was concerned that BP, which controlled the rig, kept wanting to stray from procedures to finish the well faster, which Jason considered unsafe," Myers reported.

The Transocean CEO sat in the Anderson kitchen and told Shelly how he would take care of her family. But even before the memorial service could take place, Transocean went to court to limit their overall damages.

"They haven't even let us say good-bye to at least have closure for his memory a little bit, to have time to explain to a 5-year-old that her daddy is in heaven. They're filing these lawsuits to limit us. They need to just slow down. Back up," said Anderson.

Watch Oil Rig worker Jason Anderson’s Wife describe of her husband’s concerns for the rig’s safety on NBC: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch=Yufx0V727zU&feature=player_embedded#!