On the recordFebruary 17, 2011
One of the things I admire the most about our country is our commitment and our love for democracy. We were founded on the ideal that it is the people who choose their government. We believe in the principle of one person, one vote; not $10,000 or $100,000 a vote. We believe in the free exchange of ideas to be able to decide which candidates deserve our votes. But money, and lots of money, heaps of money from undisclosed sources, are having a corrosive influence on our political campaigns. Money distorts the voice of a particular point of view, making that voice seem louder, making it seem more influential, or making it seem more persuasive than it actually is. We don't know who is saying what to whom. Is it Big Oil? Is it polluters? Is it the insurance industry? Is it the tobacco industry? All too often these distorted views come from corporate interests, and they try to undermine the public interest through campaign expenditures. These corporate interests can buy elections by throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars into a race for a particular candidate with attack ads against another. Last year, sadly, the Supreme Court overturned landmark law and other centuries-old precedents aimed at limiting the influence of corporations in our elections. Now, today, we have stealth organizations formed for the sole purpose of running attack ads, and the American people don't have a clue who is footing the bills.
