Political Quotes

“our representative form of government is based on the premise that citizens who vote in our elections are informed about who is seeking to influence elections. Sadly, we continue to see that information obscured by organizations who are misusing our tax code for political gain. As we have discussed on this floor many times, the Supreme Court opened our campaign finance system to a torrent of unlimited and secret special-interest money in Citizens United. But even the Supreme Court acknowledged in Citizens United that disclosure is important: ``[P]rompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable for their positions and supporters. Shareholders can determine whether their corporation's political speech advances the corporation's interest in making profits, and citizens can see whether elected officials are in the pocket of so-called moneyed interests.'' Citizens United v. FEC, 130 S. Ct. 876, 916 (2010). Yet, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, as of September 13, spending on political advertising by groups that either do not disclose, or only partially disclose their donors, has increased four- fold, from $32 million in the 2008 election to more than $135 million at the same point in the current election.…”