Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5175, the DISCLOSE Act. Corporations are not human beings. Corporations may employ and be owned by human beings, all of whom in their individual capacity enjoy their constitutional rights, but corporations themselves are not alive. Their mothers can't die of cancer. Their sons can't be sent off to war. Corporations are political zombies, knowing only the pursuit of the flesh of profit, which is fine in an economic context, which is the economic reason that corporations exist. But in the political context, there is negative civic value to such advocacy, especially without the reasonable restrictions that were tossed out by the recent Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC. In a capitalist system, when government gives politically connected corporations an advantage over their less politically connected competitors, everyone suffers, and it undermines the confidence of liberals, conservatives, all citizens. That's why the DISCLOSE Act is so urgently needed: to provide safeguards, disclosure about the flood of special interest money into our elections, and to protect the free speech of individual Americans.”