Political Quotes

“I am certainly no expert in this field and campaign reform is a legitimate subject that needs attention and a lot of it. I would just say to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Houghton), my friend, that all that money spent on that election out there was almost the first weekend's take on the Titanic when they showed it. Everything is relative. The one glaring problem with Shays-Meehan is we do not take into account for contributions in kind. Labor unions, at least where I come from, can throw all kinds of bodies into the precincts on the weekend. They work the shopping malls, hand out the shopping bags, work the phone banks, go door to door. Labor does that and God bless them for doing that. They are participating in the most important act, civic act they can. But the business community does not do that. They play both sides of the street. They cover their bets. Soft money is the only way Republicans who do not have access to the bodies that organized labor throws into the turmoil, it is the only way to equalize that. They can buy people's time who can work the phone banks and hand out the shopping bags. One would like to have volunteers and tries to have them. But one cannot equal what labor can throw into an election. And neither bill takes care of that.”