John Kerry: “in the 25 years I have had the privilege of serving in the Senate, I have regrettably, in the course of almost every…”

“in the 25 years I have had the privilege of serving in the Senate, I have regrettably, in the course of almost every election period, with one brief exception when we had the McCain-Feingold bill in place, seen our system of funding campaigns become increasingly broken. The truth is, a lot of the anger the American people feel today-- rightfully--for the absence of this Congress--not just this particular session but the Congress of the United States being able to directly address the concerns of the American people--a lot of that anger really ought to be directed at the system itself, at the fact that we have locked in place funding of campaigns that robs the American people of their voice, that steals the legitimacy of our democracy, and concentrates decisionmaking in the hands of the powerful, individuals with a lot of money or powerful corporations with a lot of money. Money is driving American politics. Money is driving the American political agenda. Money decides what gets heard and does not get heard around here, what gets acted on and does not, and how it gets acted on in many cases. Every so often we have bubbling up a legitimate kind of citizen energy that motivates one particular reaction here or another, whether it is a tax bill or a particular piece of legislation for women, pay, but it is rare now.…”