Political Quotes

“I want to thank my colleagues for joining me here this evening to talk about this critical issue of the influence Big Money and special interests on our politics and the way we govern here. Professor Lessig has gotten a good shout out--and he deserves it-- because he has really studied the effect of money on this institution. There is a path to reform, and that is what the Government by the People Act is. I will close by sort of capturing this as a matter of voter empowerment. In this country we view as sacrosanct the right to vote. We do everything we can--or we should do everything we can--and we even have legislation in front of us to make sure that we are preserving people's access to the ballot box, to the voting booth because the franchise is the most important thing in a democracy. It is the foundation of what American democracy is all about--protecting that franchise and making sure that people have that franchise. If people go into the voting booth and they pull the lever and they exercise their franchise, and the day the person they send to Washington arrives and has to start representing Big Money and special interests, then what happens to the franchise? What happens to the voice of the person who went in there and pulled that lever? So the journey of empowerment, getting to the ballot box is just part of it.…”