Michelle Bowman: “I thank Representative Ramirez for her leadership and for allowing me to participate in this really important…”

“I thank Representative Ramirez for her leadership and for allowing me to participate in this really important discussion. I thank her for bringing this issue to the forefront of the American people. There are many who believe we no longer have a democracy. There are many who believe our country is controlled by an oligarchy. Many believe our country is controlled by a few wealthy Americans who act as puppet masters over Members of Congress and who act as puppet masters over elected officials across the country. We are not engaging in the arena of new ideas. We are not engaging in the arena of shared values. We take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution against enemies, foreign and domestic, but if we allow people with wealth to undermine our Constitution, we are not doing our job. Yes, I can speak personally to this issue because, in my primary race, I had special interest groups spend more money against me in my primary than has been spent against any Member of Congress in United States history. My district was bombarded with advertisements, with mailers, with misinformation and disinformation, and with ideas and policies that reflected the values behind the big money that was being poured in. What made it worse is a lot of this big money came from unknown sources. Because of Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United, we don't have to publicly know where these dollars are coming from as we engage with super-PACs.…”