Political Quotes

“representing a State that is coming up on our 350th anniversary, I am delighted to salute the great State of Michigan on its 175th anniversary. I rise to note the anniversary of an unfortunate event that is undermining the very core of our cherished democracy. This past Saturday marked the 2-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's disastrous 5-to-4 decision in a case called Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission. With that feat of judicial activism, the conservative block of the Supreme Court gnawed a hole in the dike protecting our elections integrity, overturned the will of Congress and the American people, and allowed unlimited, anonymous corporate money to flood into our elections. Senator McCain recently called this ``one of the worst decisions in history.'' Senator Schumer said, at the time, ``One thing is clear; the conservative block of the Supreme Court has predetermined the outcome of the next election; the winners will be the corporations.'' It is no secret around here that big corporate interests long have had oversized influence in the legislative and executive branches. But Citizens United supersizes that influence so it threatens to overrun our elections. Here is how my home State newspaper, the Providence Journal, explained it: The ruling will mean that, more than ever, big-spending economic interests will determine who gets elected. More money will especially pour into relentless attack campaigns.…”