Political Quotes

“The current campaign finance system is a disaster, and it is an embarrassment to American democracy. Shays-Meehan is not going to solve all the problems. It is not going to do away with all of the influence that corporate America and the big money interests have over the political process and the enormous degree to which they can control the agenda that Congress debates. But, Mr. Chairman, if anyone wants to know why Congress in its wisdom passes a tax law that provides hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the richest 1 percent, but is somehow unable to raise the minimum wage, look at campaign finance and the huge amounts of money that corporate America spends and the $25,000-a-plate dinners that they hold. If anyone wants to know why prescription drug costs in this country are by far the highest in the world, and why Congress year after year is unable to pass prescription drug reform to protect the elderly and the sick, understand the tens of millions of dollars that the pharmaceutical industry pours into the United States Congress and into the White House. If anyone wants to understand why we are the only country in the world without a national health care system and why the cost of health care is twice as much per person in this country than in any other Nation, look at what the insurance industry spends trying to get their way against the will of the American people.”