Geraldine Ferraro Quotes

In Minnesota, we hold our leaders to a higher standard. We demand that the men and women we send to Washington stand above reproach and steer clear of the web of corruption, kickbacks and special favors.

Throughout my career, I have made rooting out public corruption a top priority.

In the year since we brought things into the open with a clean breath of fresh air at City Hall, we have learned about corrupt spending practices and unethical conflicts of interest that waste your money... and keep Dallas from being the great city of our dreams.

Given the way some fought for the status quo when I authored the new Ethics Code and created the city's first Ethics Commission, we are going to need your strong support to get an even tougher Ethics Code passed this year.

No man should be in public office who can't make more money in private life.

We make our public servants jump through quite a few hoops, you know. We get hysterical if they accept a $50 lunch from a lobbyist. We get hysterical if they accept a ride on some corporate jet.

The Congressional Ethics Committees are the brothers and sisters of member of Congress and no one wants to investigate their brothers and sisters.

Honorariums are really dishonorariums. So long as they continue, public trust in Congress will sink even below its minimal level today.... Public officials should have only one paymaster: the Government. When the Government pays too little, the temptation to find other paymasters becomes far harder to resist.

Sometimes I think that before we set up war crimes tribunals we should set up Corruption Inquiries and Commissions as corruption always is present in these states.

Government ought to be all outside and no inside.... Everybody knows that corruption thrives in secret places, and avoids public places, and we believe it a fair presumption that secrecy means impropriety.

Statements of honesty in Washington can only go so far when you are employed.

In any other corporation, if there was so many things that were found to be corrupt, then the man at the top would go - but that doesn't seem to be the case with FIFA.

We need to ban outside income for elected officials. Transparency alone is not enough; it doesn't solve the problem of creating outside dependencies.

Unfortunately, some politicians think they are immune from allegations of ethics abuse.

This idea that you can't be an honest man and a Washington politician is a myth, a crock made up by sellouts and careerist hacks who don't stand for anything and are impatient with people who do. It's possible to do this job with honor and dignity.

Personally I don't think solving corruption is such a big problem.

People do not want politicians they know to be corrupt.

I ask the vice president to stop dodging the issue with legalese, and acknowledge his continued ties with Halliburton to the American people.

The state is obliged to fight corruption within the government.

I think the record shows that as Speaker, I have taken the lead in cleaning up politics.

An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought.

Like most other states, Illinois has little regulation of the economic interests of legislators and relies on public disclosure to keep the lawmaking honest.

I've made it clear that I'm not taking special interest PAC money or accepting donations from lobbyists - ever. I want to represent the interests of the citizens.

I think the American people deserve somebody telling them what is really happening in Washington.

It is hard for any one to be an honest politician who is not born and bred a Dissenter.