Keith Olbermann Quotes

I don't think that Washington is a fundamentally bad or corrupt place.

D.C. is more corrupt than Hollywood. It really is.

In political matters it is very hard for a man in office to be purer than his neighbours, — and, when he is so, he becomes troublesome.

I've been concerned about ethics in government for a long time. And the problems we've had under President Trump are only indicative of the longer-term problem of the erosion of public office and government.

Over the years, Judicial Watch has called out many White House conflicts of interest.

Too many people in Washington care about power institutions, not caring about changing the lives of everyday Americans.

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.

The lobbyists have erected a brick wall around Washington DC—a wall that keeps them in and keeps you out.

The special interests are protected in Washington and the public interest is submerged.

Our elected representatives wisely enacted laws to protect our state and local governments from undue outside influence.

I look at the corruption in Albany and we cannot accept that.

With every new class of representatives that comes to Congress, there is a greater recognition of the perils of private financing of campaigns. I believe that by pulling back the curtain on the daily pressures faced by members of Congress, we can show the public how critical this reform is to the salvation of our democracy.

The key is whether or not we have got priorities that are working for you, as opposed to those who have been dictating the policy in Washington lately. And that's mostly lobbyists and special interests. We have got to put an end to that.

When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.

The pressure of special interests, the demands of special sections of the state, the needs of friends, all must be subordinated to the good of the people as a whole.

Objective journalism is one of the main reasons that American politics has been allowed to be so corrupt for so long.

You think that somehow they didn't come after me to get rid of me because my vote is the deciding vote in the health care bill? Then, ladies and gentlemen, you live today in a world that is so innocent as to not understand what's going on in Washington, D.C.

The responsibility of a minister is to step aside when there is a criminal investigation of the department. That protects the propriety of Parliament and of responsible government.

Two million dollars is only small when you're talking about Washington, D.C.

What's troubling is that the Republicans to defend Mr. DeLay are weakening the ethics process.

Ethics in government has always been important to me.

People do not want politicians they know to be corrupt.

The quicker we get rid of the lobby system the better for all of us. I don't think in this day and age it is tenable to have these nods and winks, and on-the-record and off-the-record briefings.

Too often government responds to the whispers of lobbyists before the cries of the people.

There are honest journalists like there are honest politicians - they stay bought.