Josh Fox Quotes

Real lobbying reform must end the practice of corporate lobbyists writing our laws.

Our entire political system is financed by wealthy private interests buying politicians and making sure the rules are written in their favor.

From drug companies to health insurers to Wall Street banks, big corporations are spending millions to buy influence in Washington and drown out the voices of regular people.

Every single dollar spent lobbying a legislator on behalf of oil and gas is a toxic dollar that undermines public health and safety laws that protect Americans. That's contamination of the political system.

The idea of allowing corporations to have unlimited influence on our democracy is very dangerous, obviously.

The average American doesn't realize how much of the laws are written by lobbyists.

America's political system has evolved over the last 50 years in ways that have enhanced the power of business lobbies.

The problem is we have a Wall Street-to-Washington access of power that has controlled the political climate. The donor class feeds the political class who does the dance that the donor class wants. And the result is federal government keeps getting bigger.

We've got a thousand lobbyists in thousand dollar suits giving you a thousand reasons we can't change.

The financial interests have captured the government institutions.

Businesses have moved from doing business to doing lobbying, and I think that's a very bad thing.

Lobbyists and special interests continue to take advantage of loopholes that allow them to host lavish receptions and pay for trips for members of Congress. Those practices represent exactly what's wrong with Washington, and I'm committed to ending them.

You've got to just follow the money [in Washington]. You see it. There's no countervailing power.

The Republican Party has steadfastly sided with its donors and its lobbyists, and this is why we're where we are.

Barack Obama's large contributor was Goldman Sachs - same thing on the Republican side. If you go to both their conventions, you see the same lobbyists paying off both sides so they win either way.

All of our political parties are bought and paid for by corporate America, Wall Street, and the wealthy interests. The Republican Party more so, but the Democrats take their share of the loot, too.

American democracy is spoiled by people buying everything in sight and then selling and buying everything in sight, including our politicians.

Without putting the brakes on out-of-control campaign contributions from individuals and corporations - it will be business as usual, with 1 percent of Americans pulling the strings.

In reality, everybody in Congress is a stand-in for some kind of lobbyist. In many cases it's difficult to tell whether it's the companies that are lobbying the legislators or whether it's the other way around.

We do live in an environment of crony capitalism, and the main reason we do is that loopholes are for sale, and both parties have their hands out through those loopholes.

What we have now is a situation where politicians get a whole bunch of money from mainly business interests. Then once they hold that office, they spend all their time in office paying back over and over again those campaign contributions through various favors and contracts and that sort of thing.

Wall Street, the banks, and corporate America, has been able to call the shots here. They control our members of Congress and they get what they want.

Policy is no longer being written by politicians accountable to the American public. Instead, policies concerning the defense budget, deregulation, health care, public transportation, job training programs, and a host of other crucial areas are now largely written by lobbyists who represent mega corporations.

Big money is ruining the political system.

Soft money will find its way and seep into the political system and corrode it, unless we plug every hole.