Jimmy Carter Quotes

Those who have the most power - whether famous TV anchors, rich Hollywood moguls, judges, Members of Congress, or the president of the United States - must decide how to exert that power: for corruption or for good.

Who is in charge? Is it taxpayers or is it the special interest groups?

When we have congressmen and top state politicians all working together with powerful interests, what have we got to fight against them? Not much, except to ask for justice.

Money distorts the democratic process in a fundamental way.

The only people whose views count in the legislation that passes are those with big money. It doesn’t matter what the great majority of Americans want. Our Congress is bought.

To be fair, money and politics never work in a directly straight line.

By killing transparency and competition, crony capitalism is harmful to free enterprise, opportunity, and economic growth. And by substituting special interests for the public interest, it is harmful to democratic expression.

We need to have real science, and real science doesn't happen under the hand of lobbyists with a conflict of interest. So get the revolving door done and over with and get the big money out of politics.

When I tell somebody to do something I'm not going to get a lobbyist calling me the next day to say please don't do that even though it's good for America.

When you've got a guy who's in position to influence who gets what, the potential is always there for corruption.

The vices of kings cannot remain hidden, for the splendor of their lofty station permits naught to be concealed.

Almost every special interest lobby was organized to prevent reform.

It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes.

If you don’t find out who’s paying for these groups then you don’t know what they’re up to.

Leaders can either lead or mislead. If you lead, you must lead with facts.

There is no way for people to vote against Goldman Sachs.

Washington is rigged to favor people who have an army of lobbyists.

… this little group of men who not only enjoy a right of instant rebuttal to every presidential address, but more importantly, wield a free hand in selecting, presenting, and interpreting the great issues of our nation.... The American people would rightly not tolerate this kind of concentration of power in government. Is it not fair and relevant to question its concentration in the hands of a tiny and closed fraternity of privileged men, elected by no one, and enjoying a monopoly sanctioned and licensed by government?

… the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes.

We live in a country where Wall Street owns Washington.

You can get from a politician whatever you demand in this country. The great irony is that everybody complains about how it runs but not enough people direct their force and power directly at the politicians and make demands upon them. Ours is a system that abhors remoteness. If you're remote from this political system, it'll kill you.

Does it seem like Washington's rigged for the well connected? That's because it is.

If it were true that special favors were given to some of these people because they are my cronies, then they should still be here, and they should be wealthy. But who are these cronies? If there be any cronies in government, point them out, and we will investigate.

Until we make campaigns affordable, then we're going to have too many members of Congress out rattling the cup with special interest groups.

Until someone is prepared to lay out the systemic problem, we will simply go through cycles of finding corruption, finding a scapegoat, eliminating the scapegoat, and relaxing until we find the next scandal.