Louis Farrakhan Quotes

Most presidents have been controlled by forces that control money and special interests. When Donald Trump refused their money, he refused their control. This made him dangerous.

You can't take a congressman to lunch for $25 and buy him a hamburger or a steak or something like that. But you can take him to a fund-raising lunch and not only buy him that steak, but give him $25,000 extra and call it a fund-raiser - and have all the same access and all the same interactions with that congressman.

The oil and gas lobby, with the vast amount of money at its disposal, is, I believe, the most diabolical influence at work in the nation's capitol. It has for years succeeded in blocking the assignment of public-spirited members to the tax-writing committees of the House and Senate, and also intervened in the election of leaders and assistant leaders in both Houses.

Members of Congress like us for our information, but they love us for our money.

Listen, Bernie Sanders talks about how Washington is corrupt, both parties are in bed with the lobbyists and special interests. I think he's exactly right.

The lobbyists, the special interests, the special pleaders, if you will, the super PACs the billionaires, these people are apoplectic about the rise of Trump. He can't be bought. He can bring sweeping conservative reform.

There are many special interests skilful at manipulating circumstances and communications in such a way as to benefit their own ends and not necessarily the public good.

All of these people who are organized with these oil-and-gas interests, that's in the administration and friends of the President of the United States [Donald Trump], these back channeling that you see. These are a bunch of scumbags. That's what they are.

The 113th Congress has spent much of the year doing nothing but collecting campaign contributions …

Money is the mother's milk of politics

A typical member of Congress devotes several hours a day to asking for contributions and several more to worrying about how her donors will feel about her votes on the floor.

There are three things that are important in politics today: money, money and money.

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

Politics has become very corporate. There's a whole farm system for the teams. There's decisions made at the top. There's a lot of literal corporate involvement, PAC money involved in selecting and backing candidates.

I think members of the legislature, people who have to run for office, know the connection between money and influence on what laws get passed.

Senators who once supported common-sense legislation have gone silent as stones under the threat of the polluters' spending.

The Democratic Party takes huge amounts of cash from corporations and unions to vote a certain way.

We need to prioritize ending the influence of corporate special interests and secret money on politicians by limiting the amount of money they can spend on political campaigns.

A lot of what is preventing us from getting things done on the federal level is that there is too much influence from special interests over members of Congress.

The first iron rule of American politics is Follow the Money. This explains, oh, about 80 percent of what goes on in Washington.

When you go to a political convention, the best place to spend time is at the numerous parties put on by lobbyists. And you don't go for food. You go to beg for money.

I will not take corporate money. I don't want it.

The fact is, Missouri's budget is broken. For decades, insiders, special interests, lobbyists and prior politicians have made a mess of our budget.

A lot of celebrities can raise money for you if you are running for political office.

Unless public officials are wealthy and fund their own campaigns, the only place they can turn to is lobbyists and institutions like labor unions and corporations.