John McCain Quotes

Russia ... suffers the dubious distinction of being the most corrupt developed country in the world, and its resource-extracting, rent-seeking economic system has reached a dead end.

Russia is so feudal in its system of patronage and reward that it is virtually impossible for a leader to hand over power without controlling his successor or at least receiving an exemption from prosecution - something Mr. Putin granted his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, in 1999.

Trump's administration looks a great deal like those of the 1850s and the 1890s, with business and government so intertwined that they cannot be disentangled.

All the time, Ukraine was an oligarch country. And all the time, oligarchs were together with the authorities. And this is the first time where we, and me as a president, undertake the serious task to limit the power of the oligarchs.

Most people seem unaware that corporate influence and wealth has taken over public policy, such that government policy now favors the wealthy few at the expense of the people.

I think very poorly of United Russia. United Russia is the party of corruption, the party of crooks and thieves.

What we do today has nothing to do with capitalism or socialism. It is a crony type of system that transfers money to the coffers of bureaucrats.

Great wealth took possession of the government. It was reflected in Mr. Harding's selection of a cabinet.

I knew President Yeltsin well. He would never have tolerated government officials demonstratively showing off the millions they acquired through corruption, the way it's done today.

Putin can't afford to leave the office because he will be in real danger of being prosecuted for things he and his people did during their stay in power.

The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy.

Mobutu was mainstream Africa. Every independent African Government was a one-party state at the time. None allowed opposition. Every one of them had rent-seeking political leaders. The only thing that set Mobutu apart was how ostentatious his theft was.

Perhaps the greatest threat to freedom and democracy in the world today comes from the formation of unholy alliances between government and business. This is not a new phenomenon. It used to be called fascism... .The outward appearances of the democratic process are observed, but the powers of the state are diverted to the benefit of private interests.

Feelings of marginalization and cries of separation are symptomatic of countries where rulers find power sweet and intoxicating, where power is coveted, and when acquired, painstakingly guarded.

We have more billionaires than any country but the United States. And Putin can imprison any one of them at a moment’s notice. Do you think he is poor?

We’d be crazy to let corporations get anywhere near our government. The only reason they want to influence government is to plunder—to steal from children.

A government, … protecting business only, is but a carcass, and soon falls by its own corruption and decay.

The financial interests have captured the government institutions.

Ukraine gives corruption a bad name…. The Ukrainian politicians have ripped off everything in the country that was not nailed down, and then they turned to the stuff that was nailed down.

Russia's leaders, rich with oil wealth and corrupt with power, have rejected democratic ideals and the obligations of a responsible power.

As far as the opposition to Jayalalitha was concerned, it was that she was misusing authority for personal corruption, denying people their liberties, attacking the opposition with violence, and there was nobody who could challenge her.

Russia is a mafia state today, and Putin is its top godfather.

Foreign aid breeds kleptocracies, or governments of thieves.

Putin is a former KGB agent. He's a thug. He was not elected in a way that most people would consider a credible election.

Crony capitalism is not capitalism - it is cronyism.