Sara Gideon Quotes

I'm running for president because I've had enough of the oil barons, the status-quo apologists, the special-interest lobbyists running amok.

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

I'm focused on bringing real change to Washington because the career politicians have screwed things up so badly.

Washington is designed not to solve problems. Congress is so beholden to the money that any solution in the general interest will be frustrated and subverted by the corporate interests who feel they will be damaged by progress, fair play and justice.

That's one of the things about the Tea Party people. They think corporations have too much influence in American life and they do.

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

Whether you are on the Right or the Left, everyone can agree that there are a lot of outside influences in American politics that are not good for the system. There's just too much money.

When you have corporate influence on our government outweighing the influence of citizens, that's terrifying. This is something we have to make a big, big noise about.

As long as we, in the United States, continue to insist that our politicians have to spend all of their time raising millions of dollars for television ads, it will be corrupt. If we leave it up to the politicians to clean up lobbying and finance reform, nothing is going to change.

Voters definitely believe Washington is corrupt - but most think it's bipartisan.

Industries who profit by the rape of our environment see to it that legislators friendly to their attitudes are elected, and that bureaucrats of similar attitude are appointed.

Politics is broken.

Almost every special interest lobby was organized to prevent reform.

We have needed … reforms for quite some time. But because of collusion between politics and business, nothing happened.

Special interests are a roadblock wielding undue influence over policy makers. They seek to maintain short-term profits with little regard to either the long-term impact on the planet that will be inherited by our children and grand-children or the long-term economic well-being of our country.

Influence, power and money have invaded our political process …. If we leave it to the politicians, it is unlikely that anything will be done.

When I deliver the message to a cross section of Rhode Island that democracy is broken because special interests have relentless power - which prevents politicians from compromising despite popular support on an issue - I don't have any pushback.

Talking to Republicans who aren't leaders - that's not very difficult both on anti-trust and on campaign finance reform. I think it's a lot more complicated when you talk to highly funded leaders - that's the innate, deeply problematic part of our politics.

If Democrats in Washington haven't got enough sense to own the issue of political reform, I give up on them entirely.

Legislation to level the playing field for working families is dead on arrival in the Citizens United Congress.

The Citizens United decision dramatically intensified the political gridlock in our country.

I just think people are fed up with people who are career politicians who don't stand for anything.

Washington is a complete mess. It's become a venue for partisan bickering, where the needs of the working class just don't matter.

It is my preference that the Democratic Party leads us forward in a way that is about standing up to special interests, in a way that advances campaign finance reform, in a way that fights for meaningful prescription drug reform.

The interests of big corporations have so permeated government that its major decisions are indistinguishable from the boardroom demands of the leading companies in each commercial sector.