Bernie Sanders Quotes

We must reduce the influence of money in politics, beginning by overturning Citizens United and taking back our system from the millionaires and billionaires who can give unlimited and undisclosed amounts of money to influence our elections.

I would do away with super PACs. I think it's a cancer.

Unfortunately, money in politics is an insidious thing - and a loophole in our campaign finance system was taken advantage of with money going to existing or new 527 groups with the sole purpose of influencing the election.

But having said that, what's happening with campaign finance reform and our political culture is devastating.

I think the idea of getting money out of politics is critical.

I'm convinced that unless you have some public financing of elections, you are never going to remove the power of wealthy interests over elected officials.

It starts with campaign finance reform.

The number one lobby that opposes campaign finance reform in the United States is the National Association of Broadcasters.

While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics.

Our democratic system is slowly being corroded and eroded by the influence of PAC money.

All contributions by corporations to any political committee or for any political purpose should be forbidden by law.

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

A lot of the Citizens United problem could be solved if we knew where the money came from for all these ads. The companies create these entities with fake names - like 'Citizens for Nice Puppies' - which means that the sources of the money are unaccountable.

Most Republicans are not prepared to stand up to the fossil fuel industry because they get a lot of their campaign funds from the Koch brothers and other people in the fossil fuel industry. That tells me why we have to reform our campaign finance system.

To my mind, if we do not get a handle on money in politics and the degree to which big money controls the political process in this country, nobody is going to bring about the changes that is needed in this country for the middle class and working families.

Republicans support opening the floodgates to special interest money and suppressing the right to vote. It's just plain wrong.

The SuperPACs and the Citizens United ruling that gives corporations a voice in the political process are all bad news. They made it so you can now lie, and the politician being promoted on that lie will not be held responsible for it.

Anyone who has been around Washington politics long enough can't avoid this truism: Election-year money is like a rushing river that invariably finds cracks in any dam the reformers erect.

We need real campaign finance reform to loosen the grip of special interests on politics.

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.

We need to get rid of the Federal Elections Commission. It's a joke. It doesn't enforce the law.

There is no evidence that super PACs have led to a greater percentage of negative ads.

Until we totally change the way we elect our leaders, until we remove private money from public campaigns, lying will be the de facto method of governance in this country.

Trying to take money out of politics is like trying to take jumping out of basketball.

I think there's a lot of reasons for having an extended primary. I think super PACs play a role.