Gary Hart Quotes

Money speaks louder than words in Washington.

Big money tries to purchase its own agenda. Money does too much talking in Washington. Every senator, every representative, even the president awakens each morning with a number in his head that will drive the whole day. The number is the amount of money that must [be] raised that day for his reelection. If he fails, the next day's number will be even higher.

It is money, money, money! Not ideas, not principles, but money that reigns supreme in American politics.

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.

Most successful American politicians look well-fed on endorsements, campaign contributions and chicken dinners.

The principal reasons that special interests can extract their price from government is money .... Those who do not accept money from PACs are those who have other sources.

Those who have lobbyists are more likely to get what they want …. Those who have more money [to spend on lobbying] are more likely to prevail.

If you put enough money on the table, Congress will respond to the money.

Members of state legislatures are owned by doctors and lawyers. That's why workers' compensation cannot be solved.

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

Corporations write the legislation. They vote on the legislation. And they give advice on how to pass their bills.

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

Money is the mother's milk of politics

They are one of the most profitable industries in the world, and they’re throwing money into Washington DC. They’re buying politicians.

Money has always been in politics. And I'm not sure you'd want money to be completely out of politics.

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.

A 527 doesn't have a wife. It doesn't have a brother-in-law who knows a lot about politics, or a union president who calls and doesn't like the color of the suit, or bimbo eruptions. It's the perfect candidate, because it has no personal characteristics.

I have the most reliable friend you can have in American politics, and that is ready money.

Now, the typical way you make good things happen in Washington is you find a bunch of wealthy companies who agree with you.

Who do you think controls the Republican Party? Big money controls the Republican Party. This is where their campaign contributions come from.

In reality, everybody in Congress is a stand-in for some kind of lobbyist. In many cases it's difficult to tell whether it's the companies that are lobbying the legislators or whether it's the other way around.

All elections revolve around and are often resolved by who raises the most money. That's unfair. I'd like to see that process changed, but it seems once you win and get to Congress, that doesn't happen.

By the time a man gets to be presidential material, he's been bought ten times over.

The people of this country, not special interest big money, should be the source of all political power.

Spending limits not only do not work, they have the perverse effect of making special interests more powerful and more influential.