Money in Politics Quotes
A century afterwards, the biggest change was that the price of the Senate seat had gone up and the Political Action Committees had joined the Party Treasuries as the recipients of the money In the early 21st century almost all the Senators were multi-millionaires.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910
That particular Libertarian platform called for the abolition / repeal of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Post Office, Federal election Commission and campaign finance laws. Extreme radical ideas such as this are not typical of Libertarian Party positions before or afterwards. The quotation illustrates that there are people in America who would end public education if they could. The quotation also illustrates how a small cadre of people can capture control of a political party and create a platform that is their own personal views which may be different from most of the party members or the historical position that the party has taken. In 1980 the Libertarian Party Vice Presidential Candidate was David Koch, one half of the billionaire conservative Koch brothers. Their money financed the Libertarian Party in that year and David Koch’s views then prevailed in the party platform. Historically, the Koch brothers moved from a minor third party to the Republican party at the beginning of the 21st century when their money was able to help drive the party very far to the right from the traditions of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
While President Barack Obama was primarily frequently insulted by white conservatives, black left-wingers also went after him.
The then New York gubernatorial candidate was rejecting the support of a major political leader, Patrick H. McCarren, who had been a paid lobbyist for Standard Oil.
Goldman Sachs, one of the largest worldwide financial corporation, not only spent millions on lobbyists to shape government law and regulation, but its ex-officials served on high government positions including Treasury Secretary. They also give large amounts to finance campaigns of Congressmen and other public officials who were then very sympathetic to Goldman Sachs’ welfare. There is no practical way a citizen voter can overcome that situation, especially by exercising the voting franchise.
It has become so expensive for a member of Congress to conduct a campaign, for many members, raising money is their number one priority. To make matters worse, more and more members are being challenged in primaries for their own party’s nomination. In 2010, John McCain, the Republican Party presidential standard bearer, and veteran Senator was challenged for his party’s Arizona Senate nomination, He had to spend $20 million on his primary campaign in a small “inexpensive” state. Then he had to spend even more in the General election against his Democratic opponent. Almost everyone agrees that it is a terrible burden for the men and women of Congress, but no one quite knows how to solve the problem and still adhere to the First Amendment.
