Citizens United Quotes

If there was one decision I would overrule, it would be Citizens United. I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Thinking, Decision, Democracy

"Ruth Bader Ginsburg Is an American Hero". Jeffrey Rosen, September 28, 2014.

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All Citizens United did was to level the playing field for corporate speech. We now have, I think, the most free and open system we've had in modern times.

Mitch McConnell

Thinking, Levels, Speech

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What the Supreme Court did in Citizens United is to say to these same billionaires and the corporations they control: 'You own and control the economy, you own Wall Street, you own the coal companies, you own the oil companies. Now, for a very small percentage of your wealth, we're going to give you the opportunity to own the United States Government.' This is the essence of what Citizens United is all about - and that's why it must be overturned.

Bernie Sanders

Wall, Opportunity, Government

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The first case I sat on... was Citizens United. Talk about being thrown in. Needless to say, if I was scared before, I was terrified.

Sonia Sotomayor

Firsts, Scared, Cases

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Capitalism is out of control, thanks in no small part to Citizens United, the Supreme Court decision which said that a corporation is a person, even though it doesn't eat, drink, make love, sing, raise children or take care of aging parents. You can't have a people's democracy as long as corporations are considered people.

Bill Moyers

Children, Long, People

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I would want to see the Supreme Court reverse Citizens United and get dark, unaccountable money out of our politics.

Hillary Clinton

Dark, Want, Court

Hillary Clinton's speech at the second 2016 Trump-Clinton presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, www.nytimes.com. October 9, 2016.

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Politically, as a result of Citizens United, billionaires are now able to spend as much money as they want on campaigns, which means that you have a political system which is heavily dominated by corporations and wealthy individuals.

Bernie Sanders

Mean, Political, Want

"Exclusive Interview with Presidential Candidate Senator Bernie Sanders". Interview with Maranda Pleasant, www.marandapleasantmedia.com. April 27, 2016.

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You can't have a people's democracy as long as corporations are considered people.

Bill Moyers

Long, People, Democracy

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Nobody has been arrested on Wall Street for the crash of 2008. They're not paying their fair share of the taxes. And now with the Citizens United case of the Supreme Court, they get to buy politicians up out in the open.

Michael Moore

Wall, Politician, Crash

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Big money buys access in Washington, and access purchases influence. It is as simple as that. And they have basically given a green light, a further green light, after Citizens United, to the biggest money to have the bigger voice in our politics, and to sound out and drown out the voice of just ordinary citizens.

Mark Shields

Simple, Light, Voice

Source: www.pbs.org

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On the subject of money and politics and the rest, I have a DARE: Disclose who are these people; Amend the Constitution to overturn Citizens United; Reform: let's have public financing of campaigns; and Empower.

Nancy Pelosi

People, Empowering, Reform

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Citizens United didn't work. Hey, Koch brothers, Karl Rove, Shellgame Adelson: Democracy trumps money sometimes.

Henry Rollins

Brother, Democracy, Hey

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Members of the legislature, people who have run for office, know the connection between money and influence on what laws get passed

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Running, Law, People

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In the past, in order to continue as a candidate, a serious candidate, you had to be in the top three finishes in Iowa. You had to be in the top two out of New Hampshire. All our presidents elected in the past half-century finished either first or second in New Hampshire and in the top three in Iowa. That changed with the Citizens United, when we gave unlimited amounts of money.

Mark Shields

Past, Order, Iowa

Source: www.pbs.org

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For the first 200 years of our nation's history, corporations were never defined by the courts as persons with free speech rights under the First Amendment. Only in recent years have we witnessed this corporate takeover of our First Amendment, culminating in the Citizens United ruling.

John Bonifaz

Rights, Years, Speech

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There is something fundamentally wrong about the way we [americans] are moving as a country, when billionaires are able to buy elections as a result of Citizens United. There`s something fundamentally wrong when 99 percent of all new income goes to the top 1 percent.

Bernie Sanders

Country, Moving, Able

Source: www.nbcnews.com

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I think that is the fight that we have to wage if we're to save the middle class. And I do have doubts about whether Hillary Clinton or whether any Republican candidate out there is prepared to take on the big money interests who control so much of our economy and as a result of Citizens United, our political process as well.

Lindsey Graham

Fighting, Thinking, Class

Source: www.foxnews.com

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The Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms.

Samuel Adams

Gun, Strong Arms, People

Debates of the Massachusetts Convention, 1788.

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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.

Jesse Ventura

Lying, Voice, Giving

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I think with the advent of Reagan, and subsequently, both parties, there's been a strong move towards the advantage given to the richer people, in taxation and grants and supplements and things of that kind. Primarily exacerbated more recently by the Supreme Court's stupid ruling on Citizens United, and now there's a massive flood of money into the political system that I think has subverted the essence of a moral and ethical standard that used to permeate American democracy. Now it's not an admirable process. I think we've gone backwards.

Jimmy Carter

Strong, Stupid, Party

Source: www.sfgate.com

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The billionaires and their super PACs increasingly control the American political process. This is not democracy. This is not what brave Americans fought and died to defend. This is oligarchy. This is government of the few, by the few and for the few. We must overturn Citizen United and move to public funding of elections.

Bernie Sanders

Moving, Government, Brave

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There are many major crises facing our country. At the top of the list is the need to overturn Citizens United. If billionaires are able to buy elections and elect right-wing candidates, there is no way we will ever address climate change, college education, affordability, job creation, raising the minimum wage and taking on Wall Street.

Bernie Sanders

Country, Jobs, Wall

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Resurrecting American democracy is vital to averting climate catastrophe. We must first repeal the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, which has flooded elections with billions of oily petrodollars from carbon tycoons.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Democracy, Firsts, Climate

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It's why we oppose Citizens United from that right-wing Supreme Court. In 2012, I also said the Tea Party "acted like terrorists" and called a donut shop manager in Milwaukee who wanted lower taxes a "smartass." And I said the number one issue is a three-letter word, J-O-B-S." I'm proud of who I am.

Joe Biden

Party, Who I Am, Wings

"Chris Wallace Interviews Joe Biden: A Retrospective". Interview with Chris Wallace, spectator.org. October 22, 2015.

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As a result of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, American democracy is being undermined by the ability of the Koch brothers and other billionaire families. These wealthy contributors can literally buy politicians and elections by spending hundreds of millions of dollars in support of the candidates of their choice. We need to overturn Citizens United and move toward public funding of elections so that all candidates can run for office without being beholden to the wealthy and powerful.

Bernie Sanders

Running, Brother, Powerful

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