Special Interests Quotes

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  The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy.

  Woodrow Wilson

  Government, Hands, People

  Woodrow Wilson, Ronald J. Pestritto (2005). “Woodrow Wilson: The Essential Political Writings”, p.117, Lexington Books

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• An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of Democracy

  Woodrow Wilson

  Democracy, Empires, Invisible

  Woodrow Wilson, Ronald J. Pestritto (2005). “Woodrow Wilson: The Essential Political Writings”, p.117, Lexington Books

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• We hear much of special interest groups. Well, our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected. It knows no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political party lines. It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we're sick - professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truck drivers. They are, in short, "We the people," this breed called Americans.

  Ronald Reagan

  Children, Party, Home

  First Inaugural Address, delivered 20 January 1981

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• I will continue to fight for legislation that forces Congress to read the bills! I will fight for a vote on my bill that calls for a waiting period for each page of legislation. I will continue to object when Congress sticks special interest riders on bills in the dead of night! And if Congress refuses to obey its own rules, if Congress refuses to pass a budget, if Congress refuses to read the bills, then I say: Sweep the place clean. Limit their terms and send them home!

  Rand Paul

  Home, Fighting, Night

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• Of course, the economy has not been working for most Americans. Yes, of course, we have special interests that are unfortunately doing too much to rig the game.

  Hillary Clinton

  Games, Special, Too Much

  Hillary Clinton's speech at the Clinton-Sanders Democratic presidential debate in Durham, New Hampshire, hosted by MSNBC, www.nytimes.com. February 4, 2016.

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• Why do Americans find government so baffling and irritating-even though many of us depend on public programs for a secure retirement, an affordable mortgage, or a college loan? In this timely and important book, political scientist Suzanne Mettler explains how the United States has come to rely on hidden, indirect policies that privilege special interests but puzzle regular citizens. American democracy can do better, and she shows how. Politicians and the public alike have much to learn from her brilliant and engaging analysis.

  Theda Skocpol

  Retirement, Book, College

  5 Copy quote

• Imagine all the people Sharing all the world.

  John Lennon

  Peace, Hippie, Brotherhood Of Man

  Song: Imagine, Album: The U.S. vs. John Lennon

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• In my legal practice, I have seen certain Federal judges controlled or influenced by large corporations..., by large law firms...on more than one occasion(, and) ...by special interests...(some) ought to be thrown right off the bench because they are breaking every code of conduct.

  Orrin Hatch

  Dark, Law, Practice

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• The reverse is a system in which you basically let people who were leaders in one way or another - people sometimes decried as party bosses, people who are part of special interests make the decision. And I think that's a worse system than the one we have.

  Geoffrey Cowan

  Party, Thinking, People

  "The American Political Invention That 'Let The People Rule'". "Weekend Edition Saturday" with Linda Wertheimer, www.npr.org. December 26, 2015.

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• What's amazing to me? General Electric has a bigger budget for - special interest budget than all of the oil companies combined, and yet nobody says anything.

  Glenn Beck

  Oil, Special, Say Anything

  "The Mad Corporate World of Glenn Beck". Interview with Norman Solomon, www.guernicamag.com. December 20, 2007.

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• We conservatives can win the ideological battles on a level playing field. Our ideas are better. Given fair elections based on contributions from regular voters, instead of $100,000 checks from business-as-usual special interests, we will prevail.

  John McCain

  Winning, Ideas, Special

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• Im sorry Im not gay or Jewish, so I dont have a special interest group of journalists that support me.

  Vincent Gallo

  Im Sorry, Gay, Support

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• Don't slay that potato, let us be merciful please.

  Tom Paxton

  Peace, Special, Potatoes

  Song: Don't Slay That Potato, Album: One Million Lawyers and Other Disasters, 1985

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• The danger is that the compromises and special interests inherent in Kyoto-style targets and cap-and-trade will be accepted because of bureaucratic momentum.

  James Hansen

  Kyoto, Style, Special

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• If you're willing to change the world let love be your energy

  Robbie Williams

  Peace, Love Is, Energy

  Song: Let Love Be Your Energy

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• Everybody says that they're against the special interests. I'm the only one the special interests don't give any money to.

  John McCain

  Giving, Special, Interest

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• I stand before you today as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States. I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I'm not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, although I am a woman, and I'm equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of any political bosses or fat cats or special interests... I am the candidate of the people...

  Shirley Chisholm

  Country, America, People

  "African-American and Female in One Candidate". "Tell Me More" with Michel Martin, www.npr.org. January 24, 2008.

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• Politicians will pander to special-interest groups eager to gain at the public expense.

  Donald J. Boudreaux

  Political, Special, Groups

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• 'Cap and trade' generates special interests, lobbyists, and trading schemes, yielding non-productive millionaires, all at public expense. The public is fed up with such business. Tax with 100% dividend, in contrast, would spur our economy, while aiding the disadvantaged, the climate, and our national security.

  James Hansen

  Special, Spurs, Climate

  A letter to Obama by James and Anniek Hansen, www.theguardian.com. January 1, 2009.

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• All I want is peace and love on this planet.
  Ain't that how God planned it?

  Chuck D

  Peace, Rap, Hip Hop

  Chuck D, Yusuf Jah (2007). “Chuck D: Lyrics of a Rap Revolutionary”, Y & G Communications

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• When are we left-wingers going to learn that we are losing the cultural and political battle with conservatives because we are fractured into narcissistic special-interest groups? Why should an antiwar protestor be so concerned about her dietary identity? The political opinions of vegetarians and meat-eaters are, after all, equally important. And what does it tell us about vegetarians that it would never occur to meat-eaters to carry a sign that reads "Pacifist Pork Chop Lover for Peace" or "Backyard Rib Barbecuer for International Nuclear Disarmament"?

  Sherman Alexie

  Political Opinions, Nuclear Disarmament, Unity

  "Lefties Need to Love, Love, Love the White Working Class". Article by Sherman Alexie, www.thestranger.com. April 17, 2003.

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• I do a lot of referendums. They can't talk back. They don't have wives. They don't have friends who tell you how to run the campaign. They are supported by special interests, so there's a lot of money in them.

  Roger Stone

  Running, Wife, Special

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• In the Washington soft money game, big business and big labor are accomplices working together to protect the mushy middle of big government, with plenty of special interest plums: Big unions get big spending and big business gets corporate welfare and special tax breaks - all at the expense of average Americans.

  John McCain

  Government, Average, Games

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• Offering 'comprehensive' reform usually means years of arguing and horse-trading among pressure groups to get anything done. By the time all the special interests are appeased or bought off, the resulting elephantine legislation typically looks nothing like what was intended. In short, big-government medicine usually doesn't work on big-government sickness. If President Obama wants 'comprehensive' change, it would be better simply not to spend any more money we don't have.

  Victor Davis Hanson

  Horse, Mean, Government

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• (Howard Dean) is proving that the Internet is a better, cheaper, and faster way to raise money than the old glad-handing of special interests and fat cat donors. He's also about to demonstrate that the Internet is a better place to spend campaign dollars than are TV stations and media time buys. The fact that Internet communications is free makes one-on-one retail politics more effective, more rapid, and less costly than mass communication.

  Dick Morris

  Communication, Media, Special

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