Citizens United Quotes

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  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 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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  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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• 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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• That's a question best put to Bernie Sanders himself, but I think that he will probably put forward ideas that are related to the corrupting role of Citizens United and Buckley versus Valeo court decisions and the need to restore a by-and-for-the-people republic envisioned in our Constitution instead of the of-, by- and for-the-most-powerful system that we have right now.

  Jeff Merkley

  Powerful, Thinking, Ideas

  "Lone Senator To Endorse Bernie Sanders Reacts To Clinton Victory". "All Things Considered" with Robert Siegel, Ari Shapiro, www.npr.org. June 8, 2016.

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• I feel that at this point in our country's history, it is important that we not reverse marriage equality, that we not reverse Roe v. Wade, that we stand up against Citizens United, we stand up for the rights of people in the workplace, that we stand up and basically say: The Supreme Court should represent all of us. That's how I see the court, and the kind of people that I would be looking to nominate to the court would be in the great tradition of standing up to the powerful, standing up on behalf of our rights as Americans.

  Hillary Clinton

  Country, Powerful, Rights

  Source: www.christianpost.com

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• We need a Supreme Court that will stand up on behalf of women's rights, on behalf of the rights of the LGBT community, that will stand up and say no to Citizens United, a decision that has undermined the election system in our country because of the way it permits dark, unaccountable money to come into our electoral system.

  Hillary Clinton

  Country, Dark, Lgbt Community

  Source: www.christianpost.com

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• There are three major political organizations in this country: the Republican Party, the Democratic Party and the Koch Brothers Party. With billions to spend on campaigns. think tanks and 'educational' organizations, the Koch brothers are the most powerful. We must overturn Citizens United, move to public funding of elections and pass real tax reform.

  Bernie Sanders

  Country, Brother, Powerful

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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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