2016 Candidates On Money in Politics

Hillary Clinton Pledges to Make Reform a “Top Priority.”

The TPP creates a new international commission that makes decisions the American people can't veto. These commissions are great for Hillary Clinton’s Wall Street funders who can spend vast amounts of money to influence the outcomes.

So I have to say now, in order to achieve all these goals, we have to go after and end the political dysfunction that’s holding our country and economy back.  So let’s overturn Citizens United and get unaccountable money out of politics. Let’s shut off the revolving door in Washington and make sure the foxes aren’t guarding the hen house.

The nice thing is, I don't want or need their money or support. They were very upset when the people they were supporting were soundly defeated by yours truly, but I think the American public will be happy to know that the Koch brothers will not have influence over a Trump administration or the lives of the American people...They were backing other candidates, total puppets for them. So I fully understand their unhappiness and why they wouldn't want to be involved with me."

The choice in this election is a choice between taking our government back from the special interests, or surrendering our last scrap of independence to their total and complete control.

We know too many special interests with too many lobbyists have stood in the way of progress while protecting the perks of the privileged few... One of the reasons this election is so important is because the Supreme Court hangs in the balance. We need to overturn that terrible Supreme Court decision, Citizens United, and then reform our whole campaign finance system. This is about our democracy but it’s also about our economy. Campaign finance reform and reducing the power of special interests is directly related to getting Washington working for people again, making the right investments, putting your jobs and economic security first. That’s why I’m passionate about this issue and I will fight hard to end the strangle hold that the wealthy and special interests have on so much of our government. So let’s do this together.

Right now I'm raising a lot of money for the Republican Party, and a lot of beneficiaries to that, and I like doing it.  Life is like a two-way street, right? They have to [help], otherwise I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, I'll just keep funding my own campaign…for me, that's the easy way...I would self-fund in a minute. It's cheaper for me to self-fund.

There’s no reason to raise that [$1 billion]. I just don’t think I need nearly as much money as other people need because I get so much publicity. I get so many invitations to be on television. I get so many interviews, if I want them.

Now, to make this happen, there’s no question we’ve got to get Washington to work much better, and that starts with getting unaccountable money out of politics.  We’ve got to take –we’ve got to take on Citizens United and get rid of the secret money that is rigging the system. Now, I think it’s fair to say many of you in city and state elections run under tighter regulations, or at least disclosures, than we now do on the federal side.  I don’t say this as a Democrat, I say this as an American:  I think we are really skating on thin ice.  It’s getting to the point where we have no idea where money is coming from.  It’s not being disclosed.  It could be foreign government money.  It could be criminal cartel money.  You don’t have to say; we’ll never know.

Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions. In a democracy, we should have the right to elect people based on their ideas.