“Unlimited
Political Bribery” The ‘Essence’ Of Being Elected President
By Samuel Warde
To watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDsPWmioSHg
Former
President Jimmy
Carter has some strong
words about the politics of getting the party nomination and winning the
presidency.
During
an interview with Thom Hartmann, Carter said that the United States is now
an “oligarchy” in which “unlimited political bribery” is the essence of winning
the nomination for president and going on to win the presidency.
Carter
was responding to a question regarding recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings
regarding campaign finances such as the controversial Citizens United decision.
Carter went on to explain that such rulings have created a “complete subversion
of our political system as a payoff to major contributors,” adding that this
not only applies to presidential elections, but to “governors and U.S. Senators
and Congress members.”
HARTMANN: Our Supreme Court has now said unlimited money in politics. It seems a violation of the principles of democracy and the minute or so we have left – your thoughts on that:
CARTER: It violates the essence of what made America a great
country in its political system. Now it’s just an oligarchy, with unlimited
political bribery being the essence of getting the nominations for president or
to elect the president. And the same thing applies to governors and U.S.
senators and congress members. So now we’ve just seen a complete subversion of
our political system as a payoff to major contributors, who want and expect and
sometimes get favors for themselves after the election’s over.
HARTMANN: It’s a sad commentary on things.
CARTER: It is.
HARTMANN: What. It’s going to take a political movement to
change this isn’t it?
CARTER: Well, I think it’s going to take either a horrible
disgraceful series of acts in our country that turns the public against it and
eventually maybe even the Congress and the Supreme Court. That would be the
main thing, but at the present the incumbents, Democrats and Republicans, look
upon this unlimited money as a great benefit to themselves. Somebody’s who’s
already in Congress has a lot more to sell to an avid contributor than somebody
who’s just a challenger.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I think Jimmy Carter is recognized as one of America's best ex-Presidents. While there's a wide split of opinion on his Presidency, since he left office, he has tirelessly devoted himself to doing good works from the local to the global level. I was sad to hear his news about his cancer and wish him and his family the best. - Will Collette
EDITOR'S NOTE: I think Jimmy Carter is recognized as one of America's best ex-Presidents. While there's a wide split of opinion on his Presidency, since he left office, he has tirelessly devoted himself to doing good works from the local to the global level. I was sad to hear his news about his cancer and wish him and his family the best. - Will Collette