"Campaign finance reform...would limit the extent to which wealthy [people can influence politics]."
"One component of the scheme was that at the defendant's request, a lawyer who then worked for the Trump organization as special counsel to defendant lawyer, covertly paid $130,000 to an adult film actress shortly before the election to prevent her from publicizing a sexual encounter with the defendant."
"The political system in America is so broken right now because of the special interest money which floods campaigns."
"Our system is completely corrupted by the special interest money that is flooding into campaigns at every level of politics."
"This is pay for play, and...if you want to have any hope of getting all of the things addressed that Americans prioritize, you have to have candidates that aren't taking money from those interest groups. Point Blank period."
"Wouldn't you prefer a politician who says, 'I'm not going to accept that money so you can trust me'?"
"The president of the United States thus wrote a personal check for the payment of hush money as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws."
"If a technology company promotes a candidate for office against another, the value of that promotion must be recorded as a political campaign contribution."
"If you could eventually get money out of politics... you would get people that went in for the right reasons."
"When Michael Cohen pled guilty, he said something crucial to campaign finance law. Even if you accept the word of a convicted perjurer and liar, he said when he pled guilty that this was done for the benefit of the campaign." - Preet Bharara
"I'm calling on the entire Democratic leadership and saying, if you take corporate contributions you are corrupt and you are taking bribes."
"The only litmus test that I would argue is incredibly important: whether or not these candidates are taking corporate PAC money."
"Money in a leadership pack can be used for the personal use of the candidate."
"Money in a campaign account cannot be used for the personal use of the candidate or anybody else."
"Corporations are allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money on politics."
"There is power in your voice. If you sit back and you do nothing, then nothing will happen because we live in a republic where our voice absolutely matters."
"We need a president in this country that runs strictly without anybody else's money."
"American politics, in terms of the role of money in politics, the failure of separation of powers, the ability of small groups to dictate policy that harms the interests of a majority, are deeply wrong."
"It takes money to fight big money and to fight corporate PAC-backed politicians."
"Another way to do it would be to improve campaign finance laws."
"Almost everyone agrees that we have too much money in politics – this is the problem people want to get rid of."
"The removal of any restraint on campaign financing has been a disaster for this country."
"The more money you spend on members of Congress, the more times you get meetings."
"The most important thing is to get big money out of politics."
"I'm not talking about getting rid of speech, I'm talking about getting rid of the money."
"The irony of Trump... money bought nothing this time."
"We're taking no corporate money, we're taking no billionaire money."
"My end goal is a constitutional amendment to get money out of politics."
"The pressure on candidates to raise money has ratcheted up since the Supreme Court's citizens united decision in 2010."
"Where's the meeting when you go back to Kentucky and you do these little fake meetings where you show up at businesses that have given you and donated money to your campaign? That's how this whole thing works. Disgusting, disgusting."
"Our agenda is the agenda of working-class and middle-class Americans."
"Perhaps Trump's vast lead could not be overcome, but that's no excuse for misspending over $130 million."
"You have to end the gerrymandering... you gotta totally reform campaign finance legislation."
"Campaign finance spending should not be allowed in politics."
"We have to get big money out of politics and we have to get corporate money out of politics."
"The opposition will fight tooth and nail to protect their outrageous profits. They'll put billions into ads against Medicare for all."
"You'll know you have a good candidate when they only take the small dollar donations."
"Every single scene has got an emotional content to it which leads to drama."
"The movement really just wanted less money in politics."
"It seems to me that the cancer at the core of our politics on both sides is big money."
"Wall Street is contributing 10, 15, 20, 30 times, out contributing to the Biden campaign more than the average donor in the Trump campaign."
"We went from seventy six thousand on last segment to eighty one thousand three hundred $79 with two thousand seven hundred and twenty eight individual donors amazing."
"We are going to end this disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision."
"Saving money is not the point. The point is to give money to military contractors who can then support campaign funds to keep people in office."
"This is the most money that they spent in any race and clearly shifted the dynamic."
"Decades of research suggest that money likely isn't actually the deciding factor in elections."
"The answers are very simple: You get the money out of the political system. You implement a direct national ballot initiative at the federal level..."
"My point is that that is the hill we have to climb over and and the reason money and politics affects elections more is because the media will not move that's a given that's a constant in the formula right now."
"We've missed a huge opportunity with voters who are sick of the dark money."
"The president released his financial disclosure form today in which he admits... he did in fact make a six-figure payment to an adult film actress right before the election to keep her quiet."
"I agree with him on and and I've given him credit a couple times on the show he says he does not take over Pac money he's a very very very rare Republican who doesn't take corporate Pac money."
"We need campaign finance reform John let me just throw that out there too while we're talking about what we need to change."
"What is the point of voting for people who don't take corporate money if they just do the bidding of the people who do the answer is there isn't one."
"Running for the top job in America means you've got to be able to bundle a lot of money."
"When you have justice Democrats, a movement come up that says no corporate money, no big donor money, it's a movement built by the people of, by and for the people."
"Money in politics speaks, the average Congressional race cost millions of dollars to win."
"Bernie Sanders nearly won a rigged primary... he did not have a super PAC... and he almost defeated Hillary Clinton."
"How did we end up with a campaign finance system where big money decides who's going to be on the ballot?"
"We have to get this dark money out of politics."
"It's six to one of donations under a certain amount of money, so six to one of small dollar donations."
"I banned corporate contributions... one small thing in the right direction."
"How do we get money out of politics? Well, the first thing we do is overturn this disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision."
"I want to see change in campaign finance laws."
"Donald Trump paid someone money to do something illegal to help him win the 2016 election." - Lawrence
"You're amazing guys. Thank you so very much."
"There's no need for DMK to spend money anymore. People are getting educated and aware of their tactics."
"We're going to get money out of politics once and for all."
"No big corporate donors, no super packs, that's all just grassroots."
"Our political system has become little more than a system of legalized bribery."
"Sanders did extremely well with small campaign donations."
"Bernie Sanders calls for banning super PAC money in primaries."
"72.34 percent voted in favor of requiring disclosure of campaign finances sources."
"We need to make sure we get dark, unaccountable money out of politics and have more transparency so our politicians should be bought off, but we should know who's buying them off."
"Money is a proxy for speech, if you put restrictions on money, you are in essence putting restrictions on speech."
"If you're a Republican and you support ending the private financing of Elections, Wolf PAC will support you."
"Dark money constitutes about two to four percent of the total spending in U.S. elections... has always been involved in U.S. elections."
"I think the most important part of this is we've got to get the money out of politics."
"What is illegal is the campaign finance violations."
"There is hope, we will eventually get dark money out of politics."
"Now, in all fairness, the donor class, I would be the greatest in history. All I have to do is call them, send 10 million."
"Corporate donations aren't allowed in the Green Party."
"I think there should be more transparency in terms of campaign finance."
"If we fix campaign finance, so much of the other stuff would sort (bleep) out."
"Ultimately, we will need a constitutional amendment that establishes public funding for federal campaigns."
"Part of the reason to remove corporate Union donations was supposed to be to take big money out of politics and I don't think it's worked. In fact, I think that the pacs aren't very transparent."
"I am very proud to be the only candidate up here who does not have a super PAC, who is not raising huge sums of money from Wall Street or special interests." - Senator Sanders
"Let's talk about the issues. Let's talk about why in the 1990s Wall Street got deregulated. Do you think it has anything to do with the huge amounts of campaign contributions and lobbying?" - Senator Sanders
"I do believe we need a political revolution where millions of people stand up and say loudly and clearly that our government belongs to all of us and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors."
"Big money should not be in politics at all."
"You need to know the Supreme Court case Citizens United versus FEC; that's a 2010 case and that's like for sure something that is a required case."
"The best way to understand hard money is that it is money that is spent for elections that is regulated."
"A political campaign finance system dominated by billionaires who are buying elections is not what democracy is supposed to be about."
"If one side is able to consistently outspend the other on things like ads, that actually does matter."
"Elections shouldn't cost billions of dollars."
"Not all money in politics is the same."
"The American people are telling us that they want a government that represents everybody and not just billionaire campaign contributors."
"Eighty plus percent of Americans want to get less money in politics."
"How to find the donors you need to get your campaign off the ground, even if you don't like asking for money."
"A candidate's ability to raise funds is typically a good indicator of their chances of winning the election."
"There is a way to raise more money when it comes to these campaigns."
"The evidence suggests that spending does matter, you know, again marginally it can help your campaign."
"Political message reach should be earned, not bought."
"The federal play-to-play rule... was crafted to Halt private Equity firms and other investment Managers from using campaign contributions to improperly influence pension fund decision makers."
"We need to get big money out of politics."
"We should overturn Citizens United, try and get dark money out of politics."