The crush of lobbyists on Washington and purchase of the media by corporations has created a big business-run government and a worthless press leaving Americans screwed and ill-informed.
Adam McKay
The ability of big money to shape perceptions - where you have four anti-climate lobbyists for every single member of the House and Senate - is a big factor.
Al Gore
Nobody ever wins the first time they run for office. Nobody's ever supposed to win their first bid for office. Nobody's ever supposed to win without taking lobbyists' money. No one's ever supposed to defeat an incumbent. No one's ever supposed to run a grassroots campaign without running any ads on television. We did all of those things.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Too often government responds to the whispers of lobbyists before the cries of the people.
Andrew Cuomo
DeSantis can do the bidding of big business and big lobbyists and Donald Trump and his divisive rhetoric. I'm going to be here to do the business of the people of the state of Florida. That's the job of the governor of this state.
Andrew Gillum
In their political careers, Obama and Biden faced down lobbyists, Tea Party carpetbaggers, and Washington gridlock.
Andrew Shaffer
Working families are worried about affordable health care, public education, and earning enough to get ahead. Our people should know that Frankfort is working to solve the challenges they're facing - not furthering the self-interests of lobbyists and insiders.
Andy Beshear
Coal and oil lobbyists added fossil fuels to a bill aimed at helping American manufacturers, so they too could claim 'manufacturing' tax deductions.
Bernie Sanders
Congress continues to pass laws to limit lobbyists' influence, but people find ways to get around them.
Bob Beckel
Unless public officials are wealthy and fund their own campaigns, the only place they can turn to is lobbyists and institutions like labor unions and corporations.
We work for the families back home, we do not work for the lobbyists that prowl the halls of the capital building, do not forget who we work for.
Brian Schweitzer
Because Bernie is going to bring in progressives and not lobbyists and people who are pro-corporate... for the establishment of the Democratic party, Bernie Sanders was more dangerous than Donald Trump.
Cenk Uygur
The need to do something about global warming is obvious. And it's also pretty clear that the public understands the need for change and is ready to embrace it. What is missing is political will in Congress to stand up to the powerful energy companies and their well-paid lobbyists.
Chellie Pingree
Lobbyists didn't descend from a spaceship. They evolved organically from the way we do business.
Christopher Buckley
This is the fundamental problem with the ruling class in Washington, D.C. - the party bosses, the K Street crowd, the lobbyists who control all these politicians. They will do anything to maintain their power. They will do anything. They will say anything.
Corey Lewandowski
The average guy doesn't have an army of lobbyists and lawyers working on his behalf every day in the White House.
Dan Bongino
If a gigantic asteroid were barreling toward impact with our planet, you can bet there would be at least a few members of Congress who would insist on leaving it alone, either because they would see it as a warning shot from the Almighty or because a mining company with a savvy team of lobbyists had laid claim to the big rock.
David Horsey
The American people are screaming out saying it's unfair that the wealthiest, the largest corporations who can afford the best attorneys, the best accountants, take advantage of these special tax treatments that the lobbyists have, along with lawmakers, have cooked in the books here.
David Plouffe
I'm running for president because I've had enough of the oil barons, the status-quo apologists, the special-interest lobbyists running amok.
Dick Gephardt
I have had lobbyists, and I have had some very good ones. They could do anything.
Donald Trump
The fact is, Missouri's budget is broken. For decades, insiders, special interests, lobbyists and prior politicians have made a mess of our budget.
For too long, Missouri has been run by career politicians, owned by corrupt consultants, high-paid lobbyists and special interests.
We have a culture of political corruption in Jefferson City. We have corrupt politicians, well-paid lobbyists and special-interest insiders taking the state in the wrong direction.
The average American doesn't realize how much of the laws are written by lobbyists.
The judge turned his back towards me, sitting back on his judge's chair, while I was in the witness stand being questioned. The whole courtroom was full of these anarchists, leftists, communists and Jewish lobbyists.
What I do like about Donald Trump is that he's not bought by the lobbyists. He put up his own money, funded his own campaign. That means he's nobody's puppet.
We have organized lobbyists in favor of Israel. You can't open your mouth. I can call the president of the United States anything in the book, but if you say one thing about Israel, and you're off limits.
Policy is no longer being written by politicians accountable to the American public. Instead, policies concerning the defense budget, deregulation, health care, public transportation, job training programs, and a host of other crucial areas are now largely written by lobbyists who represent mega corporations.
Global poverty is the product of reversible policy failures overseen by politicians, past and present. The poorest of the poor don't vote in American or European elections. They don't make donations to political parties or hire lobbyists in D.C., London or Canberra.
Lobbying has become a term of reproach, as if it were improper to push for a particular belief. This has happened because of paid lobbyists whose opinions are for hire and the fear that decision-makers, whether politicians or officials, are susceptible to their charms and wiles. This has tarred entirely proper lobbying with the same brush.
The institution of the family has very few friends in Washington. There are lobbyists in Washington for every possible entity, from the possum-growers of America to every kind of crazy thing. There's somebody in Washington paid to advance the cause of that particular business, but there's not a lot of support for the family.
Many of the earmark request forms are actually filled out by lobbyists and then just turned in by the member's staff to the appropriations committee.
Barack Obama's large contributor was Goldman Sachs - same thing on the Republican side. If you go to both their conventions, you see the same lobbyists paying off both sides so they win either way.
Fairness has not been enhanced by the tax code, but lobbyists have been made rich, politicians have been re-elected, and the economy has been made to suffer.
Mr. President, the buzz saw that your healthcare bill ran into wasn't lobbyists and special interests it was tens of millions of American's who were saying, 'Stop!'
I have seen the times when the grassroots has moved the Congress. We listen way more often to our constituents than the lobbyists. And the grassroots are going to have to do it.
America is one of the biggest businesses in the world, and the people who run it can't balance their budget. We need business people in there and lobbyists out of there.
Those who want to 'drain the swamp,' should be praising Mueller for enforcing FARA violations and, in return, prompting more lobbyists to register as foreign agents when required.
There are good people in the lobbying industry. Lobbyists can serve a very useful purpose.
Because the Second Amendment is an incomprehensible mess, because too many lobbyists have argued that it is an absolute protection of actions and items never considered at the time of our nation's founding, and because there is a clear state interest in protecting the lives of its citizens, the words must be removed from the Constitution.
Concealed carry reciprocity is a dream for the gun lobby lobbyists and a nightmare for public safety.
I believe in lower taxes. I believe in more efficient government. I believe in reducing bureaucracy. I believe that we shouldn't have lobbyists who can go in or former government workers who can come back and lobby.
Real lobbying reform must end the practice of corporate lobbyists writing our laws.
Recently, lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry wrote a prescription drug bill that increased their profits and did nothing to help seniors. The result: seniors are stuck with a confusing prescription drug plan that does little to help them with their costs.
I want to be the kind of elected official who not only pays attention but who acts on behalf of people - just average people. Fancy lobbyists get to tell their story, but the average person doesn't.
I taught policy and politics for seven years at a university. I told my students lobbyists are not a bad thing; they're absolutely vital.
Some of the environmental lobbyists of the Western nations are the salt of the earth, but many of them are elitists.
I will never be an insider. I want to be the champion of people who don't have insiders and lobbyists supporting them.
Lobbying is a legitimate profession... Many congressional spouses act as lobbyists.
I represent poor people, I represent working people. I represent senior citizens. I represent family businesses. I represent people who don't have the wherewithal to hire overpriced Washington lobbyists and lawyers. I want to send the powers back to the states and the people.
