Jimmy Carter: The U.S. Is an “Oligarchy With Unlimited Political Bribery”

[Marenco]

Jimmy Carter: The U.S. Is an “Oligarchy With Unlimited Political Bribery”

Former president Jimmy Carter said Tuesday on the nationally syndicated radio show the Thom Hartmann Program that the United States is now an “oligarchy” in which “unlimited political bribery” has created “a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors.” Both Democrats and Republicans, Carter said, “look upon this unlimited money as a great benefit to themselves.”

Carter was responding to a question from Hartmann about recent Supreme Court decisions on campaign financing like Citizens United.

Transcript:

HARTMANN: Our Supreme Court has now said, “unlimited money in politics.” It seems like a violation of principles of democracy. … 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. … 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.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=20&v=hDsPWmioSHg

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/30/jimmy-carter-u-s-oligarchy-unlimited-political-bribery/

[enhanced_deficit]

That will be very troubling if true.

[Ronin Truth]

I agree with Jimmy very rarely, but every once in a while he does manage to find a truffle.

[timosman]

That will be very troubling if true.

you have doubts ?

[cajuncocoa]

How can anyone disagree with this? The blind squirrel (Jimmy Carter) has finally found his acorn.

[brushfire]

<comment rescinded - someone beat me to the punch >

[RDM]

Is he on his death bed?

[Todd]

I agree with Jimmy very rarely, but every once in a while he does manage to find a truffle.

pretty scary when Jimmy is becoming a sage.

[DamianTV]

Did not know he was a Nuclear Physicist! Better than a Lawyer...

[Aratus]

I agree with Jimmy very rarely, but every once in a while he does manage to find a truffle.


https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/30/jimmy-carter-u-s-oligarchy-unlimited-political-bribery/


How can anyone disagree with this? The blind squirrel (Jimmy Carter) has finally found his acorn.


<comment rescinded - someone beat me to the punch >


pretty scary when Jimmy is becoming a sage.


Did not know he was a Nuclear Physicist! Better than a Lawyer...

what can i say? this is not an easy problem to solve but do i think Jimmy Carter has made a telling point that sums up his take on our politics!

[ZENemy]

so...........


Keep on voting?

[Aratus]

perhaps... yes
we must... try
otherwise... sadly
THEY ALL WIN

[timosman]

what can i say? this is not an easy problem to solve but do i think Jimmy Carter has made a telling point that sums up his take on our politics!

Too bad they say it only after leaving the office :eek:

[nobody's_hero]

here's the thing about donations.

Probably more than 90% of donations from major donors can be tracked on websites like opensecrets.org. If you want to follow the money, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to do so.

If 'Unlimited Wars Incorporated' donates $50 frillion bajillion to Candidate Mr. America—that information is there, somewhere, on the internets. Laws require these disclosures.

But all of these disclosure laws are like C-SPAN. If people actually paid attention to them, they would not exist.

So it seems to me that people complain about candidates who are financed by shady big business corporations that leave massive paper trails and yet voters in general ignore all of that (maybe it becomes too painful to admit that your favorite candidate Mr. America has been taking bribes from Toxic Pharmaceuticals & Co.), so they go out and pull the lever anyway.

Then a few years later everyone is upset because politics is decided by money.

"Supreme court is wrong. We need a law to prevent this."

No, what we need is a lot less dumb-fu*ks voting. We need people who actually take time to research their candidate as well as who is actually backing their candidate.

[idiom]

The politicians are being bought, but the people are being bought too. What do you think the bailout was for? It saved unions and pension plans and millions upon millions of people who had bought houses they *knew* they couldn't afford.

Its not mega-corporations and politicians on the take, they would get shut down hard and fast. Over 70% of the country is on the take. That is the problem, a degenerate population.

[timosman]

The politicians are being bought, but the people are being bought too. What do you think the bailout was for? It saved unions and pension plans and millions upon millions of people who had bought houses they *knew* they couldn't afford.

Its not mega-corporations and politicians on the take, they would get shut down hard and fast. Over 70% of the country is on the take. That is the problem, a degenerate population.

http://cf.chucklesnetwork.com/items/8/5/4/5/8/original/what-if-when-you-look-in-the-mirror-youre-the-reflection.jpg

[oyarde]

The politicians are being bought, but the people are being bought too. What do you think the bailout was for? It saved unions and pension plans and millions upon millions of people who had bought houses they *knew* they couldn't afford.

Its not mega-corporations and politicians on the take, they would get shut down hard and fast. Over 70% of the country is on the take. That is the problem, a degenerate population.
Sounds about right . Full of thieves ,deadbeats ,free loaders and the insincere .

[Halo]

"Now it’s just an oligarchy..."

Now? The central bankers have owned this country and the millions of farm animals who live here for over a century. Before that they only exerted massive influence but not total ownership.


The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson.
as quoted in F.D.R.: His Personal Letters, 1928-1945, Page 373

[timosman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST7xs6AhWBA

[RDM]

Is he on his death bed?

I guess I was right.
----------
Jimmy Carter says he has cancer, revealed by recent surgery.

ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter revealed that a recent liver surgery found cancer has spread in his body but gave few details about his prognosis in a brief statement released Wednesday.

"Recent liver surgery revealed that I have cancer that now is in other parts of my body," Carter said in the statement released by the Carter Center. "I will be rearranging my schedule as necessary so I can undergo treatment by physicians at Emory Healthcare."

The statement makes clear that Carter's cancer is widely spread, but not where it originated, or even if that is known at this point. The liver is often a place where cancer spreads and less commonly is the primary source of it. It said further information will be provided when more facts are known, "possibly next week."

Carter, 90, announced on Aug. 3 that he had surgery to remove a small mass from his liver.
http://news.yahoo.com/jimmy-carter-says-cancer-revealed-recent-surgery-203826345.html

[acptulsa]

Too bad they say it only after leaving the office :eek:

They had only just begun to repeal anti-bribery laws when he left office.

Once upon a time, they only let actual people 'exercise their free speech' with brib--er, I mean campaign contributions. Now people are restricted and only corporations 'have a right to exercise unlimited free speech'.

It all happened in my lifetime and you couldn't get the public upset about it if you had a cattle prod.