God, how patient are Thy poor! These corporations and masters of manipulation in finance heaping up great fortunes by a system of legalized extortion, and then exacting from the contributors--to whom a little means so much--a double share to guard the treasure!
Robert M. LaFollette, Sr.
More striking still, it appeared that if the process of concentration goes on at the same rate, at the end of another century we shall have all American industry controlled by a dozen corporations, and run by perhaps a hundred men. Put plainly, we are steering a steady course toward economic oligarchy, if we are not there already.
FDR, 1932
The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is Fascism—ownership of Government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power….
Among us today a concentration of private power without equal in history is growing. This concentration is seriously impairing the economic effectiveness of private enterprise as a way of providing employment for labor and capital and as a way of assuring a more equitable distribution of income and earnings among the people of the nation as a whole.
FDR, 1938
..And one day we must ask the question, “Why are there forty million poor people in America?” And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society...
MLK
I say, they [those at the top] don't have to conspire, because they all think alike. The president of General Motors and the president of Chase Manhattan Bank really are not going to disagree much on anything, nor would the editor of the New York Times disagree with them. They all tend to think quite alike, otherwise they would not be in those jobs.
Gore Vidal
The American polity is infected with a serious imbalance of power between elites and masses, a power which is the principal threat to our democracy.
Paul Wellstone
I believe the playing field is rigged. Evidence of that is everywhere. Now I've been in the Senate for nearly a year and believe as strongly as ever that the system is rigged for powerful interests and against working families.
Elizabeth Warren
The great political struggle we now face is whether the United States retains its democratic heritage or whether we move toward an oligarchic form of society where the real political power rests with a handful of billionaires, not ordinary Americans.
Bernie Sanders
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.
Jimmy Carter
FINANCIAL INDUSTRY FUNDRAISING EVENTS FOR HILLARY CLINTON
2015 Though February 2016
Apr. 28 - New York - Richard Perry (Perry Capital)
Apr. 28 - New York - Doug Teitelbaum (Homewood Capital)
May 13 - New York - Steve Rattner (Willett Advisors/Quadrangle Group)
May 13 - New York - Marc Lasry (Avenue Capital Group)
May 28 - Atlanta - A.J. Johnson (Georgetown Capital)
Jun. 1 - New York - Silda Wall (New World Capital Group)
Jun. 5 - Greenwich, CT - Malcolm Weiner (Millburn Corp.)
Jun. 25 - New York - Karen Persichilli Keogh + Eric Giola (JP Morgan Chase)
Jun. 25 - New York - Blair Effron (Centerview Partners)
Jun. 29 - New York - Martin Sosnoff (Atalanta Sosnoff)
Jul. 1 - Washington - Patrick Steel (FBR Capital Markets)
Jul. 21 - Chicago - Rajiv Fernando (Chopper Trading)
Jul. 22 - Raleigh, NC - George Reddin (FMI Capital Advisors)
Aug. 4 - Aspen, CO - Robert Hurst (Crestview Partners/Goldman Sachs)
Sep. 17 - Chicago - J.B. Pritzker (Pritzker Group)
Sep. 19 - Washington - Frank White (DuSable Capital Management)
Sep. 24 - Cresskill, NJ - Michael Kempner (Pegasus Capital Advisors)
Sep. 25 - Greenwich, CT - Cliff + Debbie Robbins (Blue Harbor Group)
Sep. 28 - Saratoga, CA - Harry Plant (UBS)
Nov. 11 - New York - Howard Lutnick (Cantor Fitzgerald)
Nov. 17 - New York - Jay Snyder (HBJ Investments)
Nov. 30 - Chevy Chase, MD - Jerry Johnson (RLJ Equity Partners)
Dec. 1 - Miami Beach - Bob Wagner (Silver Point Capital/Goldman Sachs)
Dec. 3 - Los Angeles - Michael Kong (MAPTI Ventures)
Dec. 6 - Washington - Julius Genachowski (Carlyle/Rock Creek Ventures)
Dec. 11 - Chicago - Howard Gottlieb (Glen Eagle Partners/Glenwood)
Dec. 14 - Potomac, MD - Frank Islam (FI Investment Group)
Jan. 27 - Philadelpha - Michael Forman (Franklin Square Capital Partners)
Jan. 27 - New York - Charles Myers (Evercore Partners)
Feb. 5 - Boston - Jonathan Lavine (Bain Capital/Sankaty Advisors)
Feb. 16 - New York - Matt Mallow (BlackRock)