Obama Campaign Finance Rhetoric

Initial Stance on Money in Politics
"“It’s time to require lobbyists to disclose each contact they make on behalf of a client with my Administration or Congress. And it’s time to put strict limits on the contributions that lobbyists give to candidates for federal office. Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign companies – to spend without limit in our elections. Well I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, and worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people, and that’s why I’m urging Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong.”"
 * State of the Union 2010

"“This ruling opens the floodgates for an unlimited amount of special interest money into our democracy. It gives the special interest lobbyists new leverage to spend millions on advertising to persuade elected officials to vote their way – or to punish those who don’t. That means that any public servant who has the courage to stand up to the special interests and stand up for the American people can find himself or herself under assault come election time. Even foreign corporations may now get into the act. I can’t think of anything more devastating to the public interest. The last thing we need to do is hand more influence to the lobbyists in Washington, or more power to the special interests to tip the outcome of elections....We don’t need to give any more voice to the powerful interests that already drown out the voices of everyday Americans.”"
 * Weekly Address, January 2010

"“That’s one of the reasons I ran for President: because I believe so strongly that the voices of ordinary Americans were being drowned out by the clamor of a privileged few in Washington. And that’s why, since the day I took office, my administration has been taking steps to reform the system. Recently, however, the Supreme Court issued a decision that overturned decades of law and precedent – dealing a huge blow to our efforts to rein in this undue influence.  In short, this decision gives corporations and other special interests the power to spend unlimited amounts of money – literally millions of dollars – to affect elections throughout our country.  This, in turn, will multiply their influence over decision-making in our government.... But I’m calling on leaders in both parties to resist these pressures.  For what we are facing is no less than a potential corporate takeover of our elections. And what is at stake is no less than the integrity of our democracy.”"
 * Weekly Address May 2010

"“You would think that making these reforms would be a matter of common sense. You’d think that reducing corporate and even foreign influence over our elections wouldn’t be a partisan issue. But the Republican leaders in Congress said no. In fact, they used their power to block the issue from even coming up for a vote. This can only mean that the leaders of the other party want to keep the public in the dark.  They don’t want you to know which interests are paying for the ads.  The only people who don’t want to disclose the truth are people with something to hide. Well, we cannot allow the corporate takeover of our democracy.  So we’re going to continue to fight for reform and transparency.  And I urge all of you to take up the same fight.  Let’s challenge every elected official who benefits from these ads to defend this practice or join us in stopping it. At a time of such challenge for America, we can’t afford these political games. Millions of Americans are struggling to get by, and their voices shouldn’t be drowned out by millions of dollars in secret, special interest advertising. Their voices should be heard.”"
 * Weekly Address August 2010

"“Back in January, in my State of the Union Address, I warned of the danger posed by a Supreme Court ruling called Citizens United. This decision overturned decades of law and precedent. It gave the special interests the power to spend without limit – and without public disclosure – to run ads in order to influence elections. Now, as an election approaches, it’s not just a theory. We can see for ourselves how destructive to our democracy this can become.  We see it in the flood of deceptive attack ads sponsored by special interests using front groups with misleading names.  We don’t know who’s behind these ads or who’s paying for them.  Even foreign-controlled corporations seeking to influence our democracy are able to spend freely in order to swing an election toward a candidate they prefer... What’s at stake is not just an election.  It’s our democracy itself.”"
 * Weekly Address September 2010

"“And thanks to a Supreme Court decision called Citizens United, they are being helped along this year by special interest groups that are spending unlimited amounts of money on attack ads -- attacking folks like Patrick Murphy, attacking folks like Joe Sestak -- just attacking people without ever disclosing who’s behind all these attack ads. You don’t know. It could be the oil industry.  It could be the insurance industry.  It could even be foreign-owned corporations.  You don’t know because they don’t have to disclose. Now, that’s not just a threat to Democrats -- that’s a threat to our democracy.  Every American business and industry deserves a seat at the table, but they don’t get to a chance to buy every chair.  We’ve seen what happens when they do.  They put the entire economy at risk and every American might end up suffering.So you can’t let it happen.  Don’t let them hijack your agenda. The American people deserve to know who’s trying to sway their elections. And you can’t stand by and let special interests drown out the voices of the American people.”"
 * DNC Moving America Forward Rally, Philadelphia, PA, October 2010

"“Some of this has to do with the corrosive influence of money in politics. So together, let’s take some steps to fix that. Send me a bill that bans insider trading by members of Congress; I will sign it tomorrow.  (Applause.)  Let’s limit any elected official from owning stocks in industries they impact.  Let’s make sure people who bundle campaign contributions for Congress can’t lobby Congress, and vice versa -- an idea that has bipartisan support, at least outside of Washington.”"
 * State of the Union 2012

Apparent Reversal of Policy
"“...the President’s views of the influence of the Citizens United decision haven’t changed. He strongly opposed it, as you know. He made that clear at his State of the Union address in 2010, which got a lot of attention.  And he holds those views today. He, just as recently as this weekend, discussed, as you mentioned, the fact that he wished that Washington was doing more to reduce the influence of money in politics.  The fact is, is that he has been committed to working with Congress to eliminate the corrosive influence of money in Washington, and he proposed new ideas along those lines in his State of the Union address, with regards to political reform in Congress....This administration has done more than any in history to prevent undue influence over the government by lobbyists, by moneyed interests... But the President obviously agrees with this decision because of what the campaign has said, is that the rules are what they are, and we can’t -- the campaign -- I mean, I’ve read the same reports you have read -- the campaign has made clear that they cannot engage in this campaign, they cannot compete effectively if there are two sets of rules -- if they play by a different set of rules.” -- Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary"
 * New York Times, 02/07/2012
 * Huffington Post, 02/07/2012
 * Press Secretary Briefing, February 2012