Brigid Harrison: Nobody Left in Congress
on Saturday, May 2, 2015Brigid Harrison Money Quotation saying what is obviously the core of political corruption and the layers of opacity in campaign finance. Brigid Harrison said, (professor of political science and law at Montclair State University, commenting on corruption case of Sen. Robert Menendez):
“If everyone who took money in return for promising to do something if they were re-elected [was prosecuted], we wouldn’t have anyone left in Congress” — Brigid Harrison
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In this quote, political scientist Brigid Harrison is making a critical observation about political financing practices and their influence on elected officials. Her view seems to be that if all members of Congress who accepted financial contributions from donors in exchange for pledging certain actions or policy positions were prosecuted for what amounts to a form of bribery, virtually no sitting lawmakers would remain.
Harrison implies that such transactional “money in return for promises” behavior is so widespread in politics that enforcing anti-corruption rules strictly would empty Congress entirely. The quote conveys Harrison’s perspective that political donations that seek to covertly purchase influence or votes through implied quid pro quo terms seriously undermine integrity and pervade the system to a troubling degree.
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