Former President Jimmy Carter spoke with the Thom Hartmann Program earlier this week about "political bribery" in the United States, saying it's created “a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors.”
Carter was asked about Supreme Court cases like Citizens United, which he said has turned America into an "oligarchy."
"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," Carter said.
Carter said the power of money isn't limited to just the presidency, claiming "the same thing" applies to lawmakers on the state level and in Congress.
"The incumbents, Democrats and Republicans, look upon this unlimited money as a great benefit to themselves," Carter said. "Somebody’s who’s already in Congress has a lot more to sell to an avid contributor than somebody who’s just a challenger."
Carter called the Citizen United decision "the stupidest decision that the Supreme Court ever made" in March 2012. He doubled down on that criticism in September of that year, saying he hopes the Court will "reverse that stupid ruling" and saying that "we have one of the worst election processes in the world."
(h/t The Intercept)