Quotes from Peter Schweizer

Outside interests, from labor unions to large corporations, are influencing and distorting our government in the search for favorable policies.

We have focused on the buyers of influence (those outside special interests), but paid little heed to the sellers of influence—bureaucrats and politicians.

Despite Bernie's outspoken attacks on corporate America, the Sanderses became quite comfortable investing in those same companies with their growing investment portfolio.

Hiring a lobbyist aligned with a powerful politician is more important than hiring a lobbyist with a certain expertise or experience. Hiring a former staff member or family member is better still.

Mark Hanna, who served as President William McKinley's chief fund-raiser. (Hanna once famously said, "There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money and I can't remember what the second one is.")

FBI investigations alone will never take corruption out of politics. They take too much effort, and they attack the problem serially, one target at a time.

The assumption is that we need to protect politicians from outside influences. But how about protecting ourselves from the politicians?

Solving problems and settling issues is good lawmaking, but it's not lucrative. It is gridlock, confusion, and rehashing fights that create streams of income—like an annuity—for the Permanent Political Class.

leadership PACs are not about benefits for districts: they are about benefits for members of Congress.

So while the Obama administration was laying out the challenge posed by China in the global minerals race, the son of the vice president and a confidant of the secretary of state were invested in deals that would help Beijing win that resource race.

A one-star Army general with forty years of service can earn up to $143,000 per year in basic pay. A freshman congressman starts out at $174,000. If he becomes Speaker of the House, he can pull down $223,500.1

In his first eight years on the global lecture circuit, Bill had never been paid to speak in Nigeria. But once Hillary was appointed secretary of state, he booked two of his top three highest-paid speeches ever by traveling to Nigeria, pulling in a whopping $700,000 each.69

What Hunter Biden, the son of America's vice president, and Christopher Heinz, the stepson of the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (later to be secretary of state) were creating was an international private equity firm. It was anchored by the Heinz family alternative investment fund, Rosemont Capital.

Washington has been using tax extenders to extort donations for more than thirty years.

Washington has been using tax extenders to extort donations for more than thirty years. Lobbyists have likened the tax extenders ploy to Lucy pulling the football away from poor Charlie Brown in the last second.

In short, this is corruption by proxy. It is essentially a form of "political arbitrage," where friends and family members of powerful political figures have positioned themselves to serve as conduits or middle men between those seeking influence and those who possess political power.

From the White House to Capitol Hill, from the diplomatic corps to the national security establishment to the executive suites of Wall Street and Silicon Valley, American elites have sold the rope that will hang us to Beijing.

Those who wonder why the American tax code is so complex, convoluted, and constantly changing fail to appreciate what a wonderful tool it is for extortion.

The Clintons are perhaps the most politically sophisticated public figures of their generation. They know how things work in the corridors of power and around the world; they know that foreign governments are trying to

Even if nothing illegal occurred, one has to wonder about the political judgment involved. Surely the mere appearance of selling American power and influence to foreign interests should be enough to cause a former US president—and a possible future one—to steer well clear of such potentially

The reality is that most of what happens in American politics is transactional. People look for ways to influence those in power by throwing money in their direction.

It is important to note that this deal was with the Chinese government—not with a Chinese company, which means that the Chinese government and the son of the vice president were now business partners.

Eliminating politicians' ability to raise money while in session would force them to devote their time exclusively to their job: lawmaking.

embarrassing entanglements. "Bribery interferes with trade, investment, and development," Hillary Clinton said at the OECD's fiftieth-anniversary forum in 2011. "It undermines good governance and encourages greater corruption. And of course, it is morally wrong—and far too common." On that we can all agree.