My name is Jerome Kohlberg, Jr. I come before you today as a bit of an anomaly, a successful businessman interested in government who founded two organizations dedicated to reducing the influence of money in politics. Campaign For America Founder Jerome Kohlberg. The excesses of the last political campaign are only the most recent evidence that this country s campaign finance system is undermining our democratic process.
Democracy is no longer about a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Instead, it is a multi-million dollar industry of special interests. Every issue Americans care about is tainted by special interest money - jobs, the environment, education, health care and Social Security, to name just a few. Decisions from the routine to the profound are shaped by who gave money and how much, who didn t and why, and who might in return for what. When dollars, not votes, elect legislators and formulate policy, it is time to demand change. It is ironic that a country founded on the principle of independence has, more than 220 years later, merely substituted one tyranny for another.