Senator Kim’s Vision to Fix Our Broken Politics — A Government for the (Actual) People... Not the Powerful Few
Senator Kim’s Vision to Fix Our Broken Politics —
A Government for the (Actual) People... Not the Powerful Few
Senator Kim Delivered this speech as part of NYU Law’s Katzmann Lecture Series
NEW YORK CITY, NY – This evening, Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) delivered remarks at New York University (NYU) School of Law’s Katzmann Lecture Series, laying out seven guiding principles for how to fix our broken politics.
Drawing on his experience in national security, Congress, and New Jersey politics, Senator Kim outlined the guiding principles driving his fight against corruption: ensuring that leaders serve their constituents instead of themselves, and that government listens to everyday Americans, not just those at the top.
Click here to read the Senator’s full remarks, as prepared.
Senator Kim’s Seven Guiding Principles:
1. The citizen is the core unit of democracy – not political parties or dollar signs.
2. A level playing field in elections – only people, not corporations, should fund campaigns: end outside money and SuperPACs.
3. No one in government should personally profit from the decisions they make or the inside knowledge they hold.
4. No government employee should use their position to enrich family, friends, supporters or themselves.
5. Transparency must be independent – oversight cannot be controlled by those being monitored.
6. There must be real enforcement and consequences for those who harm our democracy.
7. Corruption cannot be contained by restraints alone – it must be overridden by a deep and profound commitment to public service.
More highlights from the speech include:
On the importance of having citizens have their fair say in their representation, and why the SAVE America Act would make that even harder for millions of Americans:
“The citizen is the core unit of our democracy – not political parties – not the dollar sign. The centrality of the citizen must be protected – voters choosing politicians, not politicians choosing voters. Partisan gerrymandering should be illegal and replaced with non-partisan commissions in every state. This should be done nationally.”
“[The SAVE America Act] would make it harder for citizens to vote, especially seniors, students, women, and voters of color. Its aim was supposedly to “stop voter fraud”, but without actually providing any data to show [that voter fraud] was such a major problem...[now] would potentially disenfranchise many citizens. When Trump says out loud that the SAVE America Act would stop Democrats from winning for 50 years, he further sows the weaponization of our politics.”
On the need to level the playing field so that corporations can’t influence future elections:
“If the goal is to uphold the power of citizens and give voters a real choice, then there needs to be as close to a level playing field between candidates as possible…only people – not corporations or other entities – should be able to donate to campaigns with fixed total maximums.”
“The Citizens United decision will go down in history as one of the most destructive events in our democracy, and the ruling must be overturned. We should not allow outside money including SUPERPACs.”
On preventing personal enrichment in future public servants and their families:
“As we protect the citizens in elections, we protect the interests and security of the people of our country within our governance. No one working for the government — nor their families — should be allowed to personally profit off of the decisions they make, the work they do, and the inside knowledge they have.”
“The American people deserve to have assurance that decisions I make and others in government are always driven by what’s best for the country. [And] the concern isn’t just among politicians enriching themselves - No government employee should ever make decisions, provide assistance, or share information specifically designed to enrich family, friends, or supporters.”
“We should never assume that politicians and government officials can uphold these standards on their own. Because in politics, there is often a sense that there is no wrongdoing if no one can see what you are doing. Transparency is a must and the operations to provide transparency cannot and should not be controlled by those being monitored.”
On combatting corruption for a new generation of leaders:
“The Supreme Court has taken several steps to make it harder to combat political corruption. There must be real and credible enforcement and consequences for those that do harm to our democracy, whether they sought to enrich themselves or others, or to abuse the trust of the people in other ways…Without accountability, corruption soars.”
“Corruption cannot be countered solely through restraints and containment. Corruption must be overridden by a deep and profound sense of public service.”
“By making sure that people are always given an opportunity to have their voices heard, we can judge the success of programs by whether they’ve served people, not whether they serve the ideological whims or financial futures of the well-off and well-connected.”
“The challenges we face can’t be solved through legislation alone. We don’t live in a time where there is politics as usual. I believe we need to build a movement, an anti-corruption movement that will fight against the apathy, against the helplessness, against the antibodies of the status quo. We need to restore trust back into our government and ignite a new era of public service in our nation.”
