Former US President Jimmy Carter has called the campaign finance rules as nothing more than "legalized bribery".
TIME reports that a lot has changed since Jimmy Carter sat on the White House. But the biggest change, according to the former president, is in campaign finance. Carter calls it "legal bribery".
Being a peanut farmer, former president Carter could not have run for president under the current political climate.
"I didn't have any money," he said. "Now there's a massive infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars into campaigns for all the candidates. Some candidates like Trump can put in his own money, but others have to be able to raise, let's say $100 to 200 million, just to get the Democratic or Republican nomination. That's the biggest change in America."
Carter believes this is a change for the worse because it gives people and businesses with unlimited amounts of money to buy into a politician's campaign, thereby earning that person's influence once he or she assumes office.
According to the BBC, almost all candidates now relied to massive infusions of money from outside sources.
The Guardian reports that without mentioning its name, the former president blamed the Citizens United ruling as paving the way for the Super Pac funding vehicles that are being used by the rich and by big businesses to buy political influence.
Carter cited the erroneous ruling of the Supreme Court which gave the opportunity to wealthy people and big businesses to infuse unlimited amounts of money to the candidate of their choice. He further added that these candidates, Democrat or Republican and honest or not, depends on this influx of cash to finance their campaign, which leads them right into the pockets of their benefactors.
Former president Jimmy Carter fears that this campaign finance rules, which is outright "legal bribery", could lead to the middle class being kicked out of the picture as the rich people get richer.
