Co-Founder & Principal, Hanover Partners, Inc. John E. Palmer

We have reached the point where our political arena is flooded with money, and elected officials are beholden to sources of cash rather than to their constituents. Lawmakers spend some absurd percent of their time raising money for re-election rather than doing their jobs. Their choice is to compete in the “arms race” of political spending or be run over by a rival. Bottom line: special interests and wealthy donors OWN our elected officials, and the rest of us are along for the ride. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision made much of this possible; only a constitutional amendment to overturn this ruling will restore some sanity to our system.