Jimmy Carter: Citizens United Is Destroying Democracy

America now has one of the "worst election processes in the world" because of an influx of cash from secret, wealthy donors, Jimmy Carter says. The "financial corruption" ruining US democracy has been made worse by the Citizens United ruling allowing unlimited anonymous contributions to third-party groups, the former president said in a speech at the human rights center he founded, adding that he hopes the Supreme Court will "reverse that stupid ruling," AP reports.

Carter praised Mexico and other countries with publicly financed elections, saying the US should rely on a similar system. A system for publicly financed presidential elections still exists, but candidates now choose to avoid using taxpayer money because they can raise more on their own. "You know how much I raised to run against Gerald Ford? Zero," Carter said. "You know how much I raised to run against Ronald Reagan? Zero. You know how much will be raised this year by all presidential, Senate, and House campaigns? $6 billion. That's 6,000 millions." (More Jimmy Carter stories.)