One of the most critical issues facing the United States is the role that big money plays in financing elections. This has been a major issue that has been discussed by all Democratic primary candidates so far in the election. During an interview with CNN s Jake Tapper on The State of the Union, Bernie Sanders clarified some of the language he has used during his campaign so far.Bernie Sanders has made campaign finance reform a major part of his platform. In fact, he has even eschewed financial support from Super PACS. This has led to some very weak criticisms from the right-wing, who say that he has taken money from groups like the National Nurses Union, which has endorsed him. Those criticisms are absurd, and only seem to show that they do not understand the issue, nor the type of support that Sanders is receiving from the union.During the interview, Sanders says that money is controlling Washington. Studies suggest that this is partly true. A well-known study done by Princeton showed that the United States, to a large degree is a no longer a democracy, but rather an oligarchy. They note that the whittling away of democracy in the United States has been going on since the 1980 s. The rise of the Super PAC, plus the Citizen s United Supreme Court decision that has lead to the flooding of money into elections, is simply the next stage of cancer that is the collusion between government and corporation.The United States has a long history of money, big and small, creeping into elections. Once people decide that they have had enough, they send that corrupting influence into remission. It just so happens that this issue is reaching a boiling point right now, as are so many other issues.You can watch the interview, below. Featured image from video screenshot via YouTube 