* “After a first year in office that promised consequence but never quite delivered on it, he had done something huge. The comparisons with Jimmy Carter would abruptly come to an end. He was now a president who didn’t back down, who could herd cats, who was not merely intellectual and idealistic but tough enough to force his way.” — Joe Klein, Time magazine, on the implications of President Obama’s orchestration of health care reform legislation.
* “In view of the influx of 30 million more insured patients into our health care system, how will there be enough doctors available to take care of everyone?” — Louis J. Goodman and Timothy B. Norbeck, president and executive director, respectively, The Physicians Foundation.
* “If you don’t get governance right, it is very hard to get anything else right that government needs to deal with. We have to rethink in some basic ways how our political institutions work, because they are increasingly incapable of delivering effective solutions any longer.” — Larry Diamond, senior fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University and founding co-editor, Journal of Democracy.
* “If he’s going to announce he’s for drilling, he should announce that we’re drilling now.” — Newt Gingrich on President Obama’s plan to open up some 24 million acres of the eastern Gulf of Mexico to offshore drilling.
* “The federal government should tax college athletics programs in proportion to the total compensation packages they pay to their coaching staffs…Programs that pay coaches outsized compensation are in the entertainment business.” — Richard Hain, math professor, Duke University.
* “Journalism used to be the preserve of working class stiffs who filed stories and hit the bars. Now it is the preserve of cultured analysts who file stories and hit the water bottle. Is the media overall more reputable now than it was then?” — David Brooks, New York Times News Service.
* “It is well past time for Florida’s government officials to protect citizens and visitors and ban people from driving on its beaches.” — Bron Taylor, professor of religion and environmental ethics, University of Florida, in the aftermath of a recent tragedy at Daytona Beach.
* “It accomplished nothing. In 90 days we’ll be right back where we were.” — Hillsborough County Commissioner Rose Ferlita on the suspension of County Administrator Pat Bean and County Attorney Renee Lee.
* “The African-American community has a tremendous amount of respect for this commission and for the county attorney, Renee Lee. We love her. We respect her. And we want her to continue as our county attorney.” — Gerald White, black community activist.