* “We do not buy into the theory that because the economy is still recovering, extending tax cuts for the highest earners is a necessity or effective policy response.”–Gene Sperling, counselor to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
* “Dick Cheney is recovering from heart surgery in the hospital. I understand Fox sent him flowers and MSNBC sent a large pepperoni pizza with extra cheese.”–Jay Leno, “The Tonight Show” host.
* “Forty years ago, as the United States experienced the civil rights movement, the supposed monolith of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant dominance served as the whipping post for almost every debate about power and status in America. After a full generation of such debate, WASP elites have fallen by the wayside and a plethora of government-enforced diversity policies have marginalized many white workers.”–Sen. James Webb, D-Va.
* “While we admire the organization for the work they do, we still can’t help but wonder Y.”–Response by the Village People to the YMCA’s official name change to the Y.
* “I was very disappointed. I didn’t anticipate it was going to be so scripted. They took away their (the people’s) right to even have a say-so. There’s a lot of people out there that didn’t think it was a waste of our time.”–Rep. Kevin Ambler of Tampa, one of the few Republicans who voted against adjourning last week’s special session on an oil-drilling ban near Florida’s shores.
* “Clearly under Florida law if there’s no physical damage to the beaches and it’s a public perception, I venture to say that is not compensable. That’s in this area where some discretion’s going to have to be exercised.”–Kenneth Feinberg, BP’s Gulf Coast Claims Center boss.
* “I believe the threat is very real, and we understand that the CDC (federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is about to close its dengue branch. Can you imagine anything so stupid? This is the worst time possible.”–Dr. Peter J. Hotez, tropical medicine expert at George Washington University, referencing cases of dengue fever in Key West the past two years, the first outbreak in Florida since 1934.
* “Everyone is talking about Florida losing population, which is true due to the number of construction workers going elsewhere for jobs. But unless they turn off the sun, stop having children and outlaw air-conditioning and mosquito control, Florida will grow again.”–Will Bissett, Bissett McGrath Properties.
* “It is going to shape downtown for years to come. We want to get the maximum redevelopment impact from the station.”–Mark Huey, Tampa’s economic and urban development administrator, on the impact of Tampa’s high-speed rail station targeted to begin operation in 2015.
* “These are tax revenues we would not be collecting from a company that we probably would not have collected anyway because the project probably would not have happened in our community.”–Gene Gray, director of Hillsborough County’s economic development department, on the merits of a proposed property-tax exemption for businesses that expand or relocate to Hillsborough.
* “Ozzy Osbourne, Ozzfest doesn’t serve a government purpose.”–Will Shepherd, Hillsborough County property appraiser attorney, making the case that state fairgrounds land that is now the 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheatre should be required to pay property taxes.