* “The grand repositioning has begun–with one notable exception. Having tilted toward the center on foreign policy and economic issues, Obama has sent a different signal on cultural ones. He has signed legislation repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell,” given up on defending the Defense of Marriage Act and talked of new gun control laws. Republicans have sometimes been guilty of appeasing their base with winks and nods on cultural controversies. Though doubtless sincere in his views, Obama is employing the same approach.”–Michael Gerson, Washington Post.
* “As countries become richer, their citizens tend to want more public services, be it a strong military or a decent safety net in retirement. This country is no exception. Yet our political culture is an exception. It has made most tax increases, even to pay for benefits people want, unthinkable.”–David Leonhardt, New York Times.
* “To the financial institutions that got us into this mess and remain too big to fail, we can now add the wealthy, who are evidently too big to tax.”–Margaret Carlson, Bloomberg News.
* “Since Richard M. Nixon, no American president has had the political will either to end funding of human spaceflight or to fully fund it. … Unless the federal government invests the money to radically reduce the cost of reaching orbit, human spaceflight will remain in the realm of prestige and not practicality.”–Jonathan Coopersmith, History News Service.
* “The recent jump in oil is speculative, rather than fundamental. Oil prices could retreat if fears of contagion in the Mideast begin to subside.”–Joseph Tanious, market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds.
* “In banishing (Glenn) Beck, Fox has made an important distinction: It’s one thing to promote partisan journalism, but it’s entirely different to engage in race baiting and fringe conspiracy claims.”–Dana Milbank, Washington Post.
* “The solution to health care lies in simplifying coverage through a single-payer system such as Medicare, tort reform and revisiting what has become draconian regulatory oversight.”–Marc J. Yacht, M.D., former director of the Pasco County Health Department.
* “BP has the best legal defense in the world, and now Gov. Scott is going to trust them to do the right thing. They should have already done the right thing.”–Tampa lawyer Steve Yerrid on Gov. Rick Scott’s reluctance to sue BP to recover damages from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
* “The Sunshine State is currently battling back from one of its deepest recessions ever, and more time will be needed before strong growth returns. But strong growth will most assuredly return, and when it does, there is apt to be a better mix of industries.”–Wells Fargo senior economist Mark Vitner.
* “There is not much room for improvement as far as the tax climate in Florida is concerned, and trying to be the cheapest state in the country is not going to bolster the number of suitors Florida has. There is very little to win in our race to the tax bottom.”– Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness.
* “If you can’t change the rules, you change the refs.”–Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg, on the Florida House passing a bill that proposes to overhaul the state Supreme Court.
* “It would be an expansion of gambling that would kill our local industry. Our existing horse tracks would just wither and die.”–State Sen. Jim Norman of Tampa on his Senate Finance and Tax Committee vote against a bill to bring resort-style casinos to Florida.
* “You can pick these kids up all night long, but where you gonna take them … if the parent isn’t home or isn’t available … and really don’t care if their kid is home or not?”–St. Petersburg City Council member Leslie Curran on why a (11:00 p.m.) curfew wouldn’t work.
* “He had to be a tough, tough man to do what he did.”–Rays’ senior adviser Don Zimmer on Jackie Robinson, his former teammate with the Brooklyn Dodgers.