* “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine challenges our vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace.”–NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
* “The key here is balance–recognizing that Russia is weak and dangerous at once, that the West has been both too naive about Putin’s intentions and too incautious in its own commitments, and that a new containment need not require a new Cold War.”–Ross Douthat, New York Times.
* “Sheldon Adelson personifies everything that is poisoning our democracy and Israel’s today–swaggering oligarchs, using huge sums of money to try to bend each system to their will.”–Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times.
* “Climate change is a food security issue. It’s not just an environmental issue.”–Craig Hanson, director of food, forests and water programs at the World Resources Institute.
* “The Affordable Care Act hasn’t completely fixed our long-broken health care system. But this law has made our health care system a lot better. A lot better.”–President Barack Obama.
* “Rube Goldberg has survived; health reform has won.”–Paul Krugman, New York Times.
* “In my view, we must amend the Constitution to establish once and for all that (1) money is not speech under the First Amendment, (2) corporations are not people, and (3) we the people have the right to set limits on how much money individuals and corporations can spend on elections.”–Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich.
* “Hopefully, Florida law and the state constitution will soon recognize marriage equality. Last year’s court ruling on DOMA was an important step, but a patchwork of laws exists on the state level.”–U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa.
* “This is a big win for Florida voters and a significant victory for good election administration practices.”–Deirdre Macnab, president of the League of Women Voters of Florida, on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling that Florida violated federal law by trying to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls too close to the 2012 presidential election.
* “Ideology is the only thing stopping House Republicans from moving forward on this issue. Not expanding health care is the wrong thing for Florida.”–House Democratic Leader Perry Thurston, on House Republicans’ reluctance to reconsider Medicaid expansion.
* “States such as North Carolina, Texas and Tennessee have ramped up recruitment of relocating boomers. No Florida state agency is assigned to attract relocating retirees.”–Jeff Johnson, AARP Florida state director.
* “Research has revealed that at least 164 voucher-accepting private schools in Florida teach creationism.”–Brandon Haught, author and communications director for Florida Citizens for Science.
* “A Pandora’s box is being opened again.”–Sen. Arthenia Joyner’s response to the state Senate’s passage of the “warning shot” bill.
* “Medical tourism has existed in Florida since Ponce de Leon set out in search of the Fountain of Youth.”–Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach.
* “Instead of me spending another $50 million to build another parking garage, why don’t we come up with a new way to get people to the airport?”–Tampa International Airport CEO Joe Lopano, on the merits of a shuttle from downtown to TIA.
* “We have been talking about modernizing transit for 30 years, and we are still not getting it done. … We are losing pace to every other metro area.”–Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch.
* “If we don’t trust each other, I promise you nothing works.”–Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon.
* “Talk is cheap. You’ve got to show.”–New USF basketball coach Orlando Antigua.
* “He may be the best recruiting tool that anybody has in the NFL.”–Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ general manager Jason Licht, referring to Bucs’ head coach Lovie Smith.