* “The United States will do our part. But understand that ultimately it’s up to the Iraqis, as a sovereign nation, to solve their problems.”–President Barack Obama.
* “It was relatively easy to be a hero on foreign policy when the main project was deterrence of another superpower.”–Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times.
* “An ISIS-controlled state will not expand indefinitely, and it may prove even more fragile than what it has already toppled. … It can loot and terrorize, but the patient work of providing services or otherwise running a country are beyond it. … What follows after a jihadist state collapses? That may be a chaos we can’t imagine.”–Daniel Byman, Brookings Institution.
* “I’m tired of struggling and worrying about my safety and that of my family.”–Bassem Youssef, Egyptian satirist, announcing the end of his popular television show because of unspecified political pressures.
* “I will continue to push to close Gitmo, because American values and legal traditions do not permit the indefinite detention of people beyond our borders.”–President Barack Obama.
* “Those who cross our border today illegally, even children, are not eligible for an earned path to citizenship. Those apprehended at our borders are priorities for removal … regardless of age.”–Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
* “Conservatives generally believe that capitalism is a machine that cures itself. Therefore, people on the right have been slow to recognize the deep structural problems that are making life harder in the new economy–that are leading to stagnant social mobility, widening inequality and pervasive insecurity.”–David Brooks, New York Times.
* “There are really two Americas when it comes to entrepreneurship. There is the America that can afford to invest blood, toil, tears and sweat into launching a possibly brilliant, but also possibly doomed startup. And there is the other America, whose financial security is so precarious that it cannot ever afford to fail, and increasingly is unable to try.”–Catherine Rampell, Washington Post.
* “Republicans have essentially backed themselves into a corner. They have whitewashed their districts to such an extent that there is little incentive to reach out on immigration.”--David Wasserman, Cook Political Report.
* “(Eric) Cantor’s defeat may now be the subject of schadenfreude and chops licking, but it may also be a terrible omen.”–Charles Blow, New York Times.
* “‘Equality of outcomes’ fails to resonate with many mainstream women because it gives no consideration to personal strengths and choices and the underlying differences between the sexes that drive them.”–Cynthia M. Allen, Fort Forth Star-Telegram.
* “I may have the genetic coding that I’m inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way.”–Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
* We have to stop the madness. Too many people have died, and too many lobbyists have lied.”–U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., on the need for tougher gun control laws.
* “USDA is committed to the fight against citrus greening, including making major research investments to counter this destructive disease. The citrus industry and the thousands of jobs it supports are depending on ground-breaking research to neutralize this threat.”–Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, on the federal government’s allocation of $25 million in research on the citrus greening bacteria that threatens Florida’s $9 billion citrus industry.
* “The single biggest deterrent for students going into primary care is their level of debt.”–Dr. Charles Lockwood, dean of USF’s Morsani College of Medicine.
* “While it’s unfortunate that it took his bid for re-election to finally come around, on behalf of working families and children seeking a better future, we welcome his decision to join us.”–Florida Senate Democratic leader Chris Smith, on Gov. Rick Scott’s support of the ‘dreamers’ tuition bill.
* “I’m definitely getting out to share the Florida turnaround story.”–Florida First Lady Ann Scott.
* “I haven’t read it, but he sounds like a sad, bitter soul.”–Former Gov. Charlie Crist, on Jim Greer’s book, The Chairman.
* “It (expanded Panama Canal) will have an indirect effect on Tampa. Some of those Panamax ships will not get here because of their size. But some may stop in Jamaica, and smaller ships may then proceed here.”–Port Tampa Bay chairman Steve Swindal.
* “This is not a zero-sum game. If we work with Orlando to get the word out about Central Florida’s strengths for tech talent and tech companies, we will all enjoy a fantastic economic boom for the long term.”–Linda Olson, co-founder of the Tampa Bay WaVE business incubator.
* “There is a natural magnetic pull that occurs when tech comes to Tampa Bay. It draws other companies.”–Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Mark Sharpe.
* “This is a hotel for the culturally minded.”–Le Meridien hotel Front Office Manager Dan Martin.
* “We’re looking at our options. It requires a lot of funding.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on possible measures to create a (CSX train horn-free) “quiet zone” down town.