* “We do not succumb to fear.”–President Barack Obama.
* “Our goal is not to deter or contain ISIS, but to defeat and destroy ISIS.”–Hillary Clinton.
* “Wealthy and powerful Muslim nations in the region can no longer sit on the sidelines and expect the United States–our young men and our taxpayers–to do their work for them.”–Bernie Sanders.
* “We partnered with Stalin in WWII. Is Vladimir Putin an untouchable? … If Putin wants to enlist in the war against IS (Islamic State), sign him up.”–Patrick Buchanan, Creators Syndicate.
* “We don’t need to be the world’s policemen, but we must restore our place as the leader and indispensible power of the free world.”–Jeb Bush.
* “America has a president whose wartime leadership is apparently inspired, not by Winston Churchill or Franklin Roosevelt, but by Rachel Maddow.”–Michael Gerson, Washington Post.
* “The Arab nation-states were not great. But the nation-state system did preserve a certain order.”–David Brooks, New York Times.
* “Nobody has been able to sit down with him and have him get one iota of intelligent information about the Middle East.”–Former CIA agent Duane R. Clarridge, Ben Carson’s adviser on national security.
* “I’ve come to the realization that this is not my time.”–Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, in announcing that he was dropping out of the 2016 race for president.
* “Our tax code needs to go from 73,000 pages to about three pages.”–Carly Fiorina.
* “Germany has grown increasingly anxious and angry for some months. Reason might now decide to leave the room, replaced by the politics of fear. And where Germany goes, the rest of Europe will follow.”–Anna Sauerbrey, Der Tagesspiegel opinion-page editor.
* “We might as well take down the Statue of Liberty.”–Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., in response to a bill passed by the House that would enact stiff restrictions for Syrian and Iraqi refugees coming to American shores.
* “What the First Amendment does and what it should do is drive the government to use neutral criteria. You can use neutral criteria to identify terrorists. What it can’t do is engage in one-religion bashing. That won’t fly in any court.”–Marci Hamilton, Yeshiva University legal expert on religious liberty.
* “I understand people’s concern about security, but the U.S. vets refugees like no other immigrant group. It’s an 19-month process.”–Sam Sipes, CEO of Lutheran Services Florida.
* “This is something that we’ve seen coming. It’s been almost 10 years that migration from Mexico has really slowed down.”–Mark Hugo Lopez, director of Hispanic research for the Pew Research Center, commenting on findings that during 2009-14 more Mexicans left than moved into the U.S.
*This is the first step in relieving the burden of U.S. travelers carrying cash when traveling to Cuba and another step in normalizing commercial relations between the two countries.”–Dave Seleski, president and CEO of Stonegate Bank, in announcing that Stonegate is now offering a debit MasterCard that U.S. travelers will be able to use at hotels, restaurants and other sites in Cuba.
* “Dec. 16 is a very, very live date for action, and frankly, given the stellar 271,000 jobs report since the October (Federal Reserve) meeting, we would be astounded if they don’t raise rates finally.”–Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank in New York.
* “My partying days are behind me. My philanthropic days are ahead of me.”–Charlie Sheen, who recently acknowledged that he was HIV-positive.
* “It’s a great time to be living and working in Florida and the Tampa Bay region.”–Jesse Panuccio, executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, on news that the Florida jobless rate fell to 5.1 percent–a 7-year low–and the Tampa Bay unemployment rate had dropped to 4.8 percent.
* “Government should have little to no involvement in the recreational daily lives of Floridians.”–Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton, who filed a bill that would prohibit the state from treating fantasy sports companies as gambling operations.
* “It’s time that we accept federal funds and expand Medicaid. As a physician, I am asking Florida representatives to put patients over politics and do what is right for the state.”–Mona Mangat, St. Petersburg-based allergist/immunologist and the chair of Doctors for America.
* “What is normally a straight-A report card, we fail when it comes to transportation. It is our Achilles’ heel. It is what keeps us from becoming even more competitive than we already are.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.
* “Just measuring arrests and citations–probably not the most accurate reflection of what an officer is doing.”–TPD Assistant Chief Mary O’Connor.
* “Total lack of good-faith bargaining is an unfair labor practice and a slap in the face to all of you. You deserve better and we will not give up until you are treated with respect.”–Stephanie Baxter-Jenkins, director of the Hillsborough County Teachers Union, in a message to members.
* “Today’s vote denied us an opportunity to make significant improvements to the stormwater system that are desperately needed. If council has a better idea, I would listen to it, but I haven’t heard it.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn on city council’s 4-3 rejection of a new stormwater tax.
* “There’s only two areas in East Tampa where there’s a drainage problem. Why should they be assessed when they already live in a poor economic environment.”–City Council Chairman Frank Reddick, who represents East Tampa, on why he voted against the stormwater tax.
* “Tampa has a fantastic community of restaurants, and I am excited to be a part of it.”–Celebrity chef Marc Murphy, who recently opened the Grey Salt restaurant at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
* “It’s a great, young team. … You would not want to play them.”–Mike Aresco, American Athletic Conference commissioner, on USF’s resurgent football team.
* “It just takes away a piece of Americana, which is high school Friday night football. And that’s Big City, USA, and Small Town, USA. And that’s the way it should stay.”–Plant High head coach Robert Weiner, on the increasing trend of colleges playing on Friday nights.