* “American ships will sail the seas, American planes will soar the skies, American workers will build our fleets. And America’s military will ensure that even through the darkest nights throughout, a bright and glowing sun will always shine on our nation and our people.”–President Donald Trump.
* “What’s the overused phrase? Trump supporters take him seriously, not literally.”–Michael Needham, chief executive of Heritage (Foundation) Action for America.
* “I’d bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election.”–President Donald Trump.
* “I’m not going to be a part of a witch hunt, but I’m also not going to be a part of a coverup.”–Sen. Marco Rubio.
* “Given the divisions among us, deeper and wider than ever, it is an open question as to how, and how long, we will endure as one people.”–Patrick Buchanan.
* “As we think, so we become.”–Buddha.
* “The careless execution of some of the early initiatives supports the idea that this president views the trouble of actually following through as inessential. ‘Victory’ can always be claimed anyhow, especially when facts are just props, deployed for dramatic effect.”–Tim Wu, author and professor at Columbia Law School.
* “Congress has allowed itself to become an increasingly subordinate branch.”–Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post.
* “Growing up in India, we didn’t question the brain drain of our best and brightest (and even our second- and third-bests) to America. It was the natural order of things. But now we’re reconsidering that assumption.”–Novelist Sandip Roy.
* “Americans have combined human ingenuity, a market system, a tide of talented and ambitious immigrants, and the rule of law to deliver abundance beyond any dreams of our forefathers.”–Billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett.
* “I therefore continue to have confidence that a gradual removal of accommodation is likely to be appropriate.”–Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s way of saying that the Fed will likely resume raising interest rates this month.
* “We look at it like this: The country can either import its work force or import its food.”–Dale Moore, executive director of policy for the Farm Bureau, which lobbies for easing restrictions to get foreign workers for agriculture.
* “The Florida Legislature is considering significant changes to the “stand your ground” law that will make our communities less safe and unnecessarily disrupt our criminal justice system while doing nothing to protect those who legally own guns. … As written, the bill is anti-law enforcement and anti-law and order.”–Andrew Warren, state attorney for the 13th Judicial Circuit, which covers Hillsborough County.
* “Leadership in the House is untouchable. It can make you jaded pretty quick.”–State Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, who spent eight years in the Florida House.
* “Tampa is a strong market. We’re happy to be part of it.”–Mark Elias, president of charter operator Havana Air.
* “Any politician who says they know all the answers, run.”–Advice dispensed by Democratic Congressman Charlie Crist at a St. Petersburg town hall.
* “With federal transportation grants becoming more competitive, the future of our mobility is increasingly dependent on action and innovation at both the local and regional levels.”–Ramond Chiaramonte, executive director of the Tampa Bay Regional Transportation Authority.
* “City Council’s unanimous approval of Lafayette Place reflects public confidence in the emerging development which brings new urban density to the west bank of the Hillsborough River.”–John Avlon, president of the Hillsborough River Realty Corp.
* “It’s one of those watershed musicals that has changed Broadway, the Broadway sound and the Broadway look. The way it’s cast–to see this mix of Americans, every ethnic group you can imagine, playing the traditional roles of Washington or Aaron Burr or Hamilton–it’s almost symbolic of who we are as Americans.”–Judy Lisi, president and CEO of the Straz Center, on “Hamilton.” A touring version is coming to the Straz during the 2018-19 season.