* “If we let everybody in, it’s going to destroy Europe.”–Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
* “The right to political asylum has no limits on the number of asylum seekers. As a strong, economically healthy country, we have the strength to do what is necessary . … But I still have to insist on a fair distribution of the burden across all of Europe.”–German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
* “The only reason the ayatollah and his henchmen aren’t dancing in the streets of Tehran is they don’t believe in dancing.”–Republican presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham.
* “The fact remains that Saudi Arabia’s export of Wahhabi puritanical Islam has been one of the worst things to happen to Muslim and Arab pluralism–pluralism of religious thought, gender and education–in the last century.”–Thomas Friedman, New York Times.
* “We’ve really never seen a time when Fed policy has been so uncertain.”–Paul Christopher, head global market strategist for Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
* “He’s still ambitious and has a vision for the world. My guess is that his post presidency will be more of an activist one.”–Mark K. Updegrove, author and director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Tex., on the post presidency of Barack Obama.
* “So, I will be totally pledging my allegiance to the Republican Party and the conservative principles for which it stands, and we will go out and we will fight hard and we will win.”–Donald Trump.
* “El hombre no es conservador.”–Jeb Bush, telling reporters at a campaign stop that “the man (Donald Trump) is not conservative.”
* “It has got to be disconcerting to him (Jeb Bush), because truthfully it’s disconcerting to me and disconcerting to everybody I know, that a bombastic, demagogic phony like Trump has to be dealt with as if he were a real threat to be president of the United States.”–Florida Republican strategist J.M. “Mac” Stipanovich.
* “It’s worth saying again: Human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, once and forever.”–Hillary Clinton.
* “The people who are rallying behind her (Hillary Clinton) today are the people who put Puerto Rico in this fiscal mess to begin with.”–Marco Rubio, in a campaign appearance in Puerto Rico.
* “It would be a short-term job, but it would be … really great to have someone who knows energy and is pro-responsible development to be in charge.”–Sarah Palin, on speculation that a President Trump would appoint her Energy Secretary.
* “They’re (political nonprofits) actually more dangerous. At least with super PACs, the press can report on who the contributors are, what they want.”–Larry Noble, former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission.
* “If you allow the right to control the term (socialism), that limits what type of reform you can achieve. If you allow the right to define it as totally un-American, it takes it off of any agenda for reform.”–Democratic Socialists of America vice-chairman Joseph Schwartz.
* “It’s very clear to me that the system of electric power we have in North America and Europe, which is now being instituted in much of China and India and elsewhere, is not sustainable for the future of the planet. So we’re going to have to figure out something else, and soon.”–Former Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers.
* “A major factor affecting retail growth in Florida is a dwindling number of skilled workers in the construction industry. There are so many major projects on the books right now, but if we don’t find the laborers we need to build them, this is going to become an industrywide problem.”–Dale Scott, International Council of Shopping Centers ambassador.
* “I don’t think we can push away Hispanics and blacks and gays and union members and still have a majority made up mostly of white men. That’s what I stand for and that’s why a lot of people target me–because I’m a little different.”–Republican state Sen. Jack Latvala of Clearwater, who’s bidding to become Florida Senate president in 2016.
* “So much of our business is changing, and at an accelerating rate. But our business is still about converting consumers into visitors. That much hasn’t changed.”–Susannah Costello, vice president of global brand for Visit Florida.
* “If I had to brand Tampa Bay, I’d say it’s the most welcoming region.”–Jeff Vinik.
* “I think they’ll prove a pretty good owner. The Canadians have a pretty good track record for safety and reliability. … They have a long-term approach.”–Utility analyst Roger Conrad, on the purchase agreement between TECO and Canada-based Emera Inc.
* “This is a bull’s-eye. It is the perfect match for us.”–Emera CEO Chris Huskilson.
* “They (TECO) were always willing to do whatever the city needed. All that’s going to be bygones now.”–Former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco.
* “It reminds me that we’ve been a puppet for the administration, and I’m past the days of being a puppet. I’m tired that we’ve been embarrassed, overlooked, overshadowed. It’s disrespectful.”–City Council Chairman Frank Reddick, in response to Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s executive order setting up a citizens’ police review board.
* “What has been proposed by the mayor is an ineffective model and is a rubber stamp for existing policies and practices that the community is saying are problematic.”–ACLU Director of Advocacy Joyce Hamilton Henry.
* “Ultimately, a stadium conversation would be part of a larger conversation about the type of industry and business we want to bring to this area.”–Mark Sharpe, executive director of the Tampa Innovation Alliance, on speculation about a USF football stadium near campus.
* “We know that a number of families in this area choose to go to institutions with academic affiliations because the level of specialized care and research is higher than what they might find in their local community. Now they won’t have to travel for that.”–Bayfront Health Market president Kathryn Gillette, in announcing a partnership agreement between Bayfront Health St. Petersburg and the University of South Florida.
* “Having a Cuban consulate would be a very good thing for us.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, after his recent trip to Cuba.
* “Our nation’s ethos is built upon the concept of equal opportunity. But without equal education, there is no equal opportunity.”–Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch.