* “The Americans didn’t achieve anything after spending six trillion in Iraq and Afghanistan.”–Wang Xiangsui, director of the Research Center of Strategic Issues at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, on the disparity between the military budgets of China and the U.S.
* “Regardless of Trump’s actual intentions, the tweet could come to be seen as a ‘red line’ and hence set up a potential test of his credibility.”–James M. Acton, nuclear analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
* “The intelligence community works for the president, so if a president wanted to know whether surveillance had been conducted on a particular target, all he’d have to do is ask.”–Todd Hinnen, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division during the Obama Administration.
* “The bugging story is less plausible than a zombie invasion.”–Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post.
* “There’s a lot of aspects of this whole relationship with Russia and (Russian President)Vladimir Putin that requires further scrutiny, and so far, I don’t think the American people have gotten all the answers. In fact, I think there’s a lot more shoes to drop from this centipede.”–Sen. John McCain.
* “The war is not meant to be won. It is meant to be continuous.”–George Orwell.
* “This is an administration that wants to fight terrorism by defunding the Coast Guard to pay for a wall.”–Gail Collins, New York Times.
* “I think people across the country look at the EPA the way they look at the IRS.”–EPA Director Scott Pruitt.
* “If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition.”–Defense Secretary James Mattis when he was in charge of CentCom four years ago.
* “At a time when the president was black and a woman was running to succeed him, it hardly needed to be spelled out for Trump’s followers what was great about the past that needed to be restored.”–Paul Starr, American Prospect.
* “T. Rex.”–How many in the State Department refer to Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson.
* “We cannot support the AHCA (American Health Care Act) as drafted because of the expected decline in health insurance coverage and the potential harm it would cause to vulnerable patient populations.”–James Madara, M.D., chief executive of the American Medical Association.
* “Do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass the Senate and then have to face the consequences of that vote.”–Sen. Tom Cotton, in urging House Republicans to reconsider voting for the American Health Care Act.
* “The opposite of the Affordable Care Act is not a free market. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, a 1985 law, requires that hospital emergency departments treat all comers.”–Theresa Brown, hospice nurse and author of “The Shift: One Nurse, Four Hours, Twelve Patients’ Lives.”
* “Considerable uncertainty surrounds all macroeconomic projections.”–Recently released Federal Reserve study.
* “It may run contrary to the spirit of the age in which nobody is to judge anybody, and we are all to celebrate our unique, irreducible wonderfulness–but it still needs to be said: Americans have become bad citizens.”–Jay Cost, Weekly Standard.
* “The national debate is all screwed up. Principals create the environment. They create a culture of accountability. They create a sense of community. And none of us, nationally, ever debate principals. We ask too much of teachers.”–Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
* “It is odd that Chris Hart never shared any differences of opinion or vision with the governor until we first read that he had them in his resignation letter.”–Jackie Schultz, communications director for Gov. Rick Scott, on the sudden resignation of Chris Hart IV, who had only been in his position as Enterprise Florida CEO for two months.
* “Florida’s Republican legislative leadership loves to talk local control and less big government, that is until their big money campaign contributors come calling. When that happens, Republican leaders in the legislature fall over themselves in a rush to pre-empt local ordinances that benefit working families, the environment and public safety.”–Mark Ferrulo, director of Progress Florida.
* “It’s easy to throw out catchphrases like ‘picking winners and losers’ and ‘corporate welfare.’ … That’s not what we are doing.”–Gov. Rick Scott.
* “As the world rockets forward, the historical lines between data centers, desktops at home and the cloud are blurring.”–Bob Dutkowsky, CEO of Clearwater-based Tech Data.
* “There are more people who visit arts organizations than sporting events.”–Wayne Atherholt, director of the St. Petersburg Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.
* “Finishing Tampa’s next chapter is more important than starting mine. Absent extenuating circumstances, I intend to finish the job I was hired to do and prepare Tampa for the great things that are about to occur.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.
* “We have to find a dedicated funding source. We couldn’t even get Go Hillsborough out of the board of commissioners. We just can’t pave our way out of this problem. Roads cost too much.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller.
* “We have to try something. We haven’t been successful on our own. The private sector has not been successful. Maybe we’re in a situation where the only way we get that (downtown) investment is if the church (of Scientology) brings it.”–Clearwater City Manager Bill Horne.