· “I’m excited. I’m going to come back down here and ride it.” – President Barack Obama referencing the $1.25-billion federal grant to start building a high-speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando.
· “To make it a true success, the regional mass transit is going to have to come through.”—state Sen. Charlie Justice, D-St. Petersburg.
· “There are a lot of stupid voters out there who will fall prey to the Tampa Tribune and St. Pete Times.” – David Caton on how a new transit tax might pass in November.
· “But the promise of high-speed rail can only come to fruition if the administration defies near-term political pressures for small upgrading projects and instead lays the foundation for a network that will revolutionize train service much like the interstate highway system transformed automobile travel 50 years ago.” – Mark Reutter, Progressive Policy Institute, and former editor of Railroad History.
· “We’re all supposed to politely respect each other’s cultures. But some cultures are more progress-resistant than others, and a horrible tragedy (Haiti) was just exacerbated by one of them. –David Brooks, New York Times, paraphrasing Lawrence E. Harrison, author of “The Central Liberal Truth.”
· “What we’re trying globally to recover from is a total lack of regulations.” – Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“I’m not sure where Glenn Beck’s future is. But as traditional journalism loses clout, new media formats will rise with new values.” – Dan Amundson, research director, Center for Media and Public Affairs.