* “Fidel Castro, who brought the most successful country in Latin America down close to the level of Haiti, still has admirers inside and outside Cuba. Why? Because he defied the “Yanquis” and threw them out, along with their quisling, Fulgencio Batista.”–Patrick Buchanan, Creators Syndicate.
* “It is difficult for a president and his team to keep things in perspective when the media pulse has reached tuning fork speed and now includes not just CNN and Fox News but also al-Jazeera, Facebook and Twitter. It is particularly difficult for a president whose every decision is questioned by an opposition whose most prominent spokespeople are willing to toy with despicable rumors about his nationality and religious background.”–Joe Klein, Time magazine.
* “To the extent that 2012 is about ideas, about the case for smaller government, Republicans have a decided edge. If it’s a referendum on the fitness and soundness of the Republican candidate, advantage Obama.”–Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post.
* “If Republicans nominate (Newt) Gingrich, Democrats will carpet-bomb him relentlessly with a simple message: ‘Ladies, can you trust a man who treats women like this?’ … If Republicans endorse Newt Gingrich for president, they will earn the ensuing electoral Nagasaki.”–Deroy Murdock, Scripps Howard.
* “What happened to the budget surplus the federal government had in 2000? The answer is, three main things. First, there were the Bush tax cuts, which added roughly $2 trillion to the national debt over the last decade. Second, there were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which added an additional $1.1 trillion or so. And third was the Great Recession … brought on by a runaway financial sector, empowered by reckless deregulation … which led both to a collapse in revenue and to a sharp rise in spending on unemployment insurance and other safety-net programs.”–Paul Krugman New York Times.
* “I don’t think American people want shared sacrifice. I think they want shared prosperity.”–Chevron CEO John Watson.
* “We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement. But even though we’ve answered these concerns, I gotta say I suspect there are still some who are trying to move the goal posts on us one more time. Maybe they’ll need a moat. Maybe they’ll want alligators in the moat.”–President Barack Obama on border security and immigration reform.
* “You’re practicing bad teaching if you’re not doing this.”–Nobel Prize-winning physicist Carl Wieman on the superiority of engaging students with interactive tools as opposed to relying on traditional lecturing.
* “We take our responsibility very seriously, and I don’t think we get enough recognition for the efforts we make to ensure that there is effective worldwide regulation of a product that is harmful and that is addictive. Nevertheless, whilst it is addictive, it is not that hard to quit. … There are more previous smokers in America today than current smokers.”–Philip Morris International CEO Louis C. Camilleri.
* “If you think Snooki has relationship problems because of overly strict drinking laws, or that the Bernie Madoff story is a cautionary tale about overly intrusive financial regulation, you’re probably a Florida politician. Because the geniuses who run the state have decided that its economic distress is the result of overly strict growth management.”–Michael Grunwald, Time magazine.
* “If we bring people to the polls who oppose abortion, want smarter government, want less taxes and don’t want government to tell them what health insurance to buy, then yes, those are the people we want voting.”–Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, in answer to the charge that packing the November 2012 ballot with seven constitutional amendments is a partisan ploy to attract conservative voters to the polls.
* “They’re buying into my agenda. I’m not buying into theirs.”–Florida Senate President–and GOP U.S. Senate candidate–Mike Haridopolos explaining special interest contributions to his U.S. Senate campaign.
* “It’s a shift. A mind shift.”–Paul Ayers, Tampa Downtown Partnership marketing director, on the motivational change of those living downtown–from investment to home.
* “In Tampa, it’s sunshine and there are palm trees. It feels like a vacation.”–Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher on the challenge of maintaining Stanley Cup readiness between rounds.