Category: Media Watch

* “This (downing of a Malaysian airliner) is how delivering advanced weapons to bandits ends.”–Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.

* “Until the crash of Flight 17, Putin was quietly waiting for the West to lose interest in the (Ukrainian) conflict and expecting the sanctions to gradually erode. That calculation has changed.”–Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times.

* “Western European nations, especially Germany and France, are heavily dependent on Russia for gas and oil. But the Russian gas and oil industry–the mainstay of the country’s economy–is heavily dependent on Western investment. … Now Russia has no empire–no Soviet Union, no Warsaw Pact, no Comintern–and its economy is intertwined with global markets.”–Fred Kaplan, Slate.

* “You see people like (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, who has an economy (GDP) the size of Italy–he’s playing a poker game with a pair of twos and winning.”–Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

* “I don’t care if it’s legal. It’s wrong.”–President Barack Obama, in denouncing U.S. corporations that use legal means to avoid U.S. taxes through overseas mergers.

* “There’s a suspicion among a lot of people that Obama doesn’t much care for politics. It’s amazing that a man can be so successful at something he really doesn’t like. It’s like if you found out that Peyton Manning didn’t like to play football.”–James Carville.

* “This is the single biggest flaw in U.S. climate policy. Although the Administration is moving forward with climate change regulations at home, we don’t consider how policy decisions in the United States impact greenhouse gas emissions in other parts of the world.”–Roger Martella, former general counsel of the EPA, on America’s increasing coal exports.

* “If you look at the difference in tenor between the on-camera briefings and the on-the-record-but-off-camera gaggles, it’s night and day.”–Jay Carney, former White House press secretary.

* “If Democrats win the South and hold the Senate, it will probably be because of Southern black voters. … Democrats lamented low black turnout for decades, but Southern black turnout rates today rival or occasionally exceed those of white voters.”–Nate Cohn, New York Times.

* “This kind of comment just shows he’s a profile in cowardice and his presidential ambitions are more important to him than any kind of policy stand.”–Frank Sharry, executive director of the pro-immigration reform America’s Voice, in response to Sen. Marco Rubio’s reversal on the Deferred Action program.

* “The reality is that New York boasts the highest taxes in America, the highest costs of living in the country, and one of the worst business climates in the nation. Conversely, by every objective measure, Florida continues to be one of the best states in which to start a business and raise a family.”–Florida CFO Jeff Atwater, in responding to New York’s TV ad campaign designed to lure businesses to the Empire State.

* “Texas is motivated to go after the commercial (rocket-launch) market. Whatever it costs, they will do it, and unless Florida becomes more motivated, we’re going to lose this market.”–Space Florida adviser Laura Seward.

* “As a matter of my Christian faith, I believe in traditional marriage. But as a matter of constitutional principle I believe in a form of limited government that protects personal liberty. … I believe it is fully appropriate for a state to recognize both traditional marriage as well as same-sex marriage …”–U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Indian Shores.

* “Our ability to attract intellectual capital, our ability to attract those millennials, our ability to attract those bright professionals from all over the globe to come here and be a part of this community, particularly to be a part of the urban core, depends upon places just like this.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn at the official ribbon-cutting of the Aloft Tampa Downtown, a 130-room boutique hotel on the Hillsborough River.

* “The transformation of (downtown) Tampa that you are about to see — much of it driven by (Jeff) Vinik — will be the most significant since 1884 (when Henry Plant brought his railroad to Tampa).”–Hotel developer Lou Plasencia, CEO of the Plasencia Group.

* “This is the moment of truth for Russia.”–Secretary of State John Kerry.

* “If President (Vladimir) Putin does not change his approach to Ukraine, then Europe and the West must fundamentally change our approach to Russia.”–British Prime Minister David Cameron.

* “Hamas is not as corrupt as the Palestinian Authority, but it is far more repressive, and my impression from my visits to Gaza is that it’s also unpopular at home. Hamas sometimes seems to have more support on certain college campuses in America or Europe than within Gaza.“–Nicholas Kristof, New York Times.

* “Never before has Mexico announced a state policy on the (Guatamalan) border, and now it has. It is absolute control of the southern border.”–Mexican Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong.

* “Either the lawsuit or an impeachment–or both–can hurt the Republicans by making it look like they are playing Mickey Mouse politics during an election year.”–Thomas Sowell, Hoover Institution senior fellow.

* “As second-term critics circle like sharks, it’s natural for a president to surround himself with admirers and defenders. But what a president needs are people who will challenge his thinking and, when necessary, tell him news he would rather not hear.”–Fred Hiatt, Washington Post.

* “When the history of this era is written, it will recount how so-called conservatives gave aid, comfort and intellectual cover to the ugliest of human impulses under the guise of political debate.”–Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.

* “Widening and deepening inequality is not driven by immutable economic laws, but by laws we have written ourselves.”–Joseph E. Stiglitz, Noel laureate in economics and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and chief economist for the World Bank.

* “There’s no question that Silicon Valley feels different than it felt 28years ago when I moved here. Something has happened. We used to be a Valley full of techies living middle class lives, and now we’re a Valley of the uber-rich carrying toy poodles around with them.”–Russell Hancock, president of Joint Venture Silicon Valley.

* “If Cuba is trapped in the 1950s, the Internet of Cuba is trapped in the 1990s.”–Google co-founder Eric Schmidt.

* “(Crist) needs the black community to turn out Obama-style. If that happens, he runs away with the election.–State Sen. Minority Leader Chris Smith, an African-American from Fort Lauderdale.

* “I didn’t think this guy (Rick Scott) would win. I don’t think anybody did. But he did. And I didn’t also think, if he did, he would be this bad. But he is this bad.”–Charlie Crist.

* “With many similar cases pending throughout the entire country, finality on this constitutional issue must come from the U.S. Supreme Court.”–Attorney General Pam Bondi in her appeal of Chief Circuit Judge Luis M. Garcia’s ruling allowing same-sex marriage in Monroe County.

* “I really think she sees herself as the governor’s lawyer, not the people’s lawyer.”–Attorney General Democratic candidate George Sheldon’s reference to incumbent AG Pam Bondi.

* “Obviously, if we didn’t put any houses there, we wouldn’t have any erosion problems. The sand would just move around.”–USF coastal geology professor Ping Wang on beach renourishment.

* “The new Miami … has gone from a place defined by Cuban-Americans to one increasingly turbocharged by a surge of well-educated, well-off South Americans in the last decade.”–Lizette Alvarez, New York Times.

* “This institution (Florida Polytechnic University) is unique and different, and that’s why it was created. Except for New College, all the rest (of the state universities) are University of Florida wanna-bes.”–Former Republican state Sen. JD Alexander.

* “The construction gains are real, and the (Florida) recovery has legs.”–PNC economist Mekael Teshome.

* “This park is transformative for historic Tampa Heights and our urban core but also for our entire city.”–Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn on the opening next month of Water Works Park north of downtown.

* “For a community surrounded by water not to have water-based connectivity doesn’t make sense.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman.

* “It would be fantastic. This could help us financially by sending a strong message about our state.”–Jeffrey Abbaticchio, director of public relations at Loews Don CeSar Hotel on St. Pete Beach, on the impact of legalized same-sex marriage in Florida.

It worked for Tom Wolfe in the late 1960s, and Radical Chic resulted. He didn’t take notes typically associated with direct quotation. And he was sans tape recorder. He tapped his memory. But no one denied that Wolfe, a “new journalism” avatar, had captured the au courant societal scene at Leonard Bernstein’s fund-raising soiree for the Black Panther Defense Fund.

Wolfe was there as pop-sociologist and para-journalist. And he nailed it, over-the-top, white-guilt ambience and all.

Fast forward a half century or so.

A reporter for the Italian newspaper La Republica has apparently quoted Pope Francis from memory alone. Vatican officials are reportedly not pleased. The interviewer was not soliciting comments on Argentina’s World Cup final with Germany. The subject was sex abuse scandals.

La Republica quoted the pope as saying that the pedophiles include “priests and even bishops and cardinals”–about “2 percent” of Roman Catholic clerics overall. For those keeping count, that’s about 8,000 clerics. It’s “a leprosy in our home,” underscored the pope, according to La Republica.

Of course, media and journalism have undergone a sea change since Wolfe was passing along the insider optics of Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers.

But some things should be immutable. You don’t interview the pope–or the president–the same way you chat up fund-raiser attendees or in-your-face activists. When world leaders weigh in, their words impact. While others may parse them, those literal words need to be verifiable–either through recordings or transcriptions.

Tom Wolfe, for example, would not have exited a Richard Nixon interview and quoted him from memory. That wouldn’t be new journalism. That would be shoddy journalism. Pope Francis deserved better.

As per usual, all local media got the same City Hall email: “Fitch Upgrades Rating for Tampa Water, Sewer Bonds.” Also included: an appropriately upbeat sound bite by Mayor Bob Buckhorn. Then it’s a journalistic decision whether to use it and, if so, how to use it–as is or with added context. Here’s how the two dailies headlined it:

*”City Utilities Get Stellar Credit Rating.” Sub-head: “It means money can be borrowed at lower cost.”–Tampa Tribune.

*”Tampa Has Good And Iffy Fiscal News.” Sub-head: “Fitch boosts bond ratings, but the city faces a general revenue shortfall of about $8 million.”–Tampa Bay Times.

* “We are in different development stages, we have different historical responsibilities and we have different capacities.”–Xie Zhenhua, China’s chief climate official, on why the U.S. and China, the world’s top two carbon emitters, remain far apart on a global plan to cut emissions.

* “…The lesson to our American friends who seemingly want to become less involved and more European: There is no second America to back you up when you drop the ball.”–Clemens Wergin, foreign editor of the German newspaper group Die Welt.

* “We are negotiating the end of the conflict, not the participation of FARC in the government. They have to earn that in the future under a popular vote.”–Luis Carlos Villegas, Colombian ambassador to the U.S., on his government’s guerrilla-dialogue agenda.

* “I mean, think about that. You’re going to use taxpayer money to sue me for doing my job, while you don’t do your job.”–President Barack Obama.

* “We’re the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it.”–Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.

* The largest companies are starting to realize climate change is a financial issue.”–Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, an environmental and investor advocacy group.

* “We’re not destined for greatness. We have to earn that greatness.”–Nathaniel Philbrick, author of Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution.

* “Widening and deepening inequality is not driven by immutable economic laws, but by laws we have written ourselves.”–Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel laureate in economics and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and chief economist for the World Bank.

* “If Cuba is trapped in the 1950s, the Internet of Cuba is trapped in the 1990s.”–Google co-founder Eric Schmidt.

* “There’s no question that Silicon Valley feels different than it felt 28 years ago when I moved here. Something has happened. We used to be a Valley full of techies living middle class lives, and now we’re a Valley of the uber-rich carrying toy poodles around with them.”–Russell Hancock, president of Joint Venture Silicon Valley.

* “(Crist) needs the black community to turn out Obama-style. If that happens, he runs away with the election.”–State Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith, an African-American from Fort Lauderdale.

* “They’re not getting steered to cast absentee ballots. They’re not getting mobilized on Election Day. If you’re registered as an NPA (no party affiliation), the two parties are less likely to think that you can be persuaded.”–University of Florida political scientist Daniel Smith.

* “This institution (Florida Polytechnic University) is unique and different, and that’s why it was created. Except for New College, all the rest (of the state universities) are University of Florida wanna-bes.”–Former Republican state Sen. JD Alexander.

* “Our firm commitment remains to build upon the region’s largest economic engine in ways that place environmental considerations as top priority.”–Paul Anderson, president and CEO of Port Tampa Bay.

* “I have no illusions about the difficulties of running countywide. That’s one of the reasons we focused early on raising money.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Al Higginbotham, now running for a District 7 seat.

* “It would be fantastic. This could help us financially by sending a strong message about our state.”–Jeffrey Abbaticchio, director of public relations at Loews Don CeSar Hotel on St. Pete Beach, on the impact of legalized same-sex marriage in Florida.

* “Obviously, if we didn’t put any houses there, we wouldn’t have any erosion problems. The sand would just move around.”–USF coastal geology professor Ping Wang on beach renourishment projects.

* “For a community surrounded by water not to have water-based connectivity doesn’t make sense.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman.

Much was made of the recent comment of HART Chairman Mike Suarez, whose day job is Tampa city councilman, about a Hillsborough transit referendum being better off held in 2018–instead of 2016. The latter date is the one that most local officials, including Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, advocate. Suarez didn’t think Hillsborough could pull off the kind of transit synergy that Greenlight Pinellas seemingly has.

Two points:

First, this will be worked out. In fact, Suarez  might have ironically helped the cause by highlighting how imperative it is to get community engagement and how critical it is to get project details to the public in timely fashion. The 2010 effort, even though it passed in the city, was still flawed in its details.

Second, this could also be a cautionary tale for those public officials meeting with editorial boards. In this case, Suarez met with the Tampa Bay Times.

I’ve been on the other side, where you outnumber the guest, whether public official or private-sector representative. The atmospherics are usually more congenial than contentious, the topics typically varied. But there is a journalistic dynamic and media agenda: Get answers, make news. That’s how a page-one headline, “HART Leader: Delay Vote,” happens.

Some guests are frustratingly glib and disingenuous and keep pivoting to their speaking points. Others are candid to a fault in an everything-is-on-the-record forum, even “off-the-cuff” remarks. Some EB members are more inquisitorial than others. But everybody’s taking notes. And there are no mulligans.

* “I will not give up my candidacy for a third term.”–Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

* “Why, then, are we training Syrians to attack his (President Bashar Assad) army and arming people to topple his government? Have we not before us, in Libya, an example of what happens when we bring down an autocrat like Gaddafi, and even worse devils are unleashed?”–Patrick J. Buchanan, Creators Syndicate.

* “It is time to decide our self-determination and not wait for other people to decide for us.”–Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

* “If we want to keep attracting the best and the brightest from beyond our shores, we’re going to have to fix our immigration system, which is broken.”–President Barack Obama.

* “Sushi.”–Humorous term applied in certain Arab countries for Sunnis and Shiites who intermarry.

* “We’re the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it.”–Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.

* “The largest companies are starting to realize climate change is a financial issue.”–Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, an environmental and investor advocacy group.

* “Simply put, there is no reward for the great risk to which these children are being subjected.”–Anthony Wayne, U.S. ambassador to Mexico, on the explosion of illegal border crossings by unaccompanied minors and the reality that awaits.

* “If Cuba is trapped in the 1950s, the Internet of Cuba is trapped in the 1990s.”–Google co-founder Eric Schmidt.

* “Widening and deepening inequality is not driven by immutable economic laws, but by laws we have written ourselves.”–Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel laureate in economics and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and chief economist for the World Bank.

* “I’m glad that my parents are living longer. But it’s creating this budgetary math problem that we’re unwilling to look at.”–Julia Isaacs, Urban Institute senior fellow.

* “The decisions by the Supreme Court have left the American people with a status quo in which one side’s billionaires are pitted against the other side’s billionaires. Except  one side doesn’t have many billionaires.”–Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

* “In a decision of startling breadth, the court holds that commercial enterprises, including corporations, along with partnerships and sole proprietorships, can opt out of any law (saving only tax laws) they judge incompatible with their sincerely held religious beliefs.”–Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her dissent of the Supreme Court Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby ruling that provided exemptions to an employer health care coverage mandate.

* “It’s smart politics. He’s certainly been trying to soften his image by campaigning with his wife and family, and (boost) his popularity among women.”–Florida State University political science professor Carol Weissert, on the campaign strategy of Gov. Rick Scott.

* “They’re not getting steered to cast absentee ballots. They’re not getting mobilized on Election Day. If you’re registered as an NPA (no party affiliation), the two parties are less likely to think that you can be persuaded.”–University of Florida political scientist Daniel Smith.

* “This institution (Florida Polytechnic University) is unique and different, and that’s why it was created. Except for New College, all the rest (of the state universities) are University of Florida wanna-bes.”–Former Republican state Sen. JD Alexander.

* “The student loan business has changed college-going in almost entirely negative ways.”–Eckerd College President Donald R. Eastman.

* “Frustrated Floridians are looking for an environmental hero. Clearly, it’s not going to come from our current leaders.”–Former Florida Republican legislator Paula Dockery.

* “It would be fantastic. This could help us financially by sending a strong message about our state.”–Jeffrey Abbaticchio, director of public relations at Loews Don CeSar Hotel on St. Pete Beach, on the  impact of legalized same-sex marriage in Florida.

* “This could be something cool. This city deserves something better.”–Tampa Bay Lightning CEO Ted Leiweke, after the unveiling of the Jeff Vinik group’s glitzy vision for Channelside Bay Plaza.

* “The neighborhood has struggled because of the high number of renters. When you put more homeowners into a neighborhood, you’re going to change the dynamics of that neighborhood.”–Vanessa McCleary, Tampa’s housing and community development manager, on the strategy for revitalizing the Sulphur Springs neighborhood.

* “The city can’t do it all. It’s time for the private sector to come forth.”–Clearwater Mayor George Cretekos on the scenario necessary for revitalizing downtown Clearwater.

* “What a great day! Maybe the most important day for my country after independence.”–Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, on signing a free-trade deal with the European Union.

* “Other than the Kurds, we have no friends in this fight. Neither Sunni nor Shiite leaders spearheading the war in Iraq today share our values.”–Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times.

* “There are all kinds of al-Qaeda documents in which its operatives say things along the lines of ‘the Americans are evil, the secular tyrants are evil, the Israelis are evil–and the Shiites are worse than all of them.'”–Daniel Benjamin, former counterterrorism coordinator for the U.S. State Department.

* “The embedded reporter program, which continues in Afghanistan and wherever the United States sends troops, is deeply informed by the military’s experience of how media coverage shifted public opinion during the Vietnam War. The gatekeepers in public affairs have too much power: Reporters naturally fear having their access terminated, so they tend to avoid controversial reporting that could raise red flags.”–Chelsea Manning, former U.S. Army intelligence analyst now serving a sentence of 35 years in prison for disclosing classified information.

* “What did the president know, and when did he know it?”–The late Sen. Howard Baker, R-Tenn.

* “What’s happened to the Republican Party in the last decade and a half is we’ve become a more blue collar, populist party. What used to be the country-club wing is now the truck-driver wing.”–Tom Davis, former Republican congressman from Virginia.

* “Conservatives generally believe that capitalism is a machine that cures itself. Therefore, people on the right have been slow to recognize the deep structural problems that are making life harder in the new economy–that are leading to stagnant social mobility, widening inequality and pervasive insecurity.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “In the last few years, we have seen the fracturing of the American dream. The question for all of us is, should we accept that, or should we try to do something about it?”–Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

* “We decided to focus less on the competition and more about the co-workers.”–Rob Olson, acting president of Ikea’s U.S. division, in announcing minimum-wage hikes for retail workers based on the cost of living in each location.

* “We cannot deny that our decision today will have an impact on the ability of law enforcement to combat crime. … Privacy comes at a cost.”–John Roberts, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, on the Court’s unanimous ruling that police officers need warrants to search the cellphones of those they arrest.

* “Florida has been very good to me and to Hillary. I love Florida.”–Former President Bill Clinton.

* “Rick Scott made it very clear a year ago he intended to run a nasty personal campaign and, for once, he’s been true to his word.”–Charlie Crist campaign manager Omar Khan.

* “Elect folks that strongly support moving Hillsborough forward with transportation.”–Advice proffered by Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch at an Emerge Tampa Bay-hosted transit panel.

* “I look at public money as seed money that will bring private capital to the table.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “Nothing is more Tampa than the Newman cigar factory. I’m not going to stand for this, and I think we have a good chance to win.”–U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, on stopping the FDA from enacting new regulations that would undermine the cigar industry.

* “If you try to change even one thing, you open up the whole can of worms of whether fireworks should be legal or illegal in Florida. And no one wants to open that can.”–State Rep. Mark Danish, D-Tampa.

* “This is one of the few times you encounter a project that’s good for everybody. … We’ve been blessed with being accepted, and we’ve taken that very seriously. And that’s why we’re trying to build something very special.”–Jack Ross, director of the Tampa Jewish Community Center & Federation that is preparing to renovate and repurpose the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory.

* “I’ve said we need a change in leadership style or a change in leadership. (Hillsborough County Superintendent of Schools) MaryEllen (Elia) can alter her leadership style. She needs to listen more. She needs to treat people with respect.”–School Board member April Griffin.

* “For me, it was an easy decision. This is an event that really represents our community as one, which I believe we are.”–Rick Kriseman, who became the first sitting mayor of St. Petersburg to march in the St. Pete Pride Parade.

* Whatever NBC News pays Richard Engel, its Arabic-speaking, Islamic politics-savvy, Middle East-based foreign correspondent, it’s not enough. Not for what he knows, not for where he goes, not for what he risks. Nobody is better than this native New Yorker.

And if occasional soft-feature contributor, Chelsea Clinton, can pull down $600,000 a year from NBC, the award-winning, intrepid Engel, 40, should be able to write his own ticket.

* For those newspapers who are carrying “Doonesbury Classic,” how timely–and ironic–that early Gary Trudeau took mordant aim at Vietnam. “Classic” cautionary-tale-gone-unheeded couldn’t be, alas, more relevant.

* “The United States  will do our part. But understand that ultimately it’s up to the Iraqis, as a sovereign nation, to solve their problems.”–President Barack Obama.

* “It’s now a jihadist wonderland in Iraq, precisely because we got over-involved.”–Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.

* “It was relatively easy to be a hero on foreign policy when the main project was deterrence of another superpower.”–Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times.

* “An ISIS-controlled state will not expand indefinitely, and it may prove even more fragile than what it has already toppled. … It can loot and terrorize, but the patient work of providing services or otherwise running a country are beyond it. … What follows after a jihadist state collapses? That may be a chaos we can’t imagine.”–Daniel Byman, Brookings Institution.

* “If there’s one thing I would like to see, it’d be for us to be able to price the cost of carbon emissions. … You can’t keep dumping it out in the atmosphere and making everybody else pay for it.”–President Barack Obama.

* “Those who cross our border today illegally, even children, are not eligible for an earned path to citizenship. Those apprehended at our borders are priorities for removal … regardless of age.”–Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.

* “Let’s be clear. The eloquent men who wrote ‘we the people’ and the First Amendment did us no favors in the drafting of the Second Amendment.”–Michael Waldman, author of The Second Amendment: A Biography.

* “The defeat of the House majority leader, Eric Cantor, terrified many of the party establishment’s supporters, particularly since Cantor’s opponent ran against Wall Street, big business and bank bailouts.”–Gail Collins, New York Times.

* “Republicans have essentially backed themselves into a corner. They have whitewashed their districts to such an extent that there is little incentive to reach out on immigration.”–David Wasserman, Cook Political Report.

* “In many cities and even suburbs, it’s becoming much easier to organize your life car-free or car-lite.”–David A. King, assistant professor of urban planning at Columbia University.

* “Not even two years after the delivery of the first Model S, Tesla Motors has transformed from fledgling startup to arguably the most important car company in the world. We are not joking.”–Adam Jonas, Morgan Stanley Research analyst.

* “‘Equality of outcomes’ fails to resonate with many mainstream women because it gives no consideration to personal strengths and choices and the underlying differences between the sexes that drives them.”–Cynthia M. Allen, Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

* “We have to stop the madness. Too many people have died, and too many lobbyists have lied.”–U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., on the need for tougher gun control laws.

* “USDA is committed to the fight against citrus greening, including making major research investments to counter this destructive disease. The citrus industry and the thousands of jobs it supports are depending on ground-breaking research to neutralize this threat.”–Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, on the federal government’s allocation of $25 million in research on the citrus greening bacteria that threatens Florida’s $9 billion citrus industry.

* “I’m definitely getting out to share the Florida turnaround story.”–Florida First Lady Ann Scott.

* “Tampa has an impressive roster of life sciences companies, and Quest will add even more to the region.”–Gray Swoope, president and CEO of Enterprise Florida, on the announcement that Quest Diagnostics pledged to create up to 350 jobs at a newly opened national logistics hub in Tampa.

* “With the Riverwalk and all the changes the city has made, it’s vibrant. It’s a living, breathing city now.”–Anne-Marie Ayers, leasing specialist for commercial real estate broker CB Richard Ellis, on the growth in downtown Tampa.

* “The simple lesson that I’ve learned from the events of the last two weeks is nothing beats face-to-face communication. I want to expand our lines of communication and keep them flowing.”–Rick Homans, president of the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp., in a presentation before Hillsborough County commissioners.

* “The single biggest deterrent for students going into primary care is their level of debt.”–Dr. Charles Lockwood, dean of USF’s Morsani College of Medicine.

* “Throwing a bunch of students into a large lecture hall for the sake of tuition dollars is what we’re trying to avoid here.”–USF St. Petersburg Chancellor Sophia Wisniewska.

* “I won’t use the word ‘potential’ anymore. The expectation here at this school is we’ve got to win … so you’re not going to hear me use that word again.”–New USF Athletic Director Mark Harlan.