Quote-a-palooza
"I grew up believing that the Founding Fathers, the soldiers of the Continental Army and the Grand Army of the Republic, the settlers who took their covered wagons West, the Wright brothers, the cowboys, the Doughboys, the 'battling bastards' of Bataan and the rest of the players in the sweeping panorama of the American saga were my people... Their sacrifices created the nation that gave my grandparents a place of refuge and me a life of peace, opportunity and liberty. Their heroism and values inspired me, made me proud to be a small part of the noblest experiment in human history... Thus, in the truest sense, the Pilgrims and the Puritans, the leaders of the Second Continental Congress, the bluecoats who held Cemetery Ridge, and the gray coats who charged it, and the GI's who hit the beach at Normandy are our forefathers, whether or not we are their direct descendants. All true Americans, all who have the flame of patriotism burning brightly in their hearts, have adopted them as their ancestors. By keeping faith with them, by taking the torch from their hands, by continuing their grand enterprise, by being in a modest way worthy of them, we have made them our forefathers." —Don Feder
"Now it doesn't require expropriation or confiscation of private property or business to impose socialism upon a people. What does it mean whether you hold the deed or the title to your business or property if the government holds the power of life and death over that business or property? Such machinery already exists. The government can find some charge to bring against any concern it chooses to prosecute. Every businessman has his own tale of harassment. Somewhere a perversion has taken place. Our natural, inalienable rights are now considered to be a dispensation from government, and freedom has never been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp as it is at this moment." —Ronald Reagan
"Americans finally have stopped working for government. Many people are familiar with 'Tax Freedom Day' —April 26th this year—when they effectively finish paying their taxes. But with government running huge deficits and imposing massive regulatory requirements, we all spend a lot more time working for government. Cost of Government Day (COGD) was July 12...up one day from last year and up 12 days from 2004. Spending alone accounts for about ten of those days: eight days for the federal government and 1.5 days for states and localities. Increased regulations add 2.3 days to the average American's burden... Particularly shocking is the fact that Americans have been moving backward under a Republican president after making substantial gains under President Bill Clinton... COGD fell by 15.4 days from 1992 to 2000. Half of that reduction has been wiped out in the last six years. Even worse, it would not have been hard to hold down the burden of government. If spending had simply increased at the rate of national income since 2001, the budget would be in balance—even after the Bush tax cuts... Tax cuts are good. But the crisis today is government spending. It will be hard enough to make past tax reductions permanent, let alone to enact new ones, if spending is not curbed." —Doug Bandow
"Hizballah terrorists killed 220 American Marines, 18 sailors, and 3 soldiers on 23 October 1983 by driving a bomb-laden truck into their barracks in Beirut. America then retreated from Lebanon, its tail between its legs. Hizballah and Iran—the nation that created Hizballah and still arms, funds, and supplies it—won that round. The two—and Syria, which supports both Hizballah and Hamas—are now in the warmup stage for the next round... What is happening now in Israel and Lebanon is the direct result of our failure for more than 20 years, and the Israelis' failure, to prosecute this war decisively. What happens next depends on what we do now." —Jed Babbin