Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy for the Federation of American Scientists, reacting to the news that the United States spent more than $11 billion last year to protect its secrets. The cost of secrecy has more than doubled in a decade.
New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno on whether she’d appoint Gov. Chris Christie to the U.S. Senate. Guadagno is running for governor, and made the remark during the last debate before the election in November.
California Gov. Jerry Brown wrote in 2011 after vetoing a law that would have punished children for skiing without a helmet. Brown often writes explanations for why he vetoes a bill, which is usually because he doesn’t like bills that can be seen as posturing, that could have unforeseen complications or that replicate existing laws. “This is a governor who relishes his role as the adult in the room,” says Thad Kousser, a political scientist at the University of California, San Diego.
San Antonio officials, in an open letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Dozens of cities submitted bids to be the site of the company's next headquarters, some with gimmicky gifts and promises of billions of dollars in tax breaks. San Antonio was a rare exception in saying, 'No thanks.'
Phoenixville, Pa., mayoral candidate Dave Gautreau, apologizing for his proposal during a recent forum that the borough's police department acquire drug-sniffing bunnies as a less-costly alternative to a K-9 team. Gautreau said he'd gotten the idea from the town of Lancaster, but the story about Lancaster's rabbit squad turned out to have been an April Fool's Day post on Facebook.
Utah Board of Education member Lisa Cummins, objecting to the board's endorsement last week of the Hamilton Education Program, which will provide 2,300 high school juniors in mostly rural and low-income parts of the state $10 tickets to a special matinee showing of the Broadway musical "Hamilton" when it tours in Salt Lack City next year. Cummins objected to the musical's "vulgarity" and what she said was an inaccurate portrayal of the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton.
Connecticut House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, referring to the two lawmakers in the state -- one a Democrat and one a Republican -- who are getting married.