• This water is going to Orange County lawns and swimming pools. The desert is being asked to shoulder the burden.
• Source: Los Angeles Times   |   California   |   May 18, 2012
• Seth Shteir of the National Parks Conservation Association, which is challenging a company's plan to sell public groundwater from the Mojave Desert to urban Southern California for a private profit.

• I’m just a plumber, but it doesn’t smell right.
• Source: Idaho Statesman   |   Idaho   |   May 17, 2012
• Joseph Cataloni, an Idaho voter who complained about the state's new law making a voter’s choice of a Republican or Democratic ballot a public record and requiring an oral statement to pollworkers in front of other voters.

• Caucus voting looks like the Wild West of voting.
• Source: GOVERNING   |   Nation   |   May 16, 2012
• Former Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox, on caucuses, which are run by political parties rather than public officials. Since the 2000 presidential election, states have invested in new machines and procedures that have made vote counts more accurate, but parties don’t offer the same level of protection.

• Just send her to Framingham [jail] quickly so you can be home for dinner on time.
• Source: Boston Globe   |   Massachusetts   |   May 15, 2012
• A juror's wife, posting on Facebook, after her husband was selected for a trial. As a result, the Massachusetts Appeals Court has called on judges to do more to explain to jurors that refraining from conversations about a case also means not posting anything about it on Facebook or Twitter.
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• Seriously? The President, already polling badly with seniors, is about to interrupt General Hospital to come out for gay marriage?!
• Source: GOVERNING   |   Nation   |   May 11, 2012
• Erick Erickson, conservative radio show host and political commentator, in a tweet about President Barack Obama's declaration on ABC News that he personally supports same-sex marriage.

• I’ve never received a letter from a queen before, other than my wife.
• Source: Washington Post   |   Virginia   |   May 10, 2012
• Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who got a two-sentence-long letter from Queen Elizabeth for planting a tree in her honor.

• Dog bills are known to rise up and bite you at election time.
• Source: Wall Street Journal   |   Nation   |   May 9, 2012
• Democratic Tenn. state Sen. Douglas Henry, who opposed a Republican-sponsored bill outlawing driving with a dog on the lap. More than half a dozen states have considered laws banning dogs from the driver's seat, but none have passed.

• If a Democrat were here, he'd look around and say, 'No one should live like this.' Republicans come here and say, 'Everyone should live like this.'
• Source: Los Angeles Times   |   May 8, 2012
• GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, at the luxurious home of Papa John's Pizza founder John Schnatter. The house has its own golf course and pool.
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• He’s a lot more accessible than the last two governors -- and that includes him.
• Source: GOVERNING   |   Oregon   |   May 7, 2012
• Oregon state Senate Republican leader Ted Ferrioli referring to Gov. John Kitzhaber, who is currently serving his third term (his first two were from 1995 to 2003). In 2010, he was one of three former governors to return to office.

• Every one of us has ‘oops moments’ every day. ... America may not forgive you for it, but God will.
• Source: Politico   |   Texas   |   May 4, 2012
• Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who memorably muttered “oops” during a nationally televised Republican debate when he couldn’t remember the name of one of three federal agencies he would eliminate if he won the presidency.
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• Everyone thinks it's too big of a problem to be solved by any state.
• Source: Governing.com   |   Alabama   |   May 3, 2012
• Alabama Revenue Commissioner Julie Magee, on the low rate of taxpayers -- a mere 1.6 percent in 2009 -- who pay "use taxes", which levy Internet transactions and other untaxed goods.

• I’ve overreacted in my time. So I know what it looks like when I overreact, and that wasn’t one of them.
• Source: New York Times   |   New York City   |   May 2, 2012
• Christine C. Quinn, the New York City Council speaker who is expected to run for mayor, who was accused of overreacting when she walked out of a rally after a participant called New York’s mayor “Pharaoh Bloomberg.”

• They'd go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they'd find the first five guys they saw and they'd crucify them.
• Source: CBS News   |   South   |   May 1, 2012
• Al Armendariz, the top EPA official in the South and Southwest region, saying he would go after companies violating environmental laws like the Romans conquered villages in the Middle Ages. Scrutiny over his videotaped remarks, which were made in 2010, led to his recent resignation.
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• Until we protect the privacy rights of our citizens, the solution is worse than the problem.
• Source: Associated Press   |   April 30, 2012
• U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), regarding the provisions in the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, which would encourage companies and the federal government to share information collected on the Internet to help prevent electronic attacks from cybercriminals, foreign governments and terrorists.

• Expecting presidential candidates to be candid with voters is such a quaint idea you'd expect to find it on Pinterest.
• Source: Slate   |   April 27, 2012
• John Dickerson, Slate's chief political correspondent, opening his recent column on the ability of presidential candidates to tell voters truths they may not want to hear.