• Bullshit. That’s what that is...Here’s why they’re really concerned: They don’t want their view blocked.
• Source: Newark Star-Ledger   |   New Jersey   |   May 2, 2013
• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, calling out property owners who are refusing to give the federal government access to their property so that a system of sand dunes can be built to minimize future flooding.

• And what a message to send around the country. What you say to every city is mayors count. Cities count.
• Source: Governing   |   Nation   |   May 1, 2013
• Outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood, praising President Obama's choice of Charlotte, N.C, Mayor Anthony Foxx to succeed him in the post.

• If you want to take a gender studies course, that's fine. Go to a private school.
• Source: Governing   |   North Carolina   |   April 30, 2013
• North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, explaining why he doesn't think the state should help pay for all types of higher education.
• 1 Comments

• Well, when my kids were young teenagers, they always wanted budget autonomy too.
• Source: myfoxdc.com   |   District of Columbia   |   April 29, 2013
• U.S. Rep. John Mica of Florida, who compared giving budget autonomy to District of Columbia residents to giving budget autonomy to children. D.C. voters overwhelmingly approved a measure last week to get budget autonomy from Congress.

• There are other people out there that are very qualified. We’ve had enough Bushes.
• Source: Politico   |   Nation   |   April 26, 2013
• Former first lady Barbara Bush, on why she doesn't want her son, Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, to run for president.

• If someone's going out on weekends and using meth, I don't know that I want them making policy.
• Source: Governing   |   Minnesota   |   April 25, 2013
• Minnesota legislator Sean Nienow, on why he's introducing an amendment to require drug tests for welfare recipients and state lawmakers.

• I know this is the first time many of you have heard me say that I am a black, gay male.
• Source: McClatchy/GOVERNING   |   Nevada   |   April 24, 2013
• Nevada state Sen. Kelvin Atkinson, who publicly declared that he's gay for the first time during a hearing this week where lawmakers voted to repeal the state's ban on gay marriage.

• We’re referring to that as natural selection ... if we could arrest people for being stupid, we’d need a jail ten times as big as we have.
• Source: Michigan Live   |   Michigan   |   April 23, 2013
• Grand Rapids, Mich., Police Lt. David Schnurstein, on why police aren't actively pursuing people who disregard safety warnings to stay out of the swollen, fast-moving Grand River.
• 4 Comments

• Government should not be able to engage in constant surveillance.
• Source: Governing   |   April 22, 2013
• Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, expressing his concerns that constant surveillance using drones would invade the privacy of Americans. Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, expressing his concerns that constant surveillance using drones would invade the privacy of Americans. Twenty-nine states are considering legislation that would limit police's use of drones.
• 2 Comments

• Now, if they wanted to go back -- and Louisiana can do this -- they (could) put me and my family under slavery.
• Source: New Orleans Times Picayune   |   Louisiana   |   April 19, 2013
• Louisiana state Rep. Roy Burrell, warning that passage of a bill seeking to block any possible federal gun control legislation could set a precedent allowing the state to ignore any federal law.
• 1 Comments

• They didn’t make any of the banking CEOs get drug tested before giving them all that money.
• Source: Detroit Free Press   |   Michigan   |   April 18, 2013
• Shelli Weisberg, legislative director for the ACLU of Michigan, accusing legislators who support a bill to drug test some welfare applicants of targeting people just because they're poor. Kansas joined the more than handful of states Tuesday to pass such a law.

• This test is a proven health benefit. But this is about politics, it’s not about science.
• Source: Governing   |   Nation   |   April 17, 2013
• Laurie Fenton Ambrose, president and CEO of the Lung Cancer Alliance, speculating about why a federal task force hasn't approved a scanning test that's been proven to save lives and money.

• If babies had guns, they wouldn't be aborted. Vote Pro-Life!
• Source: Huffington Post   |   Texas   |   April 16, 2013
• A new campaign slogan for Republican Congressman Steve Stockman of Texas, which is being printed on bumper stickers.
• 2 Comments

• It's a part-time, poorly paid post whose occupants mainly spend their time running for governor.
• Source: Governing   |   Virginia   |   April 15, 2013
• University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato, on the role of the lieutenant governor in the state of Virginia. Four of the state's last nine governors served as lieutenants first.

• You’re seeing a government paralyzed by the extremists.
• Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle   |   April 12, 2013
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who says the U.S. Senate's gun control compromise was the result of lawmakers who are unwilling to stand up to gun lobbyists.