• It’s the dumbest idea I ever heard.
• Source: GOVERNING   |   New Jersey   |   January 9, 2013
• Then-New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, referring to pension obligation bonds. Read Governing's feature on the bonds, which some governments invest heavily in despite the fact that they've bankrupted whole cities.

• I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time.
• Source: Arizona Republic   |   Nation   |   January 8, 2013
• Arizona Congressman Raúl Grijalva, who said he is committed -- and hopes Congress is too -- to addressing immigration reform this year despite competition from looming legislative fights over the fiscal cliff and gun control.

• The people on [Pinterest] are mostly women, who just really want to put bad guys behind bars.
• Source: GT/GOVERNING   |   Nation   |   January 4, 2013
• Lauri Stevens, founder of Massachusetts-based LAwS Communications, on the effectiveness of Pinterest accounts that feature mug shots of people wanted by the local police.

• I've heard of people being killed playing ping-pong -- ping-pongs are more dangerous than guns.
• Source: Yahoo! News   |   Texas   |   January 4, 2013
• Incoming Texas state Rep. Kyle Kacal, who says that new gun restrictions are unnecessary.
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• It’s time to take the gloves off, Jersey-style.
• Source: Newark Star-Ledger   |   New Jersey   |   January 3, 2013
• New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell, in response to the U.S. House of Representatives' decision to cancel a vote on a bill that would provide billions of dollars of aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy. Lawmakers' and governors' outrage caused the House GOP to reschedule a vote for Friday on part of the bill.

• Pseudoephedrine has become as good as currency.
• Source: AP   |   Tennessee   |   January 2, 2013
• Tom Farmer, coordinator of the Tennessee Methamphetamine and Pharmaceutical Task Force, discussing the sharp rise of meth labs in the nation's cities and suburbs. Meth lab seizures have tripled in the Nashville area over the past two years.

• What the president is proposing is not pragmatic whatsoever and it really is a reflection of him, I suppose, living in some type of fantasy world.
• Source: Politico   |   December 28, 2012
• Outgoing Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) discussing how fiscal cliff negotiations were going in an interview.

• So what we really want to make it is a bunny slope – not a real fiscal cliff.
• Source: Politico   |   December 27, 2012
• Former Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) speaking Wednesday about what the goals of Congress should be in regards to the fiscal cliff. He stressed that not all of the defense cuts take effect next year, so withholding the scheduled tax changes are the most important task in negotiations.

• “Rather than be bystanders, we have an opportunity...to use our company’s scale for good by sending a respectful and optimistic message to our elected officials to come together and reach common ground on this important issue
• Source: Politico   |   December 26, 2012
• Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, writing in a letter posted on the company’s blog. From Wednesday through Friday, Starbucks employees in Washington, D.C.,-area stores are being told to write “Come Together” on every cup of coffee they serve to encourage lawmakers to reach a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.
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• What’s next? Arm the students? If teachers wanted to carry guns in order to do their day job, they would have become policemen.
• Source: Washington Post   |   Virginia   |   December 21, 2012
• Richard L. Saslaw, minority leader of the Virginia state Senate, where a bill is being drafted to require some teachers or other school staff to carry concealed weapons in schools. The bill is in response to the recent mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school that left 20 children dead.

• It is important not to take 50 sheriffs off the beat, particularly when the world of finance can be the Wild West.
• Source: GOVERNING   |   Nation   |   December 20, 2012
• North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, discussing the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's claim that states do not have authority to regulate the practices of national banks.

• In this day and age, justice delayed is justice denied.
• Source: McClatchy/GOVERNING   |   Georgia   |   December 19, 2012
• Chuck Beaudrot, the judge of Georgia's new tax court, which convenes for the first time Jan. 2 and was created to more quickly settle tax disputes that often takes months or years to resolve.

• No single piece of legislation, no single solution, will fully address the problem.
• Source: The Hill   |   Nation   |   December 18, 2012
• White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, referring to gun violence in the wake of the mass shooting of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school last week. He declined to outline specific measures President Barack Obama could take to prevent gun violence.

• We’ve got bigger fish to fry.
• Source: GOVERNING   |   Nation   |   December 17, 2012
• President Barack Obama talking to Barbara Walters about marijuana legalization in an interview last week. In his first comments on the issue, Obama said that prosecuting pot smokers in Colorado and Washington -- where the drug is now legal -- should not be a “top priority” of the federal government.

• When do you stop the man hug? It's hard.
• Source: Politico   |   New Jersey   |   December 14, 2012
• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, talking to "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart about hugging Bruce Springsteen.