Political Quotes

“I appreciate the Senator from Arizona bringing this up, and I think it is important for the American people to be reminded that the Senator from Arizona has a certain amount of credibility on this matter because about 4 years ago--when we were in the majority and we became frustrated because Democrats were blocking President Bush's judicial appointments--it was the Republicans who said--I didn't, but some Republicans said--well, let's just jam it through. We won the election, let's get it with 51 votes. Let's change the rules. But Senator McCain and a group of others said: Wait just a minute. He said then what he has said just today. He said the U.S. Founders set up the Senate to be a protector of minority rights. As Senator Byrd, the senior Democratic Senator, has said: Sometimes the minority is right. And it was Alexis de Tocqueville who said, when he wrote his observations about our country in the 1830s, that potentially the greatest threat to American democracy is the tyranny of the majority. This is supposed to be a place where decisions are made based upon consensus, not just a majority. As Senator Byrd has said: Running the health care bill through the Senate like a freight train is an outrage. It would be an outrage.”