Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I just want to point out that you used the term ``nanny state.'' Since we're government, I don't think anybody wants to be responsible for everybody, to be responsible to raise the whole society; but I do think that this help that you give people from the Federal Government and from local and State governments is absolutely essential. When you don't have that infrastructure of social services and needs there, I'll tell you what happens--people still have those problems. Only they don't have a place to go get them. So do you know what they do? They knock on your door. In America, we don't have to open our door day after day, with somebody holding a baby, as I saw in the Peace Corps. There were people all the time with dead babies, infants. There were people who were begging for money to bury them properly or there were people asking you for extra food after you finished your meal. They know what time you eat, and ask, Can you give your leftovers to us? We don't have that in America because we have an infrastructure that takes care of people. I think, if you totally wipe that out and say, well, leave it to charity, charity is just voluntary. It doesn't always work. When the markets crash, the charity isn't there. Poverty is still there. The need is still there.…”