Political Quotes

“I do not have stories like the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), personal interaction with former President Reagan, but as somebody growing up and loving politics, I obviously watched his Presidency as a student of politics. Here was a guy known as a great communicator, an eternal optimist. It makes sense when one thinks about it: A guy who grew up in Dixon, Illinois, a troubled home, faced a series of disadvantages, and one day wakes up in the White House. What is there not to be optimistic about? And he had that sense of optimism, and everybody can talk about different skills or techniques or tactics as a communicator; but the truth is he never left Dixon, Illinois. He had that common touch. He knew about walking-around folk, and he understood their lives, and he could tell a great story that gave people a sense of his ideas. So he spoke of our common wisdom and our common sense. One of the other things that I very much admired on the policy, although I do have differences obviously, was President Reagan's commitment to the earned income tax credit.”