Roger Marshall: “Mr. Ross, you are wonderful to do these hour-long Blue Dog sessions here to give people an idea what Blue Dogs are all…”

“Mr. Ross, you are wonderful to do these hour-long Blue Dog sessions here to give people an idea what Blue Dogs are all about as far as fiscal responsibility is concerned. I think you and Mr. Pomeroy give me a little too much credit. If you label somebody a Ranger, it reminds me of the joke about the Ranger library down in Eglin Air Force Base having burned down. That was the bad news. The good news was that both books were already colored in. We don't expect our Rangers to be particularly good at math or education subjects, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out there has been an awful lot of waste in Iraq. It is not just waste on our side; we excessively rely upon contractors. I think we have moved too far in that direction, and we limit our capacity within our own military forces to provide services that ought to be provided by military folks and could be provided by military folks at a much lesser expense to the taxpayer. Spending less, stretching your dollars means you are going to be more effective at whatever you are doing, and that includes an effort like Iraq. I think we have inappropriately moved too far in the direction of relying upon contractors.”