Political Quotes

“in the year 64 A.D., there was a tremendous fire in Rome, and legend has it that the Emperor Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Well, I am afraid that if we continue to fiddle in the Congress while gas prices continue to go up and up and hurt all of our constituents in a deep abiding way, Nero will outpace us in terms of his legendary action compared to our inaction. We are truly fiddling while this enormous crisis of rising gasoline prices hits every family we purport to represent. We are doing nothing significant, nothing important to address this crisis. Why do I say that? Well, when this new Democratically led Congress took office a couple of Januaries ago, prices at the pump were about $2.33. That new leadership of the Congress--the Democratic leader in the Senate as well as the Democratic leadership in the House--said that this was unacceptable. They vowed that this was a major issue they would address, that they would attack in a focused, meaningful way. Well, a year and a half later, things have changed. The price at the pump is now about $4 a gallon. It has gone up and up, and this Congress has done little to nothing.”