Political Quotes

“The government has now been shut down for 3 days, the people's government that is formed to serve it and promote the general welfare and the national defense. That government has been shut down. Entirely? No, not entirely. There are some sporadic incidents where, for the public safety, we have people working. I read the papers every morning, clips, as so many Americans do, so many Members do. I start discussion of where we are today because surely the public must be confused. The Republicans say that they don't want to shut down the government. They say that President Obama wants to shut down government and that we Democrats want to shut down government for political advantage. Having said that, 99 percent of us are prepared to vote for a resolution at 12:01 this day to open the government, because that is the rational, common sense, and right thing to do. I tell Speaker Boehner, Mr. Speaker, that we're prepared to vote on that today, as soon as this House opens. Now, the Governor of Virginia is a Republican. The Governor of Virginia wrote an article today that said: Budgets are documents born of many compromises. A government shutdown represents the antithesis of that approach. We agree. He went on to say: In a shutdown, planning and forethought go out the window. Instead of rational governing, we get speeches and inaction. That's not how government should work.…”