Political Quotes

“we are in the midst of two crises at once--one health-related and one economic. I tend to think that the prudent path forward on the health front is that even as we hope for the best, we should continue planning for the worst. If this nasty disease continues to ramp in roughly the same proportions as it has in Italy and Spain, it will overwhelm our hospitals. So I think the social distancing recommendations from the President and from the CDC over the last 4 days are a prudent action. At the same time, we are also in the midst of a genuine economic crisis. Lots of moms and dads are worried that they might be laid off, and lots of businesses are evaluating whether they are going to make payroll and whether they are still going to be in business months down the line. They are scared, and DC needs to act more urgently than we usually do, but just saying we need to act urgently is not a substitute for actually having good ideas and actually advancing good policies. There is a herd mentality around this building right now where a lot of normally smart people are literally saying things like: The most important thing is to be fast, even if the ideas that are being advocated for are not really ready for prime time and can't really withstand the scrutiny of debate. That is a really dumb idea. It is a ready-fire-aim approach. We do indeed need to work fast, but working fast is no substitute for working smart.…”