Political Quotes

On the recordJuly 26, 2011
Less than 2 months on this job, I only have one question to ask: Is anyone in this body listening to the people who sent us here? I can only conclude at this point that the answer is ``no,'' or we would not be teetering on the precipice of not just a government shutdown but an intentional economic shutdown, the likes of which we have never seen in this country. And I say ``intentional'' because there are high stakes in this game of chicken. We all know the game of chicken. You've got a couple of crazy teenagers racing toward each other on a highway, and nobody's going to swerve. What happens when no one blinks, no one swerves, no one comes to their senses? Crash. Lives are lost. No survivors. It's not a pretty sight. It didn't have to come to this. The American people who voted for us, put their faith in us, they don't want this to happen. They wonder if anyone in Washington is listening, and they're absolutely right in that assessment. I will tell you, I was at a firemen's parade in the tiny, tiny village of Silver Springs in one of my most rural counties, Wyoming County. There are more Republicans than cows out there; and cows and Democrats, not a lot of people. But I'll tell you, we are all bound by the same feelings. This frustrated senior at the firemen's parade in Wyoming County said to me, Why can't you guys get your act together? We send you there to do a job, and you guys aren't doing it. You know, he was right; he was absolutely right, and I took that to heart.…
Said by
Kathy Hochul
Democratic · New York

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