Political Quotes

“Is the United States still a republic? Do we still have a Constitution that means anything? That Constitution assigns taxation authority to Congress, but this body sat idle while President Trump stole the taxation authority through his tariffs for a year. No other President even considered the possibility of stealing the power of taxation. They always came--including for tariffs--they always came to Congress because that is what the Constitution says. The responsibility is here. The power of the purse is assigned to Congress in the Constitution. That is the defining difference between an authoritarian strongman government and a democratic republic. It is the representatives of every corner of the land coming together and designing the programs and deciding how much those programs should be funded, and it is the responsibility of the President to carry out those programs. But this President decided not to. He canceled program after program that was authorized and funded by Congress--by law--with the words: I am canceling this program because it doesn't align with the priorities of this administration.”