Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, ``On a blistering evening in Phoenix recently, a group of prominent civic leaders met to talk about America. It didn't take long for the conversation to get around to the fall of the Ottoman Empire. ``That's what happens when smart Americans get to talking about politics these days. ``Topic A is the growing sense that our best days as a Nation are behind us, that our kids won't live as well as we did, that China is in the driver's seat.'' Those were the opening words of an October 2010 Time magazine piece, authored by veteran reporter Joe Klein, who canvassed the country during the height of the campaign season. Klein's assessment of the national mood was underscored by New York Times columnist David Brooks, who recently wrote: ``The current sour mood is not just caused by high unemployment. It emerges from the fear that America's best days are behind it.'' I believe this foreboding national anxiety is born of certain realities--exploding debts and deficits, shuttered factories, rising unemployment, bloated government, and an acrimonious tenor to our national discourse. People fear that America's influence is waning and our ``shining city on a hill'' is dimming. I must admit to sharing these same anxieties as a father of five and grandfather of 15. I have never been more concerned about my country's future. Yet I do not believe that the realization of these fears is inevitable. We can walk back from the precipice. We have options.…”