Political Quotes

“I would just remind my colleague from Maryland who just spoke that, in my humble opinion, Harry Reid shut down the government. Mr. Speaker, let me explain for everybody watching at home across America what the separation of powers doctrine means. I know this is obvious for most Americans because we study it in school. But since our constitutional scholar President doesn't seem to get it, it apparently needs to be explained again. Our Constitution says that we, the legislative branch--this branch-- we write the laws. The President executes the laws. And the courts settle any dispute we may have. Got it? We write the laws. The President executes the laws. The court settles the disputes. Our Constitution does not say that the President gets to write his own laws. Our Founders knew that was a bad idea. They had seen kings wield that kind of power, and they knew they didn't want that for the new Nation. They understood that too much power in the hands of any one person or any one group of people would inevitably lead to tyranny. As Christian men of the day, they understood that since the Garden of Eden, man is fallen, and that fallen men, once they have a taste of power, they will always lust for more. They knew that ``Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.'' So in their understanding of fallen man, the remedy was a system of checks and balances, and clearly delineated, but separate, powers divided among three equal branches of government.…”