Political Quotes

“Mr. President, like millions of Americans, the events of the last few days and the last few months have caused me to reflect on the nature of our Federal Government and our special system of federalism which delegates to the Federal Government certain powers but reserves to the States and the people those remaining powers. That is roughly what the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says. I have also reflected a little bit on what some wise people have said over our history, and even before America was founded, about the nature of power, government power: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Our Founders pointed out in the Federalist Papers and elsewhere that the concentration of power in the hands of the few is the very definition of tyranny. We have learned from hard experience over the course of our Nation's history that when government thinks it knows best, particularly here in Washington, in a country as big and diverse as ours, the natural tendency then in Washington is to try to suppress the voices of those who see things differently, those who want to exercise their constitutional rights, particularly to free speech, freedom of association, and, yes, even freedom of the press. It is not true to say we have not been warned about the dangers of concentration of power in the Federal Government, and big government, and the human frailties that follow. We have been warned time and time and time again.…”