Political Quotes

“Those of you watching on C-SPAN just heard from my friend from Tennessee the unwillingness of the Republican side of the aisle to even recognize that elections have consequences, that, in fact, the President won reelection decisively. Democrats made gains in the Senate and gains here in the House. It's time to put aside the talking points. It's time to come together for this country. Mr. Speaker, Speaker Boehner actually said it well. He said the mandate from the election of last week is ``for us to find a way to work together on solutions to the challenges we face as a Nation.'' I can't agree more. Elections have consequences, and our ability to avert the fiscal cliff, in which expiring tax cuts and across-the-board spending cuts are on a collision course to derail this economy, requires us to respect that directive from voters. Yet, once again, lines are being drawn--you just heard it--over what types of revenue will be considered or what cuts are considered too steep. I hope I was not the only one astounded by the comments of the CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, who recently said, ``the oil and gas industry will not be singled out for punitive treatment.'' How fascinating. Perhaps I could introduce him to the Federal workforce, our Federal employees who are, so far, the only group to be singled out for punitive treatment, to the tune of $75 billion of deficit reduction.…”