The Best of Notable Quotables; December 18, 1995

Vol. Eight; No. 26

The Contract’s Not Done Until Every Child Is Dead Award



“When you look at the reality of cutting people off, of saying you can’t have more benefits if you have children while you are on welfare, you’re talking about putting children on the street who are hungry and naked, and that’s a sin.”

Washington Post writer Juan Williams on CNN’s Capital Gang, March 25.


Runners-up:


“Public antagonism toward government has been one of the principal themes of American political discourse for nearly two decades, growing in shrillness in the past year. This sentiment has been voiced and amplified by the new Republican House, which just this month completed its 100 days of action, much of it aimed at paring back the growth of the federal government. But now that an attack on a government building has left scores dead, including children, the allure is coming off the anti-government rhetoric.”

Boston Globe Washington Bureau Chief David Shribman in a front page “news analysis,” April 25.

“The new Republican majority in Congress took a big step today on its legislative agenda to demolish or damage government aid programs, many of them designed to help children and the poor.”

– Dan Rather, March 16 CBS Evening News.

“This is some of the greatest redistribution of income I’ve ever seen, from have-nots to the haves...This is enough to put Robin Hood to shame.”

Wall Street Journal’s Al Hunt on CNN’s Capital Gang, March 18.

“The Republican Congress, of course, is not likely to embrace raising taxes and cutting defense spending. It is beholden to three constituencies: The corporations, whose lobbyists finance politicians and then finagle billions in bizarre subsidies for clients. The rich, who write campaign checks and simply ask to be left alone. And many hard-working, middle-class men and women – mostly white – who resent handouts to the needy....About the best [the Democrats] can do is temper excesses of Republican plans – excesses that could lead to class warfare or race warfare, excesses that will widen the already widening gap between rich and poor.”

– Former NBC News President Michael Gartner in his USA Today column, May 30.

“In practice, personally, I think it will destroy the future competitiveness and security of the country, in terms of education, infrastructure, and medical practice as we know it today.”

– NPR reporter Nina Totenberg on the GOP budget proposal, May 13 Inside Washington.