Federal Government Quotes

Our nation is too different, too diverse to say that what works in Massachusetts is somehow going to be grabbed by the federal government, usurping the power of states and imposing a one-size-fits-all plan on the nation. That will not work. ~ Mitt Romney

Are we going to take the hands of the federal government completely off any effort to adjust the growing of national crops, and go right straight back to the old principle that every farmer is a lord of his own farm and can do anything he wants, raise anything, any old time, in any quantity, and sell any time he wants? ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

The activities of automobile manufacturers, commercial real estate developers, and the federal government have been far more important in determining patterns of transportation than consumer choice. ~ Dolores Hayden

Oh, and although I don't particularly like the IRS, I still do not like terrorists and have no desire whatsoever to attack our federal government. This is the United States. If you don't like our government, go out and vote"--From Author's note in "Tax Break ~ Jay Williams

It's not easy for the average family to ensure that their child receives a quality education. And the federal government is not making it any easier. ~ Kevin McCarthy

It's traditionally not federal policy to fund state and local salaries. It's done sometimes on a temporary basis or a grant basis. But it's not often done. And the reason is clear, because the federal government can't continue in perpetuity these programs. ~ Jim Talent

We have two programs dealing with bulletproof vests, two different systems of actually distributing bulletproof vests from the federal government. Two sets of applications, two different sets of personnel to approve those applications. ~ James Lankford

The House is rooted in the principle of direct elections and is unique among all branches and bodies of the federal government as without exception, the people's voice. ~ Charles W. Pickering

People aren't going to go bankrupt anymore if they have a serious illness, which was a serious issue here in the country before the Affordable Care Act. And, in fact, the expense of expanding health care for those who need the subsidy is picked up by the federal government for most of the early years. ~ Deval Patrick

It turns out that in the federal government, there are a lot of innovators. ~ Todd Park

While the political debate over abortion will continue for a very long time, the federal government can and should be doing more to support programs and services that provide women with better options. ~ Tim Ryan

Embryonic stem cell research is legal in America, and nothing in the administration's current policy affects that legality; 400 lines are currently being used to conduct embryonic stem cell research, both in the private sector and by the Federal Government. ~ Roger Wicker

As historian Gary Ferguson writes, "while livestock may be the kindling, the real fuel for the burn is that the federal government is behind the project. . . . Westerners couldn't buy a more perfect evil if they rode straight to hell with a saddlebag full of cash." Or, as one stockman said in 1989, "It's not so much the wolves we're afraid of, it's the wolf managers. ~ William R. Lowry

As they work hard for our children, America's teachers often reach into their own pockets to make sure they have the best classroom supplies. I feel strongly that the federal government should help make up for their personal financial burden. ~ John Warner

Advocates of Strict Father morality show such a resentment of illegitimate authority, not just toward meddling parents but toward any moral authority seen to be illegitimately meddling in their lives. The federal government is a common target. We regularly hear arguments that the federal government doesn't know what's best for people, that people know what's best for themselves, and that the government is not acting in the interests of ordinary people. Therefore, federal authority should be shifted to local governments or eliminated altogether. It ~ George Lakoff

If 10% is good enough for God, 9% ought to be good enough for the federal government. ~ Herman Cain

I believe strongly and sincerely that with the deep-rooted wisdom and dignity, the innate respect for human lives, the intense humanity that is our heritage, the African race, united under one federal government, will emerge not as just another world bloc to flaunt its wealth and strength, but as a Great Power whose greatness is indestructible because it is built not on fear, envy and suspicion, nor won at the expense of others, but founded on hope, trust, friendship and directed to the good of all mankind. ~ Kwame Nkrumah

The federal government may not disarm individual citizens without some unusually strong justification. ~ Laurence Tribe

You cannot keep your plan and have Obamacare at the same time. Obamacare, by definition, gets rid of your plan and replaces it with health care run by the federal government. ~ Rush Limbaugh

In the decade before the Civil War various north and south lines of railway were projected and some of these were assisted by grants of land from the Federal Government. ~ John Moody

Oklahoma City bombing was done on purpose. Did you know the Federal Government blew up their own building to blame it on the militias and to get rid of some people that weren't cooperating with the system? ~ Kent Hovind

The federal government should only be providing services for emergencies. You and I, taxpayers, shouldn't be paying for cell phones so someone can have a social life. I just don't think it's appropriate. ~ Timothy Griffin

We borrowed money, it helped us with bonds and what not, and the Federal Government backed it, but it was a guarantee, it was not a grant. And we not only paid it off, but we paid it off ahead of time. ~ David Dinkins

We have in this country a federal government that increasingly is engaged in trying to determine which business, which regions, which industries will succeed, which will not through a whole range of economic development, regional development corporate subsidization programs. ~ Stephen Harper

Reagan cut through irrational federal regulations to allow children to live with their parents, where they could receive care that would cost the taxpayer one-sixth as much as institutional care. By contrast, Obamacare has added thousands of pages of bureaucratic regulations and will cost the federal government untold billions. ~ Edwin Meese

Hamilton used the sinking fund to maintain the confidence of creditors in the government's securities; he had no intention of paying off the outstanding principal of the debt. Retiring the debt would only destroy its usefulness as money and as a means of attaching investors to the federal government. ~ Gordon S. Wood

So take something that's been happening in recent years: devolution―that is, removing authority from the federal government down to the state governments. Well, in some circumstances, that would be a democratizing move which I would be in favor of―it would be a move away from central authority down to local authority. But that's in abstract circumstances that don't exist. Right now it'll happen because moving decision-making power down to the state level in fact means handing it over to private power. See, huge corporations can influence and dominate the federal government, but even middle-sized corporations can influence state governments and play one state's workforce off against another's by threatening to move production elsewhere unless they get better tax breaks and so on. So under the conditions of existing systems of power, devolution is very antidemocratic; under other systems of much greater equality, devolution could be highly democratic―but these are questions which really can't be discussed in isolation from the society as it actually exists. ~ Noam Chomsky

I've experienced first-hand the wonderful work organizations like J Bar J do for young people in Central Oregon and I am encouraged that the federal government is taking an active role in the Cascade Youth and Family Center. ~ Greg Walden

A tax cut means higher family income and higher business profits and a balanced federal budget ... As the national income grows, the federal government will ultimately end up with more revenues. Prosperity is the real way to balance our budget. By lowering tax rates, by increasing jobs and income, we can expand tax revenues and finally bring our budget into balance. ~ John F. Kennedy

If I was a state, I would like to see education left to the schools themselves, but I don't want the federal government involved in education. I think that it ends up setting standards that cost you time and money and don't make any difference in education. I want to stop that. ~ Gary Johnson

We must move from revenue-neutral to revenue-reducing tax reform, because the federal government spends far too much money. ~ Carly Fiorina

My view is that discrimination against anyone at the ballot box is wrong and should have the full enforcement of the federal government. ~ Barack Obama

since the Depression, we bankers have had the leisure and . . . solitude, you might say, to think about the future. The Civil War left us with a federal government. The Great War made us a creditor nation. As bankers, we must anticipate what changes this war will thrust upon us."
[…] The old man leaned forward and took a long breath. "I see the rise of this country to a height no country has occupied, ever," he said quietly. "Not the Romans. Not the Carolingians. Not Genghis Khan or the Tatars or Napoleon's France. Hah! You're all looking at me like I've one foot in the funny farm. How is that possible? you ask. Because our dominance won't arise from subjugating peoples. We'll emerge from this war victorious and unscathed, and become bankers to the world. We'll export our dreams, our language, our culture, our way of life. And it will prove irresistible. ~ Jennifer Egan

California will not wait for our federal government to take strong action on global warming. We won't wait for the federal government. We will move forward because we know it's the right thing to do. We will lead on this issue and we will get other western states involved. I think there's not great leadership from the federal government when it comes to protecting the environment. ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

I do not believe that the federal government should treat adults who choose to smoke marijuana as criminals. ~ Barney Frank

The vicious cycle that is bringing down European states is not going to hit USA, at least not for a while, at the level of the federal government. The same cannot be said of state and local governments. ~ Michael Lewis

Obama is now fighting for his life. He's fighting for a federal government. I believe in a federal government. I hope it sticks around. We had the American Revolution. There was this whole tension between the federalists and the anti-federalists. Then we had the Civil War. We had Lincoln fighting for it. And the secessionists were there. And we have the same issue today. ~ Oliver Stone

In
the creation of the federal government, the states exercised the
highest act of sovereignty, and they may, if they please, repeat the
proof of their sovereignty, by its annihilation. But the union possesses
no innate sovereignty, like the states; it was not self-constitute d; it
is conventional, and of course subordinate to the sovereignties by
which it was formed. ~ John Taylor

If the federal government should overpass the just bounds of its authority and make a tyrannical use of its powers, the people, whose creature it is, must appeal to the standard they have formed, and take such measures to redress the injury done to the Constitution as the exigency may suggest and prudence justify. ~ Alexander Hamilton

We can't expect Wall Street to police itself - that's why we have a federal government. ~ Martin O'Malley

I think Barack Obama and his team believe that the federal government is best prepared to handle virtually everything in our lives. I mean, they're socialists in every respect of the word and I think they'd like to take over everything in our lives if they could, including health care. ~ Mark Neumann

I mean, I really don't want the federal government to be determining whether or not a person who feels certain ways about the environment or about animals or about certain religious issues should be considered an extremist. That to me is a type of thought control, mind control, which is very dangerous. ~ Peter T. King

I am encouraged that there's going to be much better dialogue between the federal government and the state of Arizona. I mean, I hope that's not wishful thinking. ~ Jan Brewer

For as long as I can remember the slogan has been ... the federal government ought to behave more like families, because families balance their budgets. It turns out that families looked around and said, "You know what? Let's behave more like the government!" ~ George Will

I think, again, on issues of energy, how are we going to fully utilize our energy resources in this country? What is the role of the federal government in higher education? What kind of justices would you appoint to the Supreme Court, not just because we have a vacancy now, but at least one or two potentially in the next four to eight years? ~ Marco Rubio

This president [Barack Obama ] has seen personnel records of people who have sacrificed for the American people and for the federal government stolen by the Chinese and he's done nothing in return. ~ Chris Christie

Most meteorological research is funded by the federal government. And boy, if you want to get federal funding, you better not come out and say human-induced global warming is a hoax because you stand the chance of not getting funded. ~ William M. Gray

If you look at the record and the enviable record which Sandra Day O'Connor has written, you find she was the fifth and decisive vote to safeguard Americans' right to privacy, to require our courtrooms to grant access to the disabled, to allow the federal government to pass laws to protect the environment, to preserve the right of universities to use affirmative action, to ban the execution of children in America. ~ Dick Durbin

There are some power-abusing, corrupt monsters in our federal government that despise me because I have the audacity to speak the truth. ~ Ted Nugent

I'm doing my part, building plants at a record rate, having historic conservation levels. The only people not doing their part is the federal government that is siding with the energy companies against the interests of the people of California. ~ Gray Davis

When men and women fail to form stable marriages, the result is a vast
expansion of government attempts to cope with the terrible social needs that result.
There is scarcely a dollar that the state and federal government spends on social
programs that is not driven, in large part, by family fragmentation: crime, poverty,
drug abuse, teen pregnancy, school failure, mental and physical health problems. ~ Maggie Gallagher

Ninety-eight percent of women in childbearing age who are Catholic use contraception. Ok, so in practice the church has not enforced this and now they want the federal government and private insurance to enforce it. It just isn't consistent to me. ~ Nancy Pelosi

As currently written, the laws require certain manufacturers and users of such chemicals to report any and all environmental releases-either accidental or routine-to air, water, or soil. The Toxics Release Inventory is the main registry of such events, and it is available to the public through the Environmental Protection Agency. It is hardly comprehensive. Toxic emissions reported to the federal government are thought to account for only 5 percent of all chemical releases. ~ Sandra Steingraber

The Founding Fathers envisioned a federal government that trusts its people with their money and freedom, outlining this limited, non-intrusive federal government in ... the Constitution, leaving the other powers to people ... or to the states. ~ Milton Friedman

Individual people shouldn't be fearful, because by and large our government, the federal government - people always talk; obviously, they don't trust the feds, whatever. The federal government and local communities have done a pretty good job at keeping us safe. ~ Sherrod Brown

If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague ... It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents. ~ Mike Huckabee

We do need the federal government to share information with us. We need local governments to increase supply. We need affordable places for people to live. ~ Christy Clark

People say, 'I'm for job training. We can train people to increase the likelihood that they can be self-sufficient.' Okay, that's great, you're for job training - I like job training - but do you think the federal government should have 163 different job-training programs? ~ Steve Largent

We must take away the government's credit card. With limits on both tax revenue and borrowing, the Federal government would finally be forced to get serious about spending cuts. ~ Alan Keyes

When the Founders thought of democracy, they saw democracy in the political sphere - a sphere strictly limited by the Constitution's well-defined and enumerated powers given the federal government. Substituting democratic decision making for what should be private decision making is nothing less than tyranny dressed up. ~ Walter E. Williams

I believe that the federal government, like a raging river, has expanded upon the barriers and the boundaries of its banks, and unfortunately, it is flooding all of America with its encroachment. ~ Steve Southerland

The [EU] Council of Ministers will have far more power over the budgets of member states than the federal government in the United States has over the budget of Texas. ~ Jean-Claude Trichet

After a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina, the federal government has a profound obligation to help those in need, .. Right now, the victims of Hurricane Katrina need our help. Entire communities have been destroyed. Families have been torn apart. Many are still missing. Tens of thousands remain homeless. As the recovery proceeds, we in the Senate pledge to do everything in our power to help rebuild the shattered lives across the Gulf Coast. ~ Dianne Feinstein

Over time, the federal government should move the nation to a single standard, clean-burning gasoline. ~ Mark Kirk

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, although they're not officially debt of the federal government, they are off-balance-sheet debt. ~ John Thune

Thanks in part to the Patriot Act, the federal government has been able to demand some details of your online activities from service providers - and not to tell you about it. ~ Jonathan Zittrain

We can only imagine what would happen to our health care and to the quality of our health care here in North Dakota if we took the federal government out of health care. ~ Heidi Heitkamp

You can at least let sick people have marijuana because it's helpful. But the compassionate conservatives say, well we can't do this, we're going to put people who are sick and dying with cancer and are being helped with marijuana if they have multiple sclerosis - the federal government is going in there and overriding state laws and putting people like that in prison. ~ Ron Paul

That depends on how Washington reacts. Every state joined the Union voluntarily; they should have the right to leave it again if the Federal government no longer represents their best interests. ~ Lynn Austin

Since the dawn of the twentieth century, we have been told that
the federal government has the answers to solve all of society's problems.
We have been promised, by supposedly serious men who have
sworn an oath before God and man, that if we just give Washington,
D.C., more of our money and more of our personal freedom, the
problems of poverty, illiteracy, racism, unemployment, crime, and
corruption will all be solved. Today, each and every one of these
problems is worse than it has ever been. The federal government and
its blood-sucking bureaucracies do not have a solution to the problem,
they are the problem. ~ Ziad K. Abdelnour

Loopy as the Motion Picture Association of America's ratings system is, it's better than what you'd probably get by putting such decisions in the federal government hands. ~ Timothy Noah

All of us should remember that the federal government is not some mysterious institution comprised of buildings, files and paper. The people are the government. What we create we ought to be able to control. ~ Ronald Reagan

The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce ... The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives and liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State. ~ James Madison

The American people are not just being taxed to death; they're being taxed after death. But, no one should have to sell the life's work of a parent or a loved one just to pay the federal government. ~ J. D. Hayworth

I don't see any justification for the federal government owning land, other than the Statue of Liberty and maybe a few parks, maybe a few refuges. But to just own land to do nothing with it I think is a disservice to the Constitution. ~ Don Young

To put it in context, the federal government was, at the beginning [of the Vancouver meeting], talking about a $15-per-tonne floor for carbon emissions. We're at $30 a tonne, so we're already double that. But our economy is growing at a faster rate - three per cent of GDP is our projected growth in British Columbia. ~ Christy Clark

And it's absolutely hypocritical for the political party that talks about states rights, to suddenly ignore states rights, that say that the federal government or federalism has no business in this kind of business. ~ Gary Ackerman

Subliminal perception is a subject that virtually no one wants to believe exists, and
if it does exist
they much less believe that it has any practical application ... The techniques are in widespread use by media, advertising and public relations agencies, industrial and commercial corporations, and by the Federal government itself. ~ Wilson Bryan Key

When the federal government spends more each year than it collects in tax revenues, it has three choices: It can raise taxes, print money, or borrow money. While these actions may benefit politicians, all three options are bad for average Americans. ~ Ron Paul

I am the constitutionally and legitimately elected sheriff, and I absolutely refuse to surrender my responsibility to the federal government. ~ Joe Arpaio

The proposed Constitution, so far from implying an abolition of the State governments, makes them constituent parts of the national sovereignty, by allowing them a direct representation in the Senate, and leaves in their possession certain exclusive and very important portions of sovereign power. This fully corresponds, in every rational import of the terms, with the idea of a federal government. ~ Alexander Hamilton

The operations of the federal government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the State governments, in times of peace and security. ~ James Madison

To avoid the necessity of a permanent debt and its inevitable consequences, I have advocated and endeavored to carry into effect the policy of confining the appropriations for the public service to such objects only as are clearly with the constitutional authority of the Federal Government. ~ Martin Van Buren

I think we'll have a bigger conversation first within the Republican Party, then with the American people about what's the proper role of the federal government, i do hope that Common Core will be one more, one more reason for us to have this bigger debate, this bigger conversation about the proper role of the federal government in local education. ~ Bobby Jindal

But at its most official heart, the U.S. Dollar is simply the "I.O.U. a Dollar's worth of Tax credit" promise of our sovereign Federal Government. ~ J.D. ALT

As everyone in Louisiana knows, there was often no communication or coordination between the state and federal government in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. ~ Bobby Jindal

They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program. ~ George W. Bush

The American people overwhelmingly want our troops out of Iraq. They want the federal government to take real and immediate action to combat global warming and to significantly expand support for stem cell research. Democrats almost unanimously support the people's wishes onthese crucial issues. Republicans don't. ~ Al Gore

The Federal Government was never, in its essence, anything but an anti-slavery government. ~ Frederick Douglass

Planned Parenthood had better hope that Hillary Clinton wins this election, because I guarantee under President Jindal, January 2017, the Department of Justice and the IRS and everybody else that we can send from the federal government will be going in to Planned Parenthood. ~ Bobby Jindal

It began to really eat away with me that in the '60s the federal government, desiring to help poor moms who were dealing with deadbeat dads, decided, 'We'll help: we'll give a check for every child you can have out of wedlock.' ~ Louie Gohmert

The general (federal) government will tend to monarchy, which will fortify itself from day to day, instead of working its own cures. ~ Thomas Jefferson

I am firmly opposed to the government entering into any business the major purpose of which is competition with our citizens ... for the Federal Government deliberately to go out to build up and expand ... a power and manufacturing business is to break down the initiative and enterprise of the American people; it is the destruction of equality of opportunity amongst our people, it is the negation of the ideals upon which our civilization has been based. ~ Herbert Hoover

You've got the federal government in every part of our lives, doing things wrong. ~ Wayne Rogers

But again, you know, the views that we've expressed are transferring power back from the federal government to the states, giving Alaska an incredible opportunity to expand its economy, especially at a time when our federal government is coming close to bankruptcy. So that is a broad-based appeal. It's not an extreme view. ~ Joe Miller

We need sensible gun safety measures. The federal government could do something about this; they could show up. ~ Michael Nutter

I'm saying the federal government is taking away the freedom of Americans to make choices. ~ Paul LePage

Big-government proponents embrace both the power of the federal government and the idea that millions of Americans ought to be dependent on its largesse. It's time to return to our Founders' love for small government. More is not always better. ~ Gary Bauer

The very worst aspect of poverty in the United States is the realization that - No one gives a shit whether you live or die.
The federal government, the state government couldn't care less. They're busy maintaining the status quo, and poverty is a big part of the economic balancing act. Hell, the economy would collapse if poverty was solved. The medical and health insurance industries; if they can't make any money off of you you're already dead to them. They couldn't care one iota if you live a life of physical pain and suffering.
And the citizens' hmmph, they're too busy stepping all over one another trying to avoid poverty.

What an insult and spit in the face of humanity to call all of this insanity civilized. ~ Brien Pittman

In her mind, her actions were treason to the false federation, but loyalty to the real United States of America, the one created by a document she had memorized. The real document was set on fire by what the news called "petty arsons" when the National Archives burned down. Bev knew better - she knew who was behind the destruction of the country's most important document. It was more than a document, it was a symbol - a symbol of freedom from tyranny, and one the Federal Government could no longer afford to abide by. ~ Jennifer Arnett