Government Accountability Quotes

Our government has become incompetent, unresponsive, corrupt. And that incompetence, ineptitude, lack of accountability is now dangerous. ~ Carly Fiorina

There is an absence of democratic accountability and control in every sphere of government and the state. To address this debilitating legacy requires determined action and a deep commitment to transforming our society from a crisis ridden present into something all South Africans can be truly proud of. ~ Nelson Mandela

The accountability of government has gone to the point where the very use of the law is the instrument of illegality. ~ Ralph Nader

Restoring accountability will be one of the major priorities of our new government. Accountability is what ordinary Canadians, working Canadians, those people who pay their bills, pay their taxes, expect from their political leaders. ~ Stephen Harper

The average plan administrator charges 1.3% to 1.5% annually (according to the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office). That's $1,300 for every $100,000 just to participate in the 401(k). So when you add this 1.3% for the plan administration to the total mutual fund costs of 3.17%, it ~ Anthony Robbins

The American people deserve a blueprint for policymaking that is built upon the Constitution of the United States and the principles of fiscal discipline, limited government, accountability, and a strong national defense. ~ Jason Chaffetz

It's the secrecy surrounding drone strikes that's most troubling. . . We don't know the targeting criteria, or whether the rules for CIA and military drone strikes differ; we don't know the details of the internal process through which targets are vetted; we don't know the chain of command, or the details of congressional oversight. The United States does not release the names of those killed, or the location or number of strikes, making it impossible to know whether those killed were legitimately viewed as combatants or not. We also don't know the cost of the secret war: How much money has been spent on drone strikes? What's the budget for the related targeting and intelligence infrastructures? How is the government assessing the costs and benefits of counterterrorism drone strikes? That's a lot of secrecy for a targeted killing program that has reportedly caused the deaths of several thousand people. (117-118) ~ Rosa Brooks

Once the Government Accountability Office did a review of food safety systems in other countries and found many things about those food safety systems that were better than ours [American]. ~ Marion Nestle

Any Government, like any family, can for a year spend a little more than it earns. But you and I know that a continuation of that habit means the poorhouse. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

The government cannot overcome bad parenting. What our leaders can do is publicly condemn irresponsible parental behavior in vivid terms. ~ Bill O'Reilly

I think people respect governments that take decisions and act decisively. ~ P. Chidambaram

When a government goes to war, particularly a democracy, it is the most solemn and awesome responsibility of our leaders - to decide to send our kids to go off and kill and die for us. ~ Joe Wilson

I am extremely proud of my service with the government and my efforts to help safeguard public health and protect our country against the scourge of offensive biological warfare. ~ Steven Hatfill

The problems that had been Obama's problems for the past eight years were about to become Trump's problems. But his people didn't seem to want to know about them. ~ Michael Lewis

Every time you shift a blame on what you could have taken responsibility for, you deny yourself an opportunity to learn and grow. ~ Gift Gugu Mona

The majority of Afghans do not see the Americans as foreign occupiers who must be defeated. Instead, they are hungry for the Americans to step up and help them make their country safer, their government cleaner and their economy stronger. They are disappointed because the international community has done too little, not too much. ~ Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Legislating morality grows big government immensely, and helps fashion the noose the government will use to ultimately hang you by. ~ A.E. Samaan

What? No heartbeat? Huh. Funny. Moving on, the bigger problem is why do I have circles under my eyes?' "And he'd say, 'Wait a second. Did you hear me? No heart!' And we'd be all 'Yes, yes, we heard you. But other than missing a major organ, what's wrong with me?' And then he'd go on and on about the whole no-heart thing, and then I would try to distract him by doing that dance I do - you know, the one that looks like the running man. . . . But before I finish my entire routine, the doctor would be texting the CIA to tell them about my lack of heart, and the rounds of involuntary government testing would begin. ~ Brodi Ashton

We're not witches. We're the bogeymen and angels that walk the thin seam of the two worlds, like cats on high-wire beams.
Assassins. Peacekeepers. A secret government that's a two-way mirror. ~ Alyse M. Gardner

We were in a great, seething moment in the 1970s. There was a new Labour government and everything seemed full of hope ... But, as we got older and we saw how much women's behaviour contributed to what was wrong, we stopped being able to see ourselves purely as. ~ Helen Garner

When the government sees a poor area, its solution is to move the poor out. ~ Greg Gutfeld

But make no mistake, the President will find in our new majority the voice of the American people as they've expressed it tonight: standing on principle, checking Washington's power and leading the drive for a smaller, less costly, and more accountable government. ~ John Boehner

To speak against religion (the Christian) is breaking down the bond of good government. ~ James L. Petigru

I believe the term is 'eminent domain.'
Ah, yes. That means 'theft by the government, ~ Terry Pratchett

Governments rest on the consent of the governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish them at will whenever they become destructive of the ends for which they were established. ~ Jefferson Davis

The government has been repairing Poland's image and its relations with the European Union and the world. ~ Donald Tusk

In effect, the poor person is a rich person left to fend for him or herself, without the support of institutions that help the person to take 'good' decisions. ~ Rabbi Cohen

Look, all administrations, all governments lie, all officials lie and nothing they say is to be believed. That's a pretty good rule. ~ Daniel Ellsberg

The problem is not that America does not have energy. The problem is that our government - alone among the governments of the world - will not allow its own people to recover the energy that they possess. ~ Jim Talent

Within loyalism and the UVF, there are clearly people who are not just aggravated by the issue around flags or parades. They're aggravated by me and Sinn Fein being in government. They're opposed to the political institutions - there's an inability of a minority within loyalism to accept the concept of equality. ~ Martin McGuinness

And maybe no better. There is no government in Mexico. Hell, there's no God in Mexico. Never will be. We are dealing with a people manifestly incapable of governing themselves. And do you know what happens with people who cannot govern themselves? That's right. Others come in to govern for them. ~ Cormac McCarthy

If there is an authoritarian structure at St. Hill it has been brought into being by the government itself. St. Hill is trying to correct itself. It doesn't know what it's trying to correct because nobody has told it what to correct. ~ L. Ron Hubbard

Net neutrality isn't a government takeover of the Internet, as many of my Republican colleagues have alleged. ~ Al Franken

Consequently, citizen legislators, rotating back to their communities after a short period of public service - considered an indispensable and routine characteristic and design of representative government at the time of the founding, and for a century thereafter - have been replaced with a professional ruling class led by governing masterminds. For the most part, they are isolated from the communities from which they hail and are consumed with the daily jockeying for position and power within their ranks. Moreover, they both pander to and lord over their constituents. ~ Mark R. Levin

Government activities that are for public consumption are eyewash from the citizens. ~ Dennis Garvin

The kind of sociopolitical structure that Protestantism engenders - based on free inquiry, participatory politics, and limited government - tends to favor market economics. ~ Alec Ryrie

Without trusting government you can't do a lot of things. ~ John McCain

Religion, too, is a weapon. What manner of weapon is religion when it becomes the government? ~ Frank Herbert

In government institutions and in teaching, you need to inspire confidence. To achieve credibility, you have to very clearly explain what you are doing and why. The same principles apply to businesses. ~ Janet Yellen

As politicians know all too well, even a Government that does not represent the wishes of a people can count on their support once the nation is locked in conflict with an external foe. ~ Elisabeth Hoemberg

It is necessary for a Senator to be thoroughly acquainted with the constitution; and this is a knowledge of the most extensive nature; a matter of science, of diligence, of reflection, without which no Senator can possibly be fit for his office. ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

His specialty was alfalfa, and he made a good thing out of not growing any. The government paid him well for every bushel of alfalfa he did not grow. The more alfalfa he did not grow, the more money the government gave him, and he spent every penny he didn't earn on new land to increase the amount of alfalfa he did not produce. Major Major's father worked without rest at not growing alfalfa. On long winter evenings he remained indoors and did not mend harness, and he sprang out of bed at the crack of noon every day just to make certain that the chores would not be done. He invested in land wisely and soon was not growing more alfalfa than any other man in the county. Neighbours sought him out for advice on all subjects, for he had made much money and was therefore wise. "As ye sow, so shall ye reap," he counselled one and all, and everyone said "Amen. ~ Joseph Heller

No doubt, some of the champions of local government hoped to preserve such unsavory local customs as slavery or the local rule of a small group of privileged men, but many of the defenders of local government argued honestly that the states presented the best hope of securing liberty. Liberty, in the eighteenth century, meant not simply liberty from some intrusive outside power. It meant the active exercise of control over one's life, the possession of power in one's own hands. It meant government small enough and close enough to home to be directly accountable and responsive. It meant self-government, not government handed over to some remote rulers. Strictly understood, the principle of local self-government meant a share of power more or less equal to everyone else's share of power, a citizenry more or less equal in wealth and status, not one dominated by one small group or another; that is to say, it meant democracy ~ Charles L. Mee Jr.

All murder is a tragedy but when journalists are killed, public debate loses a voice that can provide an important contribution to democracy. It is essential that governments do all they can to ensure safe conditions for journalists to carry out their work. ~ Irina Bokova

I proclaim publicly that I favor ending government involvement in education. ~ Marshall Fritz

I certainly enjoy going on stage and lecturing and talking to Congress. That's a personality explanation. And given government proposals, I thought I had a clear view that they were antagonistic to human freedom. ~ Whitfield Diffie

We simply cannot afford to give the reigns of government so someone who will double down on trickle down ~ William J. Clinton

If the Government is going to intrude upon the sacred ground of the First Amendment and tell its citizens that their exercise of protected speech could land them in jail, the law imposing such a penalty must clearly define the prohibited speech not only for the potential offender but also for the potential enforcer. ~ Ronald L. Buckwalter

The most horrible thing is not a government that stages public executions, but a government that secretly disposes of its victims. ~ Lu Xun

Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. ~ Bobby Scott

Government.... the scariest thing we face every Halloween... every day of every year! ~ Robert Armstrong