The 50 Best Political Quotes For 2011

As compiled by John Hawkins of Right Wing News. There are lots of really, really good one. To be fair though, I don't like the #1 quote. It smacks to me of opportunism since the quote was not made by a political person or a person saying what he said for a political reason. But I won't spoil the surprise since I can't quibble with any of the other selections. Although it is not the "best" political quote, I think the lack of eloquence of this quote summarizes how I feel, and I think how many Americans feel, about that state of affairs.

21) My name’s Ronnie Bryant, and I’m a mine operator…. I’ve been issued a [state] permit in the recent past for [waste water] discharge, and after standing in this room today listening to the comments being made by the people…. [pause] Nearly every day without fail — I have a different perspective — men stream to these [mining] operations looking for work in Walker County. They can’t pay their mortgage. They can’t pay their car note. They can’t feed their families. They don’t have health insurance. And as I stand here today, I just … you know … what’s the use? I got a permit to open up an underground coal mine that would employ probably 125 people. They’d be paid wages from $50,000 to $150,000 a year. We would consume probably $50 million to $60 million in consumables a year, putting more men to work. And my only idea today is to go home. What’s the use? I don’t know. I mean, I see these guys — I see them with tears in their eyes — looking for work. And if there’s so much opposition to these guys making a living, I feel like there’s no need in me putting out the effort to provide work for them. So as I stood against the wall here today, basically what I’ve decided is not to open the mine. I’m just quitting. Thank you. — Ronnie Bryant

(link in original) It is not that businessmen don't want to be in business or hire people or get the economy moving again--it is that they are afraid to so do, they are afraid that they will be regulated out of business, that the government will make it very difficult, very costly to engage in the kind of business they want. Government, and in particular the federal government, has now put up so many barriers, so many obstacles to the efficient flow of business and commerce that you can almost envision bureaucrats and politicians sitting in their nice comfy office thinking of ways to keep themselves in that nice comfy office by regulating and passing legislation.

If that seems like a scene from Atlas Shrugged, you might be right. And that is a problem.