[Calling such ambition good]:
“This was the most ambitious president we’ve heard in this chamber in decades. The first half of the speech was FDR, fighting for the New Deal. The second half was Lyndon Johnson fighting for the Great Society, and we’ve never seen those two presidents rolled together in quite this way before.” –CNN political analyst David Gergen
[How dare they]:
“Do you think the Republicans are digging themselves in a hole by not being more supportive of the president’s proposals?” –CBS anchor Katie Couric to House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
['We Are All Socialists Now']:
“If we fail to acknowledge the reality of the growing role of government in the economy, insisting instead on fighting 21st-century wars with 20th-century terms and tactics, then we are doomed to a fractious and unedifying debate. The sooner we understand where we truly stand, the sooner we can think more clearly about how to use government in today’s world…. Whether we like it or not — or even whether many people have thought much about it or not — the numbers clearly suggest that we are headed in a more European direction.” –Jon Meacham and Evan Thomas in Newsweek’s recent lead article
[Media heart Obama]:
“The success of the stimulus package may be measured less by visible achievements than by what does not happen — the home that is not foreclosed, the family that doesn’t slip into poverty, the disease that does not go undiagnosed.” –the Associated Press, crediting Obama for what doesn’t happen ++ “I like to say that, in some ways, Barack Obama is the first president since George Washington to be taking a step down into the Oval Office. I mean, from visionary leader of a giant movement, now he’s got an executive position that he has to perform in, in a way.” –ABC’s Terry Moran
[Let them pay taxes]:
“Another source of revenue being proposed — allowing the Bush tax cuts for a family earning over $250,000 a year to expire in 2011, increasing that tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent.” –ABC’s Jake Tapper [**As if the money belonged to the government in the first place, or as if tax increases automatically generate more revenue].
