Earmarks Quotes

• Earmarks have become a symbol of a Congress that has broken faith with the people. This earmark ban shows the American people we are listening and we are dead serious about ending business as usual in Washington.

  John Boehner

  People, Broken, Listening

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• We need earmark reform, and when I'm President, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.

  Barack Obama

  President, Reform, Needs

  First presidential debate, edition.cnn.com. October 14, 2008.

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• The earmark favor factory needs to be boarded up and demolished, not turned over to new management that may or may not have a better eye for earmarks with 'merit.'

  Tom Coburn

  Eye, Needs, Favors

  "For Republicans, the Moment for Reform Has Arrived" by Tom Coburn, www.realclearpolitics.com. September 24, 2010.

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• I will veto every single beer, um, bill with earmarks.

  John McCain

  Beer, Bills, Veto

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• I think we ought to ban earmarks. I think we ought to give citizens the opportunity to designate up to 10 percent of their federal income tax toward debt reduction. If we did that, we would reduce our debt by $95 billion a year.

  Carly Fiorina

  Opportunity, Thinking, Years

  "Battle for the Senate on 'Fox News Sunday'". "Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace, www.foxnews.com. October 17, 2010.

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• I am convinced that I do not want to give up more power to the White House, whether it's George Bush or Barack Obama. And I'm going to fight as hard as I can against President Obama on these earmarks and my Republican colleagues who hate to vote for them, but love to get them.

  Harry Reid

  Giving Up, Hate, Fighting

  "Countdown with Keith Olbermann", www.nbcnews.com. December 16th, 2010.

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• House and Senate Republicans are now united in adopting earmark bans. We hope President Obama will follow through on his support for an earmark ban by pressing Democratic leaders to join House and Senate Republicans in taking this critical step to restore public trust.

  John Boehner

  House, Support, Leader

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• Peace is one of the most obvious earmarks of the authority of Christ. A sense of peace will virtually always accompany His will and direction, even when the direction might not have been our personal preference.

  Beth Moore

  Might, Christ, Authority

  Beth Moore (2010). “Paul: 90 Days on His Journey of Faith”, p.141, B&H Publishing Group

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• We know that appropriators will fight these cutbacks. But by eliminating earmarks, we can stop the horse trading that grows agency budgets.

  Eric Cantor

  Horse, Fighting, Agency

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• Be sure to lay wide streets planted with shady trees, every other of a quick-growing variety. Be sure that there is plenty of space for lawns and gardens, reserved large areas for football, hockey and parks. Earmark areas for Hindu temples, Mohammedan mosques and Christian churches.

  Jamsetji Tata

  Christian, Football, Hockey

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• Many of the earmark request forms are actually filled out by lobbyists and then just turned in by the member's staff to the appropriations committee.

  Jeff Flake

  Filled Out, Lobbyists, Staff

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• I know of three ways to recognize another writer: Writers are shamelessly nosy. Writers tell good stories, even about dumb old, daily things. On most writers, the earmarks of thrift, if not outright povery, are evident.

  Joyce Thompson

  Dumb, Way, Three

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• I think I'm the last Democrat left in the Senate after Russ Feingold was defeated that won't take earmarks.

  Claire McCaskill

  Thinking, Lasts, Defeated

  "Interview with Senator Claire McCaskill". "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer, www.realclearpolitics.com. November 4, 2010.

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• During my first term in Congress, I signed a pledge that I will take no more earmarks and I've been faithful to that pledge.

  Michele Bachmann

  Faithful, Firsts, Congress

  "Rep. Michele Bachmann Talks Earmarks, Obamacare and Gay Marriage; Sen. Kyl on Debt Talks". "Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace", www.foxnews.com. June 26, 2011.

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• Finally, in the Mississippi state Senate, earmarks are often hidden in bond bills, which I have voted against many times, because our bonded indebtedness is too high and we simply can't afford it. For example, building museums in the middle of a recession makes little sense.

  Chris McDaniel

  Museums, Littles, Bills

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• After the $700 billion bailout, the trillion-dollar stimulus, and the massive budget bill with over 9,000 earmarks, many of you implored Washington to please stop spending money that we don't have. But instead of cutting, we saw an unprecedented explosion of government spending and debt. It was unlike anything we've ever seen before in the history of the country.

  Michele Bachmann

  Country, Cutting, Government

  Michele Bachmann's response to State of the Union, www.cnn.com. January 26, 2011.

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• It had all the earmarks of a CIA operation; the bomb killed everybody in the room except the intended target!

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Target, Bombs, Rooms

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• Look, we know we screwed up when we were in the majority. We fell in love with power. We spent way too much money - especially on earmarks. There was too much corruption when we ran this place. We were guilty. And that's why we lost.

  Eric Cantor

  Lost Love, Majority, Looks

  "Yep, Eric Cantor Really Said All of These Things" by Austin Tedesco, www.boston.com. June 11, 2014.

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• There is in most passions a shrinking away from ourselves. The passionate pursuer has all the earmarks of a fugitive.

  Eric Hoffer

  Passion, Shrinking, Literature

  Eric Hoffer (1996). “The Passionate State of Mind”

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• For the air of lonely men surrounded him now, a still atmosphere in which the world around him slipped away, leaving him incapable of relationship, an atmosphere against which neither will nor longing availed. This was one of the significant earmarks of his life.

  Hermann Hesse

  Lonely, Men, Air

  Hermann Hesse (1980). “Six Novels: With Other Stories and Essays”

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• La Raza stands for 'The Race' - and they say so openly. They are a pro-Hispanic organization; I will call them a racist organization. They base their philosophy on race. They advocate for those minorities that fit within the category that they define as drives them. They are apologists for illegal immigrants - and we are funding them with your tax dollars in this administration through earmarks. It is outrageous. It's an in-your-face act on the part of this Congress.

  Steve King

  Philosophy, Race, Organization

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• Think of Jonathan Edwards who thundered the terrors of God and what Hell was like until men grasped their seats and hung on to them, fearing they were falling into Hell itself. Men were moved by fear to escape damnation. That was believed to be Christianity. Why any coward wanted to keep out of Hell. He might not have had one idea in his soul of what was the real true earmark of Christianity.

  John G. Lake

  Real, Fall, Men

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• Our legislative victory - an end to earmarks.

  Rand Paul

  Victory, Ends

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• Earmarks are supposed to be bad. But they don't increase spending.

  Todd Tiahrt

  Increase, Spending, Supposed To Be

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• I've always been interested in past lives, because they're earmarks of what creates us.

  Sylvia Browne

  Past, Past Life

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