 "Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! A friend of mine was asked to a costume ball a short time ago. He slapped some egg on his face and went as a liberal economist. The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination. Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards; if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book. Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement. Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first. When you see all that rhetorical smoke billowing up from the Democrats, well, ladies and gentlemen, I'd follow the example of their nominee (Bill Clinton): don't inhale. I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress." I've noticed that everybody who is for abortion has already been born. How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin. The other day someone told me the difference between a democracy and a people's democracy. It's the same difference between a jacket and a straitjacket. History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap. I hope that when you're my age you'll be able to say, as I have been able to say: we lived in freedom; we lived lives that were a statement, not an apology. - Ronald Reagan" |