58 Quotes by Keith Ashdown

I give him a C-minus. It's better than we've had, but we've got a long way to go to get this federal fiscal house in order. ... I would give him a much higher grade if he had vetoed just one (spending) bill.

He's basically judge, jury and executioner for all this money.

The only thing I think can happen is that (Congress enacts) a very large, across-the-board cut, ... and nobody is talking about that. Every major program has an 800-pound gorilla protecting it.

It is a good reform. It creates an added deterrent to things being added (to conference reports) at the last minute.

Lawmakers are not trying to win campaign cash. They are trying to make sure that they employ thousands of people.

Our Iraq presence isn't going away; the only thing going away is the people watching how the money is being spent. If you don't have anyone watching it, the precedent is that the money will be wasted.

Pigs will fly before we cut this pork. I don't know how we'll make this happen.

We've known for years that there are some easy things on paper. But it's politically hard to limit the budgetary footprint of the federal government. Any item you try and cut, you're going to tick off an 800-pound gorilla that fights with a sledgehammer.

Transparency is the best disinfectant. If they would disclose everything and give the public time to review it, that would change the discourse dramatically.