Old Fogey's Quotes for Saturday

"We believe the most effective strategy in combating illegal employment is criminal prosecution of unscrupulous employers and seizure of their ill-gotten assets."
Julie Myers, assistant secretary of homeland security for immigration and customs enforcement.
Cracking Down on Bosses and Borders

"Well, according to national security adviser Hadley, the lunatic North Korean regime, with nukes and missiles, is 'not a threat.' "
Al Kamen, WaPo columnist
You Can Quote Them on That, Maybe

"Instead of a traveling circus of field hearings that may make good politics but do little to advance sound policy, I believe Congress needs to get back to work in Washington to reach a compromise agreement on comprehensive border security and immigration reform legislation."
Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Tex.), regarding House International Relations subcommittee field hearings in various cities
GOP Hearing Alleges Risks Of Terrorism Along Border

"It was stupid and gross. They have this obsession to satisfy conservative Republicans who will probably be re-elected no matter what happens. They get job satisfaction, but they are making it more difficult for me to win my race."
Representative Christopher Shays, Republican of Connecticut on the usual conservative election year agenda, including gun rights and abortion restrictions
G.O.P. Agenda in House Has Moderates Unhappy

"The problem with diplomacy, it takes a while to get something done. If you're acting alone, you can move quickly. "
President George Bush
Bush Says U.S. May Have Been Able to Intercept North Korean Missile

"Obviously, the government lawyers making these claims never took a class with my eighth-grade social studies teacher, Mr. Pagliaro. He told students it takes an approving vote of both the House and Senate for a bill to be enacted, and he cited what still seems to be pretty reliable authority: it says so in the Constitution."
Dorothy Samuels, in NYT editorial regarding a federal lawsuit challenging the validity of the Deficit Reduction Act which slashed funding to popular programs and was passed by very narrow margins in both houses with the two versions not being reconciled
Editorial Observer: The Deficit Reduction Act? What Deficit Reduction Act?

"A ruling that tells the administration that it has that power does not mean that it will actually use it. But it will no longer be able to hide behind a legal fiction. "
NYT editorial on Supreme Court deciding whether the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which Bush claims is not covered by the law
Global Warming and the Courts

"In the absence of governmental checks and balances present in other areas of our national life, the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in the area of national defense and international affairs may lie in an enlightened citizenry.... Without an informed and free press, there cannot be an enlightened people."
Justice Potter Stewart in his opinion in the Pentagon Papers case in 1971
The government's current war with the free press

"Most Americans understand it’s a matter of simple fairness. The current minimum is $5.15 an hour, which comes to $10,712 a year for a full-time worker. These days, a garden-variety chief executive takes home $8 million a year, which comes to $3,846 an hour. The Bush tax breaks have given them an extra $60 an hour. "
Robert B. Reich, co-founder of The American Prospect, regarding the minimum wage
Minimum Politics