Quotes

"I went into economics because I read Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels, in which social scientists save galactic civilization, and that's what I wanted to be."

—economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, quoted in The New York Times Book Review, August 6

"The postal service's numbers are better than most of ours."

—Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.), comparing the approval ratings of the USPS to those of Congress, August 6

"They are the villains in this. They have been part of the problem in a major way. They are doing everything in their power to stop a public option from happening. And the public has to know that.…It's almost immoral what they are doing."

—Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on private insurers, quoted by Reuters, July 30

"Like it or not, we're the mob."

—Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, making the case for a tax-financed Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, July 7