Morgan Ortagus Quotes

People want divided government.

I'm tired of divided government. It doesn't work very well.

You need the House, you need the Senate and you need the administration. And absent one of them, you're not going to get a heck of a lot done.

We've gotten to the point now where Republicans and Democrats have nothing in common besides being members of the 'caustic caucus,' and we can't get anything done.

Today, I think the attitude is that governing is not necessarily good politics, and the result is that it's much more partisan and much more divided.

Unlike the Reagan and Bush Administrations, with but one exception, the Clinton administration failed to reach out to Republicans in creating a new team, and eventually paid a political price.

I think that what is truly unfortunate is when an entire party makes a decision that they're going to block every single thing that a president wants to accomplish. It's very - it's very hard to get anything done in those circumstances.

While I have worked hard to bring folks to the middle to craft common-sense solutions to the many problems that confront our nation, Washington is mired in gridlock, gamesmanship and constant partisan bickering.

The war in Iraq has been extremely divisive here at home, and has also divided the world community.

Congress is unable to do the work of the American people because too many politicians believe that compromise means capitulation.

During the past few years I have led a sometimes hard battle for German foreign policy.

It's counterintuitive, but the most divisive arrangement is when the same party controls both Congress and the presidency, a situation encountered in eight of the past 10 years. With government unified under a single party, the minority has the least possible incentive to cooperate with the majority.

In Washington, compromise has become a dirty word.

And I'm here to tell you, the reaction that I'm getting around the country, people are sick and tired of this word in Washington, compromise. This is why nothing ever gets done.

In a sensitive matter, where its own ignorance could scarcely have been greater, Congress would have been better advised to leave the conduct of foreign policy in the hands of those who have been constitutionally charged with it.

The first thing a diplomat has to do is understand the domestic politics of foreign states.

I do hope that next year Republicans and Democrats will do nothing.

President Bush said that he wanted to change the tone in Washington. He has; it has gotten worse.

On any big issue in government there are always going to be disagreements.

Divided government need not be dysfunctional government.

We need less bipartisanship in Congress.

U. S. Foreign Policy is usually largely reactive.

Reaching consensus has gotten harder. Today, a minority if the minority plays hostage politics. It’s all or nothing politics at its worst.

In this political climate, there is no possibility of passing anything comprehensive.

The middle in Congress is gone now. That is where we got most things done.