Walt Mossberg Quotes

The role of government is to steer us in the right direction, not do all the work for us.

The government doesn't have to solve everyone's problem here.

But our energy woes are in many ways the result of classic market failures that can only be addressed through collective action, and government is the vehicle for collective action in a democracy.

I've always believed as a value that the government has a vital - not overwhelming, but vital - role to play in furthering human welfare and good. I think we have an important supportive role to play, hopefully intelligent and sensible.

Some things are too important to be left to the private sector.

The role of government is to encourage—not discourage.

The legitimate object of government is "to do for the people what needs to be done, but which they cannot, by individual effort, do at all, or do so well, for themselves.

The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves -- in their separate, and individual capacities....In all that the people can individually do for themselves, government ought not interfere.

Government has a rightful role, but not an excessive role, to play.

I'm not here today to tell you government doesn't have a role to play. It does, but it needs to be the right role.

Despite my great disappointment in American foreign policy, I am very proud of the American tradition of wild land conservation. It is the best tradition and example of land conservation in the world. It goes back a long way.

Another example of that was that even during the economic problems of the 1945 government, we managed to carry out other aspects of our policy and other ideals. Through the establishment of national parks, for instance.

Protecting our land, our air and our water is a very important thing that we can only do together.

Americans have long recognized the need to protect our public lands and their vast resources.

What has gone catastrophically wrong in England and the States is that for 30 years we've lost the ability to talk about the state in positive terms. We've raised a generation or two of young people who don't think to ask, 'What can the state do that is good?'

Much can and must be done by governments, but they cannot of themselves change lives.

Governments at all levels and the whole society should act more vigorously to protect the land our lives depend on.

Just as the left has to be more willing to question 'Government knows best,' the right has to rethink its laissez-faire attitude toward government.

In my 31 years in Congress, I have seen a lot of changes. We made some substantial policy changes that have improved our parks system and our public lands.

These are the same people who believe, in some cases, the federal government should not play any role in providing health care to our people or protecting the environment.

I happen to agree with many of the liberal emphasis on compassion, justice and equality. I just disagree that it's the government's role to provide everything.

Natural resources are so vast that no single individual or business is going to protect them; they don't have an incentive to.

Canada was built from its very beginnings on the belief that public leadership in the economy and on social issues would be as effective and cheap as anything done by the private sector.

How can we decide matters of public policy when we cannot understand them?

The country is carried comfortably down the river, and the function of Government is to occasionally put out an oar to prevent running into the bank.