Rob Portman Quotes

My view is the less the government can do and the more freedom and opportunity you give people, that trusting people and free people and free enterprise - that America has built the greatest country in the history of the world.

I think most of us in America understand that people, not the government, creates jobs.

Get government out of our way, and let freedom and the spirit of the American people shine through.

We believe a renewed commitment to limited government will unshackle our economy and create millions of new jobs and opportunities for all people, of every background, to succeed and prosper. Under this approach, the spirit of initiative - not political clout - determines who succeeds.

I don't want to transform America. I want to restore to America the economic values of freedom and opportunity and limited government that has made us the powerhouse of the world.

Washington politicians think that government can make better decisions than you and me. But we know better. We know it's smaller, less intrusive government that will lead to real economic prosperity. We know it's business-friendly policies, not more red tape, that will create real growth.

Conservatives should never be shy in promoting a strong case for individual enterprise. We should acknowledge where the system doesn't work, and seek to amend it.

The American Dream was not about government's taking huge sums of money (under the label of "taxation") from citizens by force. The American Dream was about individualism and the opportunity to achieve success without interference from others.

Trust free people and free enterprise as opposed to meddling, burdensome government.

Government has a legitimate function, but the private sector has one too, and it is superior. In other words, people are better than institutions.

People have to take responsibility for themselves. We need to get the housing industry going again. We don't need government intervening in every step.

We believe in individual initiative, personal responsibility, opportunity, freedom, small government, the Constitution. These principles, these American principles are key to getting our economy back to being successful and leading the world.

We should reject big government and look inside ourselves for all the things that built this country into what it was.

We're at the crossroads. Down one road is a European centralized bureaucratic socialist welfare system in which politicians and bureaucrats define the future. Down the other road is a proud, solid, reaffirmation of American exceptionalism.

You don't grow the economy by growing government.

People create jobs, not the government.

As Americans, we don't see the role of government as guaranteeing outcomes, but allowing free men and women to flourish based on their own vision, their hard work and their personal responsibility.

How do we turn our nation around? President Obama thinks the answer is more and more government. Government is not the answer. You are not doing anyone a favor by creating dependency, destroying individual responsibility.

I became a Republican because I trust people more than I trust government.

I don't like the spirit of socialism – I think freedom is the basis of everything.

Government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way.

I'm a believer in private enterprise, the dignity of work, limited government, and the possibilities of freedom.

Government can't create wealth, but it can create the conditions for private enterprise to flourish.

Free enterprise has done more to lift people out of poverty, to help build a strong middle class, to help educate our kids, and to make our lives better than all the programs of government combined.

Fiscally, I'm very conservative. I don't believe in welfare states. I believe in giving people jobs.