Andrew Cuomo Quotes

Getting one bill passed is close to impossible. Ask any kid who has spent a summer in Washington, or better yet a semester, and can't understand how people tolerate its menu of constant frustration. Imagine mastering it.

I'm a lobbyist and had a career lobbying. The guy who gets elected or the lady who gets elected president of the United States will immediately be lobbying. They would be advocating to the Congress, they'll be lobbying our allies and our adversaries overseas. They'll be asking the business community and labor unions.

Politics doesn't matter, policy does.

The challenge has been, we make policy in the world of politics.

Success can be built on a strong relationship between a lobbyist and a single, powerful lawmaker.

If I was into politics, I would be rich.

There are no techniques in politics.

Lobbying is a legitimate profession... Many congressional spouses act as lobbyists.

Obama considers himself above deal-making and back-slapping, political necessities he often delegates to Vice President Joe Biden and other lesser sorts.

If you spend enough time in or around Washington, you'll meet amazing people who work for the government.

Politics is about power, and it is about group power.

Nearly all legislation is the result of compromise.

If you're going to get into the political business, you've got to be intensively competitive.

Governments propose, and oppositions dispose.

I don’t know how to do what you have to do to get something out of a congressman.

The employment had no reference whatever to anything pending in Congress.

Washington has political power combined with the insider illusion of being in control.

There is something wrong with the way in which we make our decisions. The Government listen too much to the pollsters and the party managers. The trouble is that they are not even very good at politics, and they are entering too much into policy decisions. As a result, there is too much short-termism, too much reacting to events, and not enough shaping of events. We give the impression of being in office but not in power. Far too many important decisions are made for 36 hours' publicity.

No particular prior experience—not business or academia, or think tanks, or law—suggests that an individual will master the bureaucratic politics of Washington DC.

Jon Kyl did a really good job of presenting a case and moving issues. John McCain probably is one of the more effective legislators, getting things on through the process. I always thought, too - and this may seem kind of odd - Richard Shelby was just an effective guy a lot of times at stopping things.

It's very interesting how Washington works. It's not about speeches. It's about relationships.

I do politics in order to do policy.

It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.

The level of analysis that is done when you see laws created, whether it's the city or state or federal level - it's much more horse-trading than analysis.

I enjoyed the administrative work because it involved working with Congress, city council, and the mayor. I had never been a politician so it was fun - learning political maneuvering.