P. J. O'Rourke Quotes

Washington is a place where politicians don't know which way is up and taxes don't know which way is down.

Politicians always seek a pain-free solution to economic problems, and the economists keep reminding us that there is no such thing.

I think most politicians have almost no understanding of economics; otherwise, they wouldn't have become politicians.

It's the old Washington fiscal game of Jenga. You try to build as much debt as you can take, as much tax as you can take, until you topple the entire economy.

Federal spending is atrocious.

And it's important to remember we are all responsible - or certainly the elected members in Washington of both parties are responsible for making decisions and choices to ensure that the economy grows and jobs are created.

He smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of Public Credit, and it sprung upon its feet.

Too often in Washington, we only look at the recipient side: How does the budget affect either those who receive or don't receive benefits.

Our enormous surplus revenues are illogical and oppressive.

I hold no candle for George Osborne whatsoever. He has no strategic skills, is a hopeless chancellor, has no idea how most people have to live and his policies are failing and hurting millions.

The debt they ran up in the first year of the Obama administration is bigger than the last four years of the Bush combined.

It is day after day in this institution, borrow money, run up the debt, run up the deficits and then with a straight face say, we are going to repeal a tax that affects 1 percent of the American people, just 1 percent of the American people.

Government is just spending too much money.

Macroeconomic policy can never be devoid of politics: it involves fundamental trade-offs and affects different groups differently.

Fiscal policy is not just, or even not even principally, the purview of the president.

I think there is a shared sense of urgency in Washington on fiscal issues.

Only in Washington does a decrease in the proposed increase equal a spending cut.

What is the biggest public forum in the United States? We were told it's the Super Bowl. The ad shows kids working at blue-collar jobs, and the final statement is just written text: Who's going to pay for the trillion dollar deficit?

Just because you have checks in the checkbook doesn't mean that you have money in the bank, and Washington has failed to understand that.

Veterans are driven by the same frustrations that the public has with what is happening in Washington... the fiscal irresponsibility and the financial crisis that our country is facing.

Politicians are addicted to spending and revenue extraction. As with an addict, there's little pause for moral or legal contemplation.

If we don't change the way Washington operates we're going to bankrupt our children and grandchildren.

One of the most lethal mistakes a public official can make is raising taxes and not paying your own.

Washington's answer to a self-inflicted financial crisis reminded Americans why they so deeply distrust the political class. The 'fiscal cliff' process was secretive and sloppy, and the nation's so-called leadership lacked the political courage to address our root problems: joblessness and debt.

If we have an economic crisis in the Western world it's because the government makes up 50 percent or more of the economy. This is a cancer that is taking away people's freedom.