Elissa Slotkin Quotes
I'm always going to have a strong preference for things that can actually pass into legislation. We can talk about big issues and have big goals while also working on pragmatic things.
Slotkin, Elissa. Interview by Poppy Harlow. CNN Newsroom, CNN, 2019.
Professor Neustadt had served on the staff of President Harry S Truman so he had a practical perspective from which he spoke in addition to his scholarship.
The President had threatened to veto a budget bill if it contained a provision that would increase taxes for the wealthy. There were not enough votes to override the veto. The majority leader urged dropping the provision:
His admonition did little good. That Congress passed fewer bills than any other in history.
He was discussing “Stand Your Ground Laws” which were enacted to solve one problem, but then effected many other things negatively. The law, once passed, is the law regardless of whether it has adverse consequences that the legislators never anticipated. This is one of the reasons that drafting legislation is such a difficult skill.
A trochar was a medical instrument commonly used with cattle when they would become very bloated with gas. The farmer would insert the trochar into the the animal and all the gas would come out with a loud noise. The insult was understood by farmers, ranchers, and rural folk but went over the heads of must city people and journalists.
Note his choice of the word “control”. Some politicians believe that the purpose of most legislation is to enhance the control; that the government maintains over its citizens. However the United States Constitution was written and ratified so that the citizens could control the politicians. Neither group has prevailed totally.
Elissa Blair Slotkin is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Michigan's 8th congressional district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and Department of Defense official. Her district is based in Lansing, and stretches into the outer northern and western suburbs of Detroit.
