George F. Will Quotes

I hate big government, but I really hate a government that doesn't work. So when 'they say we either have to raise taxes or cut core services,' it's actually a 'false choice.'

In the language of politics, there is only one translation for the phrase 'hope and change,' to wit: 'big, fat government.'

There is no evidence that government under Republicans will shrink. It's simply a question of what the government will do and who will benefit.

The larger the slice taken by government, the smaller the cake available for everyone.

We should distinguish carefully skepticism about Big Government from contempt for all government.

President Obama wants to increase the size of government and raise taxes, while I support less government and more individual freedom.

Every dollar I can't commit to my company that's paid in taxes is paying a government that I believe is too big and doing way too much that I don't want done.

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.

It is perfectly true that that government is best which governs least. It is equally true that that government is best which provides most.

In a very weak economy, when you say 'cut government spending,' what you mean is you're laying off school teachers and you're de-funding various programs that put money into the economy. This means you have more unemployed people that then draw unemployment benefits and don't pay taxes.

Because what happens is, as the economy suffers, tax revenues go down. But unlike businesses, where at least your variable costs go down, in government your variable costs go up: unemployment insurance, workmen's compensation, health care benefits, welfare, you name it.

The size of government is not altogether that large in this country.

Yes, deficits are a problem. I've been saying so for more than a quarter of a century now. But the problem is not the size of the deficit, it's the size of government's claim on our economy.

Doesn't anything socialistic make you want to throw up? Like great public schools, or health insurance for all?

When you start cutting government expenditure, at some point you are cutting essential services rather than excessive services. So you have to take into account the social costs involved in cutting government spending.

I'm very, very concerned about the Bush presidency. I'm worried about the kinds of cuts in domestic programs that mean something to a lot of people, including members of my family, who depend on certain things from the government.

Whatever the economy needs to maintain itself, the government will do it.

You've got the Democratic Party that now depends on more government spending and actual building the dependence on government in order to increase their political party.

The economy is terrible it's been terrible for years now, and the reason it's bad is not because of a debt-ceiling vote. The reason it's bad is because we have people who believe that by making government bigger by keeping people on unemployment checks and on welfare we're going to dig us out of this mess.

It's often difficult for conservatives to separate overall government intervention from a question as simple as the census.

What got us out of the depression was capitalism, and we would have gotten out a lot quicker had the government not intervened.

The Democrats want government to do the spending. Senator McCain wants families to do the spending.

Memo to Congress: America's problem is not that government is too small. It's the spending, stupid!

The public is upset. If they haven't lost their job, they know somebody that has. If they haven't lost their house, they know somebody that has. What do you do? When something's wrong, it's government's job to fix it, it must be government that's responsible for causing it.

It's easier to sell cotton candy than it is to sell broccoli to somebody, but the broccoli is better for you, and the same thing with a limited government.