Alexander Hamilton Quotes

To attach full confidence to an institution of this nature, it appears to be an essential ingredient in its structure that it shall be under a private direction—under the guidance of individual interest, not of public policy.

So the system we have in radio and television today is the direct result of government policies that have been made in our name, in the name of the people, on our behalf, but without our informed consent.

I would support a devolution of power out of Washington for education, health care, transportation.

From the Medicare prescription drug plan to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the passage of No Child Left Behind, President Bush presided over a major expansion of the reach of government.

Today, many people take for granted the notion that people whose lives are going to be very heavily affected by public policies should have a say in how they are formulated and carried out.

The Federal Government should be the last resort, not the first. Ask if a potential program is truly a federal responsibility or whether it can better be handled privately, by voluntary organizations, or by local or state governments.

Politics isn't only about government. Politics is about the people.

Politicians do what they hear from the American people.

Let the federal government take care of its values, not yours.

Citizen participation: a device whereby public officials induce nonpublic individuals to act in a way the officials desire.

A bureau that benefits a well organized interest group will fare better in getting the sinews for administration than a bureau whose benefits are diffused over unorganized consumers or whose function is to restrain rather than to confer benefits.

Today's public opinion, though it may appear as light as air, may be tomorrow's legislation-for better or for worse.

Individual capitalists are in charge of a wide range of decisions which, because of their consequences for the general welfare of society, are in fact public policy decisions taken by private individuals.

I don't want to tell Gov. Brewer what to do; she can do what's best for her state.

While we don't have the authority on the state level to change federal policy, my fellow governors and I do have a duty to protect our states' citizens, and we have a personal responsibility to act when we have the power to do so.

During the Civil War, the fledgling Republican Party constructed the nation's first activist government, using taxes to fund social welfare legislation for the first time in American history.

Limited government is best.

The Founding Fathers: A bunch of old white guys who are making it nearly impossible for modern government to pick our doctors, teach our children, correct our diets, and save our money.

I don't know why, but I've had an interest and passion for politics.

The E.U., its institutions, structure and ways of working are an anachronism.

In all the more advanced communities the great majority of things are worse done by the intervention of government than the individuals most interested in the matter would do them, or cause them to be done, if left to themselves.

When you are talking about moral issues you are talking about same-sex marriage, which has been relegated over to the states. It's no longer a federal issue and yet, we are dealing with it like it's a federal issue but for a large degree it has become a state issue.

Governments never do any great good things from mere principle, from mere love of justice ... You expect too much of human nature when you expect that.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of people in high places who understand the science but don't like where the policy leads them: too much government control.

The American Constitution was designed to make it hard to have too much government.