Bill Foster Quotes

You used to get legislation done by getting the moderates to agree. But we have no moderates now so it doesn’t get done

I've never seen a constructive Social Security debate that started with one side digging in, in one place and another side digging into another.

While I have worked hard to bring folks to the middle to craft common-sense solutions to the many problems that confront our nation, Washington is mired in gridlock, gamesmanship and constant partisan bickering.

Washington has, with some justification, gained a reputation for being hopelessly mired in partisan gridlock.

I don't look forward to a time when every politician, every legislator goes to Washington absolutely committed to an extreme point of view. Elected representatives are sent to Washington to compromise, not to never compromise.

Partisan rancour and party politics and ideology have got in the way of compromise - and compromise is the only thing that has ever made politics successful.

One of the tragedies of the Bush administration is that we went back to business as usual, make a deal with the Democrats, let's all be friends in Washington philosophy.

We need less bipartisanship in Congress.

The middle in Congress is gone now. That is where we got most things done.

There is too much blind partisanship in Congress, which has blocked progress on critical issues. Too many members view compromise as weakness rather than the essence of our democracy. This has to end.

Politics presents few win-win situations for partisans on either side.

Both parties are so entrenched in their ideologies and a desire to score political points and hold on to power that we never seem to agree on a problem, much less find solutions.

What the 1990s taught the Clinton veterans was that you could 'triangulate' with a GOP-controlled Congress.

I think that what is truly unfortunate is when an entire party makes a decision that they're going to block every single thing that a president wants to accomplish. It's very - it's very hard to get anything done in those circumstances.

In Washington, compromise has become a dirty word.

For those of us who consider ourselves political moderates, life is a dispiriting slog, a sorry mix of rectitude and ineptitude.

I wouldn’t be too serious about bipartisanship. It’s a great myth that ought to be fostered. And don’t bring too damn much scholarship to bear on it. You’ll prove it out of existence if you’re not careful.

In Congressional legislating, most of the game is played between the 30-yard lines. The great forces of inertia and compromise … in the past have frequently pushed liberal and conservative players toward the middle of the field.

Campaigns are partisan. Governing should not be partisan.

After a national crisis, it’s never too early for a partisan debate in Washington.

In Congress, if you simply wait out the passion, you can get back to gridlock.

I wasn't looking for a hobby. If I were looking for a hobby, it wouldn't be the United States Senate. That's one of the toughest jobs I'd probably ever do. I just felt there wasn't enough compromise going on: People were too far to the left, too far to the right, with no one trying to build a compromise.

We're all tired of a Washington that has these partisan camps where nothing gets done.

Unlike Washington, the California legislature has proved that cooperation is both possible and essential to successful policymaking, while stubborn absolutism will have you trailing head lice in popularity polls.

Not every Democratic idea is a good one; not every Republican idea is a bad one.