Pat Toomey Quotes

There is a problem in Washington, and the problem is bigger than a continuing resolution. It is bigger than Obamacare. It is even bigger than the budget. The most fundamental problem and the frustration is that the men and women in Washington aren't listening.

It's no great secret, number one, in my view, and I think the view of most Americans, that Congress itself is pretty dysfunctional. We are not addressing the real needs of the American people. And second of all, philosophically, there is a huge division between the House and the Senate.

Given the slow pace of Washington's bureaucracy, policymakers are often busy solving yesterday's problems. This rearview mirror approach afflicts Mr. Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress.

Has Washington become so dysfunctional that even when we all agree on something, we can’t get it done?

I'm tired of divided government. It doesn't work very well.

With gridlock the norm, Congress's approval rating is below 10 percent and the public has lost faith in its national leadership.

And I'm here to tell you, the reaction that I'm getting around the country, people are sick and tired of this word in Washington, compromise. This is why nothing ever gets done.

Congress has been reformed so much that it can't get anything done.

Why is it so hard for the Congress to do something for the public?

Congress doesn’t do comprehensive well.

The wheels of compromise lose traction as Congress sinks into an ooze of dysfunction.

One of the reasons Americans hold Washington in such low regard is the perception that nothing ever gets done. Whatever the issue - no matter how urgent - they always seem to be 'working on it.'

Congress seems to be very good at doing nothing.

Washington is a black hole into which all sanity is sucked out of government deliberations.

There's a lot of good, bipartisan legislation that passes in committee and then gets bottled up. As a businessman, it surprised me.

Washington is broken.

Unfortunately, the Senate Democrats have become an extreme party. They have become a party that has abdicated their responsibilities. Under Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats, we have a do-nothing Senate.

We have a paralysis in Washington that's not serving our country. We have to address these issues.

Congress is unable to do the work of the American people because too many politicians believe that compromise means capitulation.

Congress is dysfunctional.

Texans don't want to sit back and watch Austin turn into Washington, D.C. State leaders in power keep forcing people to opposite corners to prepare for a fight instead of coming together to get things done.

Many times, the Senate talks of things and never gets anything through.

Today, I think the attitude is that governing is not necessarily good politics, and the result is that it's much more partisan and much more divided.

It's a cliche that the Senate is broken, and like most cliches, it's true.

I understand why so many Americans are fed up with government. The 112th Congress was almost universally derided as the worst ever. It was the most polarized body since the end of Reconstruction, according to one study, and I grew embarrassed by its partisan bickering, inactivity, and refusal to address the vital challenges facing America.