Keith Ashdown Quotes (40 Quotes)

If you're a lobbyist, you've got the Washington version of the scarlet letter tattooed on your back right now.

The secrecy is awful. We've created a system where we choose how government spends money based on the strength of your politician and not the need of your district.

Pigs will fly before we cut this pork. I don't know how we'll make this happen.

Lawmakers are not trying to win campaign cash. They are trying to make sure that they employ thousands of people.

The only thing I think can happen is that (Congress enacts) a very large, across-the-board cut, ... and nobody is talking about that. Every major program has an 800-pound gorilla protecting it.

They're a little late to the parade, but I still think it's an important step to make sure this whole sort of embarrassing era has ended.

This bill will be known as the most earmarked transportation bill in the history of our nation.

It's a challenge. We're really trying to get blood out of a stone, politically.

He's basically judge, jury and executioner for all this money.

You can't treat the Congress like they're a bunch of buzzing flies around your head, ... They're your bosses because they represent the American taxpayers.

The fact is, there are not the checks and balances to make sure the money is spent well.

Those 2,966 earmarks are a symptom of a disease that is preventing our troops from getting the tools they need to prosecute the war on terror.

We've known for years that there are some easy things on paper. But it's politically hard to limit the budgetary footprint of the federal government. Any item you try and cut, you're going to tick off an 800-pound gorilla that fights with a sledgehammer.

This is age-old machine politics. You are taking care of other people so they take care of you.

This shows the best government contractors don't always get hired, the most politically influential do. We need to strive for more competitive bidding.

It's sending shivers down the spines of a lot of senators. They've thrown down the gauntlet here to other people. I believe this is probably a bargaining chip to try to move senators down the road to more earmarking reform.

With all these new programs, the administration's contention that the deficit will be cut in half in the next five years is a tall tale, derived in large part by omitting very likely or inevitable costs, including costs for proposals the administration itself hopes and intends to support.

There's a lot of money in this bill, but bar none we consider the documentary the most egregious provision because it has absolutely nothing to do with alleviating the traffic problems in this nation.

They've created a complicated scheme of making sure a lot of different profitable energy industries are going to make off like bandits, ... pad their bottom line, but it doesn't really create new behavior in the energy industry.

Murtha walks on water. If you want anything done on the committee, you go to Murtha. Murtha is the reason why the defense appropriations bill gets done each year.

There are very few things that I read that kick me in the gut. This is beyond my wildest guess of how bad it actually is how bad, how long and how nobody knew about it, ... I don't think Democrats or Republicans win on this. It basically makes people detest Congress even more and deters voter turnout.

I don't know how people wouldn't feel uncomfortable with the idea that money is being wasted there and it's not being used for the war on terror and protecting the homeland.

There's definitely a need to get the money on the ground fast. But I don't think any of these proposals would do that. What I see them doing is lessening the transparency. It's the opposite of the way we should be going. We need to know more so we can know if all this money is being spent in a wise and responsible manner.

This is absolute highway robbery and it really does show that the agency doesn't have a clue in getting real value of contracts. I've done the math in my head 100 times and I don't know how they computed this cost.

Transparency is the best disinfectant. If they would disclose everything and give the public time to review it, that would change the discourse dramatically.

If they're telling everybody to tighten their belts and they're leasing these luxury cars, it just doesn't fly in Peoria.

We need to get out of the business of subsidizing people who are in harm's way.

You know how they call Vancouver 'North Hollywood' Well, Alaska could become 'North North Hollywood,'

They're not really sure if they're going to get anything that actually will work in a real-time effort like Iraq. It's frustrating in that most taxpayers are going to say we need to keep our troops safe.

We've been in budgetary La-La Land.

It's a real question of who's minding the store. It creates doubt in the investments we're making.

The only issue will be how is Congress going to react.

We considered it one of the worst items in the bill. It's a slush fund for the oil and gas industry that would have been in the backyard of one of the more powerful members in Congress.

I have better things to do than hunting around for where the money is hidden, ... We would rather the government be doing this, creating a one-stop shop. Is that really too much to ask

It looks like they're going to do what they should have done in the first place. There's been a lot of pressure on them to make sure that the economic benefit of these contracts stays in the Gulf Coast and doesn't flow to corporate boardrooms thousands of miles away. So in that respect, this is good news.

There are thousands of quid pro quos that occur daily in the halls of Congress. Earmarking is the quo. It's what lawmakers can offer to lobbyists in exchange for political contributions and whatever else. It's part of the puzzle.

I give him a C-minus. It's better than we've had, but we've got a long way to go to get this federal fiscal house in order. ... I would give him a much higher grade if he had vetoed just one (spending) bill.

Most other lobbyists would give up their second lung to get that kind of access. It's not always illegal, but it's definitely a strategy of influence that's unparalleled.

Instead of the Air Force acting as an independent reviewer of this nearly 30 billion deal, they've acted as a silent business partner of Boeing.

It's hard to turn around a train in Washington, and they deserve credit.