Chief Justice William Rehnquist, from his dissent in Wallace v. Jaffree, 1985

"The 'wall of separation between church and state' is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging. It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned."

George W. Bush

"We'll once again show the world that the worst adversities bring out the best in America."

President Ronald Reagan, Sept. 26, 1986

"Hamilton, Jefferson, and all the Founding Fathers recognized that the Constitution is the supreme and ultimate expression of the will of the American people. They saw that no one in office could remain above it, if freedom were to survive through the ages. They understood that, in the words of James Madison, if 'the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation is not the guide to expounding it, there can be no security for a faithful exercise of its powers.' "

Tom Minnery, vice president of government and public policy for Focus on the Family Action

"This country was founded on the acknowledgement of God and His blessings on this land," he said. "And now, because the Supreme Court failed to rule on the merits of Michael Newdow's original case, 'under God' is in the crosshairs again.

"Today's appalling ruling on the Pledge further underscores the importance of swiftly confirming Judge John Roberts to the Supreme Court. It is only a matter of time before this case is brought back to Washington -- and it is imperative that Roberts, a strict constructionist, is leading that court."

Columnist Steve Chapman

"No amount of money will change the fact that this is no place for a large urban population. Most of the city is below sea level, and it continues to sink, even as the ocean is rising."

Rep. Jim Welker

WalMart gave over $20 million to help in the relief for the victims of hurricane Katrina. How much have unions given?

Wall Street Journal editorial, 9/14/05

"Some public-spirited folks in Bozeman, Montana, have come up with a wonderful idea to help Uncle Sam offset some of the $62 billion federal cost of Hurricane Katrina relief. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports that Montanans from both sides of the political aisle have petitioned the city council to give the feds back a $4 million earmark to pay for a parking garage in the just-passed $286 billion highway bill. As one of these citizens, Jane Shaw, told us: 'We figure New Orleans needs the money right now a lot more than we need extra downtown parking space.'

"Which got us thinking: Why not cancel all of the special-project pork in the highway bill and dedicate the $25 billion in savings to emergency relief on the Gulf Coast? Is it asking too much for Richmond, Indiana, to give up $3 million for its hiking trail, or Newark, New Jersey, to put a hold on its $2 million bike path? And in the face of the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, couldn't Alaskans put a hold on the infamous $454 million earmark for the two 'bridges to nowhere' that will serve a town of 50 people? That same half a billion dollars could rebuild thousands of homes for suffering New Orleans evacuees."

Columnist Thomas Sowell

"FEMA has bungled other emergencies where most of the victims were white and in previous administrations. Like many government bureaucracies, FEMA is an equal-opportunity bungler."

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado)

"Given the abysmal failure of state and local officials in Louisiana to plan adequately for or respond to the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the city of New Orleans, and given the long history of public corruption in Louisiana, I hope the House will refrain from directly appropriating any funds from the public treasury to either the state of Louisiana or the city of New Orleans. Instead, reconstruction and relief funds dedicated to the people of New Orleans should be administered by a private organization or a select committee similar to the historic Truman Commission."

Greg Pierce's "Inside Politics," 9/13/05

"By a 3-to-1 margin, Americans say border control is far more important to national security and fighting crime than gun control, according to a nationwide Zogby survey."

ACLU founder Roger Baldwin

"I am for socialism, disarmament, and ultimately for abolishing the State itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion. I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal." (From "The ACLU Versus America" by Alan Sears and Craig Osten, pg 7)

John Fund, Political Diary, 1/18/06

"In 1987, President Ronald Reagan vetoed a spending bill because it contained 121 earmarks. The number of earmarks approved by Congress grew to 1,439 in 1995. Last year, Congress approved a staggering 13,998 earmarks."

David Boaz of the Cato Institute

"When you spread food out on a picnic table, you can expect ants. When you put $3 trillion on the table, you can expect special interests, lobbyists and pork-barrel politicians. As long as the federal government has so much money and power to hand out, we'll never get rid of the Abramoffs. Restrictions on lobbying deal with symptoms, not causes."

Rep. John Shadegg, Arizona Republican

"Republicans promised the American people two things in 1994. First, we promised to rein in the size and scope of the federal government. Second, we promised to clean up Washington. In recent years, we have fallen short on both counts."

Peter Cohn in CongressDaily, 1/18/06

"Republican leaders are moving toward requiring public disclosure of lawmakers' sponsorship and justification for local projects in spending bills, aides said Tuesday as an election-year backlash against earmarks intensifies. . . . Still, some observers said it would be tough for the GOP Congress to shed its 'drunken sailor' reputation when it comes to earmarked spending, despite newfound reform principles. . . . Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common sense added: 'It's like an alcoholic saying 'I'm down from 16 drinks a night to 12, so I'm not a drunk anymore.' "

Columnist Mac Johnson, Human Events Online, 1/16/06

"There is a small but growing number of politicians who have taken on the (illegal immigration) issue in earnest and are leading an increasingly organized fight to restore the rule of law to immigration matters. Among these is J.D. Hayworth, representative from the 5th Congressional District of Arizona. His new book, Whatever It Takes: Illegal Immigration, Border Security, and the War on Terror would thus be an important contribution to the debate over illegal immigration merely because of the position of its author as a legislative leader on the issue and as a congressman from a state especially hard hit by the problem. But the book is also a worthwhile resource in its own right. It is concise, well written in a colloquial style, and filled with relevant facts and documentation that give lie to the arguments of the immigration criminal lobby."

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Talk show host Neal Boortz

"God Bless John Stossel. His 'Stupid in America' report on ABC's 20/20 last Friday night was truly impressive. Not only did he clearly show just how bad America's government schools really are, but he cited the principal reason: Government schools are a government monopoly controlled by unions. There is no competition.

"...I'm not saying this to be inflammatory, or to stir the puddin'. I'm saying it because I think it to be true. There is no entity in the United States that presents a greater danger to the future of our country than the NEA and other teacher's unions. Not far behind would be the parents in this country who just don't realize, or don't want to realize, what a hideous and horrible job these government schools are doing."

USA Today, 1/17/06

"Public employee pensions have become increasingly generous since 2000, promising a more comfortable retirement for civil servants but a serious financial challenge for future taxpayers."

Will Rogers

"This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as we do when the baby gets hold of a hammer. It's just a question of how much damage he can do with it before you take it away from him."

President Ronald Reagan

"This country has lost control of its borders. And no country can sustain that kind of position."