“If Congress were to censure, fine or otherwise try to punish a president, it would dramatically alter the balance of power between the branches.” IfsTryingPresidentFineBalanceCongressBranchesCensureBalance Of Power Author:Mike DeWine
“It is hard for us to admit we have a sin nature because we live in this system of checks and balances. If we get caught, we will be punished. But that doesn't make us good people; it only makes us subdued. Just think about the Congress and Senate and even the president. The genius of the American system is not freedom; the genius of the American system is checks and balances. Nobody gets all the power. Everybody is watching everybody else. It is as if the founding fathers knew, intrinsically, that the soul of man, unwatched, is perverse.” PeopleIfsThinkingMenSoulHardFatherPresidentSinGeniusBalanceCongressCaughtChecksGood PeopleSenateFounding Book:Blue Like Jazz: Movie Edition: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality Source: Blue Like Jazz: Movie Edition: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality
“Our democratic values also include - and our national security demands - open and transparent government. Some information obviously needs to be protected. And since his first days in office, President Obama has worked to strike the proper balance between the security the American people deserve and the openness our democratic society expects.” PeopleNeedsFirstsGovernmentValuesPresidentSecurityInformationBalanceDemandOfficeDeserveDemocraticStrikesOpennessPresident ObamaProtectedNational SecurityTransparentDemocratic SocietyDemocratic Values Author:John O. Brennan
“I don't think that split government is a good idea. Conventional wisdom in Washington for years has been that divided government is good because of a check and a balance. What I believe happens all too often, regardless of which party is there's gridlock. And I think the better argument is give one party a chance, give them a chance with a House and a Senate and a president. Give them a few years to see what they can do. And if you don't like it, put another party in.” IfsThinkingGivingYearsBelieveHas BeensIdeasGovernmentHappensHouseI BelievePresidentCan DoChancePartyBalanceArgumentChecksDividedGood IdeasSenateSplitsConventionalConventional WisdomGridlockDivided Government Author:Scott Walker
“With so many of our fundamental rights hanging in the balance, it is not good enough to simply roll the dice, hoping a nominee has changed his past views. It's not good enough to think, 'This is the best we can expect from this president'.” ThinkingEnoughPastPresidentViewsRightsChangedBalanceFundamentalsGood EnoughNot Good EnoughDiceFundamental Rights Author:Barbara Boxer
“We need a return to transparency and a system of checks and balances, to a president who respects Congress' role of oversight and accountability.” NeedsPresidentRolesReturnBalanceCongressChecksAccountabilityTransparencyOversight Author:Hillary Clinton
“What outsourcing causes - what it's caused by, rather. I understand, for instance, how to read a balance sheet. I happen to believe that having been in the private sector for twenty-five years gives me a perspective on how jobs are created - that someone who's never spent a day in the private sector, like President Obama, simply doesn't understand.” GivingYearsBelieveHappensJobsCausesPresidentFivePerspectiveBalanceGive MeTwentiesInstanceFive YearsPresident ObamaSheetsPrivate SectorTwenty FiveOutsourcingBalance Sheets Author:Mitt Romney
“Under the president's spying program, there are no checks and balances. There is no outside review of the legality of this brazen infringement on the civil rights and liberties of the American people. Undeterred by the public outcry, the president [George Bush] vows to continue spying on American citizens.” PeoplePresidentLibertyRightsBalanceCitizensProgramChecksCivil RightsReviewsVowAmerican CitizensBrazenLegalityInfringement Author:Samuel Alito
“In recent years, even as the court has become an increasingly political body, the Senate is not focused on preserving any perceived ideological balance when Democrat presidents have appointed people to the court.” PeopleYearsBodyPoliticalPresidentBalanceCourtDemocratFocusedSenateIdeological Author:Sam Brownback
“When Ruth Bader Ginsburg came in front of the Senate and was approved 96-3 to be on the Supreme Court to replace conservative justice Byron White. This is in 1993.Now, Justice Ginsburg, it was noted earlier, was a general counsel for the ACLU, certainly a liberal group. It was abundantly clear during the confirmation hearing that Ginsburg would swing the balance of the court to the left.But because President [Bill] Clinton won the election and because Justice Ginsburg clearly had the intellectual ability and integrity to serve on the court, she was confirmed.” LeftPresidentJusticeAbilityWhiteClearGroupsFrontsBalanceIntegrityIntellectualElectionBillsCourtClintonConservativeHearingSupremeSenateSwingsSupreme CourtApprovedConfirmationRuthByronPresident Bill Clinton Author:Sam Brownback
“We know that we have to have the right combinations of government policies and private sector energy and dynamism. Getting that balance right is what I know President Obama has tried to do, and at every turn he's been stopped.” KnowsGovernmentTurnsEnergyPresidentPolicyBalanceCombinationPresident ObamaPrivate SectorDynamismGovernment Policy Author:Hillary Clinton
“I joked at our National Convention that our party was nominating a candidate for president who was charismatic, larger than life, memorable, so they wanted to balance the ticket.” WantedPresidentPartyBalanceMemorableCandidatesConventionsTicketsCharismaticLarger Than LifeNominating Author:Mike Pence
“No one should be surprised that in the balance between national security and civil liberties, President [Donald] Trump, like candidate Trump wants to be more aggressive.” WantShouldPresidentLibertySecurityTrumpBalanceCandidatesAggressiveNational SecurityCivil Liberties Author:Mark Halperin
“A state department official once told me this about the role of the president. He said: "We wage war for realist reasons, we justify wars for idealist reasons, and it's the president's job to balance the two." I agree.” WarReasonPresidentBalanceAgreeJustifyRealistIdealist Author:Michael Hastings
“We need a leader who has a sense of balance, an understanding of the ebb and flow of history and a sense of our country's unique place in it. This is a foreign policy debate, and you cannot conduct foreign policy without a sense of what we are fighting for. And any President who can reduce the conduct of this country's affairs to a morning's attack by a bunch of demented fascists does not, in my view, understand what this great nation is all about.” FightingUnderstandingPresidentLeaderPolicyBalanceUniqueAffairDebateForeign PolicyDemented Author:John F. Kerry
“I believe that the power to declare war is most important in limiting the powers of the national government in regard to the rights of its citizens, but that it does not require Congress to give its approval before the president uses force abroad. I do not believe that the framers of the Constitution understood the power to declare to mean "authorize" or "commence" war. That does not mean that the separation of powers or checks and balances will not work.” GivingBelieveMeanImportantWarI BelievePresidentBalanceConstitutionSeparationSeparation Of Powers Author:John Yoo
“Do I think that American democracy ends if Trump is president? No! I think, there are plenty of checks and balances in place. I think he would do some damage to the country but we would recover. The office of the presidency and American democratic institutions are a lot stronger than one person. So if he wins, our job is just to keep the office strong, right? And hope he'll be replaced by something better!” ThinkingCountryWinningStrongPresidentDemocracyBalanceOfficeStrongerDemocraticPlentyReplaced Author:Malcolm Gladwell
“I can't speak for all Iranians, but I think that many of them would be uncomfortable with Ahmadinejad if Iran had nuclear weapons and he had his finger on the button. But the reality is that Iran's system of government is actually very complex. It has a lot of checks and balances, and neither Ahmadinejad nor any Iranian president would ever have his finger on the button. There are too many people involved in a decision of that magnitude.” PeopleThinkingRealitySpeakPresidentDecisionBalanceUncomfortableNuclear WeaponsIranian Author:Hooman Majd
“Common wisdom dictates that the vice president should provide balance to the ticket by representing a different part of the country, another set of experiences, or a basketful of electoral votes.” ShouldDifferentCountryPresidentCommonBalanceVoteVicesTicketsRepresentingVice President Author:Madeleine M. Kunin
“While President Obama shirks his responsibility to advance solutions to our fiscal challenges, he can no longer hide from the merciless math of the balance sheet. Conservatives have made certain of that.” MadeCertainPresidentChallengesResponsibilityBalanceSolutionsMathPresident ObamaSheetsBalance SheetsShirk Author:Paul Ryan