“The United States needs serious change in its fiscal, entitlement, infrastructure, immigration, and education policies, among others. And yet a polarized and often paralyzed Washington has pushed dealing with these problems off into the future, which will only make them more difficult and expensive to solve.” NeedsStatesProblemDifficultUnitedUnited StatesPolicySeriousSolveImmigrationExpensiveInfrastructureEntitlementParalyzed Author:Fareed Zakaria
“In the national debate about a serious issue, it is the expression of the minority's viewpoint that most demands the protection of the First Amendment. Whatever the better policy may be, a full and frank discussion of the costs and benefits of the attempt to prohibit the use of marijuana is far wiser than suppression of speech because it is unpopular.” FirstsMayUseIssuesPolicySeriousExpressionCostDemandSpeechBenefitsProtectionDebateDiscussionMinoritiesMarijuanaAmendmentsFrankFreedom Of SpeechWiserFirst AmendmentViewpointsSuppressionSerious Issues Author:John Paul Stevens
“I'm not trying to be diplomatic. I'm trying to be more nuanced and realistic. I think there has to be a serious examination of the shortcomings of the Euro structure. Euro central institutions, whether it be fiscal policy, monetary policy, financial regulation, are simply not as robust as they are in a currency that has a national government behind it.” ThinkingTryingGovernmentBehindsPolicySeriousInstitutionsStructureFinancialRealisticRegulationCurrencyExaminationShortcomingsMonetaryEuroDiplomaticRobustMonetary PolicyFiscal PolicyFinancial Regulation Author:Stephen Harper
“If we don't have a more serious energy policy, the difference between a good day and bad day for America from here on will hinge on how the 86-year-old king of Saudi Arabia manages...change.” IfsYearsAmericaEnergyDifferencesPolicySeriousKingsManageGood DayBad DayArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudisHingesEnergy PolicyGood Days And Bad Days Author:Thomas Friedman
“Now, here's a good question: should serious people focus on global political instability - terrorism, failing states, nuclear weapons - or should we focus on global climate instability - droughts, floods, extreme weather? Here's the correct answer: yes, both, because climate disruption will make every other national security problem worse.” PeopleShouldStatesProblemRealityPoliticalPoliticsNatureCommunityLeadershipJusticeAnswersDemocracyFocusFailingSecurityPolicySeriousWeaponsEthicsStrategyClimateHuman RightsExtremesTerrorismNuclearWeatherIdeologyForeign PolicyNuclear WeaponsFloodNational SecurityDiplomacyDisruptionDroughtInstabilityGood QuestionsExtreme WeatherPolitical Instability Author:Van Jones
“[T]he enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table.... Undoubtedly some think that the Second Amendment is outmoded in a society where our standing army is the pride of our Nation, where well-trained police forces provide personal security, and where gun violence is a serious problem. That is perhaps debatable, but what is not debatable is that it is not the role of this Court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct.” ThinkingWellsProblemCertainChoicesForceNationsRolesRightsViolenceSecurityPolicySeriousPrideGunStandingArmyPoliceTablesCourtAmendmentsSupreme CourtMeltingSecond AmendmentGun ViolenceConstitutional RightsPolice ForceSupreme Court JusticeCourt JusticePersonal Security Author:Antonin Scalia
“The Great Depression was not a sign of the failure of monetary policy or a result of the failure of the market system as was widely interpreted. It was instead a consequence of a very serious government failure, in particular a failure in the monetary authorities to do what they'd initially been set up to do.” GovernmentResultsPolicyParticularSeriousAuthorityConsequenceMonetaryGreat DepressionMonetary Policy Author:Milton Friedman
“I have nothing to fear from serious social studies of science, and I hope that my philosophy will help progressive science policies while showing that the most modern views of science are ignorant and regressive, even if they are accompanied by a leftist-sounding rhetoric.” IfsPhilosophyHelpingSocialViewsStudyModernPolicySeriousIgnorantProgressiveRhetoricSocial StudiesLeftists Author:Mario Bunge
“If policymakers are serious about avoiding a society of TV 'haves and have-nots,' they should refrain from policies that favor pay-TV operators over the providers of our nation's only free and local communications system: over-the-air broadcasting.” IfsShouldNationsPayAirPolicySeriousTvsCommunicationFavorsLocalsAvoidingRefrainProvidersBroadcastingOperatorsHaves And Have Nots Author:Gordon Smith
“People have to take seriously the threat coming from asteroids and what it represents. As Chelyabinsk reminded us, we have to take asteroids as a serious scientific concern, as well as a concern for protection of mankind and survival of the planet. This is not some kook policy. It's the protection of the interests of every single individual life on this planet.” PeopleWellsIndividualInterestMankindPolicyPlanetsSeriousSurvivalConcernThreatProtectionAsteroidsIndividual Life Author:Kesha Rogers
“[T]he next time you hear serious-sounding people explaining the need for fiscal austerity, try to parse their argument. Almost surely, you'll discover that what sounds like hardheaded realism actually rests on a foundation of fantasy, on the belief that invisible vigilantes will punish us if we're bad and the confidence fairy will reward us if we're good. And real-world policy - policy that will blight the lives of millions of working families - is being built on that foundation.” PeopleIfsWorldNeedsTryingRealNextBeliefSoundMillionsFantasyPolicySeriousBuiltArgumentFoundationRewardsInvisibleFairyReal WorldRealismNext TimeExplainingAusterityBlightVigilante Author:Paul Krugman
“Government policies try to prevent the emergence of serious unemployment by credit expansion, i.e., inflation. The outcome was rising prices, renewed demands for higher wages and reiterated credit expansion; in short, protracted inflation.” TryingGovernmentPolicySeriousHigherDemandCreditOutcomesRisingExpansionUnemploymentWagesInflationEmergenceGovernment PolicyRising Prices Book:Planning for freedom, and sixteen other essays and addresses Source: Planning for freedom, and sixteen other essays and addresses
“I intend to lead my party, which is the only party that has a serious policy on the No. 1 priority of the people and that is the economy.” PeoplePartyEconomyPolicySeriousPriorities Author:Stephen Harper
“Politics has become a game of meaningless, mindless battles, conducted by unscrupulous methods and people, designed to transform even the most serious policy debates into sport.” PeopleGamesSportsPolicySeriousBattleMethodDebateMeaninglessMindlessPolicy Debate Author:Al Gore
“Mr. Bush has squandered the hard-built paternity of 40 years. But so has the party, and so have its leaders. If they had pushed away for serious reasons, they could have separated the party's fortunes from the president's. This would have left a painfully broken party, but they wouldn't be left with a ruined brand,- as they all say, speaking the language of marketing. And they speak that language because they are marketers, not thinkers. Not serious about policy. Not serious about ideas. And not serious about leadership, only followership.” IfsYearsIdeasHardReasonLeftSpeakLanguagePresidentPartyLeaderPolicySeriousBrokenBuiltFortuneMarketingBrandsThinkerRuinedMarketersFollowershipPushed Away Author:Peggy Noonan
“I think that whether you're on the right or on the left as an economist or as a policy maker, every serious analyst I know agrees that at some point you have to deal with entitlements.” ThinkingKnowsLeftDealsPolicySeriousAgreeMakersEconomistEntitlementAnalystsPolicy Makers Author:Peter Blair Henry
“The problem is some of the populism on both the far left and the far right, it can make a Tweet but not make a policy. And, you know, when you are dealing with issues that are as important and serious as this, I understand why people search for simple solutions.” PeopleKnowsImportantProblemLeftSimpleIssuesPolicySeriousSolutionsTweetPopulismSimple Solutions Author:Tony Blair
“This guy [Donald Trump] has not offered a single serious policy proposal, which is important if you want to be president of the United States. And Hillary Clinton is going to have clear shot to the Oval Office. And so I think there are many out there that are rooting for that outcome, so that he's the nominee. And you can see it in the coverage he's gotten.” IfsThinkingWantImportantStatesGuyPresidentUnitedUnited StatesClearPolicySeriousTrumpOfficeShotsClintonOutcomesThis GuyProposalCoverageOval Author:Marco Rubio
“I think, Tom Friedman is right, and I think that we have to - we have to have a serious public dialogue to try to shift public policy in that regard.” ThinkingTryingPolicySeriousRegardDialogueTomsPublic Policy Author:Cornel West
“You've got the principled people who maybe are on salaried jobs, or CEOs, entrepreneurs, and all of those that are great people, but if you're not appealing - the permanent coalition is to join that with traditional Americans who feel like, that things aren't going well for them, and to develop policies that improve their lifestyle, not just upper-income lifestyles. And once that's believed by working people, that it's serious and a commitment and you care about people like me, for a change, Republicans could create a new majority.” PeopleIfsFeelsWellsCareJobsPolicySeriousRepublicanCommitmentMajorityEntrepreneurLifestyleIncomeLike MeTraditionalPermanentCeoGreat PeopleCoalitionsPrincipled Author:Jeff Sessions
“He was making a very serious point. Donald Trump has a way of talking to get people's attention, and it's drawn attention to a very important issue.There was a time when a Democrat president knew where the buck stopped in the White House. And the responsibility for the failed policies in the Middle East that created the environment where ISIS developed belongs to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the American people know that.” PeopleKnowsWayImportantStatesHousePresidentWhiteAttentionResponsibilityTalkingIssuesEnvironmentMiddlePolicySeriousTrumpClintonDemocratEastBarackWhite HouseMiddle EastSecretaryIsisBucksPresident Barack ObamaImportant IssuesWay Of Talking Author:Mike Pence
“In the first place, I don`t think [Donald] Trump has changed that much from what em. I never took him serious highway this [immigration policy].” ThinkingFirstsPolicyChangedSeriousTrumpImmigrationEmsHighwaysImmigration Policy Author:Rush Limbaugh
“I have a comprehensive energy policy, but it really does include fighting climate change, because I think that is a serious problem.” ThinkingDoeProblemFightingEnergyPolicySeriousClimateClimate ChangeComprehensiveEnergy Policy Author:Hillary Clinton
“To the degree that Mr. Trump is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in America, I and other progressives are prepared to work with him. To the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-environment policies, we will vigorously oppose him.” AmericaEnvironmentPolicySeriousTrumpDegreesPreparedPursueRacistSexist Author:Bernie Sanders
“I think a far more important strategic way to deal with the Islamic State would be to bring some of these regional partners and explain to them that Turkey's own contradictory foreign policy has to end. I mean, if United States is serious, it has leverage over Turkey. And apparently it has not been able to move Turkey sufficiently.” IfsThinkingWayMeanImportantEndsStatesWould BeAbleMovingUnitedDealsUnited StatesPolicySeriousPartnersIslamicForeign PolicyTurkeysContradictoryStrategicIslamic State Author:Vijay Prashad
“When a nation uses their improperly gained or intelligence-wise gained information to take policy positions that impact another nation's democracy or their approach to any issue, then that raises real serious matters.” RealMatterUseNationsDemocracyIssuesWiseInformationPolicyPositionSeriousApproachRaisesImpact Author:Jeff Sessions
“The U.S. and, to a certain extent, countries in Europe as well, have experienced growing inequality within their population for decades - a small group of people own the lion's share of the wealth. Populists take advantage of this, and their policies are extremely hard to predict. And this has serious consequences. Companies shy away from risk, postponing their investment decisions in times of uncertainty, the stock markets get nervous and unemployment threatens to increase.” PeopleWellsCountryHardCertainWealthDecisionCompanyGrowingRiskGroupsSharePolicySeriousConsequenceEuropeAdvantageIncreaseInvestmentPopulationDecadesNervousInequalityUncertaintyShyLionsUnemploymentSmall GroupsPopulistPostponing Author:Nicholas Bloom
“I think the fact that this was a essentially a person under [China] protection and the North Koreans went and assassinated [Kim Jong-nam], this made be the straw that really does it. And as you know, just a couple of weeks ago, the Chinese stopped all coal imports from North Korea.So there are signs that are getting serious. I guess from the policy perspective from the U.S., I mean, we got to decide what`s important to us with China?” ThinkingKnowsMeanPersonsDoeMadeImportantFactsWeekPolicySeriousPerspectiveCoupleChinaProtectionChineseCoalKoreaNorth KoreaKoreanWhat's ImportantStrawsImportsKimNorth Korean Author:Christopher R. Hill
“If we can create a climate among people that says that any serious candidate for president, Senate, governor, [the] House is going to have to talk about income inequality, raising wages in America, trade policy - that's a huge success. It's not putting pressure on a candidate. It's mobilizing people.” PeopleIfsAmericaHousePresidentPolicySeriousHugePressureTradeClimateIncomeInequalityCandidatesSenateGovernorsWagesIncome Inequality Author:Bernie Sanders
“Obama's devastating America. The policies put in place and those that are gonna be put in place are gonna do even more damage. I mean, it's serious what he's doing. Did you see this? The IRS announced that the family health care premium, once Obamacare is implemented, is $20,000 a year. You were told your premium was gonna go down $2,500 a year! The average family premium is going to be $20,000 a year. I guarantee you, people didn't vote for that.” PeopleYearsMeanCareAmericaPolicySeriousVoteAverageHealth CareDamageGuaranteesObamacareIrsPremium Author:Rush Limbaugh
“Donald Trump basically said: One state, two states, do whatever you like. I do not think this was a serious statement of American policy. This was him shrugging his shoulders and saying: Who cares about it. I think he doesn't even have the faintest idea of what he wants to do in the Middle East.” ThinkingWantSaidTwoIdeasStatesCareMiddlePolicySeriousTrumpEastShouldersStatementsMiddle EastWho Cares Author:Amos Oz
“For me, the most serious problem is how America became so vulnerable to the assertion of blatant falsehoods that drive policy and are not corrected by the so-called immune system of democracy, a free press and a free democratic discourse.” ProblemAmericaDemocracyPolicySeriousPressesDemocraticVulnerableFalsehoodDiscourseImmuneAssertionImmune SystemFree Press Author:Al Gore
“Perhaps preachers today need to think about the assumptions that are common in their congregation - the plausibilities and comforting assurances - which may in themselves have biblical truth, but can easily become insurance policies waved around as immunity from any kind of serious evaluation of how we are living, whether we are truly following the Lord Jesus in the way he walked, whether we are doing righteousness and justice as God commanded.” ThinkingKindTodayJesusJusticeCommonLordPolicySeriousAssumptionRighteousnessPreacherBiblicalAssuranceComfortingDoing Right Author:Christopher J. H. Wright