Dick Armey Quotes

You know, the purpose of reconciliation is to avoid the filibuster. The filibuster is an effort to talk something to death.

If you know an amendment [you are opposed to] will pass you don't want a roll call [vote] because that makes it [the amendment] harder to drop in conference.

The higher rank of a committee member who proposes an amendment, the greater the chances of that amendment getting accepted regardless of its merit.

A majority can do anything.

I hate to see the entire issue decided on as narrow a base, but ... the size of the vote is more important than the arguments that are made.

In all legislative assemblies, the greater the number composing them may be, the fewer will be the men who will in fact direct their proceedings.

Politics is about timing and situations.

Well then, the ayes have it.

There is one thing, too apt to be forgotten, which it much behooves us to remember: In the Colonies, as everywhere else in this world, the vital point is not who decides, but what is decided on!

Consensus is the essence of the legislative process.

In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.

The art of politics is knowing what to do next.

If we had a consensus we wouldn't have to go to a referendum.

I have no idea what goes on in another person's mind. As a legislator, I need to be good at persuading people, counting votes and getting to 50 percent plus one. I don't go back and say, 'Why did this person get to the right position?' It's only, 'Are you yes or are you no?'

When you are President you have to get something done, and that often means compromise.

The last thing you want is to have to make a decision for political purposes.

Getting something through the House is only half the battle. So you put things in the House bill that you know will be taken out in conference and you leave things out of the House bill that will be in the Senate bill. It's like a chess game.

Decision by majorities is as much an expedient as lighting by gas.

[A] Senator who wants to stir up trouble ... can do so by introducing on the floor amendments which he was duty bound to present in committee. But presentation in committee makes no headlines.

Deals, flattery, threats and promises are part of the process, certainly; do not flinch from any opportunity to scheme and plot, however sordid and demeaning it may appear.

There is something wrong with the way in which we make our decisions. The Government listen too much to the pollsters and the party managers. The trouble is that they are not even very good at politics, and they are entering too much into policy decisions. As a result, there is too much short-termism, too much reacting to events, and not enough shaping of events. We give the impression of being in office but not in power. Far too many important decisions are made for 36 hours' publicity.

To secure the ground we gain, and gain what more we can, is, I think, the wisest course

Shrewd and crafty politicians, when they wish to bring about an unpopular measure, must not go straight forward to work, if they do they will certainly fail; and failures to men in power, are like defeats to a general, they shake their popularity. Therefore, since they cannot sail in the teeth of the wind, they must tack, and ultimately gain their object, by appearing at times to be departing from it.

While Zinoviev is in the majority he is for iron discipline.... When he is in the minority... he is against it.

The speakership isn't a dictatorship.