Barack Obama Quotes

And I'm here to tell you, the reaction that I'm getting around the country, people are sick and tired of this word in Washington, compromise. This is why nothing ever gets done.

The wheels of compromise lose traction as Congress sinks into an ooze of dysfunction.

We have a paralysis in Washington that's not serving our country. We have to address these issues.

It’s tough for Washington to pass complicated legislation.

Congress is dysfunctional.

In Washington, compromise has become a dirty word.

In Washington it's much easier to stop something than make something happen.

Washington has become a place where good ideas come to die.

We have seen in Washington the worst kind of partisanship, the worst kind of gridlock. There is nothing wrong with our country. There is much wrong with our politics ….

Congress is almost totally dysfunctional right now. All we've done this year and my first year in the Senate ... is barely keep the doors open.

In our political system it’s easier to block action than to act.

With gridlock the norm, Congress's approval rating is below 10 percent and the public has lost faith in its national leadership.

Given the slow pace of Washington's bureaucracy, policymakers are often busy solving yesterday's problems. This rearview mirror approach afflicts Mr. Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress.

The problem we've got now in Washington is that the goals are completely the opposite from each other.

You can see how dysfunctional this Congress is.

Everywhere I go - from Main Street to Wall Street - people ask, 'What's happened to our political system? Why can't Washington folks work together?'

There is a problem in Washington, and the problem is bigger than a continuing resolution. It is bigger than Obamacare. It is even bigger than the budget. The most fundamental problem and the frustration is that the men and women in Washington aren't listening.

President Bush said that he wanted to change the tone in Washington. He has; it has gotten worse.

Common sense is not all that common in Washington DC.

In Washington the word “compromise” has come to mean “surrender.” You just can’t do it

Jefferson, Madison and Washington could not survive in today’s political environment.

Reaching consensus has gotten harder. Today, a minority if the minority plays hostage politics. It’s all or nothing politics at its worst.

In this political climate, there is no possibility of passing anything comprehensive.

The polarization of American politics is the proximate cause of the ongoing budget deficit…. Lately, the ideological center in Congress has thinned, and the distance between the parties has widened. Compromise has come to be seen as surrender—and the U. S. Government has all but come to a halt.

I'm tired of divided government. It doesn't work very well.