Government Decision-Making Quotes

As a general rule, the United States government is run by lawyers who occasionally take advice from economists. Others interested in helping the lawyers out need not apply.

I was a very senior minister in the Howard government and I sat around this particular table [in the prime ministerial office] in many discussions. The difference between being a senior minister and the prime minister is that ultimately the buck does stop with the prime minister and in the end the prime minister has to make those critical judgement calls and that's the big difference.

If a tax hike makes it to my desk, I'll veto it in less time than it takes Vanna White to turn the letters V-E-T-O!

What happens to conservatives when they get near the White House? How come they only seem to be talking the good talk at, say, the Senate level, when they don't have to run the show?

In a democracy, every little wrong idea may grow up to become national policy.

No war by any nation in any age has ever been declared by the people.

In general, I found that the more that debates can be about facts and data, the more likely government is to make sound decisions that benefit innovators and the American people.

In abandoning the understanding that things - services, goods, wars, and houses - have costs, we risk becoming infantilised, incapable of making decisions about government or finance, and perhaps above all about the environment, the wellbeing of the planet upon which we depend and which our children will inherit from us.

It's very important that the determination of the US Congress to do what is is needed be made evident this week and by the actions of most of the members. I mean, you're not going to get total assent.

If we look at governments around the world, we see that the higher the women's percentage is in parliament, the more funding there is for education and for health care as compared to buying arms, for example.

I think, for the good of the country and the fact that you don't want a question coming up every time there's a decision made, [Donald Trump] should basically take himself out of it and just be a passive participant in the sense that he has no decision-making, no involvement and no decisions get made separate from him. Which is the way the way it's done for more Cabinet offices. Or I think all Cabinet offices.

Should National Security Issues be decided by a Local Referendum?

Our concepts of ballot-box democracy may need to be modified to produce strong governments capable of making difficult decisions

There is an old maxim which states that good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from poor judgment. I think something similar can be said of government policy, to wit: Good policy comes from experience, and experience comes from poor policy.

Being Vice President is difficult. Don't make it tougher.

We have no strategy. It is the government that sets the strategy. All we can do it try and figure out what the government will do.

One thing that the American people I think know about President Trump is that he's the boss. And over time, people are going to see that he's the guy that's going to deliver to the American people, putting America first and making the future better for everyone across the country.

Policymakers are not the change makers. Because policymakers can't make policy unless we allow them.

Bannon should never have had a permanent seat on the NSC, as he is a political operative, and the NSC has traditionally been a place where American interests are considered rather than narrow Republican or Democratic interests.

What political leaders decide, intelligence services tend to seek to justify.

I may not agree with everything, but our President, just like President [George W.] Bush did, is trying to do his best under difficult circumstances.

So is there a difference between Democrats and Republicans? Sure. The Democrats say one thing ("Save the planet!") and then do another--quietly holding hands behind the scenes with the bastards who make this world a dirtier, meaner place. The Republicans just come right out and give the bastards a corner office in the West Wing. That's the difference.

I am sure all politicians will be convinced of the merits of this deal.

Presidents and Lyndon Johnson was really no exception, very rapidly learned the difference between a contingency plan and an authorized act.

It's far from clear in general that Donald Trump is a guy who really thinks about the details of policy and is going to do the kind of heavy lifting you have to do as president to get those policies through in Congress. I think the hope is that Paul Ryan and his crew will push policies through Congress and Trump will just sign them. That's not really how policy works.