Government Shutdown Quotes

As the nation's attention turns from Washington politics to the Obamacare disaster, Democrats will have no choice but to reconsider our fair and reasonable proposals to delay the law.

We can't have the government of the United States shut down when a group doesn't like something. This is almost an act of insurrection.

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.

Congress has been reformed so much that it can't get anything done.

Political paralysis and partisanship are sabotaging American power.

Blame the Tea Party? Geez, no wonder Kerry did so well in an election. If it wasn't for the Tea Party, they would have passed the debt ceiling thumbs up; we would have been rated BBB.

Washington isn't utterly dysfunctional.

It’s time to get real. This isn’t a game. People will be hurt by your intransigence.

They've lost their minds.

If Democrats don't want the government to shut down, support border security. It's that simple.

I think that both parties should declare the debt limit as a political weapon of mass destruction which can't be used. I mean, it is silly to have a country that has 237 years building up its reputation and then have people threaten to tear it down because they're not getting some other matter.

My guest Newt Gingrich shut down the government during the Clinton administration. I'll ask him when it's gonna start working again.

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

Our nation suffers when Congress fails to pay America's bills on time.

The United States has never prioritized or failed to pay any obligation when due during a debt limit impasse. Despite the institutional risks and the lack of clear legal authority, we assume that Treasury will attempt to prioritize payments in a last-ditch effort to avoid default.

Things have gotten so nasty in Washington.

You can see how dysfunctional this Congress is.

The Democrats want to destroy the country immediately.

Here's the perversity of Wall Street's psychology: The more Wall Street is convinced that Washington will act rationally and raise the debt ceiling, most likely at the 11th hour, the less pressure there will be on lawmakers to reach an agreement. That will make it more likely a deal isn't reached.

Everybody hates Congress; even Congress hates Congress.

For every day the government is shut down, it should be that we don't have to pay income tax that day because they're not working.

We know that a government shutdown is gonna blamed on the Republicans no matter who, what, when, where, why. You want to give the media ammo going into 2018, how the Republicans hate government, the Republicans hate you, the Republicans want you dead, the Republicans want your kids dead, the Republicans want you breathing dirty air, poisoned water, and all this stuff, a shutdown in September, it would actually be in October, because that's - I don't mean to pick hairs here, but a shutdown would be in October if it happens.

People will pay a price for putting political obstruction over progress in a time that is so critical and urgent.

Here's where I'm different from a senator. We pass continuing resolutions. We pass appropriations bills.

Memo to future presidents: Never stake your entire survival on the painful passing of a bad bill. Never take the country down the road to 'Demon Pass.'