Bipartisanship & Compromise

I think what we have created is a timid and often craven political culture in Washington. And I think the one thing that we haven't really captured is the degree to which money is driving that. I think that Republicans are fearful of primary opponents, so they don't want to move toward the middle - they move toward the extreme.

You know, we did a good job in containing the Soviet Union, but we made a lot of mistakes. We supported really nasty guys, we did some things that we are not particularly proud of, from Latin America to Southeast Asia. But we did have a kind of overarching framework about what we were trying to do that did lead to the defeat of the Soviet Union and the collapse of Communism. That was our objective. We achieved it.

I have 233 Republicans in the House. And you've never seen a more dedicated group of people who are thoroughly concerned about the future of our country. They believe that Obamacare, all these regulations coming out of the administration, are threatening the future for our kids and our grandkids. It is time for us to stand and fight.

In the 2012 election, Obamacare, as it's called, and I'll be more polite - the ACA …was a major issue in the campaign. I campaigned all over America for two months, everywhere I could. And in every single campaign rally I said, 'We have to repeal and replace Obamacare.' Well, the people spoke. They spoke, much to my dismay, but they spoke. And they reelected the President of the United States.

It’s very hard from a distance to figure out who has lost their minds. One party, the other party, all of us, the president.

But let's remember the reasons the Iranians say they're here now is that that economy is suffering desperately under the weight of sanctions. They want relief from the sanctions. My concern is they're going to want relief from the sanctions before they do anything to deserve it.

The fact that the senators aren’t here and Harry Reid is off somewhere is all the evidence that you need to know that they want to shut down the government. I personally believe that Sen. Reid and the president — for political purposes — want to shut down the government.

I can't concern myself with how viewers feel.

Tactics and strategies ought to be based on what the real world is, and we do not have the political power to do this. We're not about to shut the government down over the fact that we cannot, only controlling one house of Congress, tell the president that we’re not going to fund any portion of [Obamacare]. Because we can’t do that.

I think I've learned one thing about this president, and that is he's very cautious. Maybe - in this instance - too cautious.

This is the way it has to be. The Senate has changed.

I believe the gun has no power because a gun can only kill, but a pen can give life.