* “(The late dissident writer) Liu Xiaobo understood that the Chinese model of economic modernization without political reform was destined to fail.”–Bret Stephens, New York Times.
* “If you want a single word to summarize American war-making in this last decade and a half, I would suggest ‘rubble.'”–Tom Engelhardt, the Nation.
* “What I try to tell everybody is, ‘Forget the federal government. Come directly to the states.'”–Terry McAuliffe, Democratic governor of Virginia and chairman of the National Governors Association.
* “We’ve never had a president who has deliberately made decisions the effect of which is to tear down America’s standing in the world.”–Former Vice President Al Gore.
* “Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else.”–President Donald Trump, on Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recusal on the overseeing of the Russia investigation.
* “Russia revelations show just how shamelessly Republican lawmakers will stand by a longtime Democrat who switched parties after the promotion of a racist theory about Barack Obama gave him standing in Lincoln’s once-proud party. … It is a dying party that I can no longer defend.”–Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida, is the host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
* “Health care policy is only partisan in the abstract. When you or your loved one is sick and needs care, ideology is irrelevant; getting well is all that matters.”–John Kasich, Republican governor of Ohio.
* “Democratic presidential hopefuls will be campaigning two years from now on single-payer, whatever happens with this bill.”–Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal.
* “(Republicans) do very little to protect their president.”–Donald Trump.
* “Create a more positive mojo.”–Anthony Scaramucci, in describing his goal as White House communications director.
* “A change in communications personnel will not solve the central problem for President Trump. He doesn’t understand that Robert Mueller is not a contractor he’s in a civil litigation dispute with, someone he can intimidate and wear down and threaten and bleed out. Bringing in another New York deal maker won’t help him understand the existential threat he faces in Washington from Mueller.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.
* “It would be in the president’s best interest if he removed all of his children from the White House, not only Donald Trump but also Ivanka and Jared Kushner.”–U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas.
* “Right now, it doesn’t appear that they have a plan. The president doesn’t know what his own party wants, and he’s not sure what he wants. He can’t get his own party to pony up the money for infrastructure.”–Richard L. Trumka, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.
* “It’s contrary to everything we’ve heard, but travel is in slightly better shape than it was a year ago. Everyone wants me to tell the story of the sky is falling, but for the travel industry, the sky is not falling.”–Roger Dow, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.
* “There is a giant mismatch between what Americans want from government and what they’ll pay for with taxes.”–Robert Samuelson, Washington Post.
* “(Opinions) have become loyalty badges for one’s tribe.”–Psychologist Steven Pinker.
* “You could lengthen the green light dynamically to reduce congestion.”–James R. Sayer, director of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, describing how a line of self-driving cars at a stoplight could communicate with the signal network to improve traffic flow.
* “There’s just a hidden supply of labor out there that is allowing businesses to hire without pushing up wages yet.”–UCF economist Sean Snaith, in noting that Florida’s unemployment rate dropped from 4.3 percent in May to 4.1 percent in June, although wage growth remained static.
* “Next month at my cabinet meeting I will be proposing a resolution that will say any organization that does business with the (Nicolas) Maduro regime (Venezuela) cannot do business with the state of Florida.”–Gov. Rick Scott.
* “There is absolutely a pathway for Florida to get to a form of open carry.”–Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, a top Republican candidate for governor in 2018, voicing his support for NRA-backed endorsements of open firearms-carry proposals.
* “He’s got to have at least a three-person race, and the more the better.”–Former Florida Secretary of State Jim Smith, in assessing the gubernatorial chances of Republican state senator Jack Latvala of Clearwater.
* “We’re absolutely more reliant on property tax revenues, because many of those other sources are drying up.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on the rationale for proposing to raise the city’s property tax rate for the first time since 1989.
* “I serve at the board’s pleasure, but my objective is to make sure MOSI is a financially sustainable institution and a successful and important part of our community. I’m not looking at this as a short-term gig.”–Julian Mackenzie, newly named CEO of MOSI.