* “A red alert for our planet.”–UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, referring to a UN report showing that the newest pledges by countries to limit global warming are falling short of Paris Climate accord goals.
* “Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest.”–Mark Twain.
* “M.B.S. (Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman) has proven time and time again to be a liability and a danger for the kingdom, reviled and avoided by the international community.”–Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now.
* “Charity can’t replace policy, but solidarity is how we’ll face climate change and build a better world.”–Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
* “The Biden stimulus is unsound economic policy. … Near-record levels of savings are evidence that consumers are able to spend. When COVID is finally in the rearview mirror, they will come roaring back.”–Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah.
* “To my colleagues who say this (pandemic relief) bill is bold, I say it’s bloated. To those who say it’s urgent, I say it’s unfocused. To those who say it’s popular, I say it’s entirely partisan.”–House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
* “The moral calculus could not be clearer. A $15 minimum wage would cost employers. Growing inequality costs all of us even more.”–Eugene Robinson, Washington Post.
* “The voices of moderate Republicans and those from states such as Texas where the benefits of immigration are so vibrantly on display, must join with Democrats to reach a filibuster-proof majority.”–Houston Chronicle editorial board.
* “The Capitol riot presents unique risks for corporate financial supporters of members of Congress who back President Donald Trump’s position on Jan. 6.”—Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, Stetson University law professor and author of “Political Brand.”
* That sense of mastery over nature has been so seriously challenged by this pandemic.”–Historian Drew Gilpin Faust, former president of Harvard University.
* “Florida got it right, and the lockdown states got it wrong. … I have a policy: I only travel to free states.”–Gov. Ron DeSantis.
* “Permanent.”—What last weekend’s CPAC relocation to Orlando should become, according to Marco Rubio.
* “The hallmark of the (real estate) bubble is speculative behavior, where the expectation of future price growth is driving the current price growth. That’s definitely not what’s happening now … it’s that people need housing.”–Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist for Freddie Mac.
* “In the health care sector, private equity buyouts have been associated with lower staffing levels, more frequent citations for health and safety violations, shortages of supplies like ventilators that are crucial for COVID-19 patients, and other failings tied to the constant imperative to cut costs.”–Julia Rock, Jacobin.
* “What people I think are mostly interested in is: Is it going to keep me from getting really sick? Will it keep me from dying from this terrible disease? The good news is all of these (three vaccines) say yes to that.”–Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.
* “All Americans deserve non-discrimination protection in the workplace, in school, in housing and in public.”–Florida Congresswoman Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, on the House passage of the bipartisan Equality Act that Castor co-sponsored. The Equality Act would extend civil rights protections to members of the LBGTQ community.
* “The cost of doing nothing, of allowing our transportation crisis to grow in magnitude and exigency, has never been as great as it is today. We are paying for this paralysis with our time, our money and, in the most tragic circumstances, our lives.”–Tyler Hudson and Christina Barker, co-founders of All for Transportation.
* “We absolutely want to repurpose our facilities before we surplus them, I’ll tell you that.”–Hillsborough County Schools Deputy Superintendent Michael Kemp, in underscoring that the district wants to modify the way it uses partly empty schools—but doesn’t want to shutter or sell the buildings.
* “We’ve got to remember to be grateful for what we have now, but that doesn’t mean we’re not aspirational for the future.”–USF Athletics Director Michael Kelly, on the prospect of an on-campus football stadium.