Government Shut Down Quotes & Sayings

We don't want the federal government to shut down. It is so inappropriate, and it is not respectful of the people that have sent us here to do our jobs. — Marsha Blackburn

If your kid comes out of the bedroom and says he just shut down the government, he should have an outfit for that. — John Waters

I hereby pledge that, if elected to represent the people of South Dakota, I will never vote to shut down their government, or to place their government in default, in order to force it to act, or to prevent it from acting, on unrelated issues. — Rick Weiland

The government shut down 12 times under Democratic House Speaker Tip O'Neill. It was only shut down twice while I was speaker. — Newt Gingrich

If the clicker became useless in grown men's hands, no games to watch, no highlights shown, ESPN left with only test patterns and re-runs of Rudy, wouldn't the indignation level be a whole lot higher? If sports, all sports, all levels, were shut down, wouldn't the big clock be ticking a lot louder? Wouldn't John Boehner be calling the President and vice versa? Wouldn't Ted Cruz have to shut up in a hurry? — Leigh Montville

Our constituents did not send us to Washington to shut down the government. They sent us here to make it more accountable. — Steve Womack

The idea that the United States of American might shut down its government over abortion and funding to an organization that is 0.01% of the U.S. budget seems completely insane. Anyone looking at this debate around the world is thinking 'What is this country doing? They have three wars going on, they're trying to manage major problems and they're thinking of shutting down their government over abortion?' — Katty Kay

Nobody wants to shut down the government. — Jeb Hensarling

One of the things that I realized when I left office was that in the 1990's citizens across the world applied more power than they had ever had, as compared with the government, because of more people living under democracies than dictatorships for the first time, the power of the internet, which the young Chinese used to basically change China's policy on the SARS epidemic, and shut it down, and because of the rise in non-governmental organizations like my foundation. — William J. Clinton

I began to firmly change my mind when I saw how young Egyptians used Facebook, for example, to begin to coalesce their social justice movement in their country. And a good Iranian friend of mine showed me how also in Iran, till the government shut it down, much was communicated via social media. So I'm not against. I use the internet regularly to do research. It's great but you have to use your discernment, especially if researching content. — Micheline Aharonian Marcom

There should be a law that you can't shut down the government - that you don't have that power. — Lewis Black

They pushed us into the fight to defund Obamacare and shut down the government. And the day before the government reopened, one of these groups said, 'Well, we never thought it would work.' Are you kidding me?! — John Boehner

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. — Jesse Ventura

The opacity of the mind, its inability to project itself into the realm of another's personality, goes a long way to explain the friction of life. If we would set down other people's errors to this rather than to malice prepense we should not only get more good out of life and feel more kindly toward our fellows, but doubtless the rectitude of our intellects would increase, and the justice of our judgments ... we are so shut away from one another that none tells those about him what he considers ideal treatment on their part toward him ... nothing will probe to the core of this greatest disadvantage under which we labor
that is, mutual noncomprehension
except a basis of society and government which would make it easy for each to put himself in another's place because his place is so much like another's ... we [would] need less imagination in order to do that which is just and kind to every one about us. — Frances E. Willard

I had to sign the paper to shut down the government. It's terrible ... [But] what the shutdown showed many, many people is the importance of the role of government. And as frustrated [as people get with] Washington, there are so many things [the government does] that are so important to people's lives every day. The panda cam, paying small businesses their loans - these are all things that shut down. — Sylvia Mathews Burwell

The best justification governments can find to shut down information is that lives are at risk. In fact, lives have been at risk as a result of the silences and lies revealed in these leaks. — Jemima Khan

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

If bad things are happening in your country, remember, the first responsible person is your stupid government! But if you have supported that government, now, you are the first responsible person! So sit down and shut up! — Mehmet Murat Ildan

. Well, Teclan, wanna know something? Your government may have shut down my church. They may have closed the doors of our building and made us all go home. But no matter where true believers are, you can't shut down their soul. — Bernadette Allen

One faction of one party, in one house of Congress, in one branch of government, doesn't get to shut down the entire government just to refight the results of an election. — Barack Obama

Please understand what the IRS scandal is about: Using the government to shut down opponents — Dennis Prager

The question companies have to ask, or governments have to ask is, where do we allow crazy ideas to bubble up? Because if there is a failure, what happens? Someone gets blame. There's a lawsuit, there's a congressional investigation. And so, those things shut down the creative engine. — Peter Diamandis

During the Reagan years, government shut down eight different times under a Democrat Congress. The president and Congress worked together and got things straightened out. Under the Carter years, again a Democrat Congress, the government shut down five times. — Mitt Romney

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. — Tom Coburn

After 911, the US Government engaged in mock investigations and shut down many small Islamic charities and organizations, giving the appearance of action in the so-called 'War on Terror.' Why did they harbor, support and resource Fethullah Gulen's $25 billion madrassa-and-mosque-establishment efforts throughout the Central Asian region and the Balkans? — Sibel Edmonds

The path to a sustained victory in Afghanistan lies in improving their economy, creating jobs for the Afghanis, strengthening their government and national services, getting the provinces to trust each other and work together, and eliminating the opium trade. Previously, the United States' policy was to not get deeply involved in internal Afghani drug issues; now we've changed the policy and are actively working to eradicate the drugs. But nobody has yet to come up with a way to shut down the poppy fields and get the Afghani people back to work. Until that happens, the Taliban will inevitable creep back in. — Michael DeLong

I do not believe we should shut down the federal government. — Ted Cruz

Make no mistake about it, my friends - Republicans, the American people are never going to forget that it was you who shut down the government of the people. — David Scott

I'm glad the government has shut down. Think about it, for the first time in years it's safe to talk on the phone and send emails without anybody listening in. — Jay Leno

China didn't want to lose the cutting edge of technology. So the idea of having a Sina Weibo was an attempt to compete with Twitter. However, it has no soul - which is freedom of expression. Nevertheless, I think the government regrets having Sina Weibo, but they cannot shut it down. That would definitely be suicidal. — Ai Weiwei