One ideological claim is that private property is theft, that the natural product of the existence of property is evil, and that private ownership therefore should not exist... What those who feel this way don't realize is that property is a notion that has to do with control - that property is a system for the disposal of power. The absence of property almost always means the concentration of power in the state.

No one is innocent after the experience of governing. But not everyone is guilty.

Am I embarrassed to speak for a less than perfect democracy? Not one bit. Find me a better one. Do I suppose there are societies which are free of sin? No, I don't. Do I think ours is, on balance, incomparably the most hopeful set of human relations the world has? Yes, I do.

The issue of race could benefit from a period of benign neglect.

Irresponsibility breeds irresponsibility. The finances of government are so central. You'd think that would be pretty obvious.

The world's largest debtor is a distinction of sorts, but not the one we like having.

In too many cases, if our Government had set out determined to destroy the family, it couldn't have done greater damage than some of what we see today.