You know who you are. And since some of you have criticized us for being too focused on the McMahon-Simmons dogfight and not paying enough attention to the pundit from Weston, we offer a compendium of Schiffiana from tonight’s debate.
On bringing down health care costs:
“The free market is the best mechanism that we know to bring costs down. We’ve all experienced that in our daily lives, we see it in cellular telephones, flat screen TVs, laptop computers, every year they get more complicated, more intricate and every year the price comes down. Why isn’t that working with healthcare? The reason is government. Government refuses to allow free market forces to operate in health care….what we need to do is government to remove all the roadblocks, the regulations, the mandates, the subsidies that are destroying the free market and that are preventing it from delivering the benefit of affordable health care to all Americans.”
On defense, part 1:
“I understand national defense is the most important issue for the federal government..it’s the main reason the founding fathers gave congress the ability to tax us in the first place. But the problem is the government is focusing on so many things that are not authorized by the constitution and the one thing its really supposed to do it doesn’t do right. If we could focus more on national defense and less on all the other issues that are better left to the states, or not done at all by government, I think we’d all be better off.”
On defense, part 2:
“You can’t overlook the financial position of our government and our ability to continue to maintain our military…the soviet union at one time was a military power and it disintegrated because it collapsed financially. ..we’re in the same situation. We’re borrowing money from China, from Japan, from Saudi Arabia to supply the troops. We can’t keep doing that and remain a military power. ”
On Washington gridlock:
“A lot of people say we need bipartisanship so we can overcome gridlock,” Schiff said. “Well, I don’t want to overcome gridlock if that’s the only thing standing between us and more government. I want to change what’s happening in Washington. I don’t want to go to Washington to compromise my positions or my principles. I want to try and persuade and educate the other members of Congress to adopt my principles. … We’ve been compromising for years, and look at the mess that we’re in.”
On winning the race:
“If you send me to Washington, I promise you one thing ¡V that town will never be the same again.”