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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In their words

A selection of quotations from people in recent news stories, big and small

“With them words, the states of this United States created the federal government.”

– Idaho state Rep. Dick Harwood, citing the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in support of his memorial declaring Idaho’s sovereignty from the federal government.

“Thirteen sovereignties pulling against each other, and all tugging at the foederal head, will soon bring ruin on the whole.”

– General of the Continental Army George Washington’s opinion of state sovereignty, as quoted in Catherine Drinker Bowen’s “Miracle at Philadelphia,” a historical account of the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

“With the economy tanking, the risk of a 15-story condo in the middle of the park doesn’t exist any longer.”

– Spokane County Commissioner Bonnie Mager, dissenting in the Board of Commissioners’ decision to spend $4.3 million of Conservation Futures funding to buy the YMCA Building in Riverfront Park and help the Spokane Park Board save its $1 million down payment while preventing private development on the site.

“When I get tired and frustrated and want to hang up the paint brush, my children have a fit, because now they have children.”

– Carrousel Lady Bette Largent, who has been restoring animals on the popular Riverfront Park attraction for 18 years.

“This isn’t Curlew, Wash.”

– SpokAnimal C.A.R.E. Director Gail Mackie, after hearing that the failure of a Spokane city bond issue may result in scaling dog and cat control activities down to the minimum required by law.

“How disconcerting the claim that the termination of life is a matter of reproductive health.”

– Pope Benedict XVI, telling a crowd in Angola he considers it ironic that abortion would be defended on grounds of health care for mothers.

“Unfortunately, 90 percent of the fleet is nearly a half-century old.”

– National security specialist Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute, citing speed as a reason for giving a $35 billion deal to build new refueling tankers to two defense contractors rather than just one.

“This clearly creates a scenario where the country’s going to go bankrupt. It’s almost that simple. One would hope these numbers would wake somebody up.”

– U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., commenting on President Barack Obama’s federal spending proposals.

“That is the epicenter of extinctions and near-extinctions. Hawaii is borderline ecological disaster.”

– Director John Fitzpatrick of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, noting that one out of three birds on the nation’s endangered species list is in Hawaii.

“I don’t think the right to vote should be based on one’s income.”

– Washington state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, arguing for a bill that would allow felons who had completed their prison sentences to get their voting rights back even if they were still paying off court-ordered restitution.

“I hate to be wasting time with this kind of thing. I’m surprised at this.”

– All-star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners, non-reacting to reports that some teammates had described him as a divisive influence on the team.