Quotables

‘I certainly will work really hard for Tim Scott.’

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., when asked whether he would endorse fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, also from South Carolina, in 2014. Analysts expect the moderate Graham to face a conservative primary challenger next year. Scott also faces a reelection campaign next year.

‘There is puzzlement from faculty about why he gets paid at all. His term as president ended.’

Gordon Fellman, a sociology professor at Brandeis University, on the $600,000 in salary and benefits paid by Brandeis to former university president Jehuda Reinharz. An investigation by the Boston Globe found that Brandeis, Tufts, Harvard, and Wellesley in the Boston area alone continue to pay former presidents hundreds of thousands of dollars, a practice critics say is symbolic of overspending in higher education.

‘A shock to the system.’

Minh Ta, chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., in an email message to other Democratic chiefs of staff, on the sharp price increases for older Capitol Hill aides under Obamacare. Ta and other congressional aides are trying to convince the House to allow older staffers to return to the heavily subsidized Federal Employees Health Benefits program.

‘There may need to be a … greater acceptance that they may have to step back and shut the whole thing down.’

Former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., on Obamacare and the political problems it is creating for Democrats.

‘I’d want to be talking about something else too if I had to defend dogs getting insurance while millions of Americans lost theirs.’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in response to Democrats changing Senate rules to stop certain filibusters—also known as the “nuclear option.” McConnell said Democrats were merely changing the subject and cited a story about a dog that had recently received a letter saying he qualified for insurance under Obamacare.