Quote of the Week — LaHood on Congress

So this just came across the Time “Quotes of the Day“, which at present provides the content for the “So they say” RSS widget in the sidebar:

“The strategy is to lay low and then blame them for not getting anything done. The truth is, we all lose.”

That classic line is attributed to Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL), “when asked about congressional Republicans resisting initiatives by their Democratic colleagues”. The Internatinal Herald Tribune carried the same quote with the identical attribution in its own “Quotations of the day” on Friday, and Google News coughed up an associated Press article from the same day by Charles Babington:

Democrats, who sometimes seem incredulous at their inability to budge the GOP on tax, spending and war issues, say Republicans will pay dearly at the polls. “There is a sense they are digging their own grave,” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said.

Some Republicans agree there is a risk in repeatedly blocking Democratic-crafted bills, especially if the chief beneficiaries appear to be big oil companies or wealthy investors.

“The strategy is to lay low and then blame them for not getting anything done,” Republican Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois said in an interview. “The truth is, we all lose.”

“We trash each other and end up making the institution look bad,” LaHood said. “That’s why Congress’ approval ratings are so low.”