$34 BILLION A YEAR
Government is going to spend my money on teachers’ salaries and fixing roads and things. That’s way better than what I was going to do with it.
— Official Twitter account of Pennsylvania State Treasurer Joe Torsella, August 23, 2019

ADDING INSULT TO INJURY
American farmers are attacking President Donald Trump in the wake of a new hit from China, which comes as part of the lingering trade war between the countries. …

“There is a lot of stress out there,” Perdue conceded at the listening session, and attempted to reassure farmers that markets will return once a deal is negotiated. But he also scolded the crowd of thousands:

“What do you call two farmers in a basement? A whine cellar.”

— Huffington Post, August 12, 2019

CRISES EVERYWHERE
Grocery stores provide many people with their primary place of social connection and sense of community. This is particularly true for the elderly. The increasing use of self‐​service checkouts — where the customer does not interact with a human — contributes to social isolation and related negative health consequences … contribute[s] to retail workers feeling devalued and adds efficiency pressures on workers; [and] has a disproportionate negative impact on people of color.
— Oregon ballot initiative, July 18, 2019

Much of the debate centered on “drag queen story hour,” an event held at a California public library. … [Sohrab] Ahmari brought up the California event early in the evening, calling it and others like it a “cultural crisis and a moral emergency.” Drag queen story hour, he warned, was a “global movement,” since the group that hosts it has 35 chapters. “It is,” he said, “a threat.”
— Reason, September 6, 2019

I’VE GOT A PLAN FOR MYSELF, AND I HOPE LIZ WON’T INTERFERE WITH IT
A sea of rowdy sign‐​waving Warren volunteers lined the sidewalks to greet convention attendees outside a Manchester sports arena before 7 a.m. They chanted, “L-I-Z, she’s got a plan for me.”
— Associated Press, September 12, 2019

WOMEN REALLY APPRECIATED BEING ABLE TO VOTE FOR THE SINGLE CANDIDATE
Communism gave Soviet‐​era women key freedoms decades ahead of their Western sisters — from the right to vote to legal abortion.
— Washington Post, August 11, 2019

BLAME MR. CARRIER FOR BIG GOVERNMENT
In the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, Congress regularly adjourned during Washington’s brutally hot and humid summers.
— Washington Post, August 10, 2019

ITALIANS WHO USED TO VOTE FOR ILLIBERAL, SPENDTHRIFT LEFT NOW VOTE FOR ILLIBERAL, SPENDTHRIFT RIGHT
The Italian region of Tuscany is … the birthplace of the Italian Communist Party, which was founded in 1921 and has been a bastion of left‐​wing governance for decades.

But in the past three years, Tuscany has experienced political upheaval as the hard‐​right, anti‐​immigrant League party has won elections in many towns.
— NPR, August 14, 2019

THAT DOESN’T SOUND INTRUSIVE OR AUTHORITARIAN OR ANYTHING
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday proposed an “extreme wealth tax” on the highest‐​income Americans, along with a “national wealth registry” that he said would help prevent them from avoiding the tax.
— Politico, September 24, 2019

WARREN DECLARES THAT PRESIDENTIAL ABUSE OF POWER WON’T END SOON
On my first day as president, I will sign an executive order that puts a total moratorium on all new fossil fuel leases for drilling offshore and on public lands. And I will ban fracking — everywhere.
— Elizabeth Warren on Twitter, September 6, 2019