As a boy, when I was bad, my mother would chew me out in Spanish. And since I was bad a lot, I learned a lot of Spanish! – John Sununu
I believe our foreign assistance should be scrutinized, should be debated, and that we should strike the right balance, but in all cases the foreign assistance that we provide around the world should be used to further our national security interests. – John Sununu
When we’re talking about technology that involves weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, there has to be an element of preemption. – John Sununu
For my children, it makes sense to talk about modernizing Social Security, letting them create stronger personal accounts, letting them get a higher rate of return over the long run. – John Sununu
Let individuals create real wealth, empower them, create something that they can leave for their children. – John Sununu
We will have to continue to improve our human intelligence system-something that was, unfortunately, lacking in the years which led up to September 11. This is going to be a continuing process of change. – John Sununu
The voters are going to decide in November who is going to fix their personal family dismay over not having jobs in America. They are going to pick Mitt Romney. – John Sununu
The American formula for creating business is not to have the government create business. – John Sununu
Political pandering comes in all shapes and sizes, but every four years the presidential primary bring us in contact with its purest form – praising ethanol subsidies amid the corn fields of Iowa. – John Sununu
Having a Congress with a more diverse educational and professional background would serve the country well. And given the budget challenges facing America today, we might benefit from a few more cold, calculating problem solvers, and fewer courtroom impresarios. – John Sununu
I do not support raising the minimum wage, and the reason is as follows. When the minimum wage is raised, workers are priced out of the market. That is the economic reality that seems, at least so far, to be missing from this discussion. – John Sununu
Politicians also have a love affair with the ‘small business exemption.’ Too much paperwork? Too heavy a burden? Not enough time? Just exempt small businesses from the rule. It sounds so pro-growth. Instead it’s an admission that the costs of a regulation just can’t be justified. – John Sununu
The media love coarse debate because coarse debate drives ratings and ratings generate profits. Unless the TV producer happens to be William Shakespeare, an argument is more interesting than a soliloquy – and there will never be a shortage of people willing to argue on TV. – John Sununu
It’s good to give seniors more choices and more options, let them choose a plan that’s best for them and target assistance to the lowest income people. – John Sununu
It worries me about our unwillingness to really address reforms and modernization in Medicare. This thing was designed 37 years ago. It has not evolved to keep pace with current medical technology. – John Sununu
The Internet will win because it is relentless. Like a cannibal, it even turns on it own. Though early portals like Prodigy and AOL once benefited from their first-mover status, competitors surpassed them as technology and consumer preferences changed. – John Sununu
The Internet creates as well as destroys. Social networks, search advertising, and cloud computing are multibillion dollar industries that didn’t exist 10 years ago. They are products of the same force that has rendered the Postal Service’s core business obsolete. – John Sununu
Energy and environmental regulation, transportation, and broadband policy all benefit when legislators have a basic grounding in the technical concepts behind business models, products, and innovation. – John Sununu
Simply put, broadband voice is an interstate matter that must be dealt with through clear national standards. – John Sununu
When Obama gutted Medicare by taking $717 billion out of it, the Romney plan does not do that. The Ryan plan mimicked part of the Obama package there, the Romney plan does not. That’s a big difference. – John Sununu
President Obama has outsourced a major portion of the U.S. space program to the Russians. That’s national policy. Taxpayer money. So let’s stop playing games with this outsourcing distortion and talk about the fact that when we need is a president that knows how to manage big enterprise and create jobs. – John Sununu
For most Americans, Friday afternoons are filled with positive anticipation of the weekend. In Washington, it’s where government officials dump stories they want to bury. Good news gets dropped on Monday so bureaucrats can talk about it all week. – John Sununu
I think you can be tough and aggressive with facts in a way that you cannot be tough and aggressive with emotional retorts. Most of the people that try to be tough on TV are really just being emotional and not factual. – John Sununu
If you wait until those weapons pose a direct, clear, present danger to the United States, you’ve probably waited too long. – John Sununu
Perspective gives us the ability to accurately contrast the large with the small, and the important with the less important. Without it we are lost in a world where all ideas, news, and information look the same. We cannot differentiate, we cannot prioritize, and we cannot make good choices. – John Sununu
Growing up, I was encouraged to get a good education, get a real job doing something I enjoyed, and, should the opportunity present itself, consider public service as just that: a chance to serve, not an end in itself. – John Sununu
Office holders are a self-selected group; you don’t get elected if you don’t put your name on the ballot. There are many people who would do a great job, but who would never think to run. Find them. Badger them. Get them elected. They might not thank you for it, but a lot of other people will. – John Sununu
The public should begin to understand that there’s nothing that comes out of this campaign, or this Obama White House, that they can believe. It truly is all misrepresentation and deception. – John Sununu
The constant need for special waivers is symptomatic of poorly written public policy. It’s a signal that the cost of compliance is unreasonably high; the benefits are hard to measure; and either legislators or regulators have failed to do their homework. – John Sununu