Top 40 Quotes & Sayings by John Thune

President Obama likes to talk about winning the future. But someone needs to tell him: You can't win the prosperity of tomorrow if you're mortgaging it to pay for the big government programs of today.

I feel that I am best positioned to fight for America's future here in the trenches of the United States Senate.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, although they're not officially debt of the federal government, they are off-balance-sheet debt.

Let's not dismiss or attack individual ideas as being inadequate before we have had a chance to assess their positive effect as part of a whole solution.

Because of my upbringing, I believe in things like limited government, fiscal responsibility and personal accountability. I believe in the wisdom of our founders and the sanctity of our Constitution.

There are more than 30 states, who either by statute or constitutional amendment, have defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.

I valued the biblical foundation I got at Biola. I was able to take classes that strengthened my faith and helped me to better understand what I believe and how to, in a practical way, apply my faith in real-world situations.

Having a Christian worldview shapes my decision-making with respect to all aspects of my life. I always respect people in public life who are principled, and those principles have to be connected to something. And my faith is what serves as the anchor and directs my actions.

I've also said you don't rule any options out, because if you are in public life because you want to make a difference... obviously, you have to be open to those kind of possibilities.

The closest I've come to being on a reality TV show is C-SPAN's live coverage of the Senate floor.

I think the problem with President Obama - and I like him personally, I came into the Senate with him - is his agenda.

I have a Christian worldview and so it shapes the way that I view issues. I don't apologize for that, and I don't think people of faith ought to shrink away from being in the public arena.

But what shouldn't happen is, you shouldn't have the taxpayers from states that are managing their situations well paying for those states that are not.

We must ensure that today's seniors' benefits are rock solid and find a solution that fixes Social Security for the next generation that is just entering the workforce.

I think that if Republicans are given the reins of leadership in the House or Senate or both, we will have to govern in a way - at least put forward solutions whether or not the president goes along with them or not, that deal with these long-term challenges.

We are spending more as a percentage of our entire economy, almost 25 percent, than we have spent at any time since the end of World War II.

I think that all areas of the budget have to be scrubbed. Clearly the entitlement issues have to be reformed and that's an issue that's going to require I think some strong bipartisan cooperation and leadership.

Social Security is an extremely complicated program.

I don't happen to subscribe to the notion that everybody who criticizes Tom Daschle is criticizing Tim Johnson. I think that's a bit of a stretch.

We must work together to save and strengthen Social Security not just for my father's generation but also for my daughters' generation.

Ethanol reduces our dependence on foreign sources of oil and is an important weapon in the War on Terror. By investing in South Dakota's ethanol producers, we will strengthen our energy security and create new jobs.

I just think we need more accountability and more transparency.

When you're the president of the United States and you know that the biggest issue facing you is this cliff that we're about ready to head over if we don't get this spending and debt situation under control, it's very irresponsible not to take the action that is necessary to fix the problem.

I'm a big, big reader of pretty much everything that Chuck Colson has written. And I consulted with him when I was making some decisions about running for the Senate in the first place.

If you're blessed enough to serve in public office, then you shouldn't just talk a good game about your values; you should cast your vote according to them.

I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty, and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it's marked by the blood of those who died defending it.

There is a battle to be waged over what kind of country we are going to leave our children and grandchildren and that battle is happening now in Washington, not two years from now.

Absolutely. I think that this is - politics is a tough business. I describe it as a full contact sport. You have to be prepared to get in there and mix it up.

Chuck Swindoll is somebody who I've read a lot over the years and have used his curriculum when I've taught Sunday school classes.

Like a lot of people, I'm interested in public service and want to do as much as I can to change the direction of this country and will give some consideration to that after midterm elections.

It's my preferred working style to have bipartisan legislation. I think what the Democrats have made clear is that they don't want to deal with anything that repeals and replaces Obamacare. I think they wouldn't want to do anything that gets rid of the mandates, which is a big part of our proposal, getting rid of the individual employer mandates.

The Democrats would want to keep the taxes. And Republicans want to do away with taxes that are driving up the costs of premiums. So, I think it would be hard to see a scenario where Democrats would be willing to come to the table in good faith and actually work with us on a solution that meets those requirements.

I say to my colleague from New York that if someone who has a concealed carry permit... in the State of South Dakota that goes to New York and is in Central Park - Central Park is a much safer place.

I tell people it's like shopping for a car.People are taking candidates out for a test drive, seeing what they like.

I think Donald Trump does want a result. He clearly, in the meeting that we had was trying to sort of push the process along, realizing that the Senate has a role to play and that there are differences of opinion. I think he wants it to be a health care plan, proposal that we can go out there and defend and that he can defend and argue for to the American people.

This is partly a function of approval ratings. People pay attention [to polls] and start saying, 'Lets take a more independent tack.' It is frankly self-interest, self-preservation.

People in the individual marketplace should have more options. The plan that we - the discussion draft that we have out, actually opens up for people who are zero percent to 100 percent of the federal poverty level, not eligible for Medicaid, would open up the opportunity for them to purchase insurance with help from the federal government.

The Obama experiment has failed.

What Medicaid basically does is allows them to choose the two base years that they would calculate current their reimbursement levels on. And they all have per-capita allotments based upon what the states are experiencing today in terms of Medicaid costs. And then those are inflated over the years, the next decade, increased at the rate of inflation. And so they have to figure out how to take those dollars and put them to the best use in the state.

I think the thing with Medicare - and a lot of this - I should say, with Medicaid - and this is going to depend - states are going to be in a position to have a lot of flexibility.