Quotes

The Cry Wolf Quote Bank chronicles the false predictions and hyperbole by opponents of these laws and protections.  While the issues and specific policies change over time, the rhetoric and themes remained the same.  You can search the Quote Bank for what opponents said to prevent these laws from passing. Using the drop down menus on the right their statements by issue, by specific law, by who said it and by the core themes they evoke.   Elsewhere on the site, you can find articles, studies, and other material that debunks their claims. 

E.g., 2024-03-19
E.g., 2024-03-19

[The government involvement in the economy] is so overwhelming and beyond anything we have ever seen, that we risk moving this country away from a government of the people to a government of the regulators.

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Thomas Donohue, President of the Chamber of Commerce
07/14/2010 | Full Details

A closer look at the unemployment [nearly 10 percent unemployment rate] suggests that minimum wage laws also deserve a big share of the blame….businesses are not charities and that they only create jobs when they think a worker will generate net revenue. Higher minimum wages, needless to say, are especially destructive for people with poor work skills and limited work experience.

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Dan Mitchell, senior fellow, Cato Institute.
06/15/2010 | Full Details

[Paid sick leave] is the best public policy for the least cost. Do you want your server coughing over your food?

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Kevin Westlye, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association
06/03/2010 | Full Details

[Still, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce insists the change would kill jobs] 'by making Milwaukee a high-cost island in which to do business.'

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Business Week.
06/03/2010 | Full Details

Our concern is that ... it will create a one-size-fits-all federal system that will marginalize both directors and shareholders.

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Tom Quaadman, executive director of the Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
05/21/2010 | Full Details

Because the Community Reinvestment Act is really kind of a Cloward and Piven kind of scheme that really led to all of the things that, well, we're now having to bail banks out for.

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Glenn Beck, Fox News.
05/21/2010 | Full Details

Getting to an 80 percent or an 83 percent reduction of carbon emission by 2050 is a goal that is just almost impossible for our industry to meet and still produce the fuels that America runs on every day.

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Gregory Scott, executive vice president and general counsel at the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association. Environment and Energy News.
05/19/2010 | Full Details

In order for the [CO2] emissions reductions to be reached that are required under the Act, energy prices have to go up. Gasoline, diesel fuel, electricity… otherwise it won’t change consumer behavior.

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Gregory Scott, executive vice president and general counsel at the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association. Environment and Energy News.
05/19/2010 | Full Details

It has not been a huge issue that we have heard from our members about.

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Senior San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Vice President Jim Lazarus
05/13/2010 | Full Details

[The impact on industries and farmers of dropping the word 'navigable' from the Clean Water Act] could be catastrophic.

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Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), Environment and Energy TV.
05/03/2010 | Full Details

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