As they see it.

• Position: Terie Norelli, Susan Collins, and Michael Waddoups - Quotation - Brief article

"It's a great day in South Carolina. How may I help you?"

--Any South Carolina state government employee, upon answering the phone, on new orders from Governor Nikki Haley, in The Economist.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

ACTUALLY, I CAN'T SAY THAT I DISAGREE ...

"We know that there will be cuts. What we are asking is that cuts to state budgets be proportional to everything else that's on the table."

--New Hampshire Representative Terie Norelli, NCSL president-elect, to the Super Committee on Deficit Reduction during a visit by state lawmakers from around the country, in Stateline.

"The much-maligned potato is actually a very affordable, nutritious vegetable. The issue is really in the preparation."

--U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Maine, leading the pro-potato forces in the Senate against the U.S. Department of Agriculture's efforts to limit the tubers in the federal school lunch program, in USA Today.

HEY, MOM, DIDN'T GRANDPA SAY THAT DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION THERE WAS A RUN ON THE BANKS BACK THEN TOO?

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"Despite the need for tourism, we are not going to become Las Vegas or New Orleans."

--Utah Senate President Michael Waddoups, defending the Legislature's new restrictions on bars and alcohol...