Left Versus Right; 11 Contrasts in Thinking

1. Obama vs. Thatcher
"Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now, and facts and science and argument do not seem to be winning the day all the time, is because we're hard-wired not to always think clearly when we're scared, and the country is scared."
- Barack Obama

"I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left."
- Margaret Thatcher


2. Pelosi vs. Franklin
"Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance."
- Nancy Pelosi

"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid."
- Benjamin Franklin


3. Obama vs. T. Roosevelt
"I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Britts believe in British exceptionalism, and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism."
- Barack Obama

"The man who loves other countries as much as his own stands on a level with the man who loves other women as much as he loves his own wife."
- Teddy Roosevelt


4. Biden vs. Reagan
"Every single great idea that has marked the 21st century, the 20th century and the 19th century has required government vision and government incentive."
- Joe Biden

"Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States."
- Ronald Reagan


5. Obama vs. Reagan
"Political discussions, the kind at Occidental had once seemed so intense and purposeful, came to take on the flavor of the socialist conferences I sometimes attended at Cooper Union"
- Barack Obama

"How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin."
- Ronald Reagan


6. Obama vs. Reagan
"I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."
- Barack Obama

"I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life."
- Ronald Reagan


7. Obama vs. Thatcher
"I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."
- Barack Obama

"The trouble with socialism is, sooner or later you run out of other peoples' money."
- Margaret Thatcher


8. Obama vs. Reagan
"In America, there's a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world."
- Barack Obama

"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children (America), the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done."
- Ronald Reagan


9. Obama vs. Wayne
"I've now been in 57 states? I think one left to go?"
- Barack Obama

"Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid."
- John Wayne


10. Kerry vs. Paine
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
- John Kerry

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."
- Thomas Paine

11. Brown vs. Reagan
"The conventional viewpoint says we need a jobs program and we need to cut welfare. Just the opposite! We need more welfare and fewer jobs."
- Jerry Brown

"Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence."
- Ronald Reagan