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In all, $1 of every $5 the federal government spent in 2011 went to defense, and about 20 cents of that $1 was spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

— David Wessel Red Ink: Inside the High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget (2012)

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More quotes by David Wessel

That’s another problem with budgeting: the public makes woefully wrong assumptions about virtually every aspect of it.

Red Ink: Inside the High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget (2012)

Eliminating the federal workforce entirely would have pared the federal budget deficit in 2011 by only one-third.

Red Ink: Inside the High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget (2012)

In classical tragedy, this is known as the denouement. In Washington, it could be just farce.

Red Ink: Inside the High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget (2012)

The overarching lesson: Bringing the deficit down to sustainable levels takes big changes. Little ones won’t do it.

Red Ink: Inside the High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget (2012)

Today, the idea that a president could appeal to a mixed-party center to win approval of any measure seems as quaint is a typewriter.

Red Ink: Inside the High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget (2012)

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The last half of the 20th century will seem like a wild party for rich kids, compared to what's coming now.

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Only the dead have seen the end of war.

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Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: David Wessel (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.