Sorry, we didn’t intend to ruin their breakfast, but we’re not going to back down from our opposition.

JoAnn Fleming, chair of Dan Patrick's grassroots advisory board, on her group's letter critical of pre-K legislation that made for a tense breakfast meeting with Patrick, Joe Straus and Greg Abbott

When you’re putting together a campaign for president, like I’ve been, that entails a lot of time. It’s not like I’ve been at the beach sipping a piña colada.

GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz, explaining last month his poor committee attendance as a U.S. senator

For some reason, Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor, wants to bring the same bad Washington, always-politically gaming concepts to Austin instead of solving problems.

State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, the author of the House's border security legislation, criticizing the decision in the Senate to pass its own bill rather than take up his bill

These things are cyclical. You have moments of dissatisfaction, and then you come out of it and it’s OK. But the cycles become longer and maybe more entrenched, and that’s when you realize, ‘OK, I’m on the back side of it now.’

Jon Stewart to The Guardian on one of the reasons why he's stopping work at The Daily Show

This is shaping up to be the worst session for ethics in 30 years.

Tom "Smitty" Smith of Public Citizen of Texas, on the state of ethics legislation this session