# Quote — Joe Biden, Promises to Keep

> They didn’t take on the welfare programs directly; they didn’t talk about eliminating welfare. They just kept up a steady drumbeat about welfare cheats and how the federal government was wasting the money taken from hardworking taxpayers.
>
> I’ll give the Republicans this much: It was a mercenary message, but it resonated. And they had taken the easy way out. It required a lot less energy, intelligence, and competence to run against government than to try to make government work. But there was also a blowback effect in Congress: Respect for the institution and civility among its members began to ebb.

- Author: [Joe Biden](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden.md)
- Book: [Promises to Keep](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep.md)
- Page: 134
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Biden#Promises_to_Keep_(2008)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep/they-didnt-take

## More from this book

> The carnage was over, but there was still a bitter taste in my mouth.

p. 284 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep/the-carnage-was.md)

> I think you're a damn war criminal and you should be tried as one.

p. 266 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep/i-think-youre.md)

> I believe all Americans are born with certain inalienable rights. As a child of God, I believe my rights are not derived from the Constitution. My rights are not derived from any government. My rights are not denied by any majority. My rights are because I exist. They were given to me and each of my fellow citizens by our creator, and they represent the essence of human dignity....

p. 194 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep/i-believe-all.md)