Delisi, Dunnam, Talton, Azar, Ogden, Mascaro, DeLay, Herndon, Cole, Van de Putte, Noteboom, and EmbreyDeirdre Delisi, chief of staff to Gov. Rick Perry, quoted in The Dallas Morning News on Perry's effort to get Texas companies to pony up $1.2 million to promote changes to school finance and the state's tax code: "We plan to take our message directly to the people of Texas." Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, quoted in the Austin American-Statesman: "Since last session, I haven't seen the Senate prevail over the House very much. It seems like the Senate caved on everything. And while me and some of my colleagues wish that wasn't the case, because we felt the Senate's position was better, we wish the Senate would have the backbone to stand up to the House this time." Rep. Robert Talton, R-Pasadena, arguing for a ban on gay or lesbian foster parents: "It's a learned behavior, and I think a child... ought to have the opportunity to be presented to a traditional family as such. And if they choose to be homosexual or lesbian, then that's their choice when they turn 18." Darrell Azar, spokesman for the state's Department of Family and Protective Services, quoted in The Dallas Morning News on foster care in Texas: "We're not pretending we're doing an adequate job. We need more resources to do it better." Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, talking about taxes with the San Antonio Express-News: "The word 'tax' gets people freaked out. Any modifier before it just changes the group." Utah state Rep. Steven Mascaro, quoted in The New York Times after officials in Washington said a new state education law could endanger federal funding: "I don't like to be threatened. I wish they'd take the stinking money and go back to Washington." U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, on Fox News Radio: "We've got Justice Kennedy writing decisions based upon international law, not the Constitution of the United States? That's just outrageous. And not only that, but he said in session that he does his own research on the Internet? That is just incredibly outrageous." Spofford Mayor pro-tem Tootsie Herndon, quoted in the San Antonio Express-News on legislation that would dissolve her area's water district and merge it into San Antonio's: "Now, some of Kinney County's farmers and ranchers -- water hustlers who think they're going to get rich by selling water -- have gone to Austin and got a bill. This bill is all about politics, money, and greed." Jack Cole, a former police officer who now campaigns for legalizing drugs, quoted in the San Antonio Express-News: "Right now, the drug lords, murderers, and terrorists out there are the ones who regulate drugs in this country. Government regulation is the only way to go, and that will only occur with legalization." Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, telling the Austin American-Statesman she's never been offered an "inappropriate" legislative junket: "I've been here for 14 years. And I keep waiting for someone to ask just so I can be indignant. Either I'm not important enough or they think I'm goody-two-shoes. Nobody has ever asked me. And I don't play golf." Travis Noteboom, a vendor at the National Rifle Association convention in Houston, telling the San Antonio Express-News he's against Internet hunting with a possible exception for handicapped hunters: "I just don't feel it's ethical for able-bodied people to click and boom." Monty Embrey of the NRA, quoted in the Houston Chronicle on a convention booth where more than a dozen whitetail deer were mounted and displayed: "People don't get to see a collection of heads very often. It's a pretty big deal."