Ogden, Hecht, Sifry, Swinford, and Haggerty

Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, telling the Austin American-Statesman why he's now trying to trim the sails on a toll road and highway-building program he originally sponsored: "What's going on? We had an election, that's what. All we're doing is reflecting what we heard on the campaign trail."

Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht, who successfully fought a state judicial sanction, on why the state should pay his legal fees even though he raised the funds from political contributors, quoted by the Associated Press: "So, I can raise the money and be a sleazebag, or I don't raise the money and lose and I'm a sleazebag. So maybe that's not quite a fair system, even for judges."

Micah Sifry, editor of TechPresident, quoted by the Los Angeles Times on "unsigned" Internet ads for and against Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama: "The striking fact today is the knowledge and skill to make a video like this has moved out of campaign headquarters. It is the beginning of something new in politics."

Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas, telling House members they should drop the idea of automatic special sessions to override gubernatorial vetoes: "I know a lot of people would like to spit in the governor's eye, and this is a good way, and I hope you enjoy doing that… [however,] this is a serious issue we're talking about, this is not fun and games."

Rep. Pat Haggerty, D-El Paso: "We've got a lot of silly rules in this state. That's why we [legislators] come back here every two years — to make more silly rules and undo some of the silly rules we've already got. That's our job."