Tom Gallagher Quotations

What these numbers have done this morning is raise a question: Does the Fed have the nerve to raise by 50 basis points (a half percentage point) next week?

We're a state of opportunity that is attracting about 1,100 people a day into our state.

We have zero tolerance for insurance agents who deceive our seniors and cheat them out of their hard-earned retirement funds.

There are things that I thought would be a difference between us and all of a sudden I see my opponent has jumped over to the same place I am. This campaign is about ideas and vision and the experience to carry that out.

She does those things naturally, and we have to credit her mom for that. It's like we're describing the perfect teenager here. There's times when she has everybody laughing, including me. She's quite a kid.

Meaningful reforms, more aggressive investigation of workers' compensation fraud and compliance efforts have led to dramatic savings for Florida's businesses. We will continue to aggressively investigate cases of suspected fraud to continue to improve the system for our small businesses and our workers.

One of the things I talk about is the importance of having strong families in our state. It's the base of society. Strong families build the leaders of tomorrow. Strong families keep down the cost of government.

My understanding (of state law) is these are public companies and the amount of shares I owned were insignificant, and I didn't see any conflict.

Nobody's been more critical of Citizens than I have. But I will tell you that without Citizens, 25 percent of the people in homes in this state, they would not have insurance, they would not have a mortgage, they wouldn't be able to sell their homes.

I don't get to pick which issues have come to me in my career, ... They come to me and I have to deal with them, like Hurricane Andrew. I work hard and I'm there.

I believe your taxes are too high. I believe we have to have someone who has a plan to deal with the insurance problem.

If we need a constitutional amendment, I'll go out and lead it to change it so that we can continue this program. It means so much to those parents and it's an opportunity for those kids.

What I'm proudest of, we've done all this without an income tax.

I take no chances with our investment policy for the state. In my personal business, I had dollars I was willing to put at risk.

I think it is important to match our population as close as you can on appointments.

I think it is going to be very difficult to make money out of this rally.

I think the main difference between me and my opponent is that nobody really thinks he can win the general election.

I think the market is due for some sort of rally. The market is very oversold.

I think the market doesn't know where to go.

Over the past 14 months I have personally called out companies and demanded they come to Tallahassee and answer for their conduct, ... I have pushed for rate freezes. My office has helped 60,000 citizens with their problems with insurance companies.

Our priority now is to get any outstanding hurricane claims paid as quickly as possible.

Local government spending has grown out of control. Left unchecked, this will damage our economic potential.

Whether dealing with hurricanes, the recent spread of methamphetamine production, or the kidnapping and murder of innocent children, our first responders and law enforcement personnel are on the front lines and deserve the resources required to protect our citizens. By making public safety our first priority, we will make sure that we are prepared for any emergency and that justice is never denied.

This scheme had the potential to jeopardize patient care. We will not tolerate anyone putting our citizens at risk.

Wash the Girl of Your Choice, ... The club is open 365 days a year, or close to it, and I don't know the last time it closed down for a cleaning.

This state is $32 billion behind in fixing roads. Why not let private enterprise own and build roads?

There is a big 'Trust me' in this deal, particularly with the French government retaining a stake. But the key issue is job cuts.

We just happen to disagree with how we would lead this state.

There are probably two areas that were not really fulfilled and I have to credit Laura with really making a difference in my life. One is the power and the importance of the Bible and spending time reading it ... The other really key part to my life is having a relationship with Jesus and understanding that prayer's important, the Bible's important, but that relationship is really what counts.

We need to continue to see to it that we have a world class education. If we do that, that takes care of so many problems.

We will have enough money to get our message out.

We all are equally responsible for the rates, all four of us - not that that makes rates acceptable to anybody, ... But (insurance regulator) Kevin McCarty has to balance two conflicting areas, affordability and accessibility. If government mandates affordability, suddenly there will be no availability.

What's happening is that you have a conservationist attitude in the public -- they want to preserve what has been achieved rather than blowing it. The public really wants to keep the status quo and they are most interested in voting for a candidate who preserves that status quo.

There should be no drilling anywhere off our shores.

These developments are especially troubling because Floridians' claims may have been mishandled as a result, ... We will pursue this investigation fully to ensure complete accountability.

The state is about $37 billion behind in overall transportation needs. We just don't have the money to do all the things we want to do.

Rate relief is a short-term solution and should be tied to long-term fixes. I applaud Governor Bush and state lawmakers for considering my proposals to provide relief to homeowners as well as long-term, comprehensive reforms of Citizens and our insurance market.

Often declaring losses on the prior year's return can lead to a larger deduction.

Storm victims should not have to chase after money that is theirs to begin with, and there is no reason why these funds should not be released directly to the homeowner, especially in the aftermath of a catastrophic storm.

This is a tragic reminder that it may not be enough to review the documents. You may need to follow up with the insurance company to ensure coverage is in place. Also, never pay in cash and never write a check to the insurance agent or agency. Always make the check payable to the insurance company that will provide the coverage.

This legislation will ensure faster payment for storm victims following a major catastrophe. It will make it easier for families to get the money they deserve.

This kind of insurance fraud leads to the overall negative perception of Florida's insurance professionals.

It's not just about how much money you have. It's about how you spend it and what your message is.

It's not that Japan or Europe have better accounting systems than we do,

Education is probably the most important thing we can do for our citizens.

It's a natural part of the transition. Once his successor was named, it made sense that he kind of take a step back.

It's earlier than most people would do it, but I also think it's a great way to build on a grass roots organization.

I wanted to offer to the people an opportunity to vote to spend a penny on prisons. Didn't say it had to be a new penny - could have been an old penny.

Increasing our investigative force and pursuing tougher laws will strengthen our ability to put scam artists behind bars and enforce our message that we intend to put the brakes on this costly crime.

I'm not adding a tax. It's just a fairness factor.

I'm urging hurricane victims to take advantage of every tax benefit available to help them rebuild their lives and homes, and improve their finances. Tax benefits available this year could help Florida families at every income level.

I'm certain of one thing: there is no way that the people want to go back 10 or 15 years to the days of higher taxes and failing schools.

I'll tell you what, if she's not the best to come out of this area in a long time, she's certainly one of the best. She handles the ball, shoots the 3, plays good defense, rebounds. She really has it all.

Investors should be cautious of the fact that we're in the middle of an overvaluation correction and that we have further to go on interest rates and the Fed sees inflation as a problem and they plan on handling it. And some people are now saying they may take stronger action at the next meeting. So I think in that case it's a good yet idea to sit back and let the overvaluations get taken care of and let the Fed go through a couple of rate increasing before you get back into the market.

I obviously didn't use insider information. That's what I've said from day one.

Charlie Crist is a very nice guy. He's probably one of the nicest guys around and he does a good job of communicating issues ... that are important to his office. I don't think he's ready to be governor.

I certainly believe that we're in a bear market and we're going test the lows that we established last week, and that we will go through them. But there will be life after the bear market.

I am pleased that this money is being returned to the victims. This may help them recover from the financial anguish, but the mental anguish may never be undone.

I commend our investigators and prosecutors for their tenacity in making our state a national leader in combating insurance fraud. We will not give up the fight to protect Floridians from the danger and cost inflicted by insurance fraud schemes.

The idea is although over a bunch of years you build up a cash reserve of $6 billion, you could just as easily have a bunch of years where you have a $15 billion deficit.

Aggressive investigations and prosecutions coupled with legislation I'm advocating this year will tighten the net around these criminals.

The economy is performing well enough to be producing pretty good profits under last year's rules. But we don't know what the profits are going to be under the new rules.

The eight hurricanes which stuck Florida in less than 15 months created problems that no one could have ever anticipated. Addressing those challenges, reducing the burdens on Florida homeowners and preparing Florida's families for future storms remain my top priorities this session.