Top 10 quotes of the day from the 2010 legislative session

10) "People actually play bingo for nothing?" -- Sen. Tom Courtney, D-Burlington, on a bill that would eliminate a requirement for a bingo license if prizes were donated and no entry fee is charged (Feb. 1).  

9) "If I claim I'm the Beatles, I'd better have Sir Paul McCartney in my group if I'm claiming to be the Beatles." -- Sen. Swati Dandekar, D-Marion, describing details of a bill making it unlawful for a musical act to advertise through intentional use of a false, misleading or deceptive affiliation with a well-known recording group if no original band member is involved (Feb. 11).  

 8) "I don't know much about politics, other than watching a little bit on television. I'm just guessing that  not too many things get passed through here this quickly or easily, so I appreciate that." -- University of Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz commenting on Senate passage of a resolution honoring him and his 2009 Hawkeye team (March 10).  

 7) "We are really in a wide open area. The Supreme Court has opened, not just a can of worms, they've opened a 55-gallon drum of worms." -- Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, speaking during Senate debate Monday on a bill dealing with political expenditures by corporations in Iowa campaigns (March 1).  

 6) “Nothing has changed. Life has gone on. The boogie man of gay marriage – the gays are coming, the gays are coming – I just think that people are starting to realize that life's gone on, Iowa's still the same place and I see much less intensity on this issue,” said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines (Jan. 11).  

 5) “They're not going away. They are motivated thinking that God designed marriage, the government didn't, and when government tries to basically spit in God's face and redefine marriage – which they have no right to do – these people are not going away anytime soon.” – Chuck Hurley, head of the Iowa Family Policy Council, discussing efforts to get a legislative vote this session to put a constitutional amendment to define marriage only as one man and one woman before the people of Iowa (Feb. 8).  

 4) “I feel like we're in Hazzard County and Boss Hogg has just raised the rates.” – Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, commenting on a proposal to raise traffic fines, fees and court costs by $8.8 million beginning July 1 (March 15).  

 3) “This isn't my first rodeo. We're going to be ready and we're going to win this race.” – Gov. Chet Culver is assessing his 2010 re-election campaign (March 16).  

 2) “You're not as willing to waste your brain cells at 21 as you are at 18.” -- Sen. Dick Dearden, D-Des Moines, in supporting a requirement that amateur participants in mixed martial arts or ultimate fighting matches be at least 21 years of age (Feb. 4). 

 1) "None of us eat our lunch in a toilet stall, and probably even more appropriate, none of us prepare our meals in a toilet stall, and yet we're requiring many working mothers to do just that for their infants." -- Sen. Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, in advocating for Senate File 2270, a bill approved on a 29-15 vote to require that an employer make a "reasonable effort" to make a workplace accommodation for a female worker who wishes to express breast milk (Feb. 18).