Here are two quotes from the weekend papers that we particularly enjoyed. The first comes from a Boston Globe article about how Americans for Tax Reform, headed by anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, has received contributions from some unlikely sources -- including $4.3 million from Richard Scruggs, the Mississippi trial lawyer known for supporting Democratic causes:

Scruggs, like the tobacco companies and some other leading donors, was interested in more than lifting the burdens of the taxpayer. He said he had his own agenda: He wanted Norquist to work to defeat a congressional proposal that he feared would confiscate most of his $1 billion legal fee in the tobacco case.

''I paid a lot of money," Scruggs said. ''I thought that was the way the game was played."

And then there's this quote, from a New York Times article about how Rep. Alan Mollohan has used (or abused) earmarks to funnel large amounts of federal funds to five dubious organizations, which he set up himself in his home state of West Virginia :

"What else are you going to do to reinvent this economy?" asked [Laura Kurtz] Kuhns, Mr. Mollohan's former aide who runs Vandalia and is the co-owner of the North Carolina beach property with the congressman.

Translation: "This is goddam West Virginia we're talking about!"

Congressman's Special Projects Bring Complaints [NYT]

Special Interests Aided Tax-Reform Advocate [Boston Globe]