The notion that I would somehow resist doing something that cost half as much but would produce twice as many jobs — why would I resist that? I wouldn't. I mean, that's my point, is that — I am not an ideologue. I'm not. It doesn't make sense if somebody could tell me "You could do this cheaper and get increased results" that I wouldn't say, great — the problem is, I couldn't find credible economists who would back up the claims that you just made.

Speech to the House Republican Conference (29 January 2010), quoted in Who's an "Ideologue"? by Mark W. Hendrickson at American Thinker (17 February 2010); full transcript in "Obama At House Republican Retreat In Baltimore" (17 February 2010)