Quote: "Listen, we're broke. Let's face it." Rep. John Boehner, Republican from Ohio, advocating budget cuts in student loans, health care, food stamps, and foster care.
Figure of Speech: epitasis (ee PIT ah sis), the add-on figure.
Sorry, kids. No college, medicine, food or parenting for you. We spent it all. Rep. Boehner says it perfectly with an epitasis, a figure that supplements a point with a sentence that adds emphasis rather than meaning. (We drained the U.S. Treasury. The whole thing.)
But good news! According to the Cincinnati congressman's own website, we're not broke after all! "Uncle Sam's problem isn't that he has too little money," the site says. "It's that he isn't spending responsibly." Those darn sick kids and orphans.
Snappy Answer: "Listen, I vote. Remember that."