We can all agree that no American should lose their life savings or their home because of illness or injury and that the rising cost of health care severely burdens individuals, families and businesses.

Well, the senators I've enjoyed working with the most would be Ted Kennedy and Kent Conrad, because they were both either chairman or ranking member of the committee I was chairman or ranking member of. And in both instances they were just great people to work with.

When a company gets into trouble, it should basically have to be resolved, in other words, stockholders lose their money, unsecured bondholders lose their money.

You know the way Washington works. Once you start floating ideas, they are immediately attacked by all the different interest groups before the ideas can be brought to fruition.

You know, the taxing authority of the United States is our most powerful weapon. You know, the reason we separated from England was because the British were using it abusively.

Derivatives are a huge, complex issue.

I don't rule out anything in my future.

I don't think the American people want unilateral government control over the entire health-care system.

I have never been opposed to earmarks.

I think I could have worked for the Clinton administration.

It is the American way to reward ability.

Most people get their politics, obviously, from TV shows about senators or movies about them or... all the day-to-day press and the talk shows.

Most senators are just going to work and trying to do a job.

Social Security was always supposed to be basically in theory an insurance program where you pay in and then you get out.

The president deserves someone who can block for his policies.

We invaded Iraq to change a totalitarian, despotic regime, and we have been successful there.

Whether or not you have good consumer protection has a big effect on safety and soundness of the banking community, especially smaller banks.

You can't make a representation and then claim you didn't make it. You know, it just shouldn't work that way.

You have safety and soundness as primary purpose of the Federal Reserve, the OCC, and the other agencies which control banking regulation.

Actually, I have been very supportive of a very robust stimulus package from day one. I think this economy has to have a major stimulus initiative because the only group with liquidity is the federal government.