In the wealthiest nation on Earth – no illness or accident should lead to any family’s financial ruin.

When BP was not moving fast enough on claims, we told BP to set aside $20 billion in a fund - managed by an independent third party - to help all those whose lives have been turned upside down by the spill.

We think of faith as a source of comfort and understanding but find our expressions of faith sowing division; we believe ourselves to be a tolerant people even as racial, religious, and cultural tensions roil the landscape. And instead of resolving these tensions or mediating these conflicts, our politics fans them, exploits them,and drives us further apart.

I believe there are too many children who need loving parents to deny one group of people adoption rights. A child will benefit from a healthy, loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.

The Internet and Twitter and all these things are very powerful, but it also means sometimes that instead of having a dialogue we just start calling folks - calling each other names. And that's true on the left or the right.

You have people around the country who are benefitting from the steps that we've taken [with Obamacare] and as long as they continue to get helped, then at least I'll know in my own mind that the work we did here had a lasting impact.

Government without a tough and vibrant media is not an option for the United States of America.