Me, I was waiting tables of 13 and married at 19. I graduated from public schools, and taught elementary school.

The people who are filing for bankruptcy in increasing numbers every year, it's not the poorest. It's not the people at the economic fringes. It's people who worked hard and played by the rules.

Me, I was waiting tables of 13 and married at 19. I graduated from public schools, and taught elementary school.

President Obama believes in a country where we invest in education, in roads and bridges, in science and in the future, so we can create new opportunities so the next kid can make it big, and the kid after that, and the kid after that. That's what president Obama believes.

Middle class America is acutely aware of how bad this economy is, and it is going to demand changes. I don't think politicians can afford to be complacent.

When you talk about Social Security, it's not just enough to say, we're looking at you, this really matters. It's the fact that a million Americans think it matters. Oh, wait, it's 2 million Americans think it matters. No, it's 4 million Americans. It's 6 million, wait, it's 10 million, it's 50 million Americans who care about this. That's how we're going to make change.

Being Native American has been part of my story I guess since the day I was born.