I think the Respublican party's lost its way. We have given into nativism and protectionism. And I think that, if we're going to be a governing party in the future, and a majority party, we have got to go back to traditional conservatism, limited government, economic freedom, individual responsibility, respect for free trade. Those are the principles that made us who we are.

This Congress is out of control and in desperate need of adult supervision.

Many of the earmark request forms are actually filled out by lobbyists and then just turned in by the member's staff to the appropriations committee.

There are some Republicans who say that any time you raise new revenue, you have to have a tax cut to match it. I am not one of those Republicans.

The country is facing a fiscal crisis, and the United States Senate is at the center of the debate about how to bring federal spending under control.

Unfortunately there are too many examples of members of Congress and other elected officials using language, referring to your opponents in ways that you would have never done before, ascribing the worst motives to your opponents, and assuming that other Americans are the enemies. And that's just not the way it used to be. And I don't think it can be that way in the future.

After September 11, it became unpatriotic to question any homeland-security or defense spending, and that let things get out of control.