The President's call for more math and science students is not being heeded by his party's leaders in Congress. They are cutting over $10 billion from student aide while refusing to fully fund No Child Left Behind. Something doesn't add up.

Democrats have laid out a program that, if adopted, would make us independent of Middle Eastern oil in ten years, and create a new economy especially for those in rural America. Our program invests in clean energy alternatives and provides energy assistance for those in need.

Has he paid his dues? Is he black enough? John Lewis and I were out there marching and organizing sit-ins back in the '60s so that his children and my children would not have to do it. We would have been failures if had to do the same things we did.

Democrats are fighting for a new direction that includes protecting Social Security as well as making healthcare affordable, bringing down the high cost of gasoline, and making higher education more accessible for all Americans.

I have no problems with private schools. I graduated from one and so did my mother.

The bottom line is that five million low-income Americans working full time for minimum wage, deserve a raise.

An ability to compromise is important. That means stepping back and getting the ego out of the way in order to accomplish what you want to get done.