Under the leadership of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, the United States has given up the moral high ground that we used to occupy as an international leader.

I support responsible spending, and balancing the budget, but this tax cut and the budget cuts of last month accomplish neither of these goals.

Over the past few years special interests have had a larger and larger say over who gets what in America, and the voices of average citizens are being shut out.

We need a tougher enforcement program and, most importantly, we need to fix the badly broken ethics system.

I don't want to remember 2005 as a year that the government heaped unnecessary burdens upon American families. Stealing from the poor and middle class and giving to the rich, while increasing the deficit, is hardly responsible.

The reality is that we have missed a lot of opportunities in Iraq because of a failed policy.

The worst excesses of the Congress of the 1980s pale in comparison with what is going on in Washington today.