My mom is a very warm, typical sort of Jewish-mother type. And my dad has a somewhat, um, different personality.

Well, I think what we need to remember is that budget deficits can impede economic activity.

Social Security faces a long-term actuarial deficit, yes.

If you didn't auction the [CO2] permits, it would represent the largest corporate welfare program that has ever been enacted in the history of the United States. All of the evidence is that what would occur is that corporate profits would increase by approximately the value of the permits.

The government could either raise $100 by selling allowances and then give that amount in cash to particular businesses and individuals, or it could simply give $100 worth of allowances to those businesses and individuals, who could immediately and easily transform the allowances into cash through the secondary market.

It is a foregone opportunity that we could have a trillion dollars more of income for the United States if we were producing at capacity rather than falling so far short of it.

Well, a deficit reflects an imbalance between spending and revenue, and so narrowing it requires acting on one, the other or both.