Family farms and small businesses are the backbone of our communities.

Health care costs blunt the competitive edge of American entrepreneurs, from the auto industry to internet start-ups.

Incivility is a symptom, not the disease. We've always had partisan conflict in Congress, and we always will. Yet when I worked for a year (1970-71) on the staff of Sen. Ed Muskie of Maine, this was a different place, more collegial, more sensitive to data, more concerned about all of the American people. I think because the for-profit media prizes conflict above cooperation and sound bites above analysis, politicians have learned to adapt to those tendencies. Consequently, our public debates are dumbed down as our problems grow more complex.

Despite the increase in world attention toward Sudan in the past months, the genocide in Darfur has continued without any serious attempt by the Sudanese government to do what governments primarily exist to do, protect their citizens.

While I relish our warm months, winter forms our character and brings out our best.

I am confident that the British people will not be intimidated by terrorism.

They don't have special rights because we have civil rights laws that protect them. The laws work both ways.