Your President, who you supported very strongly, of course, as I recall, when he wanted to raid the Social Security trust fund said there was no trust fund. Now, I believe there is a trust fund, and I think we have a moral responsibility…

The gentleman goes off in about seven directions on that question, in my view. What I believe is that it ought to be a consistent policy, as it relates to keeping taxes down on hardworking Americans, that we apply to the wealthiest in…

I don't necessarily think it needs to be paid for for exactly the reason you pointed out. What you pointed out was, you don't want to depress--either by increasing the taxes on small business, as you point out--we're not for increasing…

I thank the gentleman for his recommitment to that proposition. Let me ask the gentleman, therefore, given the fact, am I correct that you do not believe the extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts need to be paid for? Is that still your…

I thank the gentleman for his comments. I am pleased to hear that. As the gentleman knows, Mark Zandi just a few days ago said that failure to extend the payroll tax and the unemployment insurance benefits ``would deliver a significant…

I thank the gentleman for that information with respect to the two pieces of legislation and the suspension bills. If I might inquire, Mr. Leader, of the timing. The conference committee has met, as all of us know, a few times since being…

I appreciate the gentleman's answer. It doesn't surprise me, but he didn't answer my question. My question was: you amended your rules in this House so that the extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts did not have to be paid for. I'm…

We could make some progress if, frankly, the majority leader could get 60 votes to enact the legislation and transact business on the floor of the Senate. Unfortunately, as the gentleman very well knows, the majority leader, Harry Reid…

The gentleman knows that a number of those proposals had bipartisan support in this House, I think have bipartisan support over in the Senate. But they need to be paid for, and that's where the contention comes, as the gentleman knows. Let…

I thank the gentleman. Wonderful, wonderful logic. A Republican leader in this House is appointed to include bipartisan--and the Secretary of Transportation, who was a leader in this House, and the chief of staff of the minority leader of…

I thank the gentleman. And we all look forward to working together in a bipartisan way. We sure have found great difficulty doing it, however, because we have trouble having a meeting of the minds. I will tell my friend that what I…

I thank the gentleman for his comments. Of course we have long been a supporter of small business. We believe small business is the engine of our economy. We believe we need to grow entrepreneurs. We need to expand, frankly, small business…