George Mitchell: “We all compromised, because it is the only way you ever get anything done around here.”

The Republicans of the Congress specifically, who have made the tax pledge, and the president who is trying to get them to break it.

I think he's confronted with the realities now. You can say anything you want on the campaign trail. You can promise anything you want. But when you confront the hard realities, when you're in office, when you get information that makes it…

I think both sides are calculating their gains and losses and I think fairly soon the time will come when they will coincide in deciding that it's in their interest to end this round of the conflict.

Mr. Chairman, I think it ought to be clear that what we are doing here is establishing one rule for every American business, every American interest except oil and gas, and then a special rule for those in the oil and gas business.