Kent Conrad: “I think all of us are concerned about the safety of local residents who use this highway.”

We admire that, and I can say on both sides of the aisle, people recognize the job he did as Budget Committee Chairman.

I do, and I made that argument to the commission, and others on the commission made some of the points that you are making now.

I wish I could look you in the eye and say, you know, if we just had the will, we could reverse this, and we could go back to a time when defined benefit plans were on the increase. I do not think that is in the cards.

The bottom 20 percent of earners get a 35-percent increase over what is scheduled, a more than 60-percent increase over what is payable.