Kent Conrad: “It is so clear to me, it is beyond question to me that you have to have a special process.”

I thought he was an outstanding Committee Chairman, and my former intern has succeeded him in his Congressional seat.

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.

The consequence of failure has to be made clear.