Kent Conrad: “I wish every colleague of ours in the House and the Senate, and I wish every American could hear the description you…”

That I like to call the 'Conrad provision.'

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

We also increase the payroll tax very modestly, from the current combined rate of 12.4 percent to 13.4 percent over 10 years.

The surviving spouse provisions are especially important with regard to offsetting some of the unfairness that exists elsewhere.