If I believed we could fix housing and the banking situation with $310 billion, I would sit down and withdraw the amendment. I don't think we can. I am trying to help. As to my friend from New York, if you think it is more important to…

1.5 million people would avoid foreclosure if this program were enacted for 14 months. That is a pretty good use of money.

I think the Senator from Connecticut has asked a very good question. What are we doing here? Are we trying to spend TARP money? Well, apparently we are going to do that next. I thought we were stimulating the economy. The President said…

I think the Banking Committee chairman has a major dilemma on his hands, at no fault of his own. If I thought $310 billion would do it, I would not be here. I think you are going to need more money, and if you take 50 out of the TARP, you…

If our colleagues looked at the items we are using to offset, do you agree with me, I say to the Senator, not only could most of these items wait, it would be probably good we never spent the money at all? So when you talk about priorities…

The point I am trying to make, I say to the Senator, is, I may be wrong, but I do not believe the remaining amount of money in TARP--$310 billion, I believe it is--will take care of what we need to do with our banking problem and our…

I think we are at a crossroads, if I may say so, about how we proceed, not just on this bill but as a Congress and as a nation. I think there are plenty of people over here--I can't give you a number; people asked me about numbers--who…

I would encourage everybody here to form your own gang and see if you can save some money and do some good for the taxpayer. But it has been a real pleasure working with Senator Conrad, who is the chairman of the Budget Committee, who…

If you believe this is a good process, to spend $800 billion, we are on different planets. We are literally making this up as we go. If this is such a good process, why are 16 Senators meeting in a corner trying to figure out how to keep…

No, it is my time. I am here today to point out the fact that this is not bipartisanship. This process we are engaging in is not smart. We are not working together. We are about to spend $800 billion or $900 billion and nobody has a clue…

I will put my ability to speak my mind to my party up against anybody, including you, Senator. I have been on this floor many times arguing with the past administration about policies I disagreed with. I don't recall you doing that a lot…

The executive branch would be willing to share power with the judiciary to make that decision?

We need to preserve that and not overly politicize it.

I personally have a lot of confidence in the men and women who administer justice in our military.

I am urging the administration to continue with the process of closing Guantanamo Bay.

Elections have consequence, and I expect the administration to pick people more in line with their philosophy than I would have chosen for them.

I support closing Guantanamo Bay, not because I think it is a place where people are being tortured; I think it is a chance to start over.

One of the ideas that I have is that it is important for us to let the world know that if someone is detained in a prison, wherever you may locate it, it is not an arbitrary decision.

We cannot win in Afghanistan unless Pakistan is on board.

The time, the money, and the casualties we're going to sustain in Afghanistan are necessary and important to make sure that Afghanistan does not become, in the future, a safe haven for terrorism to strike this country again.

We cannot win in Afghanistan without Pakistan's help; do you agree with that?

Bottom line is it's going to be tough, it's going to be difficult, in many ways harder than Iraq.

We need to have realistic goals. That is to make sure that Afghanistan is not a safe haven for international terrorism.

I think one of the unsung heroes of the war would be General Stone and the process he's put in place at Camp Bucca.

I think the American people need to understand that our economy is on its knees at home and that there is no end in sight.