He needs a jobs package. And then defy the Republican house not to pass it.

I came to this congress for the jobs package. I compromised a lot. But here's my jobs package. Why won't the house Republic pass it?

I think that can be an effective thing in a politician. And I think he's going to be formidable. If I was Mitt Romney, I would be quaking in my Gucci's.

It's a Republican-inflicted wound on America, and not even all Republicans. A lot of Republicans think this is crazy, too.

This is not slavery. This is not civil rights. This is whether we should subsidize air travelers in Ely, Nevada.

I think it's a monstrous thing. I think it's a terrible thing.

This obsession on the debt ceiling -- and it's an artificial contrivance -- we just created that as a country -- has distracted from what a lot of people think is a bigger problem, and that is jobs, growth.

I think it's a route. I don't support their agenda. But if it's cutting taxes and spending, good Lord, this thing is a route.

I do wish the Democrats would come forward with a jobs bill.

I think that's a little much, at least for me and I was struck at how very different type of Republican we have in the Senate today.

This is the problem, is that the Commerce Department, Obama's, President Obama's own Commerce Department says that in the last quarter, austerity measures by state, local and federal governments, spending cuts by government, reduced the…