The discussion in Washington has changed dramatically. I mean it's no longer a question of should we address entitlements - it's no longer a question of do we need to reduce spending in the future.

The claim made by Team Obama that every dollar in stimulus translates into a dollar-and-a-half in growth is economic fiction. The costs of stimulus reduce future growth. No country has ever spent itself to prosperity. The price of stimulus has to be paid sometime.

I honestly don't know but if America continues to refuse to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions I see a bleak future not only for American society but for the world as a whole. This is a global problem that is not going away and the United States is an obstacle to solving it.

Fortunately somewhere between chance and mystery lies imagination the only thing that protects our freedom despite the fact that people keep trying to reduce it or kill it off altogether.

To become self-aware people must be allowed to hear a plurality of opinions and then make up their own minds. They must be allowed to say write and publish whatever they want. Freedom of expression is the most basic but fundamental right. Without it human beings are reduced to automatons.

Our budget works to reduce and eliminate the risk of attacks at our ports rails in the skies our food supply and roads by allowing for increases in many of the programs and agencies to help protect these important areas of commerce and travel.

We have reduced sales tax on food. Now we want it eliminated.

The only way that we can reduce our financial dependence on the inflow of funds from the rest of the world is to reduce our trade deficit.

We need to recognise that what really matters isn't buying more and more consumer goods but family friends and knowing that we are doing something worthwhile with our lives. Helping to reduce the appalling consequences of world poverty should be part of that reassessment.

It has now been over 7 years since Congress last raised the minimum wage to its current level of $5.15 per hour. Since that last increase Congress's failure to adjust the wage for inflation has reduced the purchasing power of the minimum wage to record low levels.