"For too long, unfunded federal mandates have drained the budgets of states and communities. The strength and vitality of our communities must be restored."

"Vermonters often ask me whether I am pessimistic about the future of our country. My honest answer is that I am not."

"States used to protect consumers from predatory lenders, but strong state usury laws were obliterated by a 1978 U.S. Supreme Court decision."

"Finland is no utopia."

"In Finland, where 80 percent of workers belong to unions, all employees enjoy at least 30 days paid vacation, and the gap between the rich and poor is far more equitable than in the United States."

"Representative Spencer Bachus is one of the only people I know from Alabama. I bet I'm the only socialist he knows."

"If credit unions can grow and prosper with a 15 percent cap, so can banks."

"In 2003, GlaxoSmithKline paid $88 million in civil fines for overcharging Medicaid for its anti-depressant Paxil."

"In 2004, Warner-Lambert, a division of Pfizer Inc., pled guilty to two felonies and agreed to pay $430 million for fraudulently promoting the drug Neurontin."

"In 1999, Hoffmann-LaRoche paid a $500 million criminal fine for leading a worldwide conspiracy to fix prices for certain vitamins."

"For every $1 billion we invest in public transportation, we create 30,000 jobs, save thousands of dollars a year for each commuter, and dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions."

"I see a future where American companies lead the world in the production of hybrid-plug in cars and electric vehicles."

"Even the alternative weekly newspapers, traditionally a bastion of progressive thought and analysis, have been bought by a monopoly franchise and made a predictable shift to the right in their coverage of local news."

"The right wing has monopolized the AM radio airwaves."

"Private insurance companies in America are reaping huge profits."

"For much of America, the all-American values depicted in Norman Rockwell's classic illustrations are idealistic. For those of us from Vermont, they're realistic. That's what we do."

"Ted Kennedy devoted his lifetime to protecting those most in need, and tens of millions of Americans have been the beneficiaries."

"Ted Kennedy will go down in history as one of the giants of the U.S. Senate and one the most accomplished legislators in American history."

"The Senate voted 59 to 39 in favor of an amendment I offered to the Budget Resolution calling on the Fed to tell the American people who they loaned $2.2 trillion to and how much each bank received."

"Capitalism does a number of things very well: it helps create an entrepreneurial spirit; it gets people motivated to come up with new ideas, and that's a good thing."

"If we are going to reverse the race to the bottom, workers must have the right to engage in collective bargaining."

"I am not aware how you succeed politically when you insult women, who far more than men consistently provide you with great margins of support."

"In 2005, Republicans passed a 360-page reconciliation bill without a single Democratic vote that provided deep cuts to Medicaid and raised premiums on Medicare beneficiaries."

"In 2001, Republicans used reconciliation to pass President Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cut that mainly benefited the wealthy."

"In 1996, Republicans used reconciliation to pass major legislation that ended six decades of welfare policy."

"Senate Republicans have engaged in a record number of filibusters and other obstructionist tactics."

"If we completely repealed the estate tax, it would provide an estimated $32 billion tax break for the Walton family - the founders of Wal-Mart."

"While commentators on Fox and right-wing radio have the backing of Rupert Murdoch, a major Republican contributor, and other conservative corporations, progressives understand that their position is extremely vulnerable."

"If there is a silver lining in the action of MSNBC against Keith Olbermann, it is that people will now pay more attention to the political role of corporate media in America."

"Comcast rents modems directly to consumers, thereby competing directly with companies like Zoom. It has every reason to make Zoom modems more expensive or even to drive companies like Zoom out of business."

"Citizens in a democracy need diverse sources of news and information."

"Each and every year, the United States loses an estimated $100 billion a year in tax revenues due to offshore tax abuses by the wealthy and large corporations."

"Ford's federal income tax rate was just 2.3 percent in 2009 even though it made $3 billion in profits."

"Before Congress cuts funding for Head Start, Social Security, and financial aid for college, we have got to make sure that large, profitable corporations are paying their fair share of taxes."

"The deficit crisis is real and must be addressed. But it cannot be solved on the backs of the weak and vulnerable."

"Legislation must be passed which undoes the damage caused by excessive de-regulation. That means reinstalling the regulatory firewalls that were ripped down in 1999."

"There must be a major economic recovery package which puts Americans to work at decent wages."

"People don't trust private health insurance companies for all the right reasons."

"As a result of the digital age and the decline of first-class mail, there is no question that the Postal Service must change and develop a new business model."

"Let's be honest, dental care in America is extremely expensive, period."

"I'm not much into speculation."

"You know, let me be very clear. I supported Barack Obama originally."

"What the American people want to see in their president is somebody who not necessarily can win every fight, but they want to see him stand up and fight for what he believes, take his case to the American people."

"You want to know the way to raise money? Put a transaction fee on Wall Street, so maybe we can curb some of the speculation and raise some money."

"Of course the Republicans have long wanted to privatize Social Security and destroy it. But Social Security has been the most important and valuable social program in the history of the United States."

"I thought the Bush economic policy was a disaster. We lost 500,000 private sector jobs during his tenure."

"There is nobody that I know who believes that Bank of America is a human being who should be entitled for the same constitutional rights that the people of our country are."

"I think the American people in many cases want to transform our energy system."

"I am sure that there are some single payer advocates who think the only thing worth fighting for is single payer."

"I don't consider myself a pariah."