It's hard to get a clear picture of exactly where we stand. We've made progress with the training of Iraqi security forces, but it's taken a lot longer to get there than we anticipated.

There were no hearings, there was no testimony,

We can set aside a surplus to save Social Security or Medicare, or we can pass the burden of the baby boomers retirement off on to our children,

Even after the economy is back on its feet and grows -- upon their assumption of the rate of 3.2 percent a year -- even then, we still have a negative bottom line after you back out Social Security and Medicare, as we think he should,

any kind of significant downturn in the economy is going to put the budget back in the red.

[Wednesday's] bankruptcy filing by Delta and Northwest is a grim reminder of the strains being placed on the government's pension-guarantee program.