It's the Bush administration and Washington Republicans who are addicted to oil, and this administration refuses to break the dependence that undermines our economy and threatens our security.

Our dependency makes slaves out of us, especially if this dependency is a dependency of our self-esteem. If you need encouragement, praise, pats on the back from everybody, then you make everybody your judge.

Our government has a simple task: recognize our nation’s real problems, and address them in a manner that reflects the priorities of the American people. It sounds simple, but it’s not happening today, and I know you’re as frustrated with Washington as I am

And lo and behold, people were amazed: Washington was amazed. The country was amazed. And I was amazed that everybody was amazed. Because what is going on that a senator doesn't act according to script, acts according to conscience, and everybody is taken aback?

The Administration’s willingness to consistently abandon the truth has done great damage. Americans are less willing to listen – less likely to trust or take anything that is said in Washington seriously.

It would be hard to blame you for having trouble taking much of what is said in Washington seriously. You heard about the Medicare actuary who was forced to fudge the numbers and lie to Congress to keep his job. You heard the falsified numbers in Iraq on everything from the cost of the war to the number of trained Iraqi troops to a slam dunk case for weapons of mass destruction. You heard about the administration sponsored fake newscasts to mislead people all across America.