We do not believe voters gave President Bush a mandate to turn back the clock decades on so many of our legal protections.

Under current law volunteers who are not working with an official nonprofit organization are not covered by the Volunteer Protection Act. Therefore there are absolutely no legal protections for the average American who wishes to volunteer.

I was for civil unions and believed strongly that the flow of benefits and protections that would be provided in a civil union for same-sex couples the decisions that have to be made when health hardships are faced when economic hardships are faced I wanted all of those protections. I never strayed from them.

There are several good protections against temptation but the surest is cowardice.

Time after time we're told corporations should have freedom from pesky job safety regulations environmental protections and labor standards - giving working people the freedom to be crushed in collapsing mines choke on filthy air and get paid too little to live on.

Having yet another vote on refinery legislation that uses high oil prices as an excuse to weaken environmental protections and to give more legislative gifts to the oil industry is misguided in the extreme.

Without international participation jobs and emissions will simply shift overseas to countries that require few if any environmental protections harming the global environment as well as the U.S. economy.

I am going to confront the old-fashioned negative thinking which says that all government needs to do to generate growth is cut worker and environmental protections cut taxes on the rich and stroke 'fat cats' until they purr with pleasure. I'm completely repudiating the idea that government has to get out of the way.

It is amazing to think after all that has happened in this country in the last few years the last few decades that so many people have this blind faith that government is our friend and therefore so we don't need protections against it.