The president views this as a big problem. I think he’ll be talking about some reforms that he thinks are very important.

The timing is unclear. In terms of priorities for next year, that’s up — I’m going to leave it up to him to share his priorities with the American people.

This is a big priority for the president. The system has got to be reformed.

The bottom line is, (Bush) truly believes, as we believe, that by leaving more money in people’s hands and allowing them to spend it, that has propelled the economy.

We’re still concerned about the high cost of energy. The president is especially concerned about the cost of natural gas and what it’s going to mean to the American homeowner.

The sooner we make (the tax cuts) permanent, the better for the economy. I am encouraging him to make that a top priority.

What the president is most concerned about are entitlements.

The president is totally committed to Social Security reform.

The American people are very, very frustrated with the health care system, for good reason.

I can assure that this president is very concerned about the budget deficit.

The president believes very strongly that this is going to have a major, major impact on economic growth and economic growth in the short run, which is so important to creating those jobs where people...

It’s unfair to treat people who don’t have employer-provided insurance differently (in the tax code) from those who do have employer-provided insurance.

Right now, the president’s approval rating is not that strong. That has a lot to do with Iraq.

Poverty is a lagging indicator. It is sort of the last ratio that declines with an expanding economy.

It’s not fair for people who feel like they can’t leave their job or they’d lose their insurance. And it’s not fair not to know what the quality of the providers are and what kind...

My biggest concern, to be honest, is that the tax cuts aren’t made permanent.

The last thing in the world we need to do is raise taxes and retard economic growth.

I can assure you this president is being very aggressive on spending control.

The president is very concerned about (gas prices) and is committed to doing everything he can to reduce the high price of gasoline. Unfortunately, as the president said a number of times, it took us...

It’s coming from the American taxpayer.

I think it’s reasonable to expect a similar approach this coming year.

It’s sort of Economics 101. The demand for fuel and gasoline has been … growing dramatically and the supply has not been growing as rapidly.

The recovery will be paid for by the federal taxpayer and it will add to the deficit.

Medicare is a much bigger problem than Social Security … you can’t wish away the problem, it’s there and the sooner we address it the better.

There are very good laws on the books. What’s important is that those laws are enforced aggressively.

We’re fortunate that the economy is very, very strong now. It will continue to be strong.

Why should we discourage people from paying for health care out of their pocket as opposed to through their insurance, the result of which is we tend to over-insure because that gives us a tax...

It took us a long time to get into this situation, and it’s going to take us a long time to get out. We’ve got to use every tool at our disposal.

Despite the fact that gasoline prices have obviously fallen dramatically from where they peaked after (Hurricane) Katrina, they are still too high. He (Bush) is especially concerned about natural gas prices and the impact they’re...