I can say to the German people that the United States has been good for Germany. Has looked out for Germany. Has provided security for Germany. Has helped rebuilt Germany. And unify Germany.
Most people who serve in Washington have been trained either as lawyers or as political operatives--professions that tend to place a premium on winning arguments rather than solving problems.
No one wants to hear about how awesome you were; people want to hear about the time you blew it. So I think the longer you do stand-up, the more comfortable you are. You stop wanting to hide your foibles and instead want to show who you are.
You can't get a solution if you won't talk to the people that have the problem. You can't ever have healing if the patient is left out of the operation room.
Even on health care what you've seen is a lot of stories surfacing lately about people who said, "Well, I voted for [Donald] Trump but I don't think he's really gonna take away my health care."
One of the very difficult parts of the decision I made on the financial crisis was to use hardworking people's money to help prevent there to be a crisis.