My father, Birch Bayh, represented Indiana in the Senate from 1963 to 1981. A progressive, he nonetheless enjoyed many friendships with moderate Republicans and Southern Democrats.

While romanticizing the Senate of yore would be a mistake, it was certainly better in my father's time.

Many good people serve in Congress. They are patriotic, hard-working, and devoted to the public good as they see it, but the institutional and cultural impediments to change frustrate the intentions of these well-meaning people as rarely before.

Companies that are publicly held have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders to try to maximize their profits within ethical reasons.

My father was on the Judiciary Committee all 18 years. He had a good personal relationship with Jim Eastland. They probably didn't agree on practically anything, or very little, from a public policy standpoint. But they were willing to work through that to see what they could get done just because they knew each other and liked each other.

No one ever built the filibuster rule. It just kind of was created.

Between being governor and part of the Senate, one of the things I did was I held a chair at the business school at my alma mater, Indiana University. And I'd go to lecture the graduates, and I loved that, answering their questions. It was real; it was tangible, and it was making a difference every day.

Sometimes you have to make tough decisions to hold the line on spending.

If, by demanding revolutionary change, I run the risk of accomplishing nothing on behalf of the public, then I'm not sure that's a responsible course of action.

Sometimes making progress a step at a time is better than no progress at all.

I believe I would be a very strong general-election candidate.

There's a high level of frustration with the two-party system out there.

In Indiana, we don't have an official state religion, but if we did, it would be basketball.

Bob Corker's a very reasonable person.

What matters is moving forward and focusing on practical results for the American people.

If I could help educate our children at an institution for higher learning, that would be a noble thing.

Hoosiers are very independent.

What we need to do is to come together as a people and solve the problems facing our country. And unfortunately, Washington is just not doing enough of that these days.

I love working for the people of Indiana. I love helping our citizens make the most of their lives, but I do not love Congress.

The amount of U.S. debt held by countries such as China and Japan is at a historic high, with foreign investors holding half of America's publicly held debt. This dependence raises the specter that other nations will be able to influence our policies in ways antithetical to American interests.

I'm pleased to offer analysis of public policy and politics to the millions of Americans who get their news from Fox.

Of course, the genesis of a good portion of the gridlock in Congress does not reside in Congress itself. Ultimate reform will require each of us, as voters and Americans, to take a long look in the mirror, because in many ways, our representatives in Washington reflect the people who have sent them there.

Filibusters have proliferated because under current rules just one or two determined senators can stop the Senate from functioning. Today, the mere threat of a filibuster is enough to stop a vote; senators are rarely asked to pull all-nighters like Jimmy Stewart in 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.'

If one of my boys was asking me if they should go into politics, I'd say there's only one reason to go into public life and that's to help people.