As they see it.

• Position: Opinions of different senators - Brief article

"You're kind of damned if you do, and damned if you don't, so to speak."

--Mark Cullinan, former head of the Massachusetts Office of Dam Safety in the Concord Monitor. The state is wrestling with what to do about unsafe dams.

"There are so many funding requests and so little money."

--Kentucky Senator Damon Thayer to the Kentucky Post on the pressures on the state budget.

"Don't expect me to feel sorry for some sex offender who has to move."

--Iowa Representative Jim Van Fossen to the Sioux City Journal on new sex offender laws.

"Who would be crazy enough to argue against this bill?"

--Representative Sheila Francoeur at statehousefosters.com on a bill in New Hampshire to extend health insurance coverage to college students who must take leaves of absence due to serious illnesses.

"Many, many legislators are just flat broke. They're just having a very difficult...