As they see it.

• Position: Brief article

"It takes power away from the states and gives it to the federal government. The states are some of the most important regulators and law enforcement people throughout the brewing home foreclosure crisis."

--Bob Brammer, spokesman for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, to Stateline.org, about the federal government's plan to overhaul the country's financial regulatory systems.

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"That's how we get these guys. A gang guy doesn't walk around, "Hey, I'm the leader of the pack.'"

--New Hampshire Representative Delmar Burridge to the Concord Monitor on his hopes that a bill targeted at gang leaders will encourage low-level gang members to "snitch" on them.

"We did the right thing, and it's doing marvelously well."

--Iowa Senator Herman Quirmbach, to the Des' Moines Register, about how a $1-a-pack tax increase on cigarettes appears to have lowered sales 36 percent.

"I thought term limits made sense. But what they've done is weaken the legislative branch in comparison to the governor's office and the byists, and they've hurt the Legislature's ability to have strong leaders."

--South Dakota Senator Bill...