As they see it.

• Position: Quotation

"We are in such a dire deficit situation, and we need to look at things outside the box to solve our budget problems."

--Kansas Senator Carolyn McGinn, who introduced a bill to abolish the death penalty, potentially saving the state more than $500,000 per capital case, in The New York Times.

"We knew it would get worse before it gets better, and this is worse. There has been an amazing sharp and steady decline in jobs for the last four months, and there is almost no place to hide."

--Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh, in March, to The Christian Science Monitor.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"You have to remember that the courts are a coequal branch of government. This isn't just some agency. It is of an entirely different magnitude in our constitutional structure."

--Utah Senator Scott McCoy to Stateline.org. on his concerns about slashing funding for the state judicial system.

"Kids are texting, and they're just not paying attention in class. Somebody has to get some control here."

--Iowa Representative Deborah Berry, who is pushing a bill to ban cell phones during school hours, to the...