There is a serious disconnect between the issue at hand and the banking industry. I don't think they realize just how much the consumer needs to be informed.

I think we haven't had a real serious national debate in this country as to what this issue is about, ... And we're dealing with kind of general slogans and images, a great deal of fear and panic. But I think that the Democrats are very much at fault in not generating a genuine debate. And I think the administration has been disingenuous in its argumentation.

This is an issue that the industry has to deal with. I don't think the frequency has increased as much, but it hurts us more when (gas) costs so much. Instead of losing 10 gallons for $1.29, now it's $3.

The weakest link in the chain are your clients.

I think we have a PR issue, in that people do not think the utility industry has great significant technical challenges. College graduates look at us and see poles and wires, and don't realize there are things like automation, computer control and sophisticated asset management systems out there.

Nobody pretends to think that that $2 billion is enough for the task at hand.