The politics in Washington and the ongoing scandals make me deeply concerned about our country. I think Minnesotans are ready for a change. Even as middle-class Minnesotans struggle with significant increases in basic living costs related to health care, home ownership, education and energy, the Republican leadership in Washington continues to embrace the wrong priorities by catering to big oil and pharmaceutical companies. That is plain wrong. I want to make the interests of Minnesota's working families a top priority again. I have spent my life helping people, standing up for what's right and championing new ideas that have produced results. Now, I am ready to take my experience and my fight to Washington.Tonight, George W. Bush will give his State of the Union address. Here's what he should be talking about:

Economic Security

Washington is heaping piles of debt on our children, while giving away billions to big oil and drug companies. I want to hear George W. Bush commit to putting the budget back on a "pay as you go basis" like we had during the Clinton administration. I want to hear him talking about balancing the budget by stopping the giveaways to the corporate special interests, not on the backs of the middle class. I want to hear him reject his call for privatizing social security and commit to making social security a guarantee, not a gamble, and call for fair trade, not just free trade.

Health Care Reform

I support universal health care. I want to hear George W. Bush explain how he is going to crack down on health care costs and make health care affordable for all Minnesotans. He should immediately call for a law that would save billions and billions of dollars a year by lifting the ban on price negotiation with the prescription drug companies. He should commit to fixing Medicare Part D. He should immediately open the federal insurance plan to small businesses and the self-employed and other Minnesotans so we can receive the same health care coverage that members of Congress and 8 million federal employees receive.

Bringing Our Troops Home Safely

I did not agree with the Administration's decision to invade Iraq. In his State of the Union, George W. Bush should give the American people a full accounting for the run-up to the Iraq war and take responsibility for the false and unsupported claims which led to the invasion. George W. Bush should commit to a change of course in Iraq and pledge that 2006 should be the year that the Iraqi government decreases its dependency on the United States. It should be a year of transition to Iraqi governance in which we bring a significant number of our troops home. He should categorically state that we will not be establishing permanent military bases in Iraq. He should commit to protecting our brave men and women who are serving our country abroad and honor their service by giving them the education and health care benefits they were promised.

Homegrown Energy

George W. Bush should embrace my Energy Independence reform proposal in his State of the Union. He should pledge to end giveaways to the big oil companies, set a 20% renewable energy standard for electricity and spur investment in ethanol, biofuels and wind power, which will create jobs for Minnesotans and lead to energy independence.

Tax Fairness

Tonight, George W. Bush should pledge to restore equity to our national tax policy by closing corporate tax loopholes which allow big businesses to set up "paper" headquarters overseas to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. His tax policies have favored the wealthiest among us, not the middle class. He should come straight with the American people, and he should fix it.

Those are some of the things I will be listening for tonight. And if I don't hear them, I will have to fix them myself when I get to Washington. As your U.S. Senator I will do my job without fear or favor just as I've done as a prosecutor. I will put the interests of the many in front of the interests of the few. But I will need your help to do it.