Rich -- That is why the jury is the judge of the LAW and the facts in a case. Few people understand what that means and it is never explained to jurors. First the jurors are supposed to judge the law. Is it fair? Is it reasonable? Can it be understood? If they judge the law to be wrong, then they have a duty to acquit.

Ken: BINGO! The GOP nominated someone who they thought was the lesser of two evils, but most Americans perceived him as the greater evil. And frankly, as bad as Obama has been, I think he has been better than McCain would have been. With McCain, we would have gotten the economic policies of Obama with McCain's insane lust for war. That makes him by far the greater of the evils presented to us in that election.

Rich -- the better procedure is not to take the money from the people in the first place. The idea of a national sales tax is good (provided the Constitution is amended to prohibit all other forms of taxation), but the prebate is extremely bad. It is better to simply exempt food, medicine, clothing and shelter. These are necessities and should not be taxed.

The decks are stacked in favor of the incumbent.

Amen

The Fair Tax is a nonstarter because of the prebate. Right now, we have too many people getting a check from the government. With the Fair Tax, EVERYONE gets a check from the government. Making everyone dependent on the government for a part of their income is a recipe for disaster.

OK, I know it is a bit nit-picky, but doesn't Ransom proofread his column? There are at least two sentences that make absolutely no sense.

"... it's not government."

I have to say that I see the politician's point here. After all, these people who are renting out their apartments and rooms are not going to make campaign contributions like the hotel chains do. They are not going to kick in the under-the-table graft like the chains do. So I definitely see why (from a politician's viewpoint) they must be stopped. After all, corruption is what makes the political world go round...

Ken: I agree that at least oil and natural gas is produced by the planet. We have seen natural gas on the moons of Jupiter. There is no suggestion that dinosaurs lived there...

But they don't live in towns with black mayors. They don't mind that these towns are basically third-world hell-holes, because mostly black and brown people live there.