Bye Bye. If you think Ron Paul could beat anyone in a national election, you are sadly short on your perception of American voting traits. While we all like his ideas to reduce government's intervention in our private lives, he has been and will always be incapable of winning even close to a majority of votes.

To the writer calling Ms. Palin a "quitter." Have you ever been dogged by folks with unlimited funds who will keep you in court for the rest of your life as governor? Until you have walked in those moccasins, I hope you'll be a little less judgemental.

You have a good point. But not good enough. How would you feel about paying for their education all the way through an Ivy League school? Let's just send 'em through Harvard. Then we'll get even more for our money!

Dem's are buying dumb pills they take every morning. The pills erase the memory of what has happened in the last three years and give hope to fantasies about the ability of government to create productive jobs. If anyone knows which company is making/selling these pills, please advise, so I can invest.

Our Mr. Cain has no clue about international affairs, and like Palin, no "gravitas." But he surely is likeable - you're right about that.

Just my opinion, but it seems in the past two or so years David Brooks has indeed moved left of his formerly center-conservative views. (Either that or I've moved even further right and it just seems it is he who has changed.)

I'd rather try to place a spending cap and reduce business taxes. Fair tax seems simple now; so did the income tax when it was first implemented. But everyone's differences, ultimately settled in courts, will create a huge book of reg's too. Imagine fighting over whether one is eligible for how much annual exclusion based on size of family, economic standing, etc. Imagine whether hospitals will collect the tax. Imagine whether local governments, utilities, etc., etc. will collect the tax. And it simply isn't "fair" to charge everyone the same regardless of their unique circumstances, like health (if one is spending all his income on medical bills, or casualties like floods, etc., he pays a reduced amount under the current code.) ...

There is a great deal of B.S. going around about "subsidies." Percentage depletion, which is a tax benefit, does not apply to integrated companies like Exxon. The writeoff of IDC is not a break, but only a present vs deferred (timing) deduction. The write off of exploration costs is as logical as a shoe repairman deducting the cost of leather. There are some incentives given all international companies based in the U.S. regarding allocations of current income overseas. This will continure as long as our corporate tax rates are higher than taxes overseas. I shudder to think what would (and conceivably could) happen if Exxon changed its nexus to some country overseas. Wake up, Americans, and enjoy our oil companies' surge in...

There goes my good night's sleep, dang you.

Flat tax, if it caused a decrease in taxes collected, will only increase the debt. What we need is "flat spending."