Part of the issue is the world view that all people are basically good and if given an opportunity to better themselves their behavior will change; put them in a better neighborhood and they will behave better. As has already been shown time and time again, this is not the case and the great liveral thinkers of the day need to rethink their world view.

America has before it the clearest picture of "what's right for the country" and "what's wrong for the country" as any time over the past 40 years. Do we continue on believing a president who contineously lies to us, trying to tell us the government grows the economy and creats jobs; takes money away from those who earn it and gives it to those to don't? Or, do we understand smaller government is better. Free enterprise works best with less intervention from the government. The "rich" are actually the ones who creat jobs. And, providing as many jobs as possible in our economy is what ends poverty, that having a job helps people feel better about themselves and their country than just being handed something because they are needy.

Lon, what planet are you living on? If you can't follow the point then don't even try!

Thomas, you are my hero too. you make way too much sense to have any politician take you seriously. I would just like to make one change to the last statement in your column - not the way politicians spend the "governments" money, but the way they spend "my/our" money.

Never in our history has the line drawn between the liberal and conservative views been more clear; liberals - tax more, spend more, provide more, give people a handout, bigger government; conservatives - spend less, reduce taxes, fewer regulations, smaller government, help people help themselves. Liberals have no idea how to create a job, run a country or lead, they have theory with no history to back it up. Conservatives believe in freedom, liberty, human dignity, hard work for proper reward, etc. We need a majority of Americans to wake up and take back what has been taken from us.

Republicans "okay Mr President, you and your democratic buddies, have spent money we didn't have, that really didn't accomplish anything you said it would, mainly along partisan lines and now you want us to bail you out? Not going to happen. You figure it out and when you have a plan that makes sense; that truly cuts spending, that doesn't increase taxes and doesn't increase the debt ceiling, then we will be glad to meet with you and put an end to this silly mess. The ball is in your court, Mr President."

Politics is not about doing what's best for the people its about doing what you wan to and being able to blame someone else - specifically, forcing the debt ceiling to be raised and blaming the Republicans for even suggesting any spending cuts (throwing grandma off the cliff). The best thing to happen would be to force the whiner in chief to spend the available money in a way so everyone can see what his real goals are. Social security is not an entitlement, I funded (as did my employer) it with my own money, so don't even talk about not paying it out when due. (What about the borrowing from the SS fund back in the 60's (and ever since) that was suppose to be repaid with interest?)

One more thing - if you look at being charitable conservatives give far more than liberals. Being charitable is truly a sign of caring and providing for the needs of the poor and underprivileged, not a hand out to make them dependent on the government.

Two other things we need to consider about liberals, 1. They are smarter (in their opinion) than the rest of us and we should be grateful for their help in running our lives, and 2. They are more compassionate than conservatives, because they "give more" to help the poor and underprivileged. How many times do we have to give the poor a new apartment or some form of housing to see that that doesn't help them improve their economic standing. Or give them a home (our not so distant past experiment of loaning to people to buy a home they can't afford) and see again that that doesn't really help them either? Yes, we should be thankful for liberals - it helps us see how utterly their policies and plans fail time and time again.

Obama should be called the Liar N Chief, he either is lying or misleading the country with everything he says. Sad thing is main stream media just swallow his information hook, line and sinker without ever asking a question. Actually, the only time Obama lies is when his lips are moving.