I may be biased, but I see no correlation to the Tea Party and Radical Muslims. At all. I can understand peoples' mischaracterized views of the Tea Party may seem similar. But those are mischaracterizations, bastardized views. The Tea Party wants our leaders to abide by our constitution and focus on the economy (excessive taxation and spending).

"It" above refers to The Fair Tax. Apologies for not mentioning that.

Mr. Baisley: In your column, you mention this: "It also attempts to replace welfare, unemployment, and other government social involvements with a unified monthly cash payment to every legal resident. The idea here is to collect enough sales tax to fund the government and to send a minimal subsistence payment to everyone, no matter how rich or poor they happen to be." From what I've read, I have to disagree. I believe you mean the "prebate," a check sent to each household each month. The idea behind this prebate is to pay for taxes on necessary items (food, medicine, etc.) up to the poverty level. This way, if prices do go up, someone that lives at the poverty level or below would not be forced to pay taxes. They would/could break even. But, each family gets this check, making it as fair as possible.

He doesn't really need to ask that question. He has already stated the answer: "The oil business is fiercely competitive. If one company charges a penny too much, other companies steal its business."

Mr. Shedlock: I'm a strong supporter of the Fair Tax. Out of curiosity, do you see anything wrong with the Fair Tax? Granted, nothing is perfect, but in my opinion, this plan may be as close as we can get. Your thoughts? Thank you.

There's a link between laying on the sofa for hours on end, eating Doritos for dinner and watching Jerry Springer reruns with obesity (which leads to health problems). The government should totally ban Doritos. Or Jerry Springer. Or sofas.

He's being cynical, goshawk. He's saying that the government grants us the privilege of voting only because it doesn't make a difference, anyway.

I'm definitely not in favor of repealing the 19th amendment. Where would it eventually lead? I understand that many voters (on both the right and the left) are ignorant, but they all deserve a voice. If we start restricting those that can vote, things can always be restricted more, then more. Then more. Soon, we may find ourselves at the mercy of the whim of an elite handful.

Unfortunately, I'm coming around to this sort of cynicism, Mr. Studie.

Why are Republicans constantly screwing themselves?