Hi Marc,

Nice to hear from you.

Did you read the piece by Nick that I linked to? I think he sums up nicely the problem we're facing in that there's been this ridiculous tilting of the playing field in favor of the wealthy in this country and there needs to be some give-back if we want to right this ship of ours.

There was a time when I bought the republican lies about trickle-down economics. It sounded reasonable to think that a rising tide lifts all boats but we've seen that there's no truth in that. Greed takes over and the money only gets spread around to the few at the top. Those that do the heavy lifting to make it all happen are left to fight for the scraps. What part of the republican philosophy do you still believe in?

Why do you say that this administration is the worst of the worst? I really don't see it that way at all. What did you think of the Dodd/Frank legislation that Obama's administration proposed and was eventually passed? Or possibly a better question wrt to Dodd/Frank...what did you think about republican efforts to scuttle it? I really don't get that thinking on their part at all. Here we are trying to put some checks and balances in place within our financial markets to help prevent another near meltdown of our economy and republicans are standing in the way. That's the crowd you want to be associated with?

I get that we've got a ton of debt before us but what are the drivers of that debt? Do you put that on Obama as well? Peter made some excellent points in his reply here. What about the deficit falling throughout Obama's two terms? Is that just because republicans have stood in his way...are they the reason for the decline? I kinda don't think so.

You mentioned that you're not a religious guy and that you don't side with that faction but then you went on to say that you're now siding with the Tea Party. Nobody in our politics is more motivated by their religious leanings than those in the TP. Nobody. I've often thought lately that some of them would've made great radical jihadists if only that had been their upbringing. Throwing a wrench into the workings of government isn't the way to improve the machine or help the process.

You mentioned that you were a moderate republican. What changed for you? There's nothing moderate about the TP. They don't compromise or even sound reasonable in their approach to governing. It's their way or 'we're gonna blow this place up!' What about that works for you, keeping in mind that politics is about compromise?

There most definitely was a time when it would've been safe to say that I'd been "indoctrinated". I don't think it would be fair to say that now.

Thanks for the discussion.

Kevin g