"X ` Man" wrote in message
...


I'll get clobbered for saying this by the few other moderate to liberals
in here, but I think Mitt Romney, based upon his term as governor of
Massachusetts, is a perfectly reasonable and rational Republican
candidate. I don't agree with a number of his positions, especially the
ones he is espousing these days, but I think many of them are aimed at
the crackpot hardcore GOP base that wants doctrinaire candidates.

I won't vote for Romney, but I don't think he is a crackpot or an
embarrassment. I actually liked his father a lot more.

As for the two other GOP probables, the moron from Texas and the pizza
king guy, I don't see either as qualified to pick up trash.

I also support your position on health care and benefits as paid by the
corporations still offering them. The cost of providing these does work
against our competitiveness in a world market fighting for the lowest
possible labor costs, everything else be damned. Unfortunately, we've
never developed an alternative in this country, other than offering no
benefits. We're not paying the average worker in this country enough to
be able to afford health insurance *and* food and shelter for his or her
family. The same is true of retirement. How is the average wage worker
supposed to accumulate enough to put together a decent retirement plan?
And depend upon Wall Street and shares in corporate America to provide
dependable growth?

There's no question we need a national program of health care and
retirement assurance for all. There's also no question that so long as
the current crop of Republicans is in office, we'll have neither.

I've stated several times here I like the Swiss system of providing
health care coverage.
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We agree on the problems and even some of the paths to solutions.
Costs need to be controlled. A broken leg requires a cast. It doesn't
require 4 MRI's, a specialist and then .... a cast.

401K plans are *not* retirement plans. They are legalized betting plans.
Anyone who is heavily invested in a 401K or similar plan thinking it
will provide for them in their golden years are nuts, IMO. My company
offered one because it was desired by the employees but I personally
never participated in it.

Agree with your assessment of the goofball from Texas. He makes
George Bush look like Einstein.

Biggest disappointment with Obama is that "Change" is really "No Change".
For almost three years he has been promoting Wall Street solutions to Main
Street problems, just like all big government politicians. Only recently
did
his administration seem to catch on to what Main Street is crying ....
"Jobs".
Yet, he still seems to think that pouring more money into a broken system
is the solution.