The GOP amazes me.

The Republican party is a joke. Now, before I delve into that, let me say, I'm not thrilled with the Democrats either. Obama's had a very mixed presidency for me and I'm very frustrated with him. However, the Republican opposition is laughable.

Mitt Romney- What does this man stand for? He'll say anything to get elected. He's been running for office ever since he stopped working on Wall Street. I think he did some good things when he was a governor, but his "beliefs" are constantly changing by what he thinks the people want to hear. Now, every politican does this to a degree, but he takes it to an amazing level.

Rick Santorum-When everyone in the Senate hates you, and you can't get a single word of support from any of them, even those in your own party, well, it could be taken as a positive. Its not. Santorum is everything that terrifies me in a religious right-wing candidate. However, if he wins the nomination, the Republicans should just forfeit as they will be handing it to Obama.

Newt Gingrich- What a sleazeball. Newt has been a professional politican his entire adult life pretty much. And when he wasn't a politican, he was a lobbyist. Except he wasn't a lobbyist, he was a consultant so he didn't have to declare what he was getting. He's an expert at working the laws to get his organizations money without having to declare income from it. Oh, can we just say how ADD his policies are? Let's claim the moon? (Though, that'd be illegal.) We need better defenses against EMP attacks. He's a wackjob. To say nothing about his personal life. The guy is straight up slime and again would probably insure an Obama victory.

There are a few others, but they have little to no chance. The Republicans don't seem to understand they can't win on their "base" alone. Pandering to the extreme ends will only kill them in a national election.

I live in Illinois. We'll support Obama no matter what. But it amazes me that they can't put a candidate up there that has the slightest bit of credibility or electibility. Of course, its the same party that allows Grover Norquist to dictate their tax policy...

"Corporations are people"

Ah, Mitt. So, apparently you really want the Republican choices to come down to an extremist from Minnesota and yet another ex-Texas governor.

Mitt, you're correct, Corporations ARE technically people thanks to the 14th Amendment. However, they have none of the responsibilities of a person.

So, you might be right, but many of us Americans are upset that what you say is true, especially in light of how so many corporations act completely selfishly and irresponsibly on a scale that few individuals could dream of doing.

Mitt, I hope you realize you completely suck at public speaking. However, sadly, you're the only sane option among current Republican candidates. Yes, that is pathetic.

Please, wake up and realize that no matter what your personal views might be, much of America is pretty upset with corporate fat cats who have done everything to get gov't bailouts, raise gas prices, lay off thousands, and continue to move jobs overseas all while reaping record profits.

If you really want those who might vote Republican to have to choose between Bachmann and Perry, well, keep up with gems like this. But please, for the sake of us Americans who might actually be open to voting for the GOP get your head out of your rear and start listening to what the majority of Americans want. A leader who can bring about prosperity again.

Protecting corporations and other rich entities while the average American is suffering is a good way to lose out to the real crazies in your party who not only want to protect them, but reward them.

This is an average joe begging you, be an option for me. Please.

The GOP is broken...and the Democrats are missing out.

Leadership. Its a word that's bandied about in various walks of life. Its something that is completely and utterly lacking in too many facets of life. Our current president has lacked it, as have the leadership in the House and Senate both under Republican and Democratic leadership.

The GOP however, are broken. The Democrats are a joke to a large degree, but the Republican party which is completely beholden to Grover Norquist's "we can't raise taxes at any cost" mantra are broken.

Did you read about the GOP's suggestion on how to raise revenue? It can't be taxes, we'll sell some gov't land. What? Seriously? This is the same joke that states with "balanced budget amendments" (like Illinois) have been doing for years.

We don't want to raise taxes, so we'll sell something that is finite. Brilliant.

People can disagree on how to cut the deficit. Its fine to compromise, but the GOP refusal to allow taxes to be raised, at least to pre-Bush tax cut level is moronic. (Oh, and to the point of lack of leadership Obama's caving on extending the Bush tax cuts is but one of many examples.)

You cannot cut spending out of this. Let me put it this way, you would have to cut EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT MEDICARE, SOCIAL SECURITY AND DEBT PAYMENTS out of the budget to balance it. EVERYTHING.

I'm not saying cuts don't need to be made, they do. I'm not saying tough decisions don't have to be made, they of course do. I'm not saying I'll be happy with where some of the cuts come from, I won't. But tax increases (which are actually closer to a normalization to the pre-Bush era) have to be part of this. And serious tax law changes must happen so that hedge fund managers cannot pay less % in taxes than a doctor or engineer.

If the GOP wants to seriously contend for the presidency and have any sort of legitimacy not built on fear and hatred then moderate party members must stand up and speak out. Currently we have a GOP that is controlled by the moderately far right and the really far right (just stopping short of the extreme far right). This hatred of all things "tax" related while they were happily spending away during the Bush years MUST END. Oh, and yeah, it'd be nice if the President had stood up on that issue when the Bush tax cuts came up for extension last year. See, I'm not just one sided on this.

The GOP desperately needs some members who can still stand for traditional Republican values without being borderline crazy. I'd prefer to have an option to vote for besides Democrat or no one.

Musings on the GOP

Disclosure: I am not overly high on the GOP right now. I'm not on the Democratic party either. But the GOP has been receiving most of my ire lately.

So, in the past week, two prominent members of the GOP have come out admitting to affairs. John Ensign of Nevada and Mark Sanford of S. Carolina have both admitted to being unfaithful.

Why is this a big deal? Well, the issue is that the GOP, and John Ensign for certain, champion "morality." Apparently being "moral" means not being a homosexual. Oh wait, what about Senator Larry Craig? Oh, yes, he isn't homosexual, he merely has a "wide stance."

See, politicians are human. They have failings. But when a party attempts to make one of its platforms as being the party of "conventional morality" this becomes a problem.

Also, in the case of Governor Sanford, he lied to his aids, his security team, and didn't transfer executive control of the state as he headed off to Argentina to break off an affair. He and his wife are apparently pretty much separated and she knew about it.

Still, it was a terribly irresponsible thing to do since his state would've been in chaos if something had happened to him.

Look, I'm not saying people need to be perfect. I'm not saying this is something that is only the problem of the GOP. (John Edwards, Bill Clinton anyone?)

I'm merely saying, if you want to attempt to champion a "moral America" then you'd better live your life that way. I'm not saying perfect. But, its pretty easy NOT to have an affair. Really. It is. Just don't.