A.K.A.....taxes

They are now trotting out and trashing Obama's wise words of a few years ago..........."I believe in the re-distribution of wealth."  Duh, of course you do.  It's called "taxation".  What does Romney say to that?  "Well, I don't."  They really don't get it in the"Excited States of America", as my American colleague at DuPont used to call his country.  You have to collect taxes to make a country work.

The Republicans don't believe that.  In the US, 1% of the population holds 30% of the wealth.  That's ludicrous.  Taxes take care of the weakest and most vulnerable through social programs.  Canada gets that.  No country can be successful if people are unhealthy and starving.  Make no mistake, the US is bankrupt.  And Romney wants to deepen the tread marks on the downtrodden. 

"The video (of Romney complaining that 47% of Americans were, in a word, bums) confirmed an existing stereotype of Romney and Republicans as wealthy white businessmen, clinking wine glasses while bemoaning the irresponsibility of the help," wrote Michael Gerson, columnist with The Washington Post.  He goes on:  "It is possible that America -- fed up with economic stagnation and worried about international disorder -- will turn, in the end, to a solid competent Republican stereotype.  But that raises another issue -- the matter of actually governing, not (just practicing) politics.

"The nation is disillusioned with the incumbent," he adds.  That's an irrefutable fact.  Obama has been weak and much prone to changing his mind and vacillating.  "But that does not mean that shifting incentives can easily undo the damage.  Removing a knife from a patient does not automatically return him to health."  Correct.

I think the lesser of the two evils is Obama.  Not that I think much of him either, but Romney?  A social diaster.  "The Republicans lack familiarity with other forms of conservatism that include a conception of the common good," Gerson concludes.  

With our multi-party system, Canadians must mix ideologies; to get elected, politicians have no choice.  It's often messy, but in the end, the common good prevails.