WHO IN 2012?

We have lived through almost three years of divisiveness, class warfare, mocking speeches, and a war on business - ESPECIALLY small business.  So many people are dispirited.  They have seen their dreams go up in smoke, with winners and losers being picked. They have seen obscene money go to corporate, union, and environmentalist friends of those in power and an endless parade of obstructionist government agencies with more and more power and more and more money with minimal tangible benefits for the trillions that have been spent. Some might disagree with me, but if we really HAD helped people in real need and the economy had improved with those trillions, I would have accepted it. However, all of that has been spent and we are MUCH WORSE OFF. We are resembling more and more Marxist countries with rich power-hungry people at the top with no use for God putting more and more people in poverty and making them totally dependent on the whims of the state. The rich supporting the regime claim they want to pay even higher taxes while they are cheapskates in actually giving to the churches and charities who are ten times more efficient than the government and in the case of Warren Buffet, a hypocrite who is about a billion dollars behind in paying his own taxes.  Warren, pay what you owe and give the rest to some group whose administrative costs are no more than 20%, not the government's multiple of that. The very wild personal spending and hedonistic lifestyle by the White House - especially in a deep recession - is further spit in the eye.

I was talking with a good brother last night and we went down the list of candidates on the GOP side. While we agreed Obama had to go, neither of us were satisfied with the proposed replacements from the Republicans.

There was absolutely no argument that Paul, Johnson, and Huntsman were totally unacceptable. Neither of us was keen about how Michelle Bachman made a mountain out of the Texas STD shots. Her demeanor just does not seem right for the job.  Neither of us likes Romney - he seems to flip and not have the core beliefs that weather political storms and is a member of certifiable cult, the Mormon Church.  Who wants a Mormon in charge?  We discussed some of the lesser known baggage of the Mormons.  We know that all "righteousness" derived from human efforts is a filthy rag to God. We agreed that we would vote for him only as a last resort.  While we also understand that very few Presidents have been true born-again Christians, and that despite Obama's poltical posturing as a "Christian", there is absolutely zero evidence to back that up.  He seems to mix atheism, Marxism, and Islam in a lethal cocktail that stands in practical terms against almost every single Biblical principle known to man.

So how about Herman Cain?  We both like him a lot.  We love having an American black man run against the culturally European Obama.   The man is fun to listen to.  But is he flexible enough to work through the American political process?  And is the 9-9-9 plan really revenue neutral?  I want to believe the man, but no mathematics I have applied shows that remotely to be the case.  People and their employers combined pay over 15% for social security and medicare.  The tax rate for the wealthiest Americans is over 30% + the social security and medicare on the first 100,000 or so of earnings.  It simply does not add up.  And a consumption tax, even with exemptions discourages consumption which drives the economy.  Adding a federal tax is dicey - they tend to go up F-A-S-T.  If he starts to flex and modify, I would love to see him win.  If not, we could end up with different problems and someone new to blame.

So let's see - Rick Perry.   Both of us had high hopes.  The Day of Prayer.  His testimony.  But then his dreadful debate performances and his absurd views of immigration.   If he won, we would both vote for him as having fewer objectionable policies, but could he win a general election?  He doesn't seem to have the personality for the fight like Chris Christie has, though I was most disappointed Christie jumped on Romney's bandwagon SO-O-O-O quickly.  Christie belongs in New Jersey for now, so I am glad he did not run this time.

Santorum.  Ah, yes.  I probably agree with him more on moral issues, foreign policy, and Compassionate Conservatism than anyone else.  Yet, he lost Pennsylvania to Bob Casey, Jr. and has little traction in the polls.  I think he still has too hard a personal edge. My friend said he was too emotional for the job.  I'm keeping him on my short list, but my hopes aren't high.

Lastly, Newt.   By far the most knowledgeable.  By far the smartest.  By far the only one who has proven he can work with non-Southern Democrats.  Probably the most adept at foreign policy as well.  Plus he is not so ego involved that he would be threatened by top drawer people in his circle. He understands Health Care better than anyone I have heard. But oh, his past personal life.  I could forgive it all if he simply came up repentant.  A redeemed man is a terrible thing to waste.  My friend didn't think he had a chance.  Yet, I really like him,  If I knew he was saved, I would be in his corner. As it is, still on my short list - after all, his Dem opponent is a man who admitted he snorted cocaine and whose policies seem to be those of someone high on something other than common sense - perhaps high on himself or more charitably his ideology.  Then of course, Hillary may decide to challenge him - a more likely scenario now more than ever, but that is a WHOLE different story.

Yet, I still dream of a man in shining armor.  Who is he, or WHERE is he?
Stay tuned.