The Founders gave us- the People- the final recourse.

Yes and if you and others think we should exercise this option then you should all-

• Quit reading news feeds everywhere and avoid all politics.
• Get a job. An actual good paying job.
• If you aren't qualified for that good job, do what it takes to be qualified.
• Look around you. Life is pretty good.

This is the beauty of fracking and energy independence. We can actually seriously contemplate calling out our drug dealer on their underhanded bull crap. I say pass the bill and let the chips fall where they may. The Saudis are not our friends. Just look at the way they treat their own people. Is that even close to the American way?

I'd just like to state my position on frakcing. I am very much in favor of it. It is a fantastic technology and more important now than ever. I will say that like all large scale industrial operations, it very much has it's environmental hazards. This is not to say that it's unmanageable, just that it needs a very close watch because private enterprise over and over again has demonstrated that short term profits are often more important than long term environmental consequences in their view.

Like Kristen, I believe that energy independence is of an utmost importance. Fracking helps us achieve this and has changed the game. This does not mean that we should quit work on other forms of energy independence. Wind, solar, geo thermal, bio fuels and nuclear are also very important. I am no green weenie by any stretch, but I think that simply "drill baby, drill" and a heavy reliance on the quickest, cheapest form of energy is very short sighted.

Why not rebuild towards an ideal, rather than just the cheapest, easiest route? Yes, I'm willing to pay more for a better future.

McCain and Romney kind of prove otherwise.

Hmmmm... didn't Donald Trump run back in 2012? I think he has.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/16/donald-trump-us-presidential-race

I love this bit from the article linked-

Faced with the choice of hosting The Apprentice or taking on Barack Obama in next year's election, Donald Trump opted to stick with his television programme.

You guys that actually believe Trump is in the running for the good of the people seriously crack me up! Trump bailed out because back then he was viewed as the joke he is and nobody was that "angry at the establishment".

It was close, but Romney was projected to be in the win until the now famous covert cell phone video of him explaining campaign strategy. If there is anyone here that disagrees with what was said in that video, I'd love to hear it.

Why is it anybody other than the individual's responsibility to be lifted out of poverty?

I think you are asking the question all wrong. By you asking that question, I have to assume you are just fine with a percentage of the American populace being poor. I'm guessing you look at it as just the natural order of things. So given this, I have to ask-

• How large should the population of the poor be?
• Is there a point at which they become too large?
• What part do the poor play in the bigger American society?
• Are the poor a help, a hinderance, or do they just not even matter either way?
• Would the country as a whole, be better off if there were much fewer poor, worse off with fewer poor, or it just doesn't matter?

So I believe the better question is, is there a net benefit to the whole of American society if there are fewer poor among us? I believe there is and I believe there is value in trying to achieve this. It's not a responsibility to help poor people move up, it's a project, like building a dam, or a highway. It's for the betterment of all.

You may disagree with me on this, millions around the world do. In many other countries, poverty is just believed to be part of the natural order and little if any effort is given to aiding those born into poverty. I just disagree with this notion.

We're still quoting fucking national polls when we vote state by state and I know the people here in Georgia are pretty fucking different from those in Massachusetts, Illinois, Indiana, etc, etc.

Yes, but without polls, what would we have to argue about and sell more advertising?? Polls and "debates" are the only way to turn political events into an entertainment venue for advertising.

Polls mean nothing. They never have. They are meaningless and questionable data points to entertain ourselves with, that is all.

I doubt Trump has it in him to change, but even if he does, he will have a lot to undo.

I don't think so either. He has been pretty consistent for decades. Make declarations and promises and then go back on them. Demand rules be applied to others, but not himself. Politically swing back and forth, however it suits him. Value money over all else. Compete to win no matter what the cost, consequences, or morality. Demean people he views beneath him.

How people actually think this guy would be good for America is so beyond me I can't understand.