Math is not their strong point.

The budget was showing a surplus when Clinton left office. If the tax rates had remained the same as in the Clinton era, and we hadn't fought two very expensive wars for the past decade, we'd be in a much better position. Someone has to pay the bills incurred (profits for Cheney's war machine makers) and put on credit by Bush.

@ D'skidoc, who said, "Someone has to pay the bills incurred (profits for Cheney's war machine makers) and put on credit by Bush."

From OMB's website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/overview.

“A six-year, $476 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill – expanded to included inter-city passenger rail – to create thousands of new jobs and modernize a critical foundation of our economic growth.

Fully paid for through current user-financed mechanisms and part of the savings from ending the war in Iraq and winding down operations in Afghanistan.”

This is like saying that I am charging too much for clothing so I'm going to cut back on that and use the “savings” to charge more on entertainment.

That web site also talks about everyone paying their “fair” share and playing by the same rules. I wonder if they plan on doing away with set-asides for women and minority owned businesses. If my family owned our own business in my name, we would not be able to compete for many government projects. Put the business in my wife's name and we get to compete. How is that considered playing by the same rules for businesses?

Daniel, I agree that investment in infrastructure shouldn't be an offset to expenses (war costs ) that shouldn't be in that discussion, but that's politics in DC. Try to make everything sound palatable to everyone. Forgetting the noise, we still have to pay all of the incurred bills for Iraq and Afghanistan, regardless of how you phrase it. On the other issue, user financed is just another way to say tax on the infrastructure, much like a tollway. A tax by any other name is still a tax, but user financed is certainly better than taking money out of other funds. Other than that, I don't endorse websites, I just have an opinion.

D'skidoc, "Other than that, I don't endorse websites, I just have an opinion."

That explains a lot.

Dont bother with D'skidoc, he is useless

Wow, guess Obama was right about Romney's plan requiring a tax increase on the middle class. Why else would Dold reject his pledge? Isn't the GOP the "no tax increase" party? LOL.

Walter - what about OBAMA's increase on the middle class? Even if you took 100% from "the rich", you could not cover the Democrat's spending. Under Obama the middle class should be ready to empty their pockets - trickle up poverty in action as planned by Obama and the Democrats.

Wrong. Everyone who gave breaks to the rich is in trouble but they are all fixing the problem. Austria just the other day became the latest country to tell its billionaires is time to stop paying less in taxes than your employees. In US too...as son as Bush's tax breaks for the rich expire you will see a rebound in the economy as the rich never spends a dime-that's how they got stinky rich and louzly afraid smeone will steal their yahcht :) Stop listening to Rush Limbaugh...he makes what...4 mil per year? That's $5128 per hour of work/show...and should be less because of commercials so how can that man understand real life where one makes 4 mil in 2 lifetimes? Limbaugh is a great guy, entertaining and all that but at the end of the day he is in a league of his own and other 1-2% of population who don't now nor ever will get it: paying less taxes than your employees is wrong and is about to end.

"supporter" - DO THE MATH - the money is not there. Look at the TOTAL INCOME of "the rich" (ie: 100%) - if you took it ALL, it does not cover SPENDING.

the regulation Dold will eliminate first will be the labor laws. See, he has a problem with that..paying overtime, not working his serfs during lunch time...Did you ever had lunch while driving?How about 5 times per week? Dold is less than a human, he is a cockroach who deserves to be in prison for the abusive way he is treating his employees @ Rose Pest Solutions, just because it is a bad economy and no one is hiring so poor guys won't say a word about it...better a bad job than no job at all...

I don't quite know either, but those are two real good places to start, rather than bashing Big Bird and grandstanding about saving less than a few pennies on PBS.

D’skidoc- like you, I’m voting for Obama. But when you talk about grandstanding, let’s talk about the “tax break for shipping jobs overseas” – that’s Democratic grandstanding. Like Romney in the last debate, I had no idea what that meant – I thought there was some special provision in the tax code put in by nefarious multi-national companies.

After some search on the web (see http://factcheck.org/2012/10/talking-tax-breaks-for-offshoring/), I came to undertstand that this primarily meant deducting plant closing and moving expenses – something a business gets to do if it is moving a plant to Indiana or India. Hardly a special subsidy – and probably not one that we want the government to do away with – i.e., I don’t think the Federal government is able to differentiate between offshoring that is necessary for a company to compete globally versus the quick-buck kind of offshoring.

The other, less common interpretations of this tax break are (1) ability of companies to defer taxes on profits held abroad (i.e., GE has $94 billion sitting offshore untaxed by IRS) and (2) ability of companies to use transfer pricing (i.e., Apple registering patents offshore in tax havens like the Caymans and then paying its Cayman subsidiary to use the patents) to avoid taxes. I’m not sure how to solve (or even if we need to solve) (1) and with respect to (2), I think the government does need to crack down on this (although that is an expensive proposition).

The grandstanding is more on the tax hike for rich people. First, a tax hike will not result in more revenue, as the economy will shrink even more, since almost 40% of total consumption is from the top 5% income earners. Second, even if revenue were to increase, it would be spit in the wind as to necessary adjustment to the budget. Clearly the tax hike on rich people proposal is all politics, as the policy of stimulus failed and there are no more ideas from the idealogue redistributer in chief.

Dan, I'm no lock step Democrat, and there is certainly plenty of blame to go around, but what I'm talking about is solving the problems, rather than political blather. I for one, support getting the money out. I also support compromise, rather than extremism (on either side), but I see who has and hasn't been willing to work to solve problems in DC and right now, the GOP has a corner on the market of politics before governance. As for the tax rates, McCloud, somebody has to pay for everything Bush charged on the national credit card. Seems only fair that the folks who have traditionally paid for stuff like this (those with money and particularly those who have profited from the last decade of wars), pay now. Do you make more than a quarter million a year? If you do, I understand. It's personal. If you don't, why do you take this position as if it is bad economics. Supply side economics doesn't work. Been there, done it, doesn't work. When the private sector slips, the public sector is the only way to pick up the slack. Besides we need teachers, etc... We also need 21st century infrastructure, and the wealthy benefit most from top notch infrastructure, because that attracts good businesses. The only trickle down is when some rich guy hires more housekeepers or landscapers. We can have the discussion about that ugly word "socialism" elsewhere.

Nancy, you left out President Harding who cut tax rates and increased revenue. Your problem is that you must not have seen the VP debate. VP Biden said that what you are suggesting never happened. When Rep. Ryan mentioned Pres. Kennedy, VP Biden attacked the straw man.

Good point on the guide of history relating to tax cuts. Still folks who just refuse to recognize, and they also refuse to answer how tax increases help grow the economy. They have this strange concept of a President "paying down the debt". It has never been done before. They like the sound of the words saying Bush charged everything on the credit card, but refuse to understand that Obama has doubled Bush's credit cards in only 4 years.

Thorner. Let's suppose there is a new war. How do you want to pay for it? You can't not pay for it the way Bush didn't pay for two. Let's say it's a critical war. We have to send many troops and arms. You and your Norquist buddies won't allow us to raise revenue. So, we cut even deeper into social services. Bridges criumble even faster. Our volunteer soldiers families do with even less. Our Veterans do with less care....on and on.... This pledge that you folks are so proud of ties our hands from not only defending America but it's preventing us for fixing the mess that we are in!
Re Dold. If he really "discarded" the pledge....put it in writing. One sentence is all it takes. Bet he won't do it.

RB: "Let's suppose there is a new war."

Why suppose? Barry has committed new acts of war in several countries. How is he paying for those?

Dold is very clear about his position on women: he agrees to let the women have abortions. Yes, that was nice of him to let wmen control their destiny...what a nice guy...we should reward his royal permission to have abortions with love and respect and vote for him, the One Who Is Nice Enough To Let Women Have Abortions. In a real world Dold would be run outta town but North Shore is not normal...just look at this woman who "is not sure" but will vote for Dold anyway. Nancy Thorner..you deserve to be treated with contempt by Dold. Conservatves always treat women badly and women always get upset if told to grow a brain, look in muslim countries...Nancy Thorner...shame on you, really. Go to the kitchen, Master Dold wants you there.

You are one dumb cookie...Who gives a damn abou "nation's status abroad" when you're dying for not having health insurance, you are losing your house so banks could make some more, lus the house, you can't get a decent job because republican "business" owners pay so badly even illegals are complaining but hey, the republican business owner needs his millions to invest in...actually to hide them from IRS. Yes Schneider is my man and I pity your man. no, not Master Dold who just said he might let you have cntrol of your own body...the man who married you :) that's the one I pity. You are worse than uneducated slave women in Saudi Arabia (friends of your Bush) for you have access to free information yet you support the Taliban-like Republicans. Isn't it nice Master Dold allows you to control your body? Come on, agree now, isn't Master Dold a sweetheart for caring so much as to let you, the woman, control your own body?

What a tool you are, Nancy.

Your blind devotion to a political party is EXACTLY what is killing this political process. You continually promote someone else's ideas with a lack of creativity and inflexibility that ignores the needs of people in this district and throughout the nation.

Democrats in IL have ZERO right to speak about "blind devotion to party". Their blind devotion has put IL on the edge of a fiscal cliff, if not over. Remember the Democrats' 2 in the morning vote to raise taxes, mayb 8 hrs before Republicans would have come in to stop them. Where did all that money go to "pay our bills" - it went to pay off democratic voters.

Spare me, Rational.

The fiscal cliff didn't just happen overnight. Remember how long the governor's mansion was controlled by Republicans?

Yes, Blago was a joke. And Madigan is a scumbag. But the real crime is that the republican party can't get a strong enough candidate to beat them.

Once again, please stop with the blind devotion until your party can get someone strong enough to unseat these idiots. Thompson and Edgar weren't that far back. What has happened?

Briarwood - Yes, the path towards the fiscal cliff has been long in the making. That being said, the Democrats have controlled everything for over a decade and instead of doing something about it, the did a Thelma and Louise and put the pedal to the metal towards the cliff. I do not have blind devotion, I for instance like what White has done as SoS and vote for him. But, you have to realize that IF you vote for Schneider, you are voting for Madigan and the 2+ decades of corruption that he represents.

First of all, Rational, I appreciate your reasonable tone to my p*ssy comment. My apologies.

I don't agree with the Schneider/Madigan connection unless you can show me some sort of political/financial relationship. Madigan is so scummy that I don;t think for a second that his influence reaches beyond Springfield and the General Assembly.

Having said that, if you want to make a Dold/Schneider comparison and tell me that a vote for Schneider is a vote for fiscal irresponsibility, I'm not sure I agree with that either, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

On the other hand, a vote for Dold is a vote for a group that has no problem taking this country to that fiscal cliff to prove their ideology - rather than actually addressing and solving the problem that exists. I have no use for the stamp-their-feet-and-hold-their-breath crowd.

But in reality, both of them are 1 of 435, and you and I both know their influence on this topic, employment and any number of big ticket topics is incredibly minimal ...

... In the end, Schneider gets my vote because I see a guy in Dold who has done very little and - maybe more importantly - brought very little back to his district while fighting the ideological battle. He knows how important the district is to his party, and he could have used that MUCH better than he did.

Look at the list of press releases in his own web site (right column) http://www.doldforcongress.com/pages/jobs_and_the_economy/221.php.

There's not ONE ITEM there that relates directly to the district and money that Dold brought in.

BDB, I just watched the ABC debate between Schneider and Dold – both good candidates. I disagree with you that the election is about “how much money have you brought back to the District” – as the Tea Party notes, that’s part of the problem in Washington and Springfield. I would rather have my politicians working on the big problems – rather than a raft of smaller, district specific accomplishments.

What I liked about Schneider – from a fiscal perspective, he is probably right in that we need to let the Bush tax cuts expire, particularly on those who have the ability to pay more. I like the fact that he apparently supported Mark Kirk at some point, that he wants to fix (not end) Obamacare and that he, like Dold, has a moderate demeanor.

I think Schneider is being entirely reasonable in not disclosing his wife’s salary. I also disagree with the comment that Schneider = Madigan – I don’t see any evidence of that and Mr. Schneider is running for Congress, not State Rep. (were he running for State Rep, I would want to know if he supported Mr. Madigan).

What I didn’t like about Schneider was that he couldn’t name one thing – other than helping small business more – that he would do in breaking from his party. He wants to stop the “gridlock in Congress”, but I’m not sure he is up to it given his last answer. I didn’t like the fact that he said the election was about “fighting for women, young people and environment” – these are all worthy causes, but in my opinion not the most important challenges facing our country, which are jobs/economy/deficit/national debt.

What I like about Dold is, first and foremost, his support of Cooper-LaTourette and his willingness – on a host of issues – to break with his party. I like his independence and I think he is a good fit for the 10th District. The best argument for Schneider is that he is Democrat and, if you don’t like the current Republican majority, the only way to overturn that is to get rid of moderates like Bob Dold. I personally have very little confidence that a Democratic House will take the difficult measures – read spending cuts – that are necessary in conjunction with revenue increases. Therefore, Dold – an Eagle Scout, is my man.

Jenks, I agree there needs to be more fiscal responsibility, and when/if that is achieved, there will still be billions - with a "b" - dispersed throughout the country.

If a Congressman can't point me to project - and especially a single project - where he brought money in, he's not doing his job.

The Democratic party has 6 trillion dollars of new debt to answer for, and no recovery to show for it.

The press isn't holding them to account for it are they?

Surely you are including Obama's pledge to cut the deficit in half, lower unemployment to 5%, and close Gitmo. The question for you is do you hold him accountable? I'll wait for your excuses.

Have you bothered to hold Obama accountable for his failed promises?

Ah, the extremist Gill calls Dold a liar. Or is it that the so-called positions that Dold supposedly held were positions the Democrats claimed Dold held? So Democrats lie about Dold's positions and votes, then claim that Dold lied when Dold proves them wrong.

Obama's campaign is doing the same thing to Romney. They portrayed Romney as some plutocrat extremist then expressed shock when the real Romney showed up to debate.

Nice campaign planning! Next time try the truth!

I thought we were all racists, now we are all sexist. Whats next?

The Tea Party people are the only ones who got it right.

We said the stimulus wouldn't work, and it didn't.
We said bailing out GM wouldn't work, and it didn't. All it did was socialize GM's losses.
We said ObamaCare would cost the average family money instead of saving money, and we were right.
We said Obama and the Democrats were reckless tax and spend liberals, and that their policies would not work, and we were right.

... and since you want to try guilt by association, let's see how you do with this one.

Obama's Justice department wouldn't prosecute the New Black Panther Party after they were caught intimidating voters at the polls. One of they guys they let off, King Shamir Shabazz, is on record advising black people to kill white babies.

Sooooooooooooo

Schneider needs to answer for why he supports killing white babies. See how this works? Are you sure you want to keep playing this game?

... and you want to talk about moving America back 100 years? OK.

How long will it take to repay the extra $6 trillion the Democrats just dumped on the next generation?

Interestingly, you all went to your usual cooked up talking points and did not even voice outrage at what the Tea Party in Mississippi represents. Strange world you wish we lived in. Hopefully, people will come to their senses.

RB,
When you can explain why Democrats want to kill white babies, I'll explain why women shouldn't be allowed to vote. You brought it up, you go first.

BTW: Women are moving toward Romney in huge numbers. I thought you ought to know.

I brought what up? Nothing I have to answer to you for. How does a sexist comment by a woman in Mississippi challenge me to answer to you and how does it bring out a racist comment by you.? Never mind. I know the answer and anyone else with any sanity still reading this board. Hasta luego.

Why not the 1999 budget too, if you want to correlate tax rates.

Paul Revere (not the Patriot one, the blogger one). So, you think Mr. Obama raised the unemployment rate in 3 months time as he entered office? Remember the Bush caused recession? The Unemployment rate went to close to 10% within 3 or 4 months of his inheriting the Republican Trickledown mess. That's the sort of 'fact' posting you do. Romney does the same sort of thing. Now, Obama has it down under 8% and it wasnt overnight, like the explosion of unemployment caused by The Republicans. Whatever happened to truthfulness? You pick and choose and twist and turn the facts to try to make your narrative fit today's world. The real Paul Revere was a patriot. You sir are no Paul Revere!

RB,
Actually, if you knew anything about our history you'd know that the real Paul Revere was a master at twisting facts to move public opinion in his direction. His grossly unfair picture of the Boston Massacre was pure propaganda, and was designed to stir resentment against the English and get the Colonists into the revolutionary mood.

The real Paul Revere would be disgusted at how easily we have thrown away the freedoms he risked his life to secure. Just sayin.

Oh yeah, Obama DID lower the unemployment rate to below 8% in one day. That rate went from 8.2% down to 7.8% with only 115,000 new jobs created. Do the math. To drop 0.4% in the unemployment rate with 115,000 jobs, the total workforce would only be ~29 million. We're being played. It's all phony.

One more thing. Obama got $780 billion dollars to guarantee that would be 5.5% by now. He was wrong. Why would we trust him with the next $trillion if he doesn't know what he's doing?

And the cost of Bush's Iraq war, in addition than wonderful soldiers life's .....$800 Billion. And that Social Security Maxout? That went from 76k to 102k during the Bush years! You guys twist more than Chubby Checker. It's insulting. The fact checkers don't have enough time and I certainly don't. Put the cheeto's down and do something productive if possible.

RB, you're constantly harping on Shrub's wars while remaining silent on:

-Barry's continuation/escalation of the same
-The teleprompter-in-chief murdering civilians with drones
-New acts of war in Yemen, Somalia, Uganda, the Sudan, the Congo and Libya at a minimum

Why not? I'd vote Democrat if they started doing the right things. I dream of the day I have a reasonable choice when I go to the polls.

"Are you with the Romney or the Obama camp on jobs creation?"

Do I have to pick one?

By definition, neither of them can create a single job as president. The State cannot create wealth, therefore, the State cannot create jobs.

Same question. Eight years of tax cuts, increased Federal Spending and trickle down economics. Why try what has not worked, again? At least Mr. Obama is creating jobs and digging us out of the hole. Not a single economist will tell you there would be overnight results, several politicians would. We can't go back to what caused the problems we are finally getting out from under. Bush failed economic policy.....the gift that keeps on giving.

"Mr. Obama is creating jobs"

Redistribution is not synonymous with creation. Did Barry risk his own capital to create these mythical jobs?

LOL - Nancy talking about the discrepancy between facts and reality.

Nancy, you're becoming my new favorite Patch person. You're almost as amusing as the two chicks who supply us with such informative North Shore points of view such as the hassles of packing for a weekend, the etiquette of dog walking and all the harsh inconveniences of Lent.

Liberal media and now a corrupt labor department. What about the grassy knoll? Reaching at straws? Maybe that poll tax you guys are trying will work, that's about all you have left to steal the election. Even Sheldon Adelson is in trouble, his Macau holdings just aren't what Romney had promised.

Sweet dreams. I'm enjoying thinking of who's voice will be in your head as you try to sleep. Tossing and turning. Rachel Maddow? Chris Matthews? No, Ed Schultz. That's it. His calling the Obama victory will have you tossing and turning all night.

Yes, Nancy, it's aaaaaaaall liberals.

I have no doubt there are plenty of conservatives out there who find your mindless attempts to mischaracterize reasonable disagreements equally annoying.

In general, when you continually post for your own personal agenda, I'd guess you should expect a few personal shots.

Don't even bother trying to explain your excellent point to anyone Nancy. People will find a way to spin that, too.

Common sense is a foreign language far too often in Illinois these days it seems. And plus you have facts in your point. Facts tend to confuse people in Illinois these days too.

Quoting the Neocons confirms nothing.

Nancy, can you PLEASE try to stick to the topic - Dold/Schneider? I know that would require you to use a little creativity and get off your agenda.

If you think these guys have influence on national employment and economic policies outside the district's 1 in 435 vote, then let's hear it.

Otherwise, save the wisdom of your national economic policies for the Romney/Obama discussion.

It's not quite that bad... but close. :)

Dold not-paying overtime is not name-calling, is a fact (and a lawsuit). Would you cal the lawsuit "name-calling" and "flag as unnappropriate?" You would...Master and King Dold should not be exposed for the crook he is. And you're right, we are not people, for Dold and Republican Party sees us as suckers, slaves, serfs, who deserve no benefits, no fair pay, no nothing but the right to mow their grass and then die before collecting social security or any health care. Yeap, iz bizare to want a decent life...is bizare for Dold and Republicans, for Taliban too thinks is bizare for women to control their own bodies and destinies. The only political debate is "we love dold, we support Dold, we will vote for Dold." Patch is not Pravda but you are supporting the Gods-the Republicans.

I know the answer to this.

"liberals" get so nasty because they see conservatives as uneducated, violent, racist, backwards, greedy, selfish brutes, who have no moral authority to engage in the public debate.

But you already knew that much. Here's the part you don't know.

They think we're in on it. Liberals think we KNOW what kind of horrible people we are, and that we just talk about freedom, the rule of law, and fiscal responsibility to create a smoke screen to prop up a spoils system to keep people who don't look like us down so all the benefits can flow to us. They can't believe we have the gall to speak up, and they are disgusted that they have to waste their time arguing with us when EVERYONE knows how terrible we are. They lose their patience and call us names that they think are foregone conclusions. In their minds it needs no explanation or justification. After all, it's the obvious truth.

Try to see it from their point of view. Imagine that your political opponent, year after year, is a group of skin-head Nazis. They try to look, talk, and act like decent human beings but you KNOW and they KNOW they are skin-head Nazis who do all kinds of atrocious things off camera. You debate them endlessly, but after a while you get really tired of debating with the scum of the earth, and you break down and call them scum of the earth skin-head Nazis. After all, it's the obvious truth.

That's how they see us, and that's why they do what they do.

Dear Dold's Supporter,

I think one can make plenty of reasonable arguments against Dold without likening him to a slave owner and the Republicans to the Taliban. Your approach is similar to someone making crazy arguments against Obama by calling him a Communist.

As many commentators have stated here, the ability to post on Patch without using one's name often degrades the level of commentary. In the case of a parent opposed to the D112 strike, I understand the feeling that publicly criticizing the teacher's union might invite unwarranted consequences. In the case of discussing Dold and Schneider, I don't think anonymity is necessary.

For some posters - certainly not all - anonymity is a way to say something so outrageous that you wouldn't want your name associated with it. And that isn't cool.

So, Dold's Supporter, if you believe your comment is fair then please re-post it under your real name.

Marge, you tried to get someone's comment removed in one breath, then post about the liberals' lack of tolerance in the next? Do you realize how silly that sounds?

Sure, George is a one trick pony but don't stoop to the level of partisan hackery.

As one of the prime cheap-shot artists, I fully support your attempt to keep things on the Schneider/Dold topic.

I hope you're going to call out ALL the people who use these discussions to go off on their own agenda, not simply the people who agree with your views.

It's his own lawsuit. He'll bring the link shortly, I'm sure.

It sounds like Dold changed him to an exempt employee and as such, stopped paying OT. Since I'm not a lawyer, I won't speculate on the application of labor law to his situation.

http://www.freepressreleases.com/congressman-robert-dold-resign/219144

I don't know about libel but his lawyer wouldn't be too happy that he's spouting off about the case here.

How's this for outcome? https://w3.courtlink.lexisnexis.com/cookcounty/Finddock.asp?DocketKey=CABA0L0AAGIJC0LD

What does that case have to do with yours?

Guido what are you talking about? This is about Dold. Isn't he running for office? Why are you trying to move the debate from Dold to anything and anyone? DOLD's company got sued for trying to not keep their part of a contract, which speaks volumes about the guy's character. Cheap crook...that's Dold. It seems no amount of evidence will make you understand the depravity of this man and how unqualified he is to have political power.

You were asked for a link to your case. You linked to an unrelated case. When called on it, you changed the subject.

You don't need to keep beating a dead horse by telling me that Dold is unfit for office. No member of the blue or red War Party is fit for office, including Dold and Schneider. That should be understood at this point for anyone that has been paying attention.

"but you I thought were a independent yet you too carry the water for Master Dold."

You didn't even read my last post.

Here you have Dold lying, in the Patch...last question of the interview. He WAS sued and LOST. Sure, he might say "not me but my company" but isn't he telling anyone he "runs a small business?" He wants credit for running a company and nothing to do with lawsuits against the company and HE LIED TO THE PATCH! http://deerfield.patch.com/articles/election-2012-robert-Dold. All Dold supportes are crooks themselves screwing their employes (and the IRS most-likely) and that's why they don't want to hear anything anti-Dold...but you I thought you Guido were a independent yet you too carry the water for Master Dold. DOLD IS A CROOK and those who still need "proof" are his serfs who hope the Master will let them wash his car or something :)

You're reading comprehension is less than stellar.

Dear Dold’s Supporter, where do I start to educate you and do I bother to waste my time? Tough questions.

First, Dold and Rose Pest Solutions are separate legal entities – 500+ years of common law back this up. As I understand it, RPS is not the alter ego of Dold – so when Mr. Dold answers that he has never been sued successfully, he is being both legally truthful and truthful in a common sense sort of way.

Second, this looks like it was a breach of contract case (there is no detail). Businesses get sued all the time for breach of contract – it may or may not have been a willful breach of contract, it may have just been a misunderstanding between the parties for which a judge ruled against RPS.

Finally, the question “Have you ever been convicted of a felony, sued successfully or had a restraining order placed against you?” is designed to determine if Mr. Dold has ever done something intentionally very bad (or been guilty of gross negligence) to someone else – i.e, has he broken a major law (felony), committed a tort where someone was hurt or lost money (sued successfully) or threatened to attack someone (restraining order). It isn’t about corporate breach of contract cases.

We get you don’t like Mr. Dold. Enough said.

Dold’s Supporter, you’re right – every breach of contract case is about someone cheating someone else, the notion of a separate legal identity for a small business is just a scam, everyone running for office is a crook. I can’t argue with logic, you have won, you don't sound crazy, I'm sure you've convinced everyone of the soundness of your argument.

I have never accused Mr. Schneider of being a crook – he sounds like a good person to me, I applaud him (and Mr. Dold) for running for Congress and putting up with some of the crap thrown at him. I don’t like a lot of the attack ads that have been run against either Mr. Schneider or Mr. Dold – it would be nice to focus on the issues.

I object to people like you – under the veil of anonymity – making spurious, infantile charges - your recent posts are a “real” contribution to the civil exchange of ideas that makes our democracy work. There is no evidence that either candidate for the 10th district is a crook. Period.

That is all you saw in the posting? I rest my case, those who vote for Dold are hypocrites.

Almost all reasonable reasons, Jenks. Not enough for me to switch my vote, but worth considering.

If I can go off-topic for a second, as we've seen, the whole "strictly-partisan" thing rubs me the wrong way, and that includes the Dems and an example such as Schneider's potential. When does it end?

Let's say Romney wins. I have no doubt the Dems will pull the same obstructionist garbage that the GOP did for the last four years, and all of it is disgusting.

Anybody have any idea when it will end? The only solution I see is if a VERY strong independent wins the presidency. And all of us know the chances of that happening anytime soon.

BDB, you make an excellent point - I don't know when it ends. It makes me wonder about the whole notion of self-governance in the 21st century America. It also makes me consider that perhaps we would do better with a parliamentary system - the winner makes the rules for next 4 years - no obstructionism, complete accountability for the party in power.

Under a parlimentary system with first past the post voting, you would either vote Democrat or Republican. I know that works against voting for the individual (like Dold) - but it might be an improvement.

Changing the whole thing to a parliamentary system? Wow! Interesting idea, but I don't have any faith in the intellect of the electorate (or the politicians themselves) to consider such an outside-the-box idea. Can you imagine how established politicians and PACs would line up against such a thing?

In the end, all of this is on us - the electorate. We say we don't like the way anything is run, but we don;t do anything about it. We do the same things over and over. We hold NO ONE accountable, we don't have the smarts to organize around any new ideas and we don't drill down far enough to watch where these problems really begin - money and parties.