kendall, Amigo! I hate to tell you this but everything you "got" from the Democrts you also got from the Republicans, the Mormons, the Peace and Freedom party and anyone else who pays taxes. Well, you are very welcome, sir. And I was glad that I could help!

I don't really look to get anything, any personal benefit, from the government unless I have earned it from the government. The fact of the matter is, I have worked for the government so what I get, I earned as per contract. If I were put in need, I might consider using an entitlement but only because I have paid into the programs for a lifetime. I think of it as a sort of insurance. If you are needy or perhaps just greedy you "get" stuff from the government.

And while I am on it, as I demonstrated above WE ARE the GOVERNMENT! Now I know what you mean. The Deomcrats have had some very creative ideas on how to spend other people's money and for just the cost of a few dollars to them they can put a few cents of OPM into YOUR pocket. Conservatives tend, or used to tend, to developing ideas that would let you earn money, for instance, Eisenhower's Interstate Highway system. That really put Americans to work. And I will hail Kennedy's race to the Moon as another great project. Contrat that with Johnson's "Great Society" which was, by and large, a dismal failure. It may have been well-intended, but a failure in the end.

If some are out to get something for nothing and at the expense of other folks it can only hurt the nation.

PS kendall, you know I am just talking in general terms and not to you directly although I used your statement as a launching point for my little tirade. I know that often people or groups of people have had circumstances pressed upon them thorugh no fault of their own and the government has been non-responsive or even hostile to the injustices those conditions present and that far, I will wholeheartedly agree with you. Shame on either or both houses that will not genuinely care for the people and suppoert the general welfare of ALL the folks. But in general, folks ought to do for themselves if they can.