More Parity, Less Purity

I usually stay out of political threads but I agree with Rob that this one is pretty crazy. First of all Bill Fun seems to juxtapose "conservatives" and "Democrats". Well I'm neither a Republican nor Democrat. And I would never consider myself a conservative but I do believe in personnel responsibility, self reliance and respect for laws. But the playing field is not level and I do support efforts to help less fortunate people help themselves - whether run by the government or private groups - and recognize that the US justice system has major, major issues. As far as control by local authorities or the federal government, there are some things that are better handled at the local level and some that MUST be handled at the federal level. Given the current enhanced speed of communication and travel (compared to when the US was first formed), more and more issues need to be addressed at the federal level in order to provide standardization and stability. And having worked in medical research administration for many years I strongly support universal healthcare.