I guess I always knew that large corporations got benefits the rest of us didn’t get, but the numbers are truly staggering. Thanks to Nicholas Kristall for this Op-Ed in todays NY Times.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/opinion/the-real-welfare-cheats.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

Ted Cruz’s plan to “patrol” Muslim neighborhoods is as half-baked as any idea I’ve heard from the candidates this term, and believe me, there have been plenty of half-baked ideas. First question: What is a Muslim neighborhood? There are Muslims in my neighborhood. Maybe I should expect to see “Cruz Cruisers” inching down the street at dusk. Did the San Bernardino shooters live in a Muslim neighborhood? Did the Boston bombers live in a Muslim neighborhood? Did the Chattanooga shooter live in a Muslim neighborhood? The answer to those questions is “no”. But, Cruz doesn’t really intend to patrol Muslim neighborhoods. He just wants to stir up fear, the theory being terrified Americans will vote for him. Of course, the terrified Americans may be afraid to leave the house on election day.

There is an interesting Op-Ed in this morning’s New York Times. “Why Should ‘Never Trump’ mean Ted Cruz?” Why are party power brokers trying “to sell Republicans on a dangerously reactionary senator as an improvement over a dangerously ignorant businessman.” Personally, I suspect that if Donald Trump hadn’t come along, we would now be talking about a “Never Cruz” movement.
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The fact is that neither of these men has the intelligence, temperament, or ability to be President of the United States of America. John Kasich has some of the qualities required of a president, but there is no way for him to break through the noise of Trump and anti-Trump. Even with a brokered convention, it looks unlikely to me that the Republican party will be able to put forth a competent candidate for the most important job in the world. It seems to me that a legitimate political party has a fundamental responsibility to vet potential candidates before they can carry their brand.