I think Ron Johnson is the real deal from interviews Larry Kudlow has done with him and his interrogations of the Sec. of HHS .  Hope he does not go native in Washington D.C.

Right of center types need to make the argument that if an individual can shop for their own car, cell phone, flat screen TV, home, life insurance, ... then they are capable of shopping for the best health care for themselves.

On the small side of the wine business deals are still done with hand shakes or at most a one page contract. It is a pleasure to work with grape growers who love their land and their fruit. The collaborative effort benefits everyone down the supply chain to the consumers. Happiness is everywhere during the process. This accomplishment occurs only because each party operates with trust of the other. There are places in business where win-win and happiness are a daily occurrence.

Offer $2,000,000 to each member of congress to pass a balanced budget , eliminate the personal and corperate income tax,and install a consumption tax on individual and corperate purchases. Continue to pay $1,000,000 to each congressperson each year for not changing the taxes. Sounds silly but would get the wrong people to do the right thing.

It is time to stop blaming the politicians for doing what politicians do. These are their stripes. The only way to change this dumb way of running the country (into the ground) is congressional term limits. 10 years for the house and 12 years for senators. Listen, serve, and go home. Also maybe cap the number of attorneys that can be in congress at one time.

I post with my refurbished iPhone 4S .

We own out own business so around Christmas events at school, church, parties, and sledding, we are doing year end inventory & finishing up the paperwork to close out the year and give it all the the accountant. Most of my red wines are just finishing the secondary fermentation so after Christmas the wines have to be racked and put to bed. After that it is back out to the vineyard to prune.

Self employment taxes are a bear. Pay income taxes and ALL of the SS taxes (no payroll tax deduction for us). With less taxes I'd save more for retirement and save more for college education for my three girls. I hope I can afford any school they are good enough to be accepted into. As a splurge I would like to invest in more Rhone and Bordeaux wines.

The Road to Serfdom, by F.A. Hayek.  Listening to Audio version via Audible.

The Book of Virutes, by Bill Bennett.  I plan on reading this with my kids after sledding during christmas vacation.

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis.  I am a recent convert from agnosticism to Christianity and find C.S. Lewis wonderful.

The Alpha Course Manual, by Nicky Gumbel.  Simple yet moving justification for ordinary people to become Christians.

Good wine, cooking, good conversations with friends and my wife, bicycling, my wife having the time to garden, my kids laughing and having fun, walking vineyard rows, making my customers happy, and knowing God loves me all makes me happy.

Makes total sense I've always had a hard time selling wine in Eugene.  Not enough greed pig capitalists with excess cash to buy some of the finer things in life.  College professors only buy cheap wine.

Going over the cliff will teach progressives and low knowledge voters nothing. It will push the US into a mild recession and increase business failures and unemployment . Best to embrace Simpson - Bowles loud and clear and as the president, for the benefit of our country, to sign it into law

I doubt a Pyrrhic victory's pleasure will be worth all the pain. My business would take a big initial hit as would many other businesses that depend on consumer's feelings of wealth. Think about car dealers, local retailers, restaurants, ...You are assuming those clamoring for government services will understand that all have to pay higher taxes to pay for middle class tax breaks, deductions, and other government waste that pays for the bureaucracy. These are low knowledge citizens that will not make the connection. The only people who will wake up the country are Federal Bond holders. When they demand higher rates for fed debt, then the Emperor will have no clothes.

Can house Republicans vote presence on proposed tax increases on the wealthy so as to avoid the fiscal cliff and not make Grover norquist mad?

Secondly I'd like to know from our mythical center-left guest what an ideal health care system would be and what do they consider long term benefits and negatives.

To initiative conversations are there center-left thought influencers that could be on the podcast from time to time? I try to read some of them but would like more "Peter Robinson style" probing questions to find out the center-left's motivation and goals. For example what is an ideal tax system that responsible center-left thought leaders want? Or do they really just want to erase W. from the historical records.