The Political Landscape After New Hampshire Re "The Republican Contest" (editorial, Jan. 11): It is more a battle of tired, failed slogans than a real contest. If the newly incarnated conservative Mitt Romney goes on to win the nomination, his history suggests that the country will get a combination Romney-Gingrich-Santorum-Huntsman-Perry candidate. A combination of bad ideas does not make them good. The Republican "contest" does show the country that we should have a clear choice in November. We can continue the failed policies (except for millionaires) of the past decades, or we can really try to make the American dream possible for all of our citizens. Mitt Romney, in remarks after his New Hampshire primary victory, once again talked about his presidential "to do" list and the one item always on it: "He passed Obamacare; I'll repeal it." No, Mitt, we are not a monarchy, theocracy or totalitarian government. We are a tripartite government. For a repeal you'd have to deal with Congress. President Obama is getting blamed by the Republicans - listen to all the presidential candidates - for the slow pace of a jobs recovery when it is the House Republican majority that has obstructed measures the president has introduced to kick-start economic progress. Citizens need a refresher course in Government 101 well before Election Day to understand who is responsible for what. I can hardly wait for the coming hilarity of hearing all the Republican candidates now denigrating Mitt Romney start to laud him as what this country needs as a president if and when he wins the nomination. Re "Advisers Work to Put Positive Spin on Romney's Career in Corporate Buyouts" (news article, Jan. 11): It's about time that Mitt Romney's corporate strategies came to light. Next, I want to know when the 99 percent are going to see his tax returns and calculate his effective tax rate, so that they can compare it with their own. If not now, when? Re "The Corporate Candidates" (editorial, Jan. 10): The Republican candidates who are criticizing Mitt Romney for his work at Bain Capital are practicing the ultimate in hypocrisy. They all advocate the same type of regulation-free, no-holds-barred capitalism that Mr. Romney practiced. I am no supporter of Mr. Romney, but that his opponents can say this with a straight face is beyond me. Re "Please Hold the Cheese," by Frank Bruni (column, Jan. 10), pointing out the hypocrisy-saturated Republican primary race: It would be a public service to publish a hypocrisy index (think of Newt Gingrich and family-values advocacy, or Mitt Romney and job creation). I am sure that some political science professor could work out an algorithm resulting in an index score. Of course, candidates could have low hypocrisy index scores and still have ideas that are anathema, but at least you would know that they "walk the talk."