The great H.L. Mencken wrote: "A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar."

Is he right? I don't know, but it seems as if Washington, D.C., is quite a mess these days, with a mounting deficit and acrimonious factions.

Still, one of the highlights on the HCN calendar is the National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. This year's event, in addition to several rounds of strategizing and lobbying, featured presentations from not one, but two politicians.

While politicians attempt to balance budgets, the mortgage interest tax deduction is again in the news. Readers respond here.

"There could be nothing worse our government could do than discourage the ownership of a home. I would like to think that our elected officials are at least smart enough to realize that!" — Bruce M. Currie President C.A. Niece Lumber Co. Lambertville, N.J.

A post-hurricane opinion piece, titled "We need to retreat from the beach," appeared in the Thursday New York Times. In it, a Duke University professor argues, "We should strongly discourage the reconstruction of destroyed or badly damaged beachfront homes in New Jersey and New York."

What do you think? Let us know here.

Several readers responded with incredulity to the data in the article titled, “Unemployment rate declines to 7.8%.”

They are not alone.

An article in HCN Monday about the coach-only travel policy at Tractor Supply led to unanimous support for the coach class cabin for business trips.

“We have never flown first class unless we were bumped up. Never paid for it in 41 years.” — George A. Pattee Chairman and CEO Parksite

An article headlined “Illinois contractor gets 10-year sentence for asbestos violation” generated the following reader comments:

Sometimes, the editorial offices of Home Channel News will get sample products to review. Seldom do we write a full commentary about them.

The Rescue! Pop! Fly Trap is one of those rare products worthy of a commentary.

I don’t like the name. It contains too many exclamation points. (The New York Times editors have a longstanding rule: they can use one exclamation point per century.)

But, man, does that thing catch flies!

Internet retailers don’t have to collect taxes in states where they don’t have a physical presence. The NRF says that’s not fair. Here’s what some of our readers said:

Facebook’s billions An item that compared the market capitalization of Facebook and The Home Depot led to several letters:

“The value of Facebook is staggering, given they don’t produce a single product except to waste employees’ attention to what they are being paid to do.

“I for one am not of the opinion that the stock will ever turn a dividend to any stockholder unless you own millions of free shares.

The other day, an HCN editor received an email from Cambridge -- the one in England. A senior analyst and Ph.D. was asking for an example of an adhesive, paint or sealant product that has “transformed the market.”

Two thoughts came to mind.

Two recent high-profile incidents have proven there’s a lack of basic leadership at the highest levels of government.

The first involved Government Services Administration members partying in grand style all over the United States. The second was the Secret Service prostitute scandal before the hemispheric conference in Columbia. Both examples show a blatant disregard for basic leadership by chief executives in some of our top agencies.

Unbelievably unethical

On the legality of healthcare reform

“Small businesses need healthcare reform to lower costs. If Obamacare is thrown out, something needs to replace it. Romney needs to address what he would replace it with.

“Responsible small businesses offer health care to their employees. The current system keeps increasing costs at double digits each year. That cannot last.” — Dick Wegner Portland, Ore.