The chain line is dead straight as far as I can tell. Is there anyway to check this other than eyeballing it? Part of my problem is the crankset or chain ring is pretty far from round. With the chain binding in one part of the crank rotation, it has almost an inch of play when rotated 180 degrees around. It is really tough to get the chain tension set so it isn't either binding or too loose.
Use calipers to measure, sheldon has a good method on his website. Eyeballing it is bad news. Sounds like you should upgrade to a higher quality chainring, maybe Dura Ace or FSA if you have 144bcd.