Thursday, October 4, 2012

Big Bird On The Brink of Extinction...and Other Debate Foibles

What a debate, hey?

In an attempt to lower the deficite Mitt came up with "firing Big Bird". You know that already though, it's all over the web, all over TV. It's the biggest meme to hit the internet since 'Eastwood's Empty Chair'

People are saying, wait "This is what you're taking from the debate?!"

Well, not exactly.

First, his big idea to cut PBS, and other programs likes it, seems a little...off. And how it would help the economy is a little illusive in the grand scheme of the federal budget.

PBS is .012%...yes, there is a decimal point AND a zero before the 1 and the 2...

He wants to CUT the .012% budget funding for PBS, but RAISE military/war spending this is already 20% of the budget...1


It's really a joke that writes itself.

There's a lot of reports from all over about how "he won" the debate, but then in turn they talk about how he did it with lies. He was a slicked up and 'smooth criminal' on-stage, what with the disingenuous smarmy look on his face half the time, forcing himself to appear the "caring" candidate, while re-branding the 47% as "less fortunate" and saying he's going to fire Big Bird. How sweet, right?

Anyway, our take on what details he actually provided, and our take on the night.

He wants to lower your taxes, but remove itemized deductions; deductions which LOWER your taxable income rate (if you file using itemized deductions), deductions like:

Child deductions
Home owners deductions
Classroom expenses for teachers and educators
Qualified performing artists and other professions
Traditional IRA deduction
Student loan interest deduction
Tuition and fees deduction
Health savings account deduction
Moving expenses
Self-employment tax deduction
Self-employment health insurance
SEP-IRA, SIMPLE IRA and 401(k) deductions for the self-employed
Early withdrawal penalty
Alimony paid
Domestic production activities deduction


Removing deductions potentially increases your taxable rate. He also wants to but a cap on deductions to the tune of $17000, which we understand, for household with children, you can hit the ceiling of that cap pretty fast.

Of course he won't tell anyone which of these deductions he's planning to cut, or which "loopholes" he will close...guess you'll just have to wait.

We also wish Obama would have brought up that in March, when he implored the GOP-dominated Congress to eliminate the $4 Billion in Big Oil subsidies (handouts), they said 'no' to the suggestions while simultaneously requesting to end tax credits for wind power development.2 Which actually caused a wind turbine manufacturing company in North Dakota to lay-off 345 this past week, and opt for moving those jobs to Brazil.3 We would have liked Obama to ask Romney how "his people" think that that means funding renewable energy, like he says he plans to do.

It's essential to fund renewable energy sources while raping the earth for it's non-renewable resources, because one day their won't be anything left to take. It also creates jobs, which is essential to fixing the economy.

The other thing we have an issue with is Romney's healthcare claim that those with pre-existing conditions WON'T be denied medical insurance under his plan, when the truth is that those who already have, or have had insurance in the last 3 months, are the ones who are protected, not those currently uninsured, as stated by Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney's own advisor 4 ;and instead funding for them will have to come from the individual states.

Uninsured people with pre-existing conditions, like us...and over 50 million other Americans.5

Anyway. We're not sure if we'll be able to watch the other two Presidential debates in "real time", we're 18 days from closing on our new property and have inspections to arrange, moving to do, and we just found out last night that while they have finally gotten the well pump replaced, and the water running...the plumbing in the house isn't working. Just another thing we have to figure out and fix before the snow hits and stays.

In any case, hopefully you've done your election research, looked into claims by both sides, and continue to stay informed and un-biased as you can muster.

There's much fact checking to have a crack at.

Visit:
FactCheck.orghttp://www.factcheck.org/ to read about who said what, and how much truth were in the words. Don't worry, "righties", it's actually a fair and balanced fact checking website.

Articles of Interest:
Mitt Romney wants to cap tax deductions. Here are five ways to do it, Dylan Matthews, Washington Post, October 3, 2012  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/10/03/mitt-romney-wants-to-cap-tax-deductions-here-are-five-ways-to-do-it/

At Last Night’s Debate: Romney Told 27 Myths In 38 Minutes, Igor Volsky, Think Progress, Oct 4, 2012 http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/10/04/958801/at-last-nights-debate-romney-told-27-myths-in-38-minutes/

Sources and Citation:
1) Does Washington have a spending problem or an income problem? We offer some key facts, Fiscal FactCheck, FactCheck.org, July 15, 2011 http://www.factcheck.org/2011/07/fiscal-factcheck/

2) 46 Republicans Claim Wind Credits Are Too ‘Costly’ After Voting To Retain Billions In Big Oil Subsidies, Rebecca Leber, September 26, 2012 http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/09/26/909151/46-republicans-claim-wind-credits-are-too-costly-after-voting-to-retain-billions-in-big-oil-subsidies/

3) LM Wind Power Eliminates 345 Workers In New Round Of Layoffs, NAW Staff, North American WindPower, September 27, 2012 http://www.nawindpower.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.10464

4) Top Romney Adviser: States Will Have To Cover People With Pre-Existing Conditions Under President Romney, Brian Beutler, October 3, 2012 http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/10/top-romney-adviser-states-will-have-to-cover-people-with-pre-existing-conditions-under-president-rom.php

5) Healthcare Reform: Help For Americans With Pre-Existing Conditions, Families USA, May 2010 http://www.familiesusa.org/resources/publications/reports/health-reform/pre-ex-conditions-findings.html


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