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.org - http://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

A Homey Place To Stay

That feeling that we should be doing something more is just hovering on the surface. We have so much in our head we want to get out, things we want to accomplish, yet once we get to opening up a new document, or starting a new post, working on a project, it buries itself deep, and hides.

The weekend was pretty crap, from what I understand. Today feels better. We've returned to my favourite hotel, the one in a small village, a hamlet. It's a 16th century hotel (built in the 1500's), with amazing rates that include free breakfast. A proper breakfast too, your choice off of a menu, plus pastries, and coffee, and juice. It's a lovely breakfast.

The village is pretty, last time we were here, last week, we took a lot of pictures and even got inspired for a new photography project. This is our third visit, and this time we'll be here for a few days, until about Thursday. It's really too bad I don't have my paints and canvas here.

The smell of the hotel reminds us of our favourite Grandmas house growing up, old wood, coffee and home cooked foods, making it feel homey, which in turn causes us to feel more relaxed and happy than we have. Nothing bad ever happens at Grandmas...at least ours.

The staff of the hotel is so friendly, and the waiter in the pub/restaurant downstairs is an Italian man who is straight out of a movie, quirky, comical and full of energy. The food is good, the rooms are each unique, this being the third room we've stayed in, different from all the previous ones. The place has a lot of character.

While this may seem like some vacation to some, we are seem to be living in England with James, moving around, on a limited budget, because James' flat sold. He is picking up short contracts here and there since not getting the last major one renewed a couple of weeks ago.

Last night we went to dinner for the first time in days, to a place called ChimiChanga; it was nice to have a bit of Mexican, reminded us of home. We have been saving funds by having pre-cooked chicken and buns, salads from grocery store delis, as well as snacks such as yogurt, cereals and fruits, rather than eating at restaurants, or having fast food. It's a fun thing to try to figure out how to cut costs on food by inventing new meal ideas that are balanced of all food groups. Hotels in England don't have microwaves or those small refrigerators, at least none of the ones we have looked into staying at, or have stayed at. Not even that crappy Holiday Inn Express we stayed at one night last week. For breakfast I had an apple and coffee, and for lunch I had two cookies that came with the room, and a cup of soup (this is all very thrilling to you, I am sure).

Not sure what the deal was with the last hotel, it was nice, reminiscent of photos of what the Oval Office looked like in 70's, beige colours with a high ceiling and textured wallpaper below narrow chair railing running around the expanse of the room, and the front hall. It was situated in the countryside outside of Ipswich, England, very beautiful but not much in the way of...exciting.  While it was clean and decent, it had a sort of The Shinning feeling to it, and left us feeling uneasy, and unhappy (not that it was the buildings fault we were unhappy). It's nice to be back, to feel comfortable and have a place to try to get our mental shit together again. A place that feels a bit like home now.

Tomorrow morning will mark one week of our new, temporary, nomad lifestyle. Adventure, because why not.

~ Ivy et al

Home for a couple of days (so far the nicest room we've had here)
(at £29 a night, when you have no place to live, it's a bargain!)

Photos from last weeks visit, and where we are staying for, likely, the remainder of the week.

Back entrance of the hotel

The Guild Room, where you can hang out and read.
It's a lovely room

Scenes from about the village...

We'll write about it more, and add more pictures, including the name of it, when we write about it in our travel blog (Our Frank Adventures). Also, when we aren't staying here anymore (for paranoid reasons).

Really old tree at one of the the village cemeteries. (James figures it's at least 1000 years old)