Linkfest - Romney Gaffes Again

Romney: 47% of Country are Lazy Freeloaders
In a video (link above) authenticated by Mother Jones, Mitt Romney said "...there are 47 percent who are with [Obama], who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. ...my job is not to worry about those people." In short, Romney said anyone who votes for Obama is a lazy freeloading victim. Last I checked, I have not freeloaded, worked full time since I was 16 and fortunately have not been a victim of anything except my own stupidity. The amazing thing is Romney held a rushed press conference where he stood by his comments brushing them off as "not elegantly stated" begging the question of the what elegant version sounds like. Amazing that for a man that can flip flop on any issue depending on what direction the wind is blowing takes stance of refusing to back down no matter what once embarrassed by a mistake. George W Bush behaved that way too often damaging results.

While that was one of the worse, those were not all of the ill-conceived, rich people matter most, comments from the governor. His belief that only the rich don't pay taxes isn't really true, turns out a whole lot of American's across the entire tax bracket spectrum have successfully gamed the system to pay no income tax (emphasis on income as that doesn't include all kinds of other taxes that pretty much everyone pays daily). He going to close their loopholes? Probably not. His disdain for anyone that isn't rich should not be surprising when he admitted in an interview that "middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less." The Census Bureau pegs the real median household income at $50,000. Remember his definition when he says he will cut taxes for the middle class because he really means the rich version of middle class and 99% of us are not in the category.

15 Things GOP Lies About Taxes and Debts
At the link is one of those long articles with lots of graphs (created by nonpartisan groups) that does a great job of showing the many ways the GOP lies to America about taxes and debt to create a means to get elected so their can implement their tax cuts for the rich and throw out anything they don't like. This isn't to say that taxes, debt and other things don't need reform but the approach should be careful surgery to improve things, not just random hacking and slashing the GOP advocate. A few facts: 1) Taxes did not go up under Obama. Actually taxes have not gone up in over 10 years. 2) Ronald Reagan 3x the debt (added about 3 trillion) and George Bush doubled it (added about 6 trillion). 3) Tax cuts add to the deficit, historically they have never reduced it despite GOP claims. 4) Lowering Capital Gains Taxes help the rich and does nothing for investment 5) Estate Tax will benefit the top 1% only and do nothing for the economy and jobs since does not impact farms or businesses. 6) Income equality has reach an 80 year high while tax burden is a 60 year low 7) The Romney-Ryan plan will add to the deficit as those making $250k plus a year who will get huge tax cuts that is greater then what the tax increases on those below that number will pay for. Whole lot more details at the link, most of it really common sense if think about it and compare it to history. Sadly there are probably a huge chunk of American's, many of whom know someone or is someone who depends on government "entitlements", who nod with Romney going "we need to get rid of those entitlements!" without a clue he is talking about them.

Obama Smallest Government Spender in 60 Years
Related to GOP lies, here is another fact, again compiled by the independent groups is info that shows that Obama has spent less than any President since Dwight D. Eisenhower as broken down by four (not 8) year increments. To no surprise those that spent the most? Ronald Reagan and George W Bush.

AA Battery Showdown
Hit the link to see what AA battery brands are best to buy in low drain (toys, mp3 players, etc.) and high drain (digital cameras) devices. The info is broken down in bar graph fun telling you what last longest. The key bit is the "value for money" green graph that shows that had a few surprising results like best bang for buck is Kodak Xtralife and Energizer should just isn't worth it.

Mischief Managed: A Harry Potter Retrospective
If a fan of Harry Potter may like this 13 minute long video that edits and summarizes all 8 Harry Potter movies. The result is good enough to be an extra feature in a release.


Tom Hanks' Michael Clarke Duncan Story
Below is a video as Tom Hanks tells a story at Michael Clarke Duncan's memorial service held last week. The Green Mile actor died of a heart attack and based on what I read and saw, seemed to be loved by anyone he met.