47

Not just my age, but well, it’s a big number today.

***

I just had an interesting exchange on Twitter, not so much with a Romney supporter, but with an Obama non-supporter. There were a lot of interesting things said. At first he thought maybe I was trying to disprove what he thought, but no, I was interested to see what he thought. I carpooled to Worldcon with a guy in the back seat who thought much the same.

One hundred and forty characters per message is no way to find out about anyone’s basis for an ideology. And the guy was really convinced of the truth of what he was saying, which did sound a lot like what you heard at the Republican National Convention. If he were a composition student, I’d ask him to get some facts and counterarguments. I figured it was more important to be civil, and perhaps create the image that all we liberals are not delusional. I’m pretty sure I didn’t create that image, but I was polite. And he was informative, which I appreciated. And we disagree heartily, which I have to respect, even though you know, I think differently and I wouldn’t be happy in his version of America.

***

So, I would have written a post about Romney’s “private” statement, but instead, let me help you a little with some of those facts and counterarguments written by other logical, eloquent people.

First of all, direct from Scalzi’s Whatever, Misconceptions and Realities about Who Pays Taxes. What this article does is look at the demographic of taxes, and who pays what. A really salient fact from this article:

When all federal, state, and local taxes are taken into account, the bottom fifth of households pays about 16 percent of their incomes in taxes, on average. The second-poorest fifth pays about 21 percent.

It’s a good article, and it really breaks the number 47 down in interesting ways.

***

Next up, John Scalzi writes more or less the post that I would write myself, except you know, I overpay my taxes every year because I live in fear that my deductions will shift in a less friendly America. Usually I get a nice return as a result, but better safe than sorry.

And finally, from Jay Lake and the Daily Beast (truly your liberal media), some speculation on what Romney’s campaign may mean for the Republican party.

I’ve actually wondered about this for sometime, as I’ve had a lot of conversations with really conservative Republicans, moderate Republicans and RiNOs, and there seems to be a real lack of unity here. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next.

***

Let’s try to remember there’s a campaign on out there. Remember, what you say does count.

Author: Catherine Schaff-Stump

Catherine Schaff-Stump writes fiction for children and young adults. Her most recent book, The Vessel of Ra, is the first book in the Klaereon Scroll series. She is currently working on its sequel, as well as penning the middle grade adventures of Abigail Rath, monster hunter.

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