Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
It has been estimated that approximately 50 million Americans watched the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney that took place on October 3rd. Many viewers of the debate are diehard fans of Sesame Street. They were taken aback when Romney brought up the name of one of this country’s most well-loved TV avian characters that evening. It’s a good thing that John James Audubon wasn’t alive to hear the words that emitted from Mitt’s mouth in responding to Jim Lehrer about cuts that he’d make in federal spending if he is elected President:
“I’m sorry, Jim. I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you too. But I’m not going to — I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.”
The following day, PBS issued a statement expressing disappointment that it had become a target in the political discussion the previous evening. Big Bird himself issued no statement on his own behalf. Since the debate, however, he has appeared on television entertainment and news shows and in a number of Youtube videos. It has been reported that our fine feathered friend was truly disheartened when he learned of Romney’s plan to eliminate funding for PBS programs like Sesame Street, the show that brought him fame and helped to make “Big Bird” a household name.
Big Bird will be happy to learn that his fans are organizing an event to show their support for him, for his fellow Muppets, and for PBS. The event is called the Million Muppet March. It is scheduled to take place on the National Mall on November 3rd.
Take heart, Big Bird!
PICTURES (From Million Muppet March site)
SOURCES
Million Muppet March’ Planned Against Romney (ThinkProgress)
‘Million Muppet March’ planned to defend U.S. backing for PBS (Reuters)
Bron I have no idea how many are disabled vs elderly who worked all their lives but are now on a fixed income, etc.
I am glad you know someone severely handicapped who is able to work. That does not mean all are. I for instance can answer you here and be on the comp for about 15 – 20 minutes and do consistent work, That results in my being ‘down for up to 2 hours in severe pain and highly narcotized.
Those on disability can work and still get disabilitybecause the income/time can work is low. Does your friend make a lot of money with the work he/she can do? Is it enough to not only sustain her but allow to afford the roce of admission to a museum or park, or even go out to a nice dinner once in a while?
At the end of the day all i can say is I hope you never become disabled to the point where you cannot adequately provide for yourself.
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/disability/sipp/disab10/figure_1.pdf
Lee:
I am pretty sure there are not 140 million disabled people in the US. Even with mental health being included.
According to the US Census there are 12,349,000 people who are disabled who need assistance. If you need assistance you probably have trouble working but i know at least one person who is badly handicapped who works every day.
There are 20,286,000 severely disabled people between 21 and 64 of those 5,570,000 are employed. There are a total of 29,479,000 people between 21 and 64 who are disabled across the spectrum from mild to severe, of those 12,115,000 are employed.
There are a total of 177,295,000 people in the 21 to 64 age group so that is only about 6% of that population.
People with any disability make up about 19% of the population, people with severe disabilities make up about 13% of the population and are included in the 19%. Total number of people with disabilities is about 57,000,000.
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/disability/sipp/disable10.html
The reason we borrow money from China is because guys in faux blue jeans named Willard Romney shipped all of our jobs over there. The folks who watch the Nightly Business Report, which is a great show, will be quite happy to have ads from Bain Capital taking up the air time. Or will they?
lottakatz,
I agree with you for the most part–except that Ryan didn’t really go to the soup kitchen to volunteer his services. He only went for a photo op and then left. (Nice lesson for his children.) Romney actually brought up defunding of PBS and Big Bird as part of his tax plan in the debate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTZDMVGs16E
P.S. I thought the Big Bird ad was a riot too!
Nick, The Obama campaign ad using Big Bird is a satire of Romney’s position using a parody of campaign-ad style as a vehicle. I’m still trying to figure out if it’s style is a simple parody or far enough over the line to be called surrealist. I think it’s hilarious and way more ‘smart’ (in an artsy-fartsy way) than it’s being given credit for. That people are somehow befuddled and upset with it is likewise funny and ridiculous.
The Obama campaign didn’t politicize Big Bird, Romney did and it was a tactical mistake. That PBS would rather not have Big Bird politicized by either party really doesn’t enter the equation, It became a campaign issue the moment Romney put Big Bird’s neck on the chopping block.
Brian Antal, the president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society didn’t want the charity he works for politicized but that didn’t stop the Romney campaign; or is it a case of IOKIYAR? Should the Romney campaign pull that ad? I don’t think so, or that the Obama Campaign shouldn’t capitalize on it if possible. Once a candidate puts something out it becomes fair game.
—–
“Charity president unhappy about Paul Ryan soup kitchen ‘photo op’”
….“We’re a faith-based organization; we are apolitical because the majority of our funding is from private donations,” Antal said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “It’s strictly in our bylaws not to do it. They showed up there, and they did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.”
He added: “The photo-op they did wasn’t even accurate. He did nothing. He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall.” ….
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/15/charity-president-unhappy-about-paul-ryan-soup-kitchen-photo-op/
Charity president unhappy about Paul Ryan soup kitchen ‘photo op’
Posted by Felicia Sonmez
October 15, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/15/charity-president-unhappy-about-paul-ryan-soup-kitchen-photo-op/
Excerpt:
The head of a northeast Ohio charity says that the Romney campaign last week “ramrodded their way” into the group’s Youngstown soup kitchen so that GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan could get his picture taken washing dishes in the dining hall.
Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, said that he was not contacted by the Romney campaign ahead of the Saturday morning visit by Ryan, who stopped by the soup kitchen after a town hall at Youngstown State University.
“We’re a faith-based organization; we are apolitical because the majority of our funding is from private donations,” Antal said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “It’s strictly in our bylaws not to do it. They showed up there, and they did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.”
He added: “The photo-op they did wasn’t even accurate. He did nothing. He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall.”
Ryan had stopped by the soup kitchen for about 15 minutes on his way to the airport after his Saturday morning town hall in Youngstown. By the time he arrived, the food had already been served, the patrons had left, and the hall had been cleaned.
Upon entering the soup kitchen, Ryan, his wife and three young children greeted and thanked several volunteers, then donned white aprons and offered to clean some dishes. Photographers snapped photos and TV cameras shot footage of Ryan and his family washing pots and pans that did not appear to be dirty…
Antal, a self-described independent voter, said that he “can’t fault my volunteers” for letting the campaign in but said that the campaign “didn’t go through the proper channels.”
He noted that the soup kitchen relies on funding from private individuals who might reconsider their support if it appears that the charity is favoring one political candidate over another.
“I can’t afford to lose funding from these private individuals,” he said. “If this was the Democrats, I’d have the same exact problem.”
He added that the incident had caused him “all kinds of grief” and that regardless of whether Ryan had intended to serve food to patrons or wash dishes, he would not have allowed the visit to take place.
“Had they asked for permission, it wouldn’t have been granted. … But I certainly wouldn’t have let him wash clean pans, and then take a picture,” Antal said.
Romney, If You’re Serious About Deficit Reduction, Leave Big Bird Alone
Dr. William F. Baker and Evan Leatherwood
October 11, 2012
http://www.thenation.com/article/170505/romney-if-youre-serious-about-deficit-reduction-leave-big-bird-alone
Excerpt:
When Mitt Romney said he’d reduce the federal budget deficit in last Wednesday’s debate, PBS was one of only two programs he mentioned cutting by name. Romney has gone after PBS before, touting its elimination as a “major” potential savings for the American people. There’s an annual $445 million congressional subsidy to public broadcasting that might seem to support Romney’s claim—until you realize that it represents approximately one hundredth of one percent of the entire federal budget.
To put it in perspective: $445 million only fifty percent more than what the military spends on marching bands. It is less than half of what the US Senate spends each year to administer itself. For the cost of just the AIG portion of the bailout, America could have subsidized PBS at current levels without allocating another cent until the year 2164. $445 million is a lot to ordinary people, but in the world of deficit reduction, which is what Romney was being asked about, it is an afterthought.
So why does Romney speak as if Big Bird were one of the top two obstacles to national solvency? The reason is simple: he hopes to score a few easy political points.
By eliminating funding to PBS, Romney and the Republicans could indeed win some support from radical conservatives, but tens of millions of Americans will lose out, especially poor children struggling to get access to a good education. PBS isn’t just NewsHour and Antiques RoadShow. Ninety-five percent of PBS stations across America provide educational programming to their communities.
The local PBS station in Rochester, New York, produces Homework Hotline, which provides direct help to a million struggling students every week. Zeroing out federal PBS money would take Homework Hotline and other locally created educational shows off the air. Denying educational help to millions of kids, many in areas too remote or too poor to have adequate schools, is too great a price to pay for a few election season partisan gains.
Eeyore,
Right you are! It was Old Mitt who put the focus on Big Bird–as if defunding PBS would help put a dent in the deficit. What a joke.
Hubert
Do you recall that when Romney was asked what deductions he would eliminate in order to make his 20% tax cut revenue neutral, he offered one, and one only: PBS and specifically Big Bird. I think the “joke” originates with Romney. So do save some of your disgust for him.
Of all the issues Mr. obama needs to address and of all the fires that need to be put out, he focuses on big bird. What a joke.
Actually, the joke is Mitt Romney … The joke is that he cares for the average American …. NOT !!! Hopefully, the nation as a whole will realize by early Tues. Nov. 6th that Romney will say anything, deliver garbage, send his VP nominee out to wash pots and pans — ANYTHING — all to “appear” like he’s the Average Joe working class American … Right, MITTENS… What a joke.
He is a danger to the American middle class and the way he runs his finances (in the Caymans) and the way he ran Bain as a Net Job Destroyer as opposed to a Job Creator (what an unrealistic figure to bandy about — I am going to create 12 Million jobs) should tell everyone that if he gains admission to the Oval Office that immediately upon entry the only people allowed thru the door will be the Koch Bros., Shel Adelson, Karl Rove and Grover Norquist …. NONE of whom have the interests of the Middle Class of this country at heart.
PS — after 24 years in the military I learned a valuable axiom — NEVER DEAL IN ABSOLUTES …. 12 Million jobs, eh Mittens …???
Obama doesn’t promise the world to us — only that he realistically will continue to work hard to do better for all Americans not just the upper
1%-ers …!!
OBAMA — 2012
Romney 1040s (plural) NOW ….
Bron
When was the last time you went to a museum or a national park? They are not free. The museums in Chicago are quite expensive. I have no idea how a ordinary family of four can afford the $60 admission fee. Parking will be additional. There is an entrance fee to national parks as well. But I suppose none of that matters to you. You seem to favor the let them eat cake policy …and a notable addition to the human race.
SWMom, no doubt, them thats got and all that.
Elaine thanks for the link, tweeted and facebooked it
Mitt Romney on Taxes
Fudging the numbers
Oct 11th 2012
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2012/10/mitt-romney-taxes
Excerpt:
TUESDAY night on the fading dowager of cable news that is CNN, Wolf Blitzer asked Mitt Romney about his tax proposals. What specific deductions did Mr Romney propose to eliminate in order to finance his promise to cut income-tax rates by 20%, Mr Blitzer asked? Home mortgage interest? Charitable donations? No, Mr Romney said, he’d keep those. So how would he limit deductions? Would he institute an overall deductions cap of $17,000, as he’s vaguely mentioned on the campaign trail? Well, Mr Romney said, a cap might be possible; it could be $25,000, it could be $50,000. (He appears to have backed away from the $17,000 figure.) “Would that add up to the $4.8 or $5 trillion it’s been estimated your comprehensive tax reductions would cost?” asked Mr Blitzer. Well, Mr Romney replied, that $5 trillion number is wrong, because it doesn’t take into account the elimination of deductions. “The president’s charge of a $5 trillion tax cut is obviously inaccurate and wrong because what he says is, all right, let’s look at all the rates you’re lowering, and then he ignores the fact that I also say we’re also going to limit deductions and credits and exemptions.”
You see what he just did there, right? If the United States were a publicly-traded company and Mitt Romney were its CEO, and if that interview had been a conference call with analysts, shares in USA Inc would have dropped 5% in the subsequent minute. What Mr Blitzer asked was: do your proposed revenue enhancements fully compensate for your proposed $5 trillion in revenue cuts? And Mr Romney answered that it won’t really be $5 trillion in cuts, because of the enhancements. Mr Romney is not mathematically illiterate; he’s a former CEO who is very used to answering pointed questions about numbers. He understood what Mr Blitzer asked. His response is an acknowledgment that he can’t make his numbers add up, so he’s hiding behind a smokescreen of feigned incomprehension. The deduction caps can’t make up for the tax cuts he’s proposing. Either some of those cuts won’t happen, or the deficit will go up.
lee, I am sure she is covered through Mitt with the gold plated “concierge care”.
Bron,
I believe Netflix is closer to $10 a month. Lots of elderly people don’t have computers and can ill afford to pay for any extras like Netflix. I know. I paid for most of my elderly mother’s groceries for several years because she had little money left over after paying her bills–including electric, oil, real estate taxes, water, etc.
have to give an anecdote. My sister had a husband who did quite well for himself. I grew up upper middle class. Once I became disabled i had to be on assistance fior 18 months before i could qualify for disability (that is I needed assistance because i could not work until I was accepted for SSD.)
I used to wear penny loafers. My sister never offered help or a pat on the back even “‘Im proud of you for taking care of yourself in the best way you can.” type of thing. Her son looked at my shoes and said “Do you wear the pennies in your loafers to show people how poor you are?”
It is sad that too many who ‘have’ refuse to accept or acknowledge the people who have not/can’t and see them as “other”, not worthy of help ,accolade, acknkowledgement for mounting the struggle to get through each day.
When your “income” is around 800/month 7$ is a big deal when ins alone is 250$+ (and that is for many of us not only me) 500$ is almost one month’s income. that is a very big deal. You can tell i have a computer, thankfully since it is my main source of interaction with the world (and this is the case for many disabled as well as other groups of people)
Thje problem Broin is you have taken to heart the 47%. I do not know what the breakdown is but I would be surprised if a majority are able bodied folk trying to take advantage, that is like the Reagan lie about the welfare queen with the limo.
I don;t ask, nor do, I would believe, most folks in my situation or elderly, etc for a handpout, for charity. I would hope that charity comes in the form, at a minimum, of understanding that poor does not mean lazy, irresponsible, or moocher.
Lee:
People like you should be taken care of by society and I have no problem with some of my tax money being used to that end. What I have a problem with is perfectly able bodied people using the system to avoid having to provide for themselves.
I think netflix is 7/month so I wouldnt call it a big deal. You can play it on your computer. Now that might be a problem but you can get an Ipad for around $500. Which is probably a stretch for someone on a fixed income.
I am sure that if you let some evil, rich Christian republican know that you were on a fixed income they could get a group of people together to buy a computer and an Ipad for you. Evil, rich, Christian republicans love to do things for people.
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/15/john-glenn-barack-obama_n_1967159.html)
John Glenn is supporting the President (re reply way above about Cheney and Ryan)