The Soccer Mom Vote

AMT - Caught in the middle

AMT, or Alternative Minimum Tax, was set to snag 23.4 million Americans in 2007, except for a last minute bill that passed Congress just last week.  And now, because of Congress's "eleventh-hour" vote for this one year freeze, at least 13.3 million refunds worth about $39 billion dollars will be delayed as the IRS scrambles to fix its forms, delaying the mid-January normal start of tax season to an estimated February 4 date instead (source).

Whoa! Back up there.  What is this AMT anyway and how does it affect me?  The AMT was introduced into law by the Tax Reform Act of 1969 and became effective in 1970 (source).   It's intent was to prevent the rich from using special tax benefits to pay little or no tax by putting into place what is effectively a separate tax system.  In theory these rules determine minimum amount of tax that you should be required to pay. If you're already paying at least that much because of the "regular" income tax, you don't have to pay AMT. But if your regular tax falls below this minimum, you have to make up the difference by paying alternative minimum tax (source). 

So what went wrong?  In a word, inflation.  The "regular" tax brackets, exemptions, and standard deductions are indexed each year for inflation.  The AMT brackets and exemptions are not.  So if you have income over $75,000 and have several children, interest deductions from second mortgages, capital gains, high state and local taxes and/or incentive stock options, you could be caught in the AMT web (view the Top Ten Things that Cause AMT Liability).

The 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts were actually designed to increase the amount of taxes paid through the AMT; the Tax Policy Center noted that Bush tax policy has "more than doubled the projected share of taxpayers who will face the AMT in 2010, from 16 percent to 33.6 percent" (source). Legislation to fix this nightmare was stalled over "partisan bickering over federal spending, President George W. Bush's tax cuts and the nation's $9 trillion debt" (source).  The main source of conflict was the Republicans arguing that there was no need to raise other taxes to make up for revenue losses from providing AMT relief.  This is directly against the Democrat's policy of "pay-as-you-go" which requires "that tax cuts and mandatory spending increases be covered by tax increases or spending cuts so as not to add to the deficit" - the Dems wanted the $50 billion* cost of this tax relief to be paid for by "closing a loophole on offshore tax havens" (source). Reluctantly, the Democratic majority, had to concede to the Republican form of the bill because of the certain White House veto of their version. 

The bill that passed imposes a temporary fix but doesn't pay for it.  And millions are going to be left waiting for their refunds.  Be sure to thank your Senator and Representative. 

*just for the one year AMT patch.  The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates the price for full repeal of the AMT to be $1.2 trillion through 2015 (source).

    

Regifting

Somebody regifted to me yesterday. They regifted! Really. They rewrapped a gift they received last year and gave it to me for Christmas. (Works better if you remove last year’s tag before you rewrap it…)

Can you believe it? Upon making the discovery, I called my sister and we immediately (but only temporarily) abandoned the spirit of Christmas and ranted on about the hilarity of it. The nerve! Who would do such a thing? Who would really regift?

Well actually, if I’m being honest, I would. And my sister would too. We admit it. But my sister and I are both blessed (and simultaneously cursed) with a directness about us that many people just don’t have. Neither of us has any problem saying things out loud. So when we are given a gift that is essentially useless to us, we have no problem turning to a close friend or relative and saying, “Hey, I got this thing for Christmas and I’m really not going to use it. I thought you might like it. Interested?”

As my sister and I cackled on the phone, we realized that for those in the world who are less direct, saying such a thing is tantamount to spitting in the gift-giver’s face, far worse than regifting. The best option for these more delicate souls is to smile, say thank you, and lock the gift away until next year when they can regift it to a more appropriate recipient.

Ok, you know what? If that works for you, you do that. I retract all the admonitions I made behind the back of my regifter. Who cares? I say good on them for giving me a lovely gift (which I really did like) and for turning their back on the ridiculous social requirements of an over-commercialized holiday. So they regifted. So what!

Further, after reading Angie’s lovely post of yesterday, I ask that you search within (your closets and your garage, if not your heart) to find the regifter within you. The holiday season isn’t over yet. And I’m guessing if you’re lucky enough to be perusing the web and reading The Soccer Mom Vote, you’ve got clothes you never wear, extra blankets you never use, and probably a hall closet full of shoes, gloves, scarves, toys, or board games that do little more than gather dust all year.  Why don’t you grab one of those over-sized holiday gift bags and fill it up with whatever overfills your closets this week?

Then give it to someone who could really use it. Take it to GoodWill. They have tons of locations everywhere and if you don’t know where one is, you can find a GoodWill location online easily.

Go.

Regift.

A message from the poor

We have been around for a long time. We are mentioned in the Bible. Jesus said “the poor will always be with you. . . “ Neglecting me was the reason Sodom fell. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot for advocating for me.

What is so threatening about the poor? Why do you lock your doors when you see me coming? Quicken your step when we are near? Is it because you know what you would do if you were in our situation? Is it because you think we will take what you have?

We are so cold. We are hungry. We are so desperate. Is there anything you can do for me? Will you leave me to the institutions that were created to serve the poor? Will you take me in yourself? Will you give money? Do you care what we will do with any money we receive?

I am sick. My children are hurting. I don’t know what to do.

Is it our own fault we are poor? Or the government’s? Or God’s?

The government wants to give me a digital TV converter. That is great comfort to my hungry children. We can watch Oprah while we perish.

In this land of abundant food, we are still starving.

Is there anything you can do for me?

want to really make a difference?

When I was eleven-years-old, I remember being in a car with my dad as he drove us down the 15 freeway. My father pointed to an unfinished off-ramp marked "Mercy Road" and told us how a young woman, Cara Knott, had just been killed there by a police officer named Craig Peyer. He then went on to try to explain that sometimes people who are supposed to be good are simply not. It wasn't an easy thing to understand at eleven. To be honest, I still don't fully understand it.     

When I was fifteen and my dad was teaching me how to drive, he taught me something that no father should have to share with his little girl. He instructed me, "If you ever get pulled over by a police officer, and they want you to stop somewhere remote or dark, I want you to refuse." He went on to say that I should drive to a well lit, populated area and if the officer gets mad, just tell him that I remember Cara Knott. He said that if it was a good officer, he would understand. I remember how afraid this made me feel.

When I grew up, I met John. An unassuming, warm, likable man, John easily fit into our circle of friends. After a year of poker games, late night music musings, dinners and laughter, I learned that his sister was Cara Knott. I met the rest of his family at holidays: Cara's mom Joyce, a woman who welcomed me and our new baby into her home and made us feel like we'd known her forever and a pair of sisters who laughed and joked with us like we we're part of the family. I never got to know Cara's father, who died of a heart attack and was a tireless champion of victim's rights.     

Today I got a letter from my friends, telling me that the man who brutally murdered their sister and daughter was up for parole again. That this man, who taught me at eleven that not even police officers are safe and made me fear getting pulled over by a CHP officer, could possibly walk free.

They need your help.     

Please help keep Craig Peyer where he belongs; where he can never put another family through such hell; where he can never again viciously strangle and bash in the skull of a beautiful, warm young woman or terrorize the hundreds that came forward after Cara's death. Help us keep this generation of little girls, girls like my own Lily and Anya, grow up without this man preying on them.

Here's what you can do:     

• View this letter from the Knott family.
   
• Peyer's parole hearing is at the end of January, 2008 and letters make a huge impact.  If you can, please write and mail a letter yourself.  Think about how this case affects you personally, whether you be a parent, love someone who has been lost to violence or simply are invested in a more peaceful planet.  Tell the parole board why you personally need this man to stay behind bars. 
   
• Link to this post or email those people who you feel can help, whether it be to someone who can pass on the message or someone who can write passionately on Cara's behalf. 
   
• Don't have the time or energy to write a letter of your own?  That's OK, volume still makes an impact.  Download this letter and modify before mailing it in.  Of course a personally written statement has more impact, but the form letter still expresses sentiment and adds volume to the public outcry, so please do that if nothing else!
 

Letters should be addressed and mailed to:    

John F. Monday
  Executive Director
  Board of Parole Hearings
  P.O. Box 4036
  Sacramento, CA 95812

 

Re: Craig Peyer, CDC# D-93018    

and to the prison where Peyer resides:   

California Men's Colony
  Highway 1
  P.O. Box 8101
  San Luis Obispo, CA 93409-8101
  Attn: C&PR

Re: Craig Peyer, CDC# D-93018

Please be sure to reference Peyer’s name and CDC identification number in your letter: D-93018 and mark the letter "CONFIDENTIAL."    

Let me know when you've mailed your letters as I'd like to let the Knott's know how many people are backing them up out there.  This is a good family who have suffered an impossible loss.  You can help.  Please choose to do so.

Stuck in the Middle With You

I’m under a microscope. Myself and three million of my fellow Iowans.

The political hopefuls have been here for over a year already in one degree or another.

We have been inundated with political propaganda from across the spectrum for months already.

The big theme seems to be, “what makes Iowa tick?” They, the candidates, are all scrambling to get their fingers on the pulse. We are, really, middle America.

Located: in the middle.

Population: in the middle. (30^th)

Square mileage: in the middle (26^th)

Became a State: in the middle (29^th)

We’re about as Average Joe as it gets.

So, lately, the intensity of what has been happening has been ratcheted up a notch or two and I’ve taken to not answering the phone.

Obama…he calls a lot. Mitt calls a lot too. And he sends me lots of slick postcards and even foldout informational thingies.

John Edwards used to call, now he only writes.

Hillary has never called me. But her satellite campaign office in my town is the nicest and biggest.

Obama writes and I’ve been invited to lots of his parties. Rudy emails and invites me to parties, too. John McCain called awhile back, but he hasn’t for awhile.

Thus, after hours of going thru mail from all my new best friends and pitching it immediately in the recycling bin, and after hours of no longer picking up the phone in the evening hours while I try to get four kids in bed and Obama wants to chit chat, AGAIN, maybe I can finally sit down and watch a little mindless television.

There they are again! Obama, Hillary, Mitt, Edwards, Huckabee, Richardson. All of them, telling me how I totally rock and they love me and would love for me to get my keester to the caucus.

So I get in my car and run my kids to school and lessons. Ron Paul, you wiley little rascal, here you are in my car on the radio!

In some ways, the caucus and primary systems seem horrifically antiquated. In an informational era such as this, is a silly little postcard going to sway me with its nifty little bulletpoints? And despite a lot of reshuffling, Iowa is still in the first spot (big state people, don’t yell at me, I have nothing to do with caucus placement) and it seems, at least for now, the candidates actually like campaigning here.

Why? Many of them have given a variety of reasons, but when the political process seems to be a fundraising contest if nothing else, financially, it is easier to campaign in Iowa as opposed to some other states. You can traverse the entire state in a couple days, making stops in larger towns and reach a large portion of population in a small window of time. Iowa is doable.

As for all the methods of getting themselves noticed, what works for you, what sticks in your mind?

For me?

Postcards? Nope.

Calling? Irritating.

TV commercials and radio? Not so much.

Making an effort to be here in person? It seems the most genuine but I still feel like I'm being spoonfed soundbyte-worthy material for the news outlets.

I’ve been invited to dozens of appearances in our town from candidates. I don’t have a list exactly, but there are a few who have visited all 99 of Iowa’s counties. Last stat on that I heard was that John Edwards has been to all 99 twice.

I do know people who like the mail and the calling and they go see every candidate making a whistlestop. I do know people who would sit in freezing temperatures to see Oprah and Obama. How many of them were there to see Oprah and not Obama, really, is up for grabs.

How do you decide? What gets your attention? Do you love getting the mail or will only a celebrity endorsement grab you?

At the end of the day, I’m just an average woman, of average age, in an average state…and I want a very above average President. I still don’t know if I’ll find one this time around, but in the meantime, I’ll keep recycling the postcards, avoiding the intrusive dinner time phone calls, and do my own research on another average day here in middle America.

 

Apathetic

I can't seem to get fired up about any of these people.  I am not alone.

All of them seem, what, desperate?  They are all so polished even though they  are all the "outsider" (Huckabee, Kucinich, Thompson) or the "maverick" (McCain, Obama, Paul,Giuliani)  or the one with great hair (Edwards, Edwards, Edwards).  Except for the ones who say they are clearly the best equipped to run for the job (Clinton, Romney).

What is it that I want?  Probably, Colin Powell.  Or someone like him.

Here's my list of requirements:

Someone who has served in the military and hates war for that very reason.

Someone who can speak, think, act, run, and eat like a leader.  I want this gal (or guy) to ooze leadership out of every pore of their being.  Which means, of course, that they don't have any "handlers". 

Someone who thinks that gays should be respected and demands that they be treated with respect.

Someone who respects unborn life and the mothers of all children.

Someone who has friends who are different than them culturally, ethnically and religiously.  Real friends.  Different from them.

Someone who thinks the federal government should be tiny and that local governments should have all the power.

Someone who seeks to ease the burden on the American taxpayer.  Not just in money.

Someone who gives a good example of service and values hard work.

Someone who understands the plight of our poor and works to help whereever she can.

Someone who concerns himself or herself with the protection of America's borders so that terrorists have to be truly evil to want to go up against it.

Someone strong, bright, eloquent, and  elegantly tough-as-nails.

Is that too much to ask? I'd love to see your list.

I Can't Believe I'm Defending Mitt Romney

This isn't what I was planning on writing about this month, not what I promised. That post is coming, but this topic is so timely I couldn't resist.

I'm no fan of Mitt Romney. He was governor of my state for longer than I would have liked and his was the kind of term that finally broke the 16-year string of Republican governors in Massachusetts. Not only was he pretty ineffective, but he added insult to injury by flying around the country mocking his constituents while he was still in office. I've had a "Top 10 Reasons why Mitt Should Not be President" post brewing in my head for months, waiting for the right time. I'm probably not going to do that now, because these people are doing a fine job of it themselves (Important caveat: I'm wary of just about anyone who feels the need to use the phrase "for truth" in their title. Can you say "swiftboating?").

Opponent Rudy Guiliani last week castigated Romney for appointing a judge who later released Daniel Tavares at the end of a 16-year prison sentence he served for killing his own mother. Tavares fled to Washington State where he is now being held in the murders of a young couple. The kicker in this case is that days before he was due to be released, Tavares allegedly assulted prison guards and sent a letter threatening the life of Romney and other state officials. Here is a guy who clearly never wanted to be released in the first place. Unfortunately, no one seems to have spoken to the judge, Kathe Tuttman, about the situation, though I can't imagine what she'd say. This was one case in hundreds.  Probably the best available explanation for Tuttman's actions can be found here.

No doubt the Giuliani campaign intended that this case be Romney's Willie Horton, but the "tough-on-crime" mayor's efforts have fallen short. A governor cannot be held responsible for every decision an appointee makes after being approved for the job. Romney is no more to blame for this than Reagan is for some Sandra Day O'Connor's less conservative swing votes. When judges are appointed (and I do believe they should be appointed rather than elected; removal should be difficult, but not impossible), there is a certain element of trust involved along with the vetting. Judges are human, they make mistakes, hopefully most of them do not end as tragically as this one, sometimes the law ties their hands.

This is not Romney's first judge problem. The big one is even less of his own making. Justice Margaret Marshall (a co-author of the link above) was appointed by Paul Cellucci and will forever be linked with "gay marriage" (see, no one is blaming Cellucci for this). Her decision found that the Massachusetts Constitution did not allow for discrimination in marriage, that it "forbids the creation of second class citizens," and is "less tolerant [than the Federal Constitution] of government intrusion into the protected spheres of private life."

Social conservatives running against Romney would like to pin this one on him as well, but as much as the governor might have liked Marshall to find discrimination in our Constitution, it simply wasn't there.

Giuliani meanwhile, seems to be redefining "law and order candidate" in ways that might evoke the names of Halliburton and Blackwater. Perhaps we should start asking serious questions about what security in Iraq, or anywhere else, might mean under a President Giuliani and how it might benefit his company and clients.

The squabbling between the two presumed front-runners has opened up the high road for Mike Huckabee who drove it with ease talking to George Stephanopolus on (video) ABC This Week. As of this writing, Huckabee leads the GOP in Iowa. I can only guess what this means, but I'm hoping that Iowa voters are looking at the shambles of the current administration, the antics of the two highest-profile candidates and thinking "What was that about honor and dignity, again?"

I take salt with my margarita and my news

For some unexplainable reason I woke up at 4:45am on the day after Thanksgiving. There was no child next to my bed asking me to help tuck them back in after a trip to the bathroom. There was no husband "quietly" getting ready for work. There was simply me. Awake. I listened to the still house. I stared at the red glare of the clock. And then I remembered - there were stores open already. Stores with things for me to buy.

Now, if we're being honest, on Black Friday I was already nearly done with my holiday shopping. I had, however, a few things left to purchase that I thought I might find marked down at one particular store that I knew had opened at 4am. I also knew I could buy the two birthday cards I had forgotten to buy - one of which was for my husband whose birthday was, yes, that very day.

Silly me, I thought I might find Kohl's with a relatively low level of hustle and bustle. I mean really, who gets out of bed before the crack of dawn to shop? Yeah. I know. Go ahead. Laugh.

I walked into that store to find a grandmother with a sleeping child on her lap sitting where the shopping baskets and carts used to be. I found a line that ran from the row of cash registers in the front all the way around the perimeter of the store - stopping only to meet up with the end of the other line that ran around to the back of the store from the second bank of registers. I also found everything I needed - including those two birthday cards. I waited on line for 20 minutes, saved roughly $30, and paid about $70 for my purchases.

Less than an hour later my parents left the cozy confines of their house for some early morning shopping at the big bulls-eye store. It wasn't open yet, but the line ran from the front door, down the length of the store's exterior and around the corner into the dark recesses between it and the mega-shopping mecca of home improvement enthusiasts. My parents left the line to shop elsewhere in the complex - finding the crowds too deep to be able to maneuver through when they got there. They returned to the big bulls-eye 20 minutes later only to find the store was sold out of both electronics purchases they had hoped to make.

Now, I'm no economist. I'm not conducting polls. But stories like my family's and my friends' lead me to believe that sales were pretty darn good on Black Friday - and I'm not just talking discounts. I'd be hard pressed to think Black Friday was anything but "black" on the books.

And according to leading search firms quoted in the Associated Press articles about the day, I'm a good guesser:

“This was a really good start. ... There seemed to be a lot of pent-up demand,” said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks total sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets. ShopperTrak reported late Sunday that sales on Friday and Saturday combined rose 7.2 percent to $16.4 billion from the same two-day period a year ago.

Total sales on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, rose to $10.3 billion, up 8.3 percent from the same day a year ago. Martin had expected increases no greater than 5 percent.

Meanwhile, Internet research firm comScore Inc. reported a 22 percent gain in online sales on the day after Thanksgiving compared with the same day a year ago and estimated online sales would exceed $700 million online Monday, the official kickoff to the online shopping season.

Subsequent articles on "Cyber Monday" indicate the on-line cousin of Black Friday proved equally fruitful. We, my friends, are little shopping fiends.

And all that is good. All of that lends credence to the articles we see squashed in tiny corners - unemployment numbers are down. Consumer spending is up. Despite sticker shock at the gas pump and defaulting risky loans, our economy is doing well and deep down, apparently, we know it.

Except, when you read those articles or watch those short news snippets on TV, you stop and ask yourself if we're not all tossing our wallets around in denial. Articles on the kick-off to the holiday season are high on references to "bargain hunting" and repeatedly ask the big question "Will it last?" References to October's up-tick in consumer spending is wrapped in the gloom of "it wasn't as big an increase as the months just before it - yeah, we know, it's an increase, but it's not as big."

This, friends, is why I tend to ignore the media more often than not. I get dizzy rolling my eyes all the time.

Sometimes I consider the media a toxic friend. Someone that says they are here for me - to help me make informed decisions. Someone that is only looking out for me as they illuminate the truth. Yet, the truth is these 'so-called friends' seems to yearn for the dramatic. Perhaps it's because the bad news gets them higher ratings. Perhaps there's more illusion of meat to a sour story. Or perhaps it's just habit.

I don't have that answer.

What I do know is this - as we trudge through this seemingly endless election season, as we mull the issues that may play a major role in our lives and our children's lives, as we build upon our own ideas of what is good and what is not - we need to dig past the sound bytes and the pull-quotes. We're a fast food, full-service society. . .but the truth is, when it comes to our information gathering, we can't afford to be anything but proactive and interactive.