Before anyone goes flying off the handle let me say that I still don’t know who I am voting for and this post is one of the reasons. I don’t feel like I can trust either candidate to tell the whole truth.
Like many people I am interested to see what each candidates tax plan would mean for me. So I went to the Obama-Biden Tax Calculator and began playing with some numbers.
I started out with middle range salary, single, saving for retirement with a 300k mortgage. Seems good enough, the calculator shows I would be saving $1300 a year under their tax plan with a tax credit for retirement.
Then I did the same thing for 100k in income.
My savings dropped, but it still showed me what I could expect. Then I went to $200k in income and $250k in income filing jointly.
What happened? Instead of seeing what this person or married couple would lose under Obama (or gain under McCain) I get a message saying “You will probably not get a tax cut under Obama-Biden”. I don’t know the actual number (that is what I was hoping to understand) but I feel this is shady at best. To say that someone filing with these numbers probably won’t get a cut is just wrong. The reality is these people will get taxed more.
I know that. I may be cool with that, I just want to understand how much. I want to be able to make an informed decision, but stuff like this really bothers me. I dug and dug and all I could find was this before I gave up and decided to leave.
I am none of the above.
I realize that this is all marketing (and damn good marketing), but I just want it straight. Cut the crap. Cut the politics. Lay it all on the line and let me see how things may effect me now and in the future.
There are things I like about both candidates, but this is the type of positioning I can stand from neither.
I am feeling pretty good after my first week of the fat kid health plan. All and all I would say I stayed on track, with a few exceptions.
The Good I managed to exceed the goals I set for running by a sizeable amount. I ran 22.25 miles this week, my goals was to run 16 miles. My times aren’t fast by any means, but I am getting it done. I even ran on my break day! I think I will start adding time as a goal in a month or so.
I didn’t drink any caffeine (which SUCKED). I miss you starbucks.
I didn’t eat any fast food.
I drank at least a gallon of water each day.
I only had fried food on one day.
The Bad I didn’t really think about the weekends when it came to smoothies for breakfast and salads or fish for lunch. It wasn’t really my intention to do this on the weekend, so I am going to clarify that for next week.
I had alcohol on two nights, though I didn’t have much on one of the nights. I was planning on having some drinks during the FSU game yesterday (which I did), but I didn’t plan on Tara getting a job offer on Friday. We had a glass of champagne to celebrate…. I don’t think that should count ; )
What’s next? This week I am going to increase the miles and add in a few days at the gym. I am also going to add pushups and situps into the mix. I don’t think I have lost any weight, but I feel a hell of a lot better and have more energy (which is kinda scary).
Yesterday I drove an hour and a half to get wings for the Florida State game (which we won!). This is the second time I have had these wings and they were just as awesome. Julie had asked me to make a video because I tweeted about them so much last time. The name of this little bbq trailer is Mike’s Tasty BBQ. I love these wings so much I also made a Facebook fan page.
I love my dog bonzo. I never thought that little animal would bring me so much joy. Do you have a dog?!? If so I want to see! Leave me a link to a picture and I will do a follow up post with you and your dog. Be sure to leave your URL as well.
The past few months of travel, deadlines and events have totally destroyed my eating and exercise habits. I have decided the only way I am going to keep myself in check is to put it out there each week and have to admit failure if I make an excuse.
I am wiping out caffeine and cutting back on junk food, alcohol and heavy lunches I eat all the time. My fat ass will be on the road each morning running and staying plenty hydrated throughout the day. I will try to update this blog with the progress, I know the first week is going to suck.
My strategy is to publish a new plan each week with that weeks goals.
