During the first presidential debate, Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama squared off on the economy. One of the questions from moderator Jim Lehrer was how the two men would handle the country's federal deficit.
It's an important question that voters will have to consider when Election Day rolls around in November. Romney handled it by saying he would cut subsidies to various government programs. One of those cuts would be PBS -- home to one of Movoto Real Estate's favorite TV shows, Sesame Street.
According to a transcript of the debate by ABC, Romney said:
"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. Actually [I] 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. That's number one."
We're all for figuring out how to cut the deficit, but his comments got us interested in how Romney's living situation stacks up with that of Big Bird.
What did we learn? It should come as no surprise that Big Bird's nest is quaint compared to Romney's living situation. In fact, we learned that Big Bird's nest would fit inside Romney's proposed La Jolla mansion a mere 495 times.
Here's How We Did It
To figure out how many times Big Bird's abode could be crammed inside Romney's mansion, we needed to know two things:
A Big Bird Needs a Big Nest
There is a lot of debate over what type of fowl Big Bird is. In the past he's called himself a condor. However, we believe our favorite Sesame Street denizen isn't quite mean enough to be a condor. Instead, we decided he was a canary. Also read: Our valuation of Sesame Street in the real world.
Once we knew what type of bird Big Bird was, it was relatively easy to calculate the size of his nest.
First, we figured out Big Bird's size (8 feet, 2 inches) compared to the typical size of a canary. Along with this, we learned the size of a typical canary nest (about 4 inches in diameter). This allowed us to calculate the ratio of Big Bird to the average canary, and Big Bird's nest to the average canary nest size.
After we sent the numbers to our resident math guru, he informed us that Big Bird lives in a modest 23-square-foot nest. Which makes sense, given that he's not known to throw his bling around.
Romneyize Big Bird
Once we calculated the size of Big Bird's digs, we turned to Romney's proposed mansion.
Earlier this year the Movoto blog team created a calculator to let people know how many times their home would fit in Romney's proposed mansion. (If you're curious, you can find the calculator here.)
For those too busy to click on the link, the Romneys' proposed beachfront mansion is expected to consist of 11,062 square feet of living space. For reference, 6.5 of the average American house would fit inside.
Also: Must Try: Romneyize Your Own House
Editor's Note: Movoto blogger Kristin Crosier contributed to this post.
Follow David J. Cross on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Movoto
Lee Banville: What Big Bird Would Tell Mitt Romney If He Could
Obama wants to take $718 billion from Medicare and give it to Obamacare. He destroys senior savings accounts with his fiscal policy, now he wants to ration medical care.
If Obamacare is so good, why his family, members of Congress, campaign supporters, and the state of Nevada exempt from his butcher's knife?
I think tv gets too much welfare for poor content.
The only voices heard, the only stories presented to the public will be those that corporations with be money want you to hear.
No stories about global warming.
Nothing about greenhouse gases.
Nothing about Fracking concerns.
Nothing about union workers rights, women's rights, healthcare.
The Koch boys could tell you everything you need to know.
He proclaimed himself to be "severely conservative".
He refused to accept $1 of income via taxation for $10 of spending cuts during the republican primary debates.
Now, in his role as a moderate leaning, cooperative Republican, he is going after PBS funding, while promoting $2 Billion in defense spending the Pentagon has NOT requested.
Mitt is is Fraud.
So that interferes with corporate money making.
Also there is more thought provoking informative television there than anywhere else on TV-though it does frighten me that the Koch brothers are now sponsoring NOVA.
Mitt and his one per centers fear nothing more than an informed public-one that can spot the difference between lies and the truth.
If Romney is elected he will be one of the most anti-education presidents ever. And his rightwingnut buddies will try to pound liberalism to dust.
Do you know why?
Because untethered news services are free to cover all angles of stories.
We cannot be so blinded by capitalism that we lose sight of free and fair dialogue and our ability to question authority.
Lesser nations can do it.
So should we.
Why doesn't the left want to compete on the field of ideas?
If you do something with which they disagree, they threaten to pull the funds you require.
Open, free, fair access to stories becomes limited.
Need proof?
Look up the story about the congressman in NY who threatened to pull all his ads from a local TV station because they were going to air his opponent's debate.
The BBC is supported by the UK.
The Birts understand and accept the need to support this vital service.
We should, too.
It is twisted to say you are doing people a favor by ignoring their economic situation. If you see a hungry person do you tell them to pray for food?
The argument is not whether to help people in need, or pursue technologies, it's who does it and how it's done that's debatable.
Bill , Snoop and Mitt pay 3 million each, the neighbor pays 15k each, I'm good with that, what's your thoughts on flat tax?
"but yes, I would feel so much better knowing that direct government spending for this program or that program has been diverted to some friend of some Republican politician."
like Solydra or GE? In Chicago , it's a way of life, "The Chicago Way" and there hasn't been a Republican voted into office in Cook County in 70 years.
And if you see a hungry person, buy him some food, or you can feel good about yourself knowing that you voted for a shlub that promises to take somebody else's money away and build some monstrosity whose purpose is to maintain power and employ political friends.and maybe, in the process, throw a crust of bread to a hungry person.
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