poll | TheHill

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Biden leads Trump in 5 of 6 battleground states: poll | TheHill

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is leading President Trump in five of six battleground states, according to a new poll released Wednesday.οΏ½

Biden leads Trump byοΏ½6 points in Florida, 50 to 44 percent, and the former vice president leads by 5 points in Michigan, 48 to 43 percent, according to the "States of Play" survey from CNBC and Change Research. Biden is also up by 4 points in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, 48 to 44 percentοΏ½and 47 to 43 percent, respectively.οΏ½

The former vice president's lead is slimmer in Arizona, where heοΏ½is ahead ofοΏ½Trump, 45 to 44 percent.

Trump, meanwhile, holds a narrow lead over Biden in North Carolina, 48 to 47 percent.οΏ½

The incumbent is incompetent. He gets what he deserves. 

The absolutely gross Montour Falls Canal. πŸ›Ά

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The absolutely gross Montour Falls Canal. πŸ›Ά

The other day I paddled the Montour Falls Canal, hoping to see some of Bad Indian Swamp but mostly taking in the bad odors of sewage and gasoline motors as I paddled through the pea green water in the trench dredged more for navigation of power boats than natural beauty.

I am sure a lot of the problem is the nature of the canal – water flows slowly through the marsh into Seneca Lake. It collects waste water from treatment plants Montour Falls and Watkins Glen, along with urban runoff from streets and lawns. It’s downgradient from farms, which run off its share of manure, synthetic fertilizer and pesticides. While no source of pollution is that significant – farmers follow their nutrient management plans, villages treat their waste water to a great extent, it just kind of adds up and collects.

More though needs to be done. The overwhelming smell of sewage suggests that either treatment plants are overflowing, they’re dumping too much treated waste or there are homes, businesses or marinas dumping directly into the lake. While probably a lot of the pollution is dilluted and biodegrades quickly when reaching the lake within hours it’s still pretty gross to say the least and not good for human health or the viability of the canal and the lake as a whole. An occasional emission may not make much of a difference but it adds up.

Lake Shore

Cutting the FICA tax? πŸ€‘

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Cutting the FICA tax to stimulate the economy ? πŸ€‘

Social security is an important program that is funded via a regressive tax that is most acutely felt by the working poor and the lower middle class. For many low end earners, the FICA is the biggest tax they’ll pay out of their paycheck.

That’s seen as tolerable of funding these programs as it means that the important program of social security and Medicare will be funded. Social security is meant to provide about a third of retirement income for most adults – but for some of bad fortune or lack of savings it’s a vital tool against extreme poverty in old age. But the regressive nature of taxes funding it are bad for the working poor.

In times of a weak economy, suspending the FICA tax would provide a modest boost to the wages of workers, but I think they’re should be something to back fill the loss of revenue to government. Maybe borrowing and bonds are appropiate but that’s just kicking the cab down the road. It risks creating an unfunded liability that could encourage politicians who oppose the social safety net and taxes to cut social security and Medicare in future years.

There is a lot attraction on the surface to making Medicare and Social Security look like programs that you pay into today for benefits tomorrow. Even if that’s not how the programs work in reality – they’re mostly pay as you go – with a promise to future generations to continue. But it’s not a great way to fund them as it puts a big tax burden on the working poor who disproportionately pay the FICA tax even if they have the most to gain from it.

I would much rather see the FICA tax replaced with progressive taxation and fees on vices and institutions that cause real harm like the fossil fuel industry. Maybe a carbon tax could be part of the solution. But I also think corporations and the wealthy should pay more in taxes to fund Medicare and Social Security and take more of it off the backs of workers.

August 11, 2020 Evening

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Good evening! Partly clear and 74 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. πŸŒƒ There is a west breeze at 8 mph. πŸƒ. The dew point is 65 degrees. The muggy weather ends tomorrow around 10 am. πŸ˜“

To end the first half of summer vacation πŸ– I thought things went remarkably well. I spent about six hours at the pool πŸŠπŸ»β€β™‚οΈ and two paddling the Montour Falls canal. πŸ›Ά While it was a bit choppy at the end of the day on Seneca Lake for the most part it wasn’t bad. 🌊 A 38 mile lake, even if across its relatively narrow and sat below tall hills is always going to be somewhat rough. Might be even less windy tomorrow – I left the kayak πŸ›₯ on the truck and come morning I might decide to do more paddling tomorrow.

That caramel sundae 🍧I got from the Glen Dairy Bar was pretty good today. I will have to get there a few more times before I leave the Finger Lakes for a few more options. It’s fun having good ice cream when you camp. Had more of those sausage paddies with cheese and ketchup on a hard role for dinner. πŸ” They’re a nice easy treat. I have two more to finish off tomorrow maybe for lunch and then I’ll figure out what is next for camp meals 🍴.

Tonight will be partly cloudy ☁️, with a low of 65 degrees at 6am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 68 at 8pm. West wind 5 to 8 mph becoming light and variable in the evening. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies. It became somewhat humid as the night progressed. It got down to 56 degrees. The record low of 46 occurred back in 1987.

Tonight will have a Last Quarter πŸŒ— Moon with 46% illuminated. The darkest hour is at 1:13 am, followed by dawn at 5:41 am, and sun starting to rise at 6:12 am in the east-northeast (69Β°) and last for 3 minutes and 6 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 4 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ„ The golden hour ends at 6:51 am with sun in the east-northeast (75Β°). Tonight will have 9 hours and 58 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 26 seconds over last night.

I hiked back to Foster Pond this evening to watch the percid metriod showers 🌠but stayed only for about fifteen minutes when there was what appeared to be a very wild party πŸŽ‰ on the one end of the lake disturbing the solitude. Based on the noise and the late arrivers it seemed like an under age drinking 🍻 party. I wasn’t going to get mixed up with that and honestly myself I wasn’t that sober after having a few drinks with dinner to toast off the day and wash down those sausage paddies. That said, in the brief time I was there I saw two shooting stars and by the time I was heading back it had clouded up.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 85 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 64 at 6am. Northwest wind 3 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 86 degrees. The record high of 99 was set in 1944.

It should be another nice day tomorrow. β˜€ I am not going to rush to get going tomorrow though as I need to try to get some more sleep tonight. πŸ’€ I am thinking about more kayaking tomorrow πŸ›Ά, maybe off of Hector Park boat launch or maybe the Watkins Glen boat launch and paddling up along the shoreline of Seneca Lake to Hector Point. I don’t think I’ll do more of the Montour Canal – I found it kind of boring and it stunk of raw or partially treated sewage and was kind of green from pollution. I was hoping I could get off the canal to explore Bad Indian Marsh but there wasn’t a lot of navigable streams – I saw only one and it didn’t look very promising. πŸ›‘

In four weeks on September 8 the sun will be setting in the west (278Β°) at 7:29 pm,πŸŒ„ which is 44 minutes and 56 seconds earlier then today. In 2019 on that day, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 73 and 52 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 75 and 55 degrees. The record high of 94 degrees was set back in 2015.

Looking ahead, September 🍎 is in 3 weeks, September 11th πŸ‡Έ is a month away, Autumn πŸ‚ is in 6 weeks, Election Day 2019 πŸ—³οΈ is in 12 weeks, Average High is 50 πŸ‚ is in 13 weeks, Veterans Day πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ is in 3 months, Regular Deer Season in Southern Zone 🦌 is in 14 weeks, December πŸŽ„ is in 16 weeks, Bill of Rights Day πŸ“œ is in 18 weeks, Days are Getting Longer β˜€οΈ is in 19 weeks, Cold Moon πŸŒ• is in 20 weeks, National Bird Day 🐧 is in 21 weeks, 5:30 PM Dusk πŸŒ† is in 24 weeks, Ground Hog Day 🐻 is in 25 weeks and Don’t Cry over Spilled Milk Day πŸ₯› is in 6 months.

Mohawk River