No...not you.

For those whose hearts came to a full stop during the VP debates Thursday night-—

Palin: “But when you talk about Barack's plan to tax increase affecting only those making $250,000 a year or more, you're forgetting millions of small businesses that are going to fit into that category. So they're going to be the ones paying higher taxes thus resulting in fewer jobs being created and less productivity.”

Reality check time.

According to the non-partisan group, FactChecker.org:

“...it's simply untrue that "millions" of small business owners will pay higher federal income taxes under Obama's proposal. According to an analysis by the independent Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, several hundred thousand small business owners, at most, would have incomes high enough to be affected by the higher rates on income, capital gains and dividends that Obama proposes.”

”Several hundred thousand” is, according to most experts, somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.4% of all small business owners in the U.S.

Jump start your heart. You’re still on safe ground.

Why I’m hiding in the house

Returning home from my consulting trip in Alabama, I found this at the entry to baggage claim in the Minneapolis airport.

Pretty much sums up why I’m spending the week planted on my back deck. Having a few thousand wound up politicos swarm into town for a multi-day cheerfest is more than enough incentive to find anything-—anything-—to do that doesn’t require crossing my property line.

Make no mistake-—I haven’t skipped voting in an election since my eighteenth birthday; simply don’t feel the need to witness this circus act first hand. Besides, a few of us are still a bit miffed about the molasses-slow pace federal funding is taking for reconstruction of the fallen I-35 bridge. President Bush stood at the river’s edge and assured us there would be no delays.... Who knew a full year later we’d still be waiting while his party’s Big Party rolled into town?

Could be an interesting week. Especially if Governor Pawlenty gets the nod for V.P. (Edit: He didn’t get the nod, although he-—and most everyone else on the planet-—is wondering why Palin did.)

Nonetheless...won’t get me past my front yard. At least not until Friday.