You could set up a lot of tents for homeless people on that lawn.

Ya know, Bill Buckley’s dream just came true. Teh republican party has been taken over lock, paddock and barrel by the little blue haired ladies that he so adored. Fuck the crotchety ole men who actually worked for a living and made stuff, their wives and their insolent punk kids who have waited so long to inherit teh goodies have taken the reins of power at last. They strove so many years to justify why they of fat ass and no accomplishment should rule over those who actually work for a living and expect to be paid for creating wealth. This landed gentry and the dressage horses that they rode in on paid off and fellated the priests and pastors who now give them their blessings. And the very same Randian justifications for why they of no merit should Rule over All gives those Masters Of Wall Street who get rich by fraud and deceit the courage to claim that they deserve what they steal. Together they will institute a Republic of the feckless inheritors of wealth and property, by the fraudsters of financial theft and for the journalistic, religious and political fellators of the inheritors and fraudsters in the Manor.

I remember when I was little, my grandparents raised Arabians, did some competition stuff with them too. Later on in life, my aunt took to the horse thing as well, being raised with it. So I’ve seen a lot of horse barns, horse corrals, all that stuff. I’ve never in my life seen a horse barn like that. It’s pretty clear that they keep their horses penned up most of the time, looking at that manicured lawn. No way would that lawn exist if those horses were allowed to have some room to play. Great for your lawn, bad for your horse.

Never understood keeping horses locked up like that. Horses need to run around, they need space, keeping a horse penned up is like clipping a bird’s wings. Or perhaps, given all the hoity toity bullshit of the Romneys, like those assholes that mutilate pit bulls. All image, no love for the animal. But then, the Romneys have a history of treating animals like shit.

Damn horse lives better than I do. Maybe this will help the Romneys with the important My Little Pony fan vote.

Sad thing is, this sort of shit really isn’t for the horse. Horses really don’t give a fuck about fancy barns, or barns in general, unless it’s cold. Even then, something simple can serve them just fine. It’s like those people who buy tiaras for dogs. Yes, that’s a real thing.

Quite a cute little cottage compared to the Spanish Riding School.

Entrance to the school.

Real dressage rider don’t need no stinking stirrups.

I didn’t know that horses have their own 1 percent

Vote for Romney!! Maybe one day you can live in a barn as nice as this.

It’s nice, but nothing compares to having some beautiful real estate in a warm climate:

http://www.google.com/search?q=obama%27s+house+in+hawaii&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Zdf&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=qdX-T6GyEcmyqQG1ovieDQ&ved=0CFQQsAQ&biw=1006&bih=619

Uh, Obama rented that…

Isn’t it Martha Stewart, another member of the 1%, who keeps her horses – I forget what breed they are – cooped up in the stable away from sunlight because the sunlight makes their coats darken?

Why how nice. Lookit all the jobs Mr. & Mrs. Rmoney created: someone to build the barn; someone to clean up all the horse poop; someone to maintain the lawn… lotsa job creatin’ goin’ on there.

Rmoney/Jockey 2012!!

Pop n’ Lock ponies.
Sheer genius.

Oh, just give it to him. Obama vacations in places easily as nice as Romney’s horses’ business trip accomodations.

I would doubt a horse has ever even seen that view, seems more likely the area where they hold horsey related garden parties for all the rich fucks who keep their horses there. The area the horses see probably looks like any other horse barn, maybe a bit bigger and easier to wash down and probably air conditioned, but a horse barn all the same (but still better than how a lot of people live).

Lefttown comment from another thread:

I agree with what you’ve written as far as the Green Party goes. I was going to vote for Jill Stein, and still might, but I am drawn to the Socialist Equality Party. Jerry White is running for President and Phyllis Scherrer is runnig for Vice-President.

…so, consider the source.

So the Romneys treat their horses better than the Democrats treat the population struggling with health insurance.
Keeping horses in luxury is less offensive than allowing Billy Tauzin in the White House.

Why how nice. Lookit all the jobs Mr. & Mrs. Rmoney created: someone to build the barn; someone to clean up all the horse poop; someone to maintain the lawn… lotsa job creatin’ goin’ on there.

DAMN. Sombitch. He IS a job creator. Why hush my mouth.

EAT THE RICH (AND THEIR HORSES)!

The Romney’s declared a loss of $77,000 on their 2010 taxes because it was a therapy horse for Ann. This past week we saw photos of Ann riding on a jet ski. Is that being deducted as therapy for her also?

Really, she is so disabled she needs a therapy horse but can ride a jet ski?

Also, since the horse is now being used for the Olympics how can it be used for her therapy?

Call the IRS and report the apparent fraud.

So you are saying that Billy-Boy will be less welcome in a Romney occupied White House?

Call the IRS and report the apparent fraud.

LOL – you made a funnee jokey. I think the IRS works for the Rmoney’s.

Aside to NCG: SEE! the Rmoney’s “employ” lotsa slaves, uh, citizens.

No joke.

If a person who was claiming some kind of disability tried anything like this they would have the IRS on their backs for years to recoup every dollar they declared.

Make the rich live by the rules they impose on us.

Yes, of course. The 1% are our OWNERS now, and they get to do whatever the EFF they want. The end.

My understanding, fwiw, is that this horse was used – perhaps legitimately, I’m not sure – by Ann Romney as PT for her MS (I think it’s MS that she has). I have heard of MS sufferers being treated in this fashion; in fact, horse riding can be used for PT for people with various disabilities, and I understand that it’s quite effective.

The issue of Ann riding a skee-do or whatever is somewhat ancillary and not really the point.

The point being that now this thoroughbred is being used for a range and variety of OTHER purposes, and not just as a PT horse. We citizens get to partially fund the maintenance of this horse for these insanely richie rich greedheads. THAT’s what I have a problem with.

IF the Rmoney’s charged the US taxpayers to partially fund Ann’s PT, and THEN let the horse be used by other MS suffers for their PT, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. But that’s not what happened. And to date, I have yet to hear how much (or little) the Rmoney’s have assisted or donated to serfs who suffer from MS. Doubtful that they do.

They got theirs. Screw you.

When I first read the story of the Romney’s “therapy” horse it said that he and two other rich people EACH took a loss of $77,000 on the horse for that year.

That’s over $230,000 for this one horse.
The horse has been in training for the Olympics and is in London now.

None of that should be deducted.

If she can only take a deduction for the part of the horse that is use for therapy I don’t see how it could be $77,000 for the amount of time she is riding it in a year. What do you think that is 5 hours or so a week maybe?

This stinks just like his overseas’ money stinks.

Really, she is so disabled she needs a therapy horse but can ride a jet ski?

The way I figure it, riding the horse made her better so she could ride the jetski.

Coulda happened…..

Yes, could have. Now let’s see the tax return for 2011 and see if the horse is on it.

Understand, it’s not just about if it is legal or if it is legit. Though I am questioning both.

It is also about him deducting a horse for $77,000 for one year which is more then 2X what the average worker makes in a year in this country.

It is also about him paying 14.99% when many of us working people pay 25%, 28%.

No, the $77,000 on Rafalca is a business loss. They claim that Ann’s hobby is a business because they are “partners” in the stable.

It’s the other horses that Ann says she has scattered across the country that are the therapy horses.

Uh, no – the Romneys got a $50 deduction on the $77,000 business loss (closer to $78,000, but who’s counting?)

Now, if their horse does well at the Olympics, and she could command high fees for birthing foals, and they actually make some money off of her, THEN those losses can be carried forward, but as of now, the horse is considered a hobby.

The dancing part is a hobby. Not deductible. Right?

The therapy part was declared as a loss. Right?

It’s worse than that there are (2) other investors that claimed the same loss.

Assuming they are equal partners, the the total loss is about $231,000.

And this is the guy you want to occupy the White House?

BTW the original story I read said they had taken it as a loss.

I see in this article that they are saying it was misreported.

To every one who wants to argue the details here (I just read that it was reported erroneously) I stand by the larger picture that a man like this should not be running for president of this country flaunting how the rich live and manipulate the tax code.

We are out here struggling with a very dismal prospects for the future.

How can a man like this have any idea how most people in this country are living?

Pushing Romney on us was a big mistake by TPTB.

If he wins people of this country are going to hate the rich by the end of his four years as their standard of living erodes and wages are pushed down.

For tax purposes Ann’s hobby may be considered a Business if they can show an occaisional profit.

I’m saying I don’t care about Romneys riches compared to the Democrat groveling at the feet of the Corporate Overlords who run both parties.
When our political choice is between Bad and Worse, a horse and its barn are trivial.

Not really it helps determine who is worse.

That’s no jet ski! It’s a water-based Hoverround!

Martha Stewart has Friesians. Think of these as the ungodly offspring of Black Beauty and My Little Pony. They are large, and have very long, full manes and tails. To a certain extent, these horses are a color breed–with most being in the blue-black to dark chocolate brown range. Direct sunlight bleaches these horses’ coats, and dries out their hair. People who show horses like the coats to shine. That’s why they’ll often give their horsies a pinch of arsenic to make them shed those unsightly winter coats, and raw eggs to make their coats shine. (The protein in eggs can give horses colic and other digestive problems.) But as far as sun protection goes, all the horses need is a shed roof on poles, good feed, and plenty of water, and they’re fine.

No, the $77,000 on Rafalca is a business loss. They claim that Ann’s hobby is a business because they are “partners” in the stable.

It doesn’t matter if they think they’re the flippin’ royalty of the stable. I don’t have the IRC in front of me, but the IRS’s hobby-loss rule pertaining to horses generally disallows deductions for losses unless the “business” has made a profit in at least 2 of the previous 7 tax years. I want to see how the Romneys got around this. And I doubt the stable is licensed as a clinic or other therapeutic facility, either.

With all those freeloading kids and grandkids, you don’t think Mitt actually PAYS someone to pick up horse poop, do you? Seriously, all he has to do is invite the family for one of those mandatory vacations, spin the chore wheel, and the urchins are out there on their knees picking up “road apples,” like they were practicing for the White House Easter Egg Hunt.

Now, if their horse does well at the Olympics, and she could command high fees for birthing foals, and they actually make some money off of her, THEN those losses can be carried forward, but as of now, the horse is considered a hobby.

That’s not quite right. Your link shows the relevant part of the return, and it refers to Form 8582 which deals with Passive Activity Losses. Hobby losses aren’t reported on that form.

In short, if you’re a passive investor in certain activities, the losses can’t be deducted against ordinary income – they can only be deducted against passive income. The losses are carried forward, and CAN be deducted in this case if the horse produces income off its Gold Medal USA USA USA!! Or maybe some lobbyist wants an “in” with the new President Romney and pays 10x the market value for the horse as a backdoor bribe.

Passive losses can also usually be deducted when you dispose of the activity, sell the horse in this case, or if the business is more than this one horse, the entire business. Bottom line is Romney is treating this as a business, and the losses disallowed and carried forward till they make money or sell the business.

The question for the IRS is whether investing in this horse and related operations is actually intended to make money (which is what they’re claiming), OR a very expensive but enjoyable hobby for a family worth a few hundred $million.