Day208 Friday 03/25/11

ran 3.0 miles

• Montana was the forty-first state to join the union on November 8, 1889, three days before Washington and six days after South Dakota.

• Population, as of 2010, is 989,415.

• Senators are Max Baucus (D) and Jon Tester (D).

• Representative is Dennis Rehberg (R).

• Montana has three electoral votes. Historically, the state has voted red since 1952 except for two democrats. Leading up to 1952, Montana had voted blue five times in a row. Montana is one of seven states with a minimum three electoral votes. John McCain defeated Barack Obama 50% to 47% in 2008.

Heading south for a moment, Arizona is very close to passing a “flat tax” bill to rewrite their state individual income tax. It was surprising to stumble upon that news today. We always hear chatter about flat taxes implemented at state or federal levels but for it to actually materialize is something to think about. This action is certainly a sign of the times. On the surface, this bill sounds unfair and few to none are ever supportive of tax increases, which is what this is for a vast majority of Arizona’s population. Incomes below $100,000 account for 88% of state income filers and they will have their taxes increased the most, while top earners pay less. Here’s where it gets really strange---the people of Arizona seem to be at least somewhat supportive of this measure, or they are at least not protesting or vandalizing their capitol building.

The bill is projected to produce an additional $50 million in annual revenue for the state. Like many other states, Arizona’s budget is at a growing deficit and this is one approach their state’s legislature deems necessary to keep the state afloat and in less debt.

This “flat tax” is not law yet but it will be interesting to see what the people of Arizona’s ultimate response to it is. I don’t fully understand the “flat tax” enough to form a solid opinion of it at this point, but if it is critical to the well-being of an entire state and its future, then perhaps it is necessary.

Between news like this out of Arizona and what has been going on in Wisconsin, both Republican led efforts, combined with an economy that is not soaring upward by any means, I can easily see the 2012 presidential election filled with ugly accusations about one side raising taxes and attacking unions and the other side proclaiming that tough decisions are absolutely necessary to make right now. Can you guess which side is which?

1,484.7 miles to go.

Day207 Thursday 03/24/11

ran 2.9 miles
For yesterday’s post I introduced the prologue to a novel I’ve been working on. In case you missed it, check it out. The novel is titled “I am Erica” and I’ll be posting a chapter per week. I decided to put it on the blog for two reasons. The first reason is an effort to push myself to finish the story. It has been put to the side for too long. The second reason is because I have to confess that it is sometimes daunting and exhausting to campaign against Barack Obama every single day. And it’s not so daunting and exhausting as it is a simple injustice to myself by allowing this man to consume so much of my time. It is undeserved flattery to his ego that I, or anyone, should invest so much time in scrutinizing his every action.

Yet I feel that it needs to be done. The more people who stand up and express how they feel about the direction America is taking, the louder the voice. I look at it the same way I view my job. I have little desire to show up at work everyday but I do it because my stomach and my family compel me. In the particular case of America, which is an idea and a way of life that stands as a rock we all want a grip on, our history and its future compel me.

After 207 days it has finally occurred to me that while current events, facts, opinions, commentary and the general rigmarole that consumes the arena of politics is indeed important and necessary, it is more important to not let it consume me.

I am going to continue with the rigmarole, but I am also going to deviate from the facts, quotes and statistics, in an attempt to express my message on a more personal and creative platform.

This is what a typical Thursday at runningagainstobama.com looks like:

• Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 26% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 38% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a presidential index rating of –12.

• Overall, 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of Barack Obama’s performance and 52% disapprove.

• Just 23% believe the U.S. is heading in the right direction.

• Among American voters, 34% support U.S. involvement in Libya.

• Republicans are trusted more than Democrats on nine out of the top ten issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports.

There is much more to America than this.

1,487.7 miles to go.

Day206 Wednesday 03/23/11

ran 4.2 miles
I’m going to introduce something new to this blog today. To add some variety to the weekly topics and a different perspective on current events I am going to begin posting a chapter each week from a novel I have been working on. This novel has been collecting dust for nearly two years and all it needs is an ending. Posting the chapters each week will bring me closer to where I left off and push me to finish. And I can share it with you and others, who I am extremely grateful to have following this blog, as a piece of fiction to break away from the curious and contradicting current events of the day.

I’m not going to say anything about this novel except that it is a book of fiction and all names, characters, places and incidents that bear any resemblance to actual events or locations or people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. The name of this unfinished book is “I am Erica”.

i am erica

by michael dimiterchik

a tale of one of many possible outcomes,
a love story punched in the stomach,
and a man who chose to choose.

prologue

They were many and he was one. They mattered and he did not. They were a machine and he was a gear. They were a sum and he was a number. They had an answer for every question and he had a question for every answer. They were ruthless with what they aimed to achieve and he was patient with what he chose to find. They wanted everything and demanded to be followed. He wanted nothing and refused to be led.

He walked stolidly up a broken street in a nameless city in a forgotten country. Like a monk lighting himself on fire, he showed no emotion for the burns he felt. Steadily, he refused to look back and ignored what was in front of him.

Stolidly, he wanted to throw a rock through the glass ball of night that surrounded him.

He went in through her bedroom window long after her parents had fallen asleep. She had not been expecting him. She greeted him with a tired smile, eyes matted shut with sleep, and asked him what was wrong.

“I’m leaving,” he whispered. “I wanted to tell you goodbye.”

Unable to respond she shook off the residual sleep from her numb body. Her senses slowly crept to attention as a final yawn escaped her.

“I don’t know where I am going and I don’t know where I will end up. What I do know is that my actions will be my own and that I will be free for the first time in my life.”

She was not shocked at his words nearly as much as she was frightened by the severity of the moment, which she had seen coming for so long. She knew his spirit was arrested. His fierce soul paced madly inside a prison of bone and skin.

“You are the only person I am saying goodbye to and the only one who knows I am leaving. You are the only one who understands why I have to do this. I am not sure what I am trying to accomplish but until I remove myself from this…this silence, this destructive quiet, I am certain I will achieve nothing.”

She made every argument she could think of to convince him not to leave. None of it had mattered, though. His mind had broken out of its cell and had found its freedom.

“I will see you again.”

He said this as he stepped outside through the window frame and into his new wilderness. He took a step forward and a look back smiling with certainty that he had made the first right decision of his life.

“Goodbye, Carmen.”

“Goodbye, Jonas.”

1,490.6 miles to go.

Day205 Tuesday 03/22/11

ran 3.6 miles
Democrats and Republicans are agreeing more and more on behalf of President Obama’s unorthodox methods of making decisions. And by “unorthodox” I am referring to the understatement that he is behaving in a manner far too independent of the American Constitution, often turning a deaf ear to mass numbers of Congress members from both sides of the aisle, and he appears to be extremely unconcerned with the judgment of the people or their interpretation of him.

As of late our president has shown staggeringly little involvement in our nation’s highly important matter of agreeing on a budget. And now it’s Libya underscoring Barack Obama’s audacious ability to behave in a way that suggests he may believe he is higher than the law and our constitution.

Obama’s sole authorization of military strikes on Libya without seeking the consent of Congress was unconstitutional and Democrats and Republicans, alike, are in an uproar. The issue here is not a matter of whether we should be involved with Libya’s affairs or not. It is the simple act that our president made to take military action without first presenting it to Congress for a vote. Presidents, according to Article 1, Section 8, cannot simply declare war on another nation. “Congress shall have power to declare war.”

Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio pointed out that President Obama’s action could be an “impeachable offense”.

“It is alarming how casually the administration talks about initiating acts of war, as though Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution does not exist. Frankly, it is not up to the president whether or not we intervene in Libya, or set up ‘no-fly’ zones, or send troops. At least, it is not if we follow the Constitution.”

Tea Party freshman Representative Rand Paul of Kentucky

"President Obama moved forward without Congress approving. He didn't have congressional authorization. He has gone against the Constitution, and that's got to be said."

Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio

“The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”

Barack Obama in an interview with the Boston Globe in December of 2007

1,494.8 miles to go.

Day204 Monday 03/21/11

ran 3.1 miles
I just got home from a long awaited vacation in Santa Rosa, Florida with my wife and her parents. The weather was perfect and the beach was amazing. I paid as little attention to news as I could for a few days, which was close to none. So, that being said, I continued to run each day, which was an entirely new and scenic experience. I didn't want to stop. It's easy when something so majestic is right next to you.

A lot happened this weekend in Libya and our president is in the 99th percentile of ESPN brackets for March Madness. Those are the two press-breaking stories I vaguely heard about this weekend as I tried to ignore as much as I could...

So, today's post is not worth commenting on but I'll be back on top of things tomorrow.

1,498.4 miles to go.

Day203 Sunday 03/20/11

ran 2.9 miles
Today ends week twenty-nine of running against Obama. I ran 23.8 miles this week, averaging 3.40 miles per day.

In case you may have missed this breaking news, Barack Obama lost one of his Final Four teams Saturday when Butler upset top-seeded Pittsburgh.

Obama accurately predicted Florida, San Diego State, BYU and Kentucky to advance to the Round of Sixteen after filling out a bracket for ESPN for the third straight year. He was in the 99.8th percentile among 5.9 million participants on ESPN.com.

Alongside an eliminated Pittsburgh, Obama also picked Kansas, Duke and Ohio State to reach the Final Four, with Kansas to win it all.

Meanwhile, in less important news, an extension has been put on the federal government's already existing extension to reach an agreement on how little they can slash from our nation's deficit. Stay tuned for more news on March Madness and Barack Obama's trip to South America. The urgent crisis our nation's economy faces and our president's and Congress' inability to make useful decisions for the economic future of our country have made no real progress worth reporting.

Go Kansas!

1,501.5 miles to go.

Day202 Saturday 03/19/11

ran 2.8 miles
The Health Care Compact is gaining momentum as more and more states work toward passing legislation through the House and Senate at the state level. Here is some recent progress from states uniting to fight ObamaCare.

• In Arizona, Senate Bill 1592 has passed the full Senate and House Bill 2688 has passed the House Health and Human Services Committee.

• In Georgia, Senate Bill 177 has passed the full Senate and House Bill 461 passed the full House on March 16.

• In Montana, House Bill 526 passed the full House in February and passed the Senate Public Health, Welfare, and Safety Committee on March 16.

• In Oklahoma, Senate Bill 722 passed the Senate on March 15 and was referred to House Judiciary Committee on March 17.

• In Tennessee, Senate Bill 326 passed the Senate Government Welfare, Health, and Human Resources Committee on March 16. House Bill 369 is before the House Health Care Committee and is scheduled for a hearing on March 22.

• In Missouri, House Bill 329 passed the Rules Committee on March 14. Floor action on the bill is expected soon. Senate Bill 367 is on its second reading in the Senate Health, Mental Health, Seniors, and Family Committee.

• In Texas, there was a public hearing for House Bill 5 in the House Select Committee on State Sovereignty on March 17. Senate Bill 25 is in the State Affairs Committee awaiting action.

The Health Care Compact has been introduced in twelve states. In thirty-six states, citizen groups and state legislators are considering the Health Care Compact with legislative activity expected in the coming weeks.

This united goal of so many states to form the Health Care Compact is a definitive example of the expression “actions speak louder than words”. Our politicians in Washington have a lot to learn from the Representatives and Senators at state levels. Bickering words and endless contradictions are what we have in Washington with little action. As a result, states are being forced to take matters into their own hands. The message this sends to Barack Obama and Washington as a whole is a testimony to the fact that the majority of people in this country want to be left alone by the federal government and that we have little to no confidence in Washington’s ability to take on something this big.

These are two extremely informative articles about the Health Care Compact published this week. Houston Chronicle, March 17, 2011 and The Missoulian, March 14, 2011. And check out the Health Care Compact on facebook.

1,504.4 miles to go.

Day201 Friday 03/18/11

AP Photo

ran 1.9 miles

• Missouri was the twenty-fourth state to join the union on August 10, 1821, fifteen years before Arkansas and one year after Maine.

• Population, as of 2010, is 5,988,927.

• Senators are Roy Blunt (R) and Claire McCaskill (D).

• Representatives are William Clay (D), Todd Akin (R), Russ Carnahan (D), Vicky Hartzler (R), Emanuel Cleaver (D), Samuel Graves (R), Billy Long (R), Jo Ann Emerson (R), and Blaine Luetkemeyer (R).

• Missouri has ten electoral votes after losing one during the 2010 Census. Missouri is a definitive swing state with incomparable historical accuracy at voting for the ultimate winner. Since 1904, the state only got it wrong twice (Adlai Stevenson over Dwight Eisenhower in 1956 and John McCain over Barack Obama in 2008). John McCain defeated Barack Obama 49.4% to 49.3%, a margin of around 3,900 votes.

Barack Obama is taking another globe trot, this time to South America with multiple destinations, at what appears to many as an incredibly inconvenient time. This is what presidents do and it is important to maintain and increase good foreign relations, but the timing of this is yet another straw on the back of a camel with buckled knees that are begging for mercy.

The budget debate has been further extended as Obama has proved to be as useful here as he will be in Brazil. And it’s not just the budget…now that Libya has nearly successfully crushed its rebels, Obama now backs a no-fly zone. And Japan…Obama obviously can’t snap his fingers and undo the natural disasters in Japan, but to have his press secretary say “It is a crisis in Japan. It is not a crisis in the United States,” when asked whether a looming nuclear disaster warranted a postponing of Obama’s trip to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador is simply cold and completely detached.

I can’t argue that President Obama has not accomplished much in his two years. What he accomplished is up for interpretation and importance of where he devotes most of his energy is arguable, but right here and right now, our country is teetering on an economic disaster and he is doing little to lead an agreement on the government’s budget.

“Why are we doing all this when the most powerful person in these negotiations – the President – has failed to lead this debate or offer a serious proposal for spending and cuts that he would be willing to fight for?”

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (D)

1,507.2 miles to go.

Day200 Thursday 03/17/11

ran 3.9 miles
Today marks 200 days and 570.9 miles of running against Obama. Throughout this campaign of running for the sake of making Barack Obama a one-term president, my key arguments have dealt with his socialistic health care law, spending money that does not even exist on bailouts and stimulus packages, an idle stance on tightening immigration laws and addressing the paper-thin walls on our southern border, and his general disinterest in slashing our deficit combined with his inability to stop spending more “monopoly” money. How do you drain a deficit by pumping more debt into a budget?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Enjoy the video above and just imagine how much more debt we still have time to build up over Obama’s remaining two years. Want him for another four years after that?

Here are some stats and polls from Rasmussen Reports:

• Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 21% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 41% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a presidential index rating of –20.

• Overall, 44% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of Barack Obama’s performance and 55% disapprove.

• Only 22% believe America is heading in the right direction. That is down 5 points from a week ago and the lowest total since Obama took office.

• Reaching its highest level since May of last year, 62% favor repeal of the health care law, including 51% who strongly favor repeal. Only 33% oppose repeal, with 24% who are strongly opposed.

1,509.1 miles to go.

Day199 Wednesday 03/16/11

ran 3.6 miles

Mitt Romney recently defended his efforts at health care reform during a speech in New Hampshire. He said his reform plan for Massachusetts, which included a mandate that required people to buy insurance, was a modest success. “Some things worked, some things didn’t, and some things I’d change,” he said. He also vowed to repeal President Obama’s health care bill if he ever got the chance.

Mitt Romney’s is a unique case as far as 2012 presidential candidates go. In one breath he vows to repeal ObamaCare but in the other he discusses the pros and cons of his own state’s health care system he had implemented, which is largely similar to Obama’s plan. In his defense, something similar to ObamaCare may be conducive to the individual needs of his state. But it is not hypocritical for him to criticize Obama’s health care plan for the single reason that Obama is attempting to put a blanket law over fifty states, which all have different circumstances. There is no universal health care template for all of our fifty states and it is absurd to assume there is. Each state should have its own ability to design a system that fits its own needs.

Barack Obama only recently conceded to this fact by suggesting that states could possibly create their own health care plans around the federal government’s requirements. This notion of “one size fits all” for something as big as health care is a mistake. And the proof of that mistake resonates in Barack Obama’s concession for individual states to design their own programs.

Presidents don’t admit fault and they do not apologize for decisions they make. For President Obama to come forward and make a concession, might I add a big one, about his legacy legislation, his health care bill---he had no desire to say those words. But, when judges are ruling his bill unconstitutional, when more than half the states in America are racing to form a health care compact to avoid ObamaCare, when more than fifty percent of Americans don’t want this reform, and when high temperatures like these reach their boiling points, the least a president can do is offer a concession on his decision. That’s all he gave, but the fact that he offered it was a symbolic acknowledgment of the widespread disappointment people have in his health care bill.

“The federal government isn’t the answer for running health care any more than it’s the answer for running Amtrak or the post office.”

Mitt Romney

1,513.0 miles to go.

Day198 Tuesday 03/15/11

ran 4.2 miles
I came across a really insightful blog recently that I’d like to recommend. It covers a broad field of politics and current events from the minds of conservative thinkers---not overwhelming and very concise. The blog is www.theabsurdreport.com. I’ve been checking it out daily since I’ve found it.

In fact, one of The Absurd Report’s posts today coincides with something I wanted to post about. A death threat was sent to Republican state senators of Wisconsin a few days ago. I’m not going to post it because it is longwinded, demented and graphic, but here it is if you are interested in reading it.

Without labeling an entire party of political thought, this is, after all, only one person’s or one small group’s collective act of threatening death upon elected officials, it is important to note that after the Tucson shootings there was a united, national call for civility, led by Barack Obama. As our president, this was obviously the right and noble statement to make. But, one month later the DNC and OFA, websites that are obviously influenced by Barack Obama and utilized for liberal causes, were helping to organize and encourage the protests in Wisconsin. While a single individual’s pebble of action, or a small group of people’s stone of action cannot represent an entire mountain of political belief, I think it can be agreed, regardless of political affiliations, that if it were Republicans promoting violent protests fueled with vandalism and slander in Wisconsin, our newspapers would have been filled with very different headlines. They would have been filled with utter condemnation of the entire Republican Party.

Since the unions and Democrats have been longtime bedfellows, however, many headlines pointed out such ideas as the speculation that GOP Governor Scott Walker hated middle class families and that he was comparable to Hitler. Governor Scott Walker, in my eyes at least, is a bold pioneer, which many others will follow, in the new frontier of politicians doing what is right for their city, state or nation. Wisconsin, like many other states, has a nearly irreconcilable deficit and something had to be done. He could have kept the façade of budget stability going as others in every state have for so long, but he chose to take this monster on and it had to start somewhere. Ultimately, teachers lost collective bargaining and they received an 8% pay cut, which will go toward their pensions and health care. Last I checked, I and most of the other people in this country have no right to collectively bargain, we pay into a 401k, we pay a hefty premium on our health care, our pay is not given to us from tax dollars, and we don’t get a summer off each year. I love teachers and I hold them as immeasurable necessities for the education and development of our young, but if they are placed in the same circumstance the rest of us are already in, I’m okay with it for the collective good it will do for Wisconsin’s budget.

The Absurd Report summed up what happened in Wisconsin with this quote:

“There is no excuse for what has happened in Madison other than to say while they protest for their rights they have trumped the rights of the people at the ballot box.”

Check out the post at www.absurdreport.com.

1,516.6 miles to go.

Day197 Monday 03/14/11

ran 4.5 miles
On a local level, the Tea Party of Lafayette, Louisiana earned an impressive victory recently by putting a stop to a potential TIF (Tax Incremental Finance) district on Kaliste Saloom Road and Camellia Boulevard. Developer Glenn Stewart and Lafayette Economic Development Authority pulled the plug on this TIF District because people became involved and spoke up to stop it. In an article written by Real Estate Investor Jeremiah Supple at teapartyoflafayette.com he explains what a TIF is and outlines how unfeasible this particular proposal was.

A TIF, as described by Mr. Supple, can be used as a ‘loop hole’ around the laws that prohibit a parish to raise taxes without a vote of the public. The taxes on a TIF typically go to reduce the developer’s cost to develop the project. In that respect, tax dollars go to the developer. In a TIF, it is the Council, instead of the public, that determines the taxes paid and who will receive it. In the case with Parc Lafayette, the developer, Glenn Stewart, said he needed another $20 million from tax dollars to change his project of building a Boutique Hotel into a 300-room 5-star hotel.

These are the numbers Mr. Supple used to back up his argument that this TIF was a bad idea and a potential added burden to taxpayers of Lafayette.

• It takes 65% occupancy to break even on service debt in a new hotel in Lafayette, The market is 52%, with 500 more rooms coming on line this year.

• It takes $22 to $24 dollars per square foot to service debt on a new retail center, the market is $15.

• It takes $28 to justify new construction on Office space the market is $17.

Congratulations, Tea Party of Lafayette, for standing up and telling local government that more taxes for expansion we cannot afford is unacceptable. The disappointment in local government that this TIF was even proposed is far outweighed by the proud act of watching people come together to exercise their rights and to express their disapproval of any new taxes that cause more harm than good---especially loop holes that the people who are taxed do not even have the ability to vote for.

Become involved in Lafayette and make a difference! Check out teapartyoflafayette.com and acadianapatriots.com.

1,520.8 miles to go.

Day196 Sunday 03/13/11

ran 2.3 miles
Today ends week twenty-eight of running against Obama. I ran 22.6 miles this week, averaging 3.23 miles per day.

"But as we cut through all the talk and the politics in the energy debate, we can see what the debate is really about. We see the family that thinks twice about what they'll spend at the grocery store this week, because they've been paying $40 to fill up the tank for the last month. We see the grandmother who isn't sure how she'll make her Social Security check cover January's heating bill. The autoworker that isn't sure what the future at Ford holds for him. And the mother who sees turmoil in the Middle East and worries that someday her son might have to fight to secure our oil supply. Ultimately, we see a nation that cannot control its future as long as it cannot control the source of energy that keeps it running."

Barack Obama, 2005 at a meeting of Resources for the Future

The Barack Obama we now know as our president is unwavering in his agenda to do as little as possible to slow the soaring price of gas. Since the Horizon accident last year, only two permits have been issued (both within last month) to drill in the Gulf of Mexico, which supplies one-third of U.S. oil and natural gas needs. Obama has also withdrawn permits that had been issued for drilling in Alaska and made millions of acres of federal land in the lower forty-eight states untouchable for future oil exploration.

In 2007, the Energy Information Administration projected that 700 million barrels of oil would be produced offshore in 2010; the actual number was 600 million. The EIA also predicted 133 million barrels onshore and it was actually 114 million. Currently, they project total U.S. oil production to go down 250,000 barrels per day next year.

This past week, at a CERA (Cambridge Energy Research Associates) event, where Bill Clinton and George Bush were both speakers, they each expressed disappointment in Barack Obama’s slow process of issuing drilling permits and they agreed that in this economy it was an unnecessary burden. Bill Clinton said that under Obama there are “Ridiculous delays in permitting when our economy doesn’t need it”.

1,525.3 miles to go.

Day195 Saturday 03/12/11

ran 1.4 miles
Americans for Tax Reform, you can check them out at www.atr.org, highlighted President Obama’s initial budget proposal from mid-February with some disappointing numbers. This information was published on February 14, 2011. Since then an extension favoring the GOP’s more realistic agenda of spending severely less money was passed. Although these numbers will more than likely not apply to the budget, should Congress ever concur on a plan, it is important to note that this is what Obama wanted and brought to the table as a solution to tackle our overwhelming deficit.

Tax hike “lowlights”, as ATR referred to them, include:

• Raising the top marginal income tax rate (at which a majority of small business profits face taxation) from 35% to 39.6%. This is a $709 billion/10 year tax hike

• Raising the capital gains and dividends rate from 15% to 20%

• Raising the death tax rate from 35% to 45% and lowering the death tax exemption amount from $5 million ($10 million for couples) to $3.5 million. This is a $98 billion/ten year tax hike.

• Capping the value of itemized deductions at the 28% bracket rate. This will effectively cut tax deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, property taxes, state and local income or sales tax, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and unreimbursed employee business expenses. A new means-tested phase-out of itemized deductions limits them even more. This is a $321 billion/ten year tax hike

• New bank taxes totaling $33 billion over ten years

• New international corporate tax hikes totaling $129 billion over ten years

• New life insurance company taxes totaling $14 billion over ten years

• Massive new taxes on energy, including LIFO repeal, Superfund, domestic energy manufacturing, and many others totaling $120 billion over ten years

• Increasing unemployment payroll taxes by $15 billion over ten years

• Taxing management capital gains in an investment partnership (“carried interest”) as ordinary income. This is a tax hike of $15 billion over ten years

• A giveaway to the trial lawyers---not letting companies deduct the cost of punitive damages from a lawsuit settlement. This is a tax hike of $300 million over ten years

• Increasing tax penalties, information reporting, and IRS information sharing. This is a ten-year tax hike of $20 billion

All together, this budget is a ten-year, $1.5 trillion tax hike over present law. The “tax relief” in the budget is essentially an extension of present law, and also some refundable credit outlay spending in the tax code. There is virtually no new tax relief relative to present law in Barack Obama’s budget.

There is little surprise House Republicans found this proposal appalling. And it is very surprising that our president would submit such a proposal that calls for higher taxes to pay for more government spending at a time like this. Under this budget, tax revenues would grow from 14.4% of GDP in 2011 to 20% of GDP in 2021.

1,527.6 miles to go.