Day328 Saturday 07/23/11

ran 3.0 miles

Prayers go out to those in Oslo, Norway, as the country mourns and begins the long process of rebuilding their structure and spirit. The death toll is at 91 between two separate attacks. A building was bombed, possibly intended for Norway’s Prime Minister, and a Norwegian man, who is alive and being interrogated, went on a shooting rampage at an island camp for teenagers, which the Prime Minister was scheduled to visit the next day.

It is difficult to post about much else after absorbing such a tragic event. Such loss makes everything else you thought was important so much more menial in a matter of moments.

I just want to pass on this link, which is a visual representation of the United States debt. With all of the fodder and puffery we hear spewing from Washington, in newspapers, and on television, I think this representation of exactly how large our debt is speaks more loudly than anything our president, a member of Congress, or the media can cleverly put together to distract us from the obvious truth before us. Thanks for the link, Jason.

http://www.wtfnoway.com

1,103.4 miles to go.

Day327 Friday 07/22/11

ran 2.0 miles
Boehner Walks Away From Debt Ceiling Negotiations With Obama; Only Days Before Threat Of Defaulting

"The White House is simply not serious about ending the spending binge that is destroying jobs and endangering our children's future."

John Boehner

Within minutes of one another, Boehner announced on Fox that there was “no deal” and Obama called a press conference to confirm that Boehner had walked away from negotiations. President Obama said it was “hard to understand” Boehner’s actions and Boehner said he would begin negotiations with the Senate.

“Time has run out.”

Barack Obama

"The White House is simply not serious about ending the spending binge that is destroying jobs and endangering our children's future."

John Boehner

Boehner said he and Obama were never “really close” to a deal and, as a result of the president’s demands that “taxes have to be raised” and that “we cannot make fundamental changes to our entitlement programs”, he walked out the door.

Obama’s offer consisted of $1 trillion in domestic and defense cuts and $650 billion in cuts to entitlement programs. What Boehner and so many members of the House disagree with is $1.2 trillion in revenue increases (that’s politi-speak for taxes).

Boehner claims negotiations ended when President Obama asked for more increased revenue, or taxes, depending upon whose side you’re on. At the “last minute” Obama “demanded more money”. The agreement was set at $800 billion in increased revenue until Obama sought $400 billion more.

"The extra 400 billion would have come [from] increasing taxes. They refused to get serious about cutting spending and making the tough choices that are facing our country on entitlement reform."

John Boehner

Scroll down and check out yesterday’s post for an alternative, common sense solution that makes way too much sense for our leaders to acknowledge. There is fault on both sides and this crisis is clearly a political football for the 2012 presidential election. There are fumbles, interceptions, encroachment, offsides, and every other situation the game has to offer except for one single touchdown.

August 2 is the big day. Will America default on its debt for the first time in American history?

1,106.4 miles to go.

Day326 Thursday 07/21/11

ran 3.9 miles
Some stats and polls from Rasmussen Reports:

• Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 24% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 41% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a presidential index rating of -17.

• Overall, 45% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of Barack Obama’s performance and 53% disapprove.

• A generic Republican candidate leads Obama 47% to 41% for the 2012 presidential election. Romney, in particular, leads Obama 43% to 42%.

• Only 21% believe that America is generally heading in the right direction.

• Among American voters 53% support drug testing for welfare applicants.

Below is an informative list of common sense arguments for not raising the debt ceiling. The list was compiled and issued by the Acadiana Patriots of Lafayette, Louisiana. It makes far too much sense for Washington D.C. to acknowledge, but it is a testimony to the common sense that so many Americans share, which so often goes ignored by the leaders we elect. Organizations like the Acadiana Tea Party Patriots are useful resources for those who seek a sensible ground between the players’ stage of D.C. and the exaggerations of the media

5 REASONS CONGRESS DOESN’T NEED TO RAISE THE DEBT CEILING

1. We won’t default if we prioritize our spending.
* Tax revenues for this year are projected to be around $2.2 trillion.
* Interest payments for this year amount to approximately $300 billion.
* If we pay the interest first, that leaves us with about $1.9 trillion to spend on our most important priorities, and we avoid a default.
* If we enact Senator Toomey’s Full Faith and Credit Act (S. 163) directing the Treasury to pay principal and interest on the debt held by the public before all other obligations it would ensure that the nation does not default.

2. If they raise it, they will spend it.
* The debt ceiling has been raised 10 times in 11 years. In fact, since Congress enacted the first debt limit it has never failed to raise it. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals)
* The federal government spends more per second than the average family brings home in income per year.
* Since World War II, government spending, on average, accounted for around one fifth, or 19.6 percent, of GDP. Today, federal spending accounts for nearly one quarter, or 23.8 percent, of GDP.
*The national debt in 2006 stood at approximately $8.5 trillion, we are now over $14 trillion in debt (over $100 trillion if we count unfunded liabilities).

3. We have been warned to stop the reckless spending.
* Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s have warned us that our credit rating will be downgraded if we do not control our debt.
* If the nation’s credit rating goes down, borrowing money becomes more expensive, making our existing debt crisis even worse.
* China issued a statement, as our primary lender, saying that the US must rein in spending– now – or face severe austerity measures suddenly.
4. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel on spending.
* It would take about $750 billion in spending cuts by the end of this fiscal year (ending September 30) to get us back to 2003 spending levels, which would allow us to avoid default and pay for the rest of government, all without raising the debt ceiling or increasing taxes.
* The Federal Government holds more than $1 trillion in highly liquid assets that should be sold to the private sector, and doing this now would allow the cuts to be phased in more slowly.
* If we even rolled spending back to the Clinton-era budget we could make our obligations without raising the debt ceiling or increasing taxes.
* America’s politicians have a spending problem and NOT a revenue problem. There is no reason to raise taxes or the debt ceiling except to grow government.

5. A rising national debt hinders jobs and the economy.* Once the size of government, and its spending, increases, economic growth falls.
* Government spending failed to create economic growth when tried in the 1930’s, ‘60’s and ‘70’s.* Every dollar spent by the federal government is money taken from the private sector.
* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut the US growth forecast and warned of a looming debt crisis. With little growth, unemployment will remain high.
* Since February 2009 there are 2.3 million fewer people employed while government spending has increased by 19% since 2008. Raising the debt ceiling means increased spending and means less jobs.

1,108.4 miles to go.

Day325 Wednesday 07/20/11

ran 4.2 miles

Chapter15

“Woodard has never let us down. He’ll be here in a minute.” Anna said this half-heartedly with feigned hope.

“Where’s Jonas and why is he not back yet?”

“Why does he always lose the group?”

“He never follows your orders.”

Erica took a deep breath. She wondered the same things but refused to let anyone else know.

“He is not a soldier! He is an asset! And whatever he is doing right now, there is a reason for it. I know where he is and that is all you need to know. Mason? Thomas? Do we understand?”

Danny Woodard leaned into his right turn like a lathed axe poised to split any wooden obstruction placed in front of it. His car screeched along the street drowning the Motor Vehicle Advisory System his automated console was attempting to warn and urge him against.

Between the excessive friction of rubber and asphalt he could hardly hear the simulated female voice but he knew exactly what she was saying.

“Please decelerate. Please decelerate.”

Danny had a straightaway and a yellow light approximately 500 feet away. It was a poor assessment of judgment to assume he’d reach the intersection before the light had turned red.

“Stop accelerating! Stop accelerating!”

It did not help to have a sexy femme voice programmed into his Advisory System. Her voice was silky and seductive. She was redundant and her tone of voice contradicted itself with serious matters. All Danny heard was “Harder on then gas!" and “Don’t stop!"

He pressed his shoulder forward into the wheel and pushed his foot further into the gas.

“Warning! Warning! If you continue to disobey the speed regulations I will be forced to decommission this vehicle and the authorities will be alerted.”

Danny eased off the pedal as soon as he had crossed the intersection. His console printed a speeding ticket between his stick and cup holders.

“You have one more warning, Danny Woodard. I repeat, one more warning.”

Jonas entered the car.

“This is it, Woodard. Erica, three others, and me. Can you take us to the new capital?”

1,112.3 miles to go.

Day324 Tuesday 07/19/11

ran 3.3 miles
The state of Texas recently became the fourth state to make the Health Care Compact law. Texas joins Georgia, Oklahoma, and Missouri as the states that have made the Compact law so far.

"I think Texans can better decide how to prioritize our health care than Congressmen from California, New York or Wisconsin. States are in a better position to determine our own needs than a big, one-size-fits-all federal plan. Health care spending crowds out funding for our schools, highways and public safety. That's why we need the Health Care Compact. Texans need a bigger say in how our health dollars are spent, a government closest to the people governs best."

Texas State Representative Lois Kolkhorst

The Health Care Compact has been introduced in fifteen states. It has passed the State House of Representatives in Montana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona, Georgia, and Texas. The Compact has passed the State Senate in Oklahoma, Arizona, Missouri, Tennessee, and Georgia. Thirty-six states are actively considering the Health Care Compact.

This is how the Compact works. After passing through the state legislature and then being signed by a state’s governor, the Compact must be approved through the United States Congress. A Compact does not require the signature of the president. Methods of defining health care in each state are not laid out in the Compact. Ultimately, each state designs its own health care program but they are all equally exempt to the federal health care program Barack Obama signed into law.

Interstate Compacts have been used throughout American history to allow states to make their own, more realistic decisions regarding certain areas of policy in which they can be far more efficient without the federal government. Authority for Compacts is established in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 10), and more than 200 Compacts are currently in effect. Compacts are essentially voluntary agreements between states that, if granted consent by Congress, hold the force of federal law.
Health Care Compact website. Check the Compact out on facebook, too.

1,116.5 miles to go.

Day323 Monday 07/18/11

ran 4.7 miles

Looking over a few articles in the news tonight, I happened to come across one that cited the fact that Barack Obama had one the Nobel Peace Prize. That fact had slipped my mind and being reminded of it forced a sudden laugh, followed by a lifted brow and a condescending grin and, finally, frustration set in. Really?! The Nobel Peace Prize?!

I am only one person so, consequently, my single opinion bears little effect on America’s perception of President Obama’s having one the Nobel Peace Prize for achieving absolutely nothing, but my common sense opinion is that the integrity of the Nobel Peace Prize has been tarnished and what was once perhaps perceived by many as an indisputable honor may now be a questionable award based on the fact that Barack Obama won it for…nothing.

Coincidentally, the article that cited Obama’s unearned Nobel Peace Prize had a more pressing story. Barack Obama has been formally accused of crime against humanity for killing Bin Laden. Daniel Fiol, a Spanish lawyer, submitted a written complaint to the International Criminal Court, which accused President Obama of violating the Geneva Convention.

Fiol argues that Bin Laden should have been “pursued, arrested, tried and convicted”; not assassinated in Abbotabad, Pakistan. As of yet it is unknown who hired Fiol to place this charge, but there is much speculation that it might be Osama Bin Laden’s son Omar Bin Laden.


One of the few issues I can agree on with Barack Obama was killing Osama Bin Laden. I didn’t post about this article to dispute his decision and this charge placed by Daniel Fiol will gain zero ground, but I did post about it because, in addition to reminding me of how ridiculous it was that Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, this article had a picture of what must be the worst, most pathetic, most uncreative, disappointing, thrown-together effigy I have ever seen. The magazine page they used for a head and the complete lack of arms and legs were a nice touch. I can understand why these guys may want to burn the shirt with the American flag, but that is a perfectly good, useful set of jeans.

It is important to point out that I completely disapprove of the actions being portrayed in this image. I do not condone the burning of images of American flags or American presidents, whether it is on our soil or elsewhere. The main reason I posted this image was to underline the fact that our Nobel Peace Prize winning president has effigies modeled on his appearance violently burned quite often in dozens of different countries, which we, for some odd reason, give millions upon millions of our tax dollars to each and every year. I’m not sure where this picture was taken, but I’d be willing to bet that we gave these peoples’ government a whole lot of money very recently.

Back in America, Steve Wynn, CEO of casino company Wynn Resorts, delivered an intense anti-Obama rant during his company’s quarterly conference call today. He projected a sentiment many Americans seem to feel, regardless of social class, all the way up to the wealthiest of the wealthy, such as Wynn, and that sentiment is that American families and American companies are sitting on their thumbs and not spending money because we fear Barack Obama’s vision and path. People and businesses are not spending money, leaving the economy stagnant, because we are scared of what our president is trying to do. And it’s not so much that we fear precisely what he is doing, but that we fear our complete lack of logical understanding for the actions he makes.

This is Wynn’s tirade:

“I believe in Las Vegas. I think its best days are ahead of it. But I'm afraid to do anything in the current political environment in the United States. You watch television and see what's going on on this debt ceiling issue. And what I consider to be a total lack of leadership from the President and nothing's going to get fixed until the President himself steps up and wrangles both parties in Congress. But everybody is so political, so focused on holding their job for the next year that the discussion in Washington is nauseating.

And I'm saying it bluntly, that this administration is the greatest wet blanket to business, and progress and job creation in my lifetime. And I can prove it and I could spend the next 3 hours giving you examples of all of us in this market place that are frightened to death about all the new regulations, our healthcare costs escalate, regulations coming from left and right. A President that seems, that keeps using that word redistribution. Well, my customers and the companies that provide the vitality for the hospitality and restaurant industry, in the United States of America, they are frightened of this administration.And it makes you slow down and not invest your money. Everybody complains about how much money is on the side in America.

You bet and until we change the tempo and the conversation from Washington, it's not going to change. And those of us who have business opportunities and the capital to do it are going to sit in fear of the President. And a lot of people don't want to say that. They'll say, God, don't be attacking Obama. Well, this is Obama's deal and it's Obama that's responsible for this fear in America.

The guy keeps making speeches about redistribution and maybe we ought to do something to businesses that don't invest, their holding too much money. We haven't heard that kind of talk except from pure socialists. Everybody's afraid of the government and there's no need soft peddling it, it's the truth. It is the truth. And that's true of Democratic businessman and Republican businessman, and I am a Democratic businessman and I support Harry Reid. I support Democrats and Republicans. And I'm telling you that the business community in this company is frightened to death of the weird political philosophy of the President of the United States. And until he's gone, everybody's going to be sitting on their thumbs.”

1,119.8 miles to go.

Day322 Sunday 07/17/11

ran 2.9 miles
Today ends week forty-six of running against Obama. I ran 20.9 miles this week, averaging 2.99 miles per day.

I read an article from Reuters, by Andrew Quinn, today and can’t help but attempt the best way possible to express an analogy between real quotes from the article and outlandish possibilities of the world we all actually live in.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced strong U.S. support this weekend for Greece’s battle to overcome its debt crisis (a crisis created by the same unrealistic fundamentals that Barack Obama is currently attempting to implement in America), stating that Greece was taking the difficult steps required for future growth.

In words and in a common sense you and I better understand, Clinton agrees that Greece is making the difficult decision to further bury themselves in debt through the same means of borrowing and living far outside of their means that got them where they are to begin with.

“Americans know these are difficult days, and again we stand with you as friends and allies.”

In other words, we are actually trying to deconstruct our country in the same way you have weakened yours by designing completely unrealistic economic plans that lead to more and more borrowing and taxation until eventually we no longer have a country worth mentioning.

"I am not here to in any way downplay the immediate challenges because they are real. But I am here to say that we believe strongly that this will give Greece a very strong economy going forward," Clinton said.

By “this” Clinton means borrowing even more money to continue a broken system, not much unlike what our president is working for here in America.

Greece is currently hoping for a second European bailout package of nearly 110 billion euros to keep the nation up and running until the end of 2014. If you ask Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidi about Greece’s deficit he will tell you that the government is determined to forge ahead. If that makes Greeks sleep better at night instead of rioting in their streets, which is more often the case, then job well done, Mr. Lambrinidi.

The people of Greece have been rioting and the government of Greece has been scrambling for a long time. Ultimately, their government gave their people an economic plan that was far too good to be true and completely unsustainable for any government. Sound like Barack’s America?

Earlier in this post I mentioned something about an analogy. A comparison between the disturbing reality Greece has arrived at and the disturbingly similar path America is being forced down against its will. This analogy, or comparison, is nothing that requires many powers of observation to make. Take your household, as a micro-economy, and apply your economic principles of common sense, which allow you and your family to thrive or at least stay afloat, to the actions our government makes to further disillusion us and to completely mismanage the money we give them and ask yourself if you could not do a better job. The economic rules and principles that apply to individuals, families, and even businesses transform into pure chaos once they reach the federal level.

1,124.5 miles to go.

Day321 Saturday 07/16/11

ran 2.9 miles
Our president recently claimed that “80% of Americans want higher taxes” for the debt reduction plan Democrats and Republicans have been fighting over. I don’t know where Obama is getting his numbers from but 80% seems outrageously manufactured. If you were to ask Americans if they wanted cherry pie, I don’t think 8o% would say yes to even that. But 80% of our country wants higher taxes? In the recently quoted words of Joe Biden, “C’mon, man!”

Republicans quickly pointed to other polls, which reflect far less support for tax hikes. For example, Rasmussen Reports shows that 55% of Americans are opposed to new taxes as part of a debt reduction deal. Not only does the majority of those surveyed frown upon new taxes, but those who favor the tax increases are nearly only half of the number Barack Obama embellished.

"I hope [Republicans are] not just listening to lobbyists and special interests ... I hope they're listening to the American people as well."

I hope so, too, Mr. President. I hope they are not listening to your lobbyists, special interests, or your ideas. And, apparently they are not because our Republican leaders do not seem to be budging on raising taxes and that is, in fact, what half if not more of Americans actually want them to do, and they are listening.

1,127.4 miles to go.

Day320 Friday 07/15/11

ran 0.1 miles
Just some facts about the state of Oklahoma today:

• Oklahoma was the forty-sixth state to join the union on November 16, 1907, five years before New Mexico and eleven years after Utah.

• Population, as of 2010, is 3,751,351.

• Senators are Tom Coburn (R) and James M. Inhofe (R).

• Representatives are John Sullivan (R), Dan Boren (D), Frank Lucas (R), Tom Cole (R), and James Lankford (R).

• Oklahoma has seven electoral votes. Historically, the state has voted blue for all but two presidential elections through 1948 and has not gone Democratic since, except for Lyndon Johnson in 1964. John McCain defeated Barack Obama 66% to 34% in 2008.

1,130.3 miles to go.

Day319 Thursday 07/14/11

ran 2.6 miles
Short post today. Just some stats and polls from Rasmussen Reports:

• 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, 49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of Barack Obama’s performance and 50% disapprove.

• Consumer confidence has fallen to the lowest level in two years with 52% of Americans believing their personal finances are getting worse.

• Only 25% believe the country is generally heading in the right direction.

• Generic Republican candidate 48%, Obama 43%.

• Generic Congressional ballot: Republicans 44%, Democrats 38%.

• Support for military action in Libya is down to 24%.

1,130.4 miles to go.

Day318 Wednesday 07/13/11

ran 3.6 miles
On this day in history, in 1960, John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts was nominated for the presidency of the United States of America by the Democratic Party Convention. He defeated Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas and, on the next day, Johnson was named Kennedy’s running mate by a unanimous vote of the convention.

On November 8 of 1960, Kennedy won 49.7% of the popular vote in one of the closest presidential elections in American history, merely surpassing Richard M. Nixon’s 49.6% of the vote.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was inaugurated as the thirty-fifth American president on January 20, 1961. During his famous inauguration address, Kennedy declared “the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans” and encouraged Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”.

These were inspiring words, and considering how often the media compares Barack H. Obama to John F. Kennedy it would be refreshing to hear our current president utter something to that same inspirational effect. In a time of endless entitlements, government waste, and general mismanagement of what is left of our economy, I would like to hear Kennedy’s words and not see the actions Obama is committing which come across verbally as “ask not what you can do for your country, ask what your country can do for you”.

Our debt is out of control. Our tax codes are endless labyrinths of loopholes designed to manipulate the people they represent. Our Congress is nearly at a percentage of disapproval lower than the legal age required to vote. We give dozens of nations who despise us hundreds of millions of American tax dollars each year for reasons I’ve never once heard anyone be able to clearly explain. Our government regulates business in the country it is supposed to be representing with so many ridiculously high taxes that we send millions of jobs to other countries because it is significantly more affordable. The only thing I have observed that really, really makes sense in America is the people. Our ability to conduct our lives the civil and responsible way we do is a testimony to what our forefather’s fought for and the American belief so many have given their lives for. When our forefathers drafted the constitution and elected to sign that controversial document we know as the Declaration of Independence they were asking one basic question that they believed to be true. Can a nation of people govern themselves? The answer is yes and the federal government has grown into an unintended burden on all of our lives.

Regarding foreign policy, Kennedy vigorously fought communism in the world. He ordered the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, sent thousands of U.S. military “advisors” to Vietnam, and displayed solidity and restraint during the Cuban Missile Crisis, showing uncompromising opposition to the placement of Soviet missiles in Cuba.

Domestically, he introduced his “New Frontier” social legislation, calling for a federal desegregation policy and a sweeping new civil rights bill.

On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

As an afterthought, I think John F. Kennedy was a far more inspiring man than Barack H. Obama is but, to play devil’s advocate to myself, this is an interesting pamphlet that was actually handed out in Dallas days before he was assassinated. It was fringe propaganda but the pamphlet has many parallels with the criticisms our current president receives and it is something to think about. This was sent to me by a friend of mine who I can always rely on to show me the other side of my own arguments.


1,133.0 miles to go.

Day317 Tuesday 07/12/11

ran 5.1 miles
"After years of discussions and months of negotiations, I have little question that as long as this president is in the Oval Office, a real solution is unattainable."

Mitch McConnell

America is in for something big soon. I’m not sure what it will be but the two sides making decisions are firmly rooted in their sparring stances. My opinion, which is obviously biased, given the name of this blog, is that Barack Obama is intent to not help this country but to get reelected and that Republicans are bent on making Obama a one-term president through any means possible.

Barack Obama is under far more pressure to concede his liberal principles than the Republican Party as a whole is. If I may validate this point with one simple and crystal clear observation, on November 6, 2012, American voters made a monumental statement concerning how they felt about Barack Obama and the direction this country was heading under liberal policies.

What has gotten better?

Not enough time to make a difference yet, you might ask? Need more time? History and the patience of American voters rarely side with such poor odds in a president and his unsuccessful decisions. For this reason it his back that is pressed more tightly against the wall with less maneuverability. He is offering impressive concessions that will infuriate his congressional cohorts and voters, but Republicans refuse to budge about raising taxes, at least for now.

And why should they? They were the replacements of an overwhelming amount of liberal politicians in 2010 that were elected for important campaign promises such as not raising taxes and adhering to their conservative principles. Their backs are only brushing the wall of pressure right now.

President Obama said himself that raising taxes, or ending the Bush tax cuts, was a bad idea in an economy like this back in December of 2010, so again, what has gotten better? What has changed? If it wasn’t a good idea then it is certainly not a good idea now!

Again, this is my biased perception. Obama is posturing and attempting to appease his voter base to get reelected with sweeping tax increases at the cost of America’s future. And Republicans are trying to preserve what is left of America until Someone Else takes office in 2012 by doing what seems to make the most sense of all---stop wasteful spending!!! There is so much waste in Washington, D.C. that is not even being addressed.

Obama needs to look like a middle-of-the-aisle hero in this scenario, which he is only doing as a result of circumstance for the bad decisions he has made. It is certainly not because he desires to be moderate. He has proven that. And Republicans need to look as hard-nosed, staunch and unwavering as possible because that is what they were elected to do in 2010.

1,136.6 miles to go.

Day316 Monday 07/11/11

ran 3.7 miles
The screws continue to tighten on President Obama. Ultimatums and threats are coming from both sides of Congress over the smothering gravity of our debt ceiling. August 2 is the last square on the calendar to sort it out and make big decisions that will have long-term effects on America.

Making an ultimatum of their own, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee is urging voters not to donate their time or money to Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign if he “agrees to cuts in Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid”.

More than 160,000 people have pledged to not support Obama in 2012 if the above-mentioned concessions are made, according to the PCCC. One of the committee’s co-founders, Adam Green, feels that if Obama doesn’t fulfill these requests of his voters then it may be a better idea for him to run as an independent in 2012 instead of in the Democratic primary.

"If he's running as a Democrat, antagonizing the base like that is a pretty bad strategy."

This debt ceiling issue is one of the biggest decisions we’ve faced during Obama’s presidency and both sides have their backs up against the wall. Even compromising fairly on raising taxes and cutting Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid, no matter how incrementally, will stir much discontent from voters on both sides. And the last thing these politicians want is to lose their jobs on November 6, 2012. This decision will clearly define exactly how honest and genuine each Senator and Representative is to their constituencies.

On a lighter note, here are some facts and stats about Ohio:

• Ohio was the seventeenth state to join the union on March 1, 1803, nine years before Louisiana and seven years after Tennessee.

• Population, as of 2010, is 11,536,504.

• Senators are Sherrod Brown (D) and Rob Portman (R).

• Representatives are Steven Chabot (R), Jean Schmidt (R), Michael Turner (R), Jim Jordan (R), Robert Latta (R), Bill Johnson (R), Steve Austria (R), John Boehner (R), Marcy Kaptur (D), Dennis Kucinich (D), Marcia Fudge (D), Patrick Tiberi (R), Betty Sutton (D), Steven LaTourette (R), Steve Stivers (R), Jim Renacci (R), Timothy Ryan (D), and Bob Gibbs (R).

• Ohio has eighteen electoral votes after having lost two as a consequence of the 2010 Census Reapportionment. Historically, Ohio has been a swing state for a long time. The state’s large number of electoral votes makes it a priority for campaigning in every presidential election. Ohio has voted for the winning president in every single election except one in 1944. Ohio’s unexplainable ability to correctly pick the winner so often makes the importance of the state’s votes even more critical to secure each presidential election. Barack Obama defeated John McCain 52% to 47% in 2008.

1,141.7 miles to go.

Day315 Sunday 07/10/11

ran 2.4 miles
Today ends week forty-five of running against Obama. I ran 21.6 miles this week, averaging 3.09 miles per day.

August 2 will be here soon and a decision on raising the debt ceiling or defaulting on our debt will have to be made. Defaulting on our debt is something America has never done and it is highly unlikely that it will happen now. Such a decision would have a global impact and America’s economy, which appears underwhelming and stands slouched, would be ground zero of the damage. It would be similar to you claiming bankruptcy and your creditors losing all trust and interest in you for a significant amount of time. More importantly, it would lead to other competitive nations advancing exponentially beyond America as we slowly pick up the pieces of what we once were.

Defaulting seems unrealistic, but the compromises Republicans and Democrats are attempting to strike with one another in Congress are leading to nowhere. Republicans want to slash spending with absolutely no consideration for tax hikes and Democrats want to perform an intricate surgery on spending with much gravity on increasing taxes.

Here are a couple of interesting facts that add more dimension to the picture of what is really going on. For one thing, Barack Obama is currently trying to raise taxes, exactly what he thought was a bad idea in December of 2010, shortly after the mid-term elections. He continued the Bush tax cuts, not just for certain classes but across the board, after campaigning on ending them. Why is it a good idea now to raise taxes if it was not a good idea then? What has changed in the past seven months that makes tax hikes justifiable now? Nothing has changed. Our economy and jobs numbers are the same, if not incrementally worse.

“…Insisting on really big tax increases as a condition to do anything on the spending side, we believe the president was right back in December when he signed the two-year extension of the current tax rates that raising taxes in the middle of this economic situation we're in is a terrible idea. Let me just look at the unemployment figures last Friday. All the arguments the president used in December are still here today. There's an additional issue to unemployment at work here and that is what kind of government do you want to have?

And if you look back at the last two and a half years, you see the government running banks, insurance companies, car companies, national housing loan business, taken over healthcare, trying to take over the Internet, increasing spending, discretionary spending 24 percent, increasing debt 35 percent. What -- how big a government do we want? And we don't want to use this opportunity presented by the president's request of us to raise the debt ceiling to kind of freeze the perpetuity of this much government. I don't think the American people want it. I don't think it's good for the economy.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY

Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that 235 Republican members of the House and 40 Republicans in the Senate took a pledge to not raise taxes, as demanded by their constituents, in the form of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. It was proven as a result of the mid-term elections of November 2010 that it is very easy to get fired if members of Congress do not abide by the demands of the people. The Republicans who signed that pledge to not raise taxes stand to lose their jobs if they give in to what Democrats are demanding.

It is a win-win situation for the left because taxation has no end for the policies they adhere to and if they can get Republicans to cave and raise taxes, which makes zero sense at an economic time like this, then they will have achieved stirring the disappointment and anger of those constituencies that are represented by the 275 Republican seats of Congress who signed a document swearing to not raise taxes. Politically, it is a brilliant way to jostle the chances of reelection for these seemingly ardent, hard-nosed conservative members of congress. And they are between a rock and a hard place because if the ceiling does end up making contact with the floor then blame is going to be projected in every direction. Again, brilliant political strategy.

Let no tragedy go unused, that’s how they think, and if you stand to be a one-term president, which really is sort of humiliating as far as history books go, shake things up at any costs, create some chaos, broaden your odds at any cost.

This is the world of politics. It’s about you and me only so long as these pompous, arrogant, entitled children get their ways. They find far more virtue and honor in being a career politician than they do in serving our interests.

With all of the circular talk we have been hearing about the debt ceiling, here is a shot of pure logic from Senator Marco Rubio:

“Let’s stop talking about new taxes and start talking about new taxpayers, which means jobs. This debt is the No. 1 issue on everyone’s minds and rightfully so. It is a major issue, but everywhere else, in the real world, the No. 1 issue on people’s minds is jobs. And I tell you, every other problem facing America — a mortgage crisis, a home foreclosure crisis, this debt problem — all of these issues get easier to deal with if people are gainfully employed across America. And the impact that unemployment is having across this country is devastating. …

Our job here [in Congress] is to do everything we can to make it easier for them to find a job, not harder. And I think that’s what we have to do when it comes to ‘a balanced approach’ and when we talk about revenue. We don’t need new taxes, we need new taxpayers, people who are gainfully employed, making money, paying into the tax system and then we need a government that has the discipline to take that additional revenue and use it to pay down the debt and never grow it again. …

So you look at all these taxes that are being proposed and here’s what I say: I say we should analyze every single one of them through the lens of job creation, issue No. 1 in America. I want to know which one of these taxes they’re proposing will create jobs. I want to know how many jobs will be created by the planes tax. I want to know how many jobs will be created by the oil company tax that I’ve heard so much about. How many jobs are created by going after the millionaires and billionaires that the president talks about? I want to know! How many jobs do they create? …

I traveled the state of Florida for two years campaigning. I have never met a job creator who told me that they were waiting for the next tax increase before they started growing their business. I’ve never met a single job creator who has ever said to me I can’t wait ’til government raises taxes again so I can go out and create a job. I’m curious to know if they say that in New Hampshire because they don’t say that in Florida. So my view on all that is, I want to know how many of these tax increases the president proposes will create jobs because if they’re not creating jobs and they’re not creating new taxpayers, they’re not solving the problem.”

1,145.4 miles to go.