Day379 Monday 09/12/11

ran 3.5 miles

Here are some quick numbers from Rasmussen Reports. Obama is throwing a Hail Mary with this new stimulus package, or jobs bill, as he refers to it. Time is running out for our president to redeem a large portion of the nation’s perception of his failing leadership. The gravity surrounding this jobs bill is immense and many factors are at play as to whether it passes, in what form it is signed if it does pass, and then will it even reflect improvement, as so little else has. Tick tock.

“Overall, the president’s Approval Index rating has been at -20 or lower every day for two full weeks and every day but two for more than a month. For President Obama, the ratings have never before remained this low for this long. Even during the final month leading to Election 2010, the Presidential Approval Index fell to minus 20 just once. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 16% Strongly Approve and 44% Strongly Disapprove.”

Here is a good article describing Obama’s jobs plan now that it is printed on paper. The $447 billion for this plan will be paid primarily through tax increases, which Republicans claim will further strain jobs and not create them. Regardless of Obama’s urgency to pass this bill as soon as possible, it is unlikely that it will pass through the Senate in the coming weeks. More likely, this legislation will be dissected, pieced back together, and dissected again over the next couple months. There is a November 23 deadline to agree on what to include in the package and it will be put to a vote by December 23.

"Anything that is akin to a stimulus bill is not going to be acceptable. Over half of the total dollar amount is so-called stimulus spending. We have been there, done that. The country cannot afford more spending like a stimulus bill.”

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor

954.7 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day14.

Day378 Sunday 09/11/11

ran 0.4 miles

Hard to believe it was ten years ago. There’s plenty on television today to commemorate the tragedy. There is little for me or anyone else to say. We all know what the score is. We all remember where we were and what we were doing on that particular day. You probably don’t remember one single detail about September 10 or 12 of 2001, but you can see exactly, in your mind, where you were and what you were doing on September 11, 2001, when you had heard the news. Prayers for the victims and heroes of 9/11 and God bless this amazing, resilient country.

Today ends week fifty-four of running against Obama. I ran 21.8 miles this week, averaging 3.11 miles per day.

958.2 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day13.

Day377 Saturday 09/10/11

click here for a better look

ran 2.4 miles

I have been posting stats and facts about each state of the union for a while now and, I have to confess, I have done it for somewhat selfish reasons because I want a guide I can access when the 2012 election arrives. I want access to presidential voting history, which senators and representatives are up for reelection, and I want odds and answers at the tips of my fingers.

Each night that I post about a particular state may seem boring now, but it will be a handy tool on November 6, 2012, to compare history to the present.

Above are the flags of our nation. I have to say they look as odd as they do familiar. I am thirty-three years old and I admit there are quite a few I have never seen and would not have expected.

Here are some facts about the state of South Carolina:

• South Carolina was the eighth state to join the union on May 23, 1788, one month before New Hampshire and one month after Maryland.

• Population, as of 2010, is 4,625,364.

• Senators are Jim DeMint (R) and Lindsey Graham (R).

• Representatives are Tim Scott (R), Addison Wilson (R), Jeff Duncan (R), Trey Gowdy (R), Mick Mulvaney (R) and James Clyburn (D).

• South Carolina has nine electoral votes. The state gained an electoral vote during the 2010 Census Reapportionment. Historically, South Carolina has voted almost exclusively blue from reconstruction through the early 1960s. The state has been red since, except for Jimmy Carter in 1976. In 2008, McCain defeated Obama 54% to 45%.

958.6 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day12.

Day376 Friday 09/09/11

ran 3.3 miles
Stats and polls from Rasmussen Reports:

• Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 19% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 43% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a presidential index rating of –24.

• Overall, 42% of voters at least somewhat approve of Obama’s performance and 56% disapprove.

Rasmussen reports these percentages on a three-day rolling average basis. These numbers do not fully reflect the reaction of Barack Obama’s speech last night.

Obama’s words and his jobs plan last night were humdrum to me because he had a Democratic Senate and House for nearly two years of his presidency. The actions he took caused a “shellacking”, in his own words, of incumbent Democrats during the midterm elections. His actions got a lot of liberal politicians fired. And, yet, here he is trying to do more of the same. His plan is another stimulus package. It is more debt for younger generations who had nothing to do with how out of control Washington has gotten. Even more insulting, our president has the audacity to tell the nation that this plan will be paid for. I don’t believe it. Regardless of how quickly this amount of money gets paid off, the debt clock is going to continue ticking at the outrageous pace it has been, faster and faster each day. If Someone Else wants to do some real good then slow down that clock. Barack Obama’s jobs plan is more dollars per second.

961.0 miles to go.

Here is what happened on Day11.

Day375 Thursday 09/08/11

ran 3.5 miles
“Stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy.”

This was one of the opening quotes of Barack Obama’s speech tonight. Many of the circus clowns he was speaking to got up off their seats and gave him a standing ovation.

“American Jobs Act”. This is what he has decided to name his latest plan.

“Everything in this bill will be paid for.”

No, it won’t be. There is over $14 trillion lined up in front of whatever this plan will cost. And why were promises like these not waged earlier in this presidency? It’s because it is an unrealistic promise. That’s PC for a lie. Our president’s rear end is on the line and his window to do something productive during his term is nearly closed. Whatever this plan is, or will eventually be, on paper---he has all his chips in it.

These are some of the details I jotted down during the speech:

• 50% payroll tax cut for small businesses

• 2012 investments for small businesses can be written off

• Tax credits for hiring veterans

• $4,000.00 tax credit for any company that hires an individual who has been unemployed for more than six months

• Extends unemployment insurance for one more year

• Working family $1,500.00 tax cut

• Changes to Medicare and Medicaid

Sounds good. Let’s do this. Ummm, China, can we borrow 300 or 400 billion more dollars?

Our president is acting like this is some fresh new idea that just struck him like a “Eureka” moment. Why not sooner? The severity of his grim circumstances is forcing him to do things he gambled against up until this point. Throughout his speech he repeated that the ideas he was presenting were approved by both Democrats and Republicans of the past and present. Who is this guy and what did they do with Barack Obama? This “American Jobs Act” has a fair amount of likeability to it on the surface, but, again, why did a logic approach to taking meaningful actions take so long? The reason is because he has failed up until now and he is putting everything he has on the table with this bill to get reelected.

Our president also claimed that by next Monday he would not only cover the cost of the jobs bill but he would also stabilize our debt in the long run. Also in the news, China is abandoning communism on Monday and will embrace democracy. And rainbows will begin smiling instead of frowning…effective Monday.

More of the same rhetoric interweaved with charm and an enticing amount of false hope. He still wants the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations to “pay their fair share”. Does that include GE?

“If you are a small business with a contract with the federal government we are going to make sure you get paid a lot faster.” Way to lead by example. Here I am paying my bills on time like an idiot. Maybe I should call my utilities company, cable, too, and my housing lender, and inform them that I am not going to pay my bills for four months. I’m sure they will understand. The reason Americans have so little confidence in our president, congress, and the entire federal government at large is because they do not lead by example. They live by rules that apply to us but not to them.

Barack Obama was also keen on mentioning God tonight. “God Bless America”. “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Yet, there is a battle going on whether to even allow prayer at the 9/11 events this Sunday in New York.

The biggest message I gathered from our president’s words tonight was his defense of the federal government’s large role when very few even approve of its actions. Our president and congress have dismal approval ratings and it is because so little they do is working.

964.3 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day10.

Day374 Wednesday 09/07/11

ran 3.3 miles
Just turned on the Republican debate, taking place at the Reagan library in California. Rick Perry will be making his debut behind the podium tonight. I’m sure Perry and Romney will be pitted against each other and get the most questions. I like everyone on the stage, or, at least I don’t dislike any of the candidates. When it comes down to it, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I would vote for a plank of wood up against Barack Obama in 2012.

All polls aside, disregarding the hype and “X” factor each candidate has, strictly based on ideas and the future of America, I’m a big fan of Herman Cain. I love the idea that he is not a politician, but rather a huge success at turning major corporations over and taking them from borderline bankruptcy to profitable businesses. For all the issues America has, none of them are more important than turning our economy around and to distance ourselves from the cliff Barack Obama continues to push America closer and closer to. The private sector needs to be utterly unleashed and our current president is only loosening its shackles one single chain link at a time. I like Bachmann and I would like Palin if she chose to jump in the race. I am a war-mongering S.O.B. Tea Party member, according to Hoffa, anyway, and these two individuals hold the same conservative values I do and they are not afraid to act on them and they refuse to dilute their beliefs. It is entertaining to watch Gingrich take questions during these debates. He is a free spirit and he frankly does not care what you or I think. He just says what he says and it simply is what it is. You have to admire that quality. And much of what he says makes perfect common sense. Coincidentally, Gingrich just blasted the news media and put his questioner on the spot for asking questions that serve no other purpose other than to turn he and his fellow candidates on one another. That was the best moment of the twenty-seven minutes I’ve watched so far.

Who do you like? Drop me a comment and tell me where you stand. And, as always, thanks for reading and keeping up with the miles!

967.8 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day9.

Day373 Tuesday 09/06/11

ran 5.8 miles
I couldn’t stop running tonight. A cold front has graced Lafayette with its presence and the weather is absolutely perfect. If you live in Lafayette and you’re reading this then you know exactly what I’m talking about. I haven’t surpassed five miles since…probably February of this year. The only reason I stopped was because there were simply more pressing things that needed to be done. Not enough hours in the day.

Maybe two miles into my run tonight I passed a family taking a walk, four kids, rollerblading and skate boarding along, and the dad asked me, “How often do you run? I see you every week. What? Four or five times a week?”

I replied, “Every single day.” I was wearing a t-shirt, which loudly read “Running Against Obama until November 6, 2012” on the front and “RunningAgainstObama.com” on the back. I told him that I was running against Obama and that I had campaigned 1,100 miles against Obama in the last year. I also told him that I was doing my part to lower health care costs. The man started clapping and his wife cheered me on. It was nice. Every once in a while something like that happens and it makes it all worth it.

In national news today, neither our president nor his counterparts will support or disapprove of Hoffa’s declaration of war against the Tea Party. Way to tone down the rhetoric. And regarding Obama’s big speech this Thursday, over-saturated with low expectations, Congressional Republicans are getting in line to not even attend his hollow, prefabricated attempt to blame everyone but himself for our nation’s woes.

971.1 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day8.

Day372 Monday 09/05/11

ran 3.1 miles
I just typed up over two pages of how disturbing the video above was. More than half of it dealt with the fact that Barack Obama condones this sort of violent rhetoric, yet encourages fair and equal bipartisanship. I deleted it because I refuse to stoop to the level of our president.

I hate to use such an obvious source, but Washington D.C. has convinced half of the people in America that 2+2=5. If you don't know what I'm talking about then put that equation in your google machine and read the book.

976.9 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day7.

Day371 Sunday 09/04/11

1,100 miles!!!

ran 1.5 miles
Today ends week fifty-three of running against Obama. I ran 20.7 miles this week, averaging 2.96 miles per day.

“Rather than cut, the government needs to spend more money on infrastructure to update crumbling highways, rails and other public entities, as well as to create jobs…the creation of jobs through more infrastructure spending could help bring down the rest of the deficit.”

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka

More money for the unions, please, Mr. President. Union boss Richard Trumka thinks that spending more money, on top of what has already been wasted, will magically cure our nation’s economic woes.

Many of the people, organizations, businesses, and much of the Democratic base Obama has been helping so far in his presidency are extremely frustrated with his sudden destructive streak of rationale and logic---in simple terms, to slow down spending or, rather, to just not be quite so prone to waste such vast sums of money all at once. The people he is upsetting cannot comprehend why he is hitting the brakes on crippling America all of a sudden.

In words, which our president will never say directly, his actions reflect the realization that he has made many mistakes and that if he continues them he will be helping his fundamental supporters but enraging the other overwhelming side of Americans who are fed up with his actions and won’t vote for him.

980.0 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day6.

Day370 Saturday 09/03/11

ran 3.1 miles
Today’s post is a little late due to some technical problems. I think I’ve got it under control now.

I ran a 5k yesterday in South Louisiana while Tropical Storm Lee was passing over our heads. Rain and wind were coming from all directions. The weather was not extremely bad at that point because only outer bands of the storm were reaching us, but it still pummeled us. I enjoyed it. It was a tiny battle in the perpetual war of man versus nature. There were many turns on the route and street barricades wrapped with orange caution tape to help direct the runners were being blown over at every turn. Volunteers were there to help guide, but after the second mile there were no more people to direct and the barricades and tape were tossed all over the intersections. I ended up getting turned around and going in the wrong direction. When you’re running as fast as you can for the fastest possible time, something like that can be sort of frustrating. But I found my way and finished.

On Monday, I’m going to run a 5k in Texas. The weather should be much better and I’m hoping for a better time. I’ll have some pictures from the run in the near future.

981.5 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day5.

Day369 Friday 09/02/11

ran 2.2 miles

U.S. Public Debt Above $10 Trillion For First Time In American History---Up 59% Under Barack Obama

Recently, our credit rating was downgraded for the first time in America’s history. Here is a another unprecedented bar of utter failure reached by Obama and his administration: according to the U.S. Treasury Department, at the close of business on August 31, 2011, for the first time in American history, the publicly held debt of the federal government surpassed $10 trillion.

“During Obama's presidency, debt held by the public has now increased by $3.71694 trillion--or almost 59 percent from the $6.3073 trillion in debt held by the public that the government owed to its creditors on Jan. 20, 2009, when Obama was inaugurated.”

Terence P. Jeffrey, CNSNews.com

Here’s another quote from the same article:

“Also, according to the most recent reports available from the Treasury and the Federal Reserve, approximately $6.1 trillion of that debt—or about 61 percent of it—is owned by foreign interests (led by the Chinese and the Japanese) and by the Federal Reserve.”

Here’s what I think. After all of the rhetoric about bipartisanship in Congress spouting from our president’s mouth, Obama’s entire campaign is going to be about blaming Republicans for not letting him do what he wishes. What our president is incapable of understanding is the fact that in November of 2010 America spoke and put representatives into our Congress who would do everything they could to block his agenda. The cause for the “partisan brinksmanship”, as he refers to it, is a result of his own actions. This man has done everything in his undeserving power he could to stifle American progress. He has no legitimate leg to stand on for re-election. The only chance he has is to blame Republicans for everything he has done that has failed and to blame them for every failure they have not let him achieve.

984.6 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day4.

Day368 Thursday 09/01/11

ran 3.3 miles
I usually elaborate on some stats and polls from Rasmussen Reports on Thursday nights, but Barack Obama’s numbers just keep plummeting and I am growing tiresome in copying and pasting them onto this blog. Confidence in Congress remains at bleak lows. America’s direction is disapproved of by a vast majority of voters.

I suggest tuning in next Thursday when Barack Obama announces his new jobs plan. In the same breath I can honestly say there is no telling what he will propose, yet I think I know already. It is the shock of the reality that he is more than likely going to propose more of the failing ideas he has been implementing so far already. It is shocking the way people in his mindset think. If a stimulus package fails, enough was not spent. If your country is flooded by illegal aliens, pay for their educations and deliver their babies with tax dollars, and make them citizens with no effort to discourage the free ride they get on my and your hardworking buck. And let’s stifle free enterprise. Let’s make it as hard as possible for the private sector, the backbone of the American dream, to succeed.

The only thing the president of the United States of America needs to say next Thursday night before the Saints game is, "In order to create more jobs I am going to unleash the private sector. I am going to take the choke chain off of progress." He will certainly not say that and, while I would love to hear it, he most definitely won't say, "Sorry for the past two and one half years. I now realize that the federal government is the last establishment America needs to repair America."

986.8 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day3.

Day367 Wednesday 08/31/11

ran 3.0 miles
Here is what happened one year ago on Day2.

One little boy wanted a blue balloon and another little boy wanted a red balloon. They fought and fought. The little boy who wanted the blue balloon called the little boy who wanted the red balloon a poopie head. The little boy who wanted the red balloon called the little boy who wanted the blue balloon a fart face. They pouted and pouted. They simply could not agree. Back and forth, they went on and on.

Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red! Blue! Red!

Back and forth they went.

Something similar to that story was in the news today. President Obama has finally chosen to announce his highly anticipated plan for creating jobs next Wednesday. But, coincidentally, he plans to air it during the Republican presidential debate taking place in California on that same night. This action is both childish and clearly divisive. Partisan brinksmanship, anyone? He is once again saying one thing and doing another.

Here is an article that describes the back and forth between the boy with the blue balloon and the boy with the red balloon. It is too ridiculous to even describe the exchanges that transpired today between Obama and Boehner. Our president was definitely the younger, less mature and ornery of the two children. Boehner was resourceful and more realistic with his arguments. That is a plus for him but it is still absurd that Barack Obama would choose the night and air time of the Republican presidential debate to release what will more than likely be an underwhelming plan for creating jobs.

990.1 miles to go.

Day366 Tuesday 08/30/11

Year 2

ran 3.2 miles
Today is the first day of a new year of running against Obama. I am going to begin adding a link at the top of each post, which will lead to what was posted on that day one year before. It will look something like this:Here is what was happening one year ago today on Day1 of running against Obama.

Thanks again for reading and keeping up with the miles. I am excited about beginning the second year of this campaign and I appreciate your support! There has been plenty to write about on a daily basis so far and I doubt events will get any less exciting.

I feel no different about the reasons I listed on Day1 for running against Obama. Considering how fragile our economy is and how its condition worsens minute by minute in giant strides, it is not only counterproductive but extremely dangerous to the mere $0.60 of each dollar we are able to salvage when things like Obamacare, stimulus packages, and entitlements run-a-muck are devouring our path to progress. We only continue to fall behind. It requires little vision to see where the path we are on will lead if sweeping reforms on how the federal government conducts its wasteful business are not taken.

Regarding the Tea Party, in my opinion, conservatives have the Tea Party and liberals have the unions. If you were to conduct the slightest amount of research into the behavior of these two factions, I think you would find that one represents a bully demanding others’ lunch money and the other represents a simple desire for this country to not go broke and for individuals to try harder to pay for their own lunches. I do not find it necessary to distinguish which is which.

Barack Obama is expected to announce a big jobs plan next week and I think I speak for many others than myself when I say that I cannot wait to see what this long awaited solution will be. My prediction is another stimulus package of some sort followed by random acts of taxation from every direction.

I’ll finish tonight with one of the most dismal statistics I have found: In 2010, close to 47% of households paid no federal income tax. Many of these people even received tax returns…when they paid nothing. One must stand on their head to comprehend this kind of stuff---and there is so much more in Washington D.C. to view from upside down.

993.1 miles to go.