Day449 Monday 11/21/11

ran 5.2 miles
"After months of hard work and intense deliberations, we have come to the conclusion today that it will not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement available to the public before the committee’s deadline."

---Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) of the debt Super Committee appointed to find $1.5 trillion in debt savings over a ten-year period.

There’s tax dollars hard at work. I’m not sure how much money the members of the Superbly Challenged Committee earned while sitting in boardrooms staring at one another achieving nothing, but I’m sure it was a lot. And after all was said and done the profound quote stated above was the final collective summation of these undeserving members of Congress’ misspent toils.

That quote above is possibly the dumbest and most insulting message they could have contrived. Maybe that has been what they’ve been up to all this time…coming up with the most ridiculous thing they could think of to say to the Americans they represent. It’s like saying, “After months of hard work and intense deliberations, we have come to the conclusion today that it is not possible to stick a square peg with one-inch sides into a circular hole with a one-inch diameter before the committee’s deadline. But thanks for the million dollars you paid us to reach this determination.”

Huffington Post published a poll today that found Congress currently has a 9% approval rating. Concluding that these were unacceptably low numbers, HuffPo took the liberty of comparing the 9% to other low approval ratings. For example, 11% of Americans approve of polygamy, 30% of Americans approve of pornography, the idea of America becoming a communist nation received 11%, banks earned 23% approval, and the BP oil spill got a 16% approval rating. The IRS had 40% approval in 2009. The Airline Industry and Lawyers have 29% in 2011. Nixon during Watergate had 23% approval. Paris Hilton has 15% approval. And finally, Hugo Chavez in 2007 matches Congress at 9% in 2011.

728.2 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day84.

Day448 Sunday 11/20/11

ran 1.7 miles
Now that is refreshing. Even Chris Matthews is pointing out how flawed, disingenuous and unmotivated our president is. This man could be a pioneer in a possible mass-movement liberal media renaissance of enlightenment. Probably not, but I certainly enjoyed watching that video. There has been a lot of buzz for a long time about Obama being encouraged to step down for the sake of the Democratic Party, to be replaced by none other than Hillary Clinton. The gears may be grinding on a new Democratic machine.

Today ends week sixty-four of running against Obama. I ran 17.2 miles this week, averaging 2.46 miles per day.

In a story from the National Journal, written by Michael Catalini, he courts Hillary into the bigger picture and the title speaks for itself: “Democratic Pollsters: Obama Should Abandon Run for Second Term”. Two one-time Democratic pollsters, Patrick H. Caddell and Douglas E. Schoen, suggest Barack Obama should not run for a second term, as Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson had decided not to, even though they could have.

Caddell was a pollster for Jimmy Carter and Schoen was a pollster for Bill Clinton. They both agree that “He (Obama) should abandon his candidacy for re-election in favor of a clear alternative, one capable not only of saving the Democratic Party, but more important, of governing effectively and in a way that preserves the most important of the president's accomplishments. He should step aside for the one candidate who would become, by acclamation, the nominee of the Democratic Party: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.”

The two pollsters argued one year ago that if Barack Obama pursued his excessively partisan path, the nation would be further divided and Congress would be gridlocked at the worst possible time.

“The result has been exactly as we predicted: stalemate in Washington, fights over the debt ceiling, an inability to tackle the debt and deficit, and paralysis exacerbating market turmoil and economic decline,” Caddell and Schoen wrote.

733.4 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day83.

Day447 Saturday 11/19/11

Politico

ran 0.1 miles
Rocky Twyman, self-proclaimed “prayer warrior”, suggests Barack Obama should drop a knee like Tim Tebow and break into prayer as he travels from state to state and speaks. Twyman, of Baltimore’s Rising Sun Baptist Church, led a “Pray at the Pump” movement to seek God’s intervention to lower gas prices.

“We have never heard him PUBLICLY thank God for allowing him to become the first black United States president or for awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize after being in office for only 10 days. I dare President Obama to start publicly praising God at his upcoming campaign stops and State of the Union speech. Such acts will result in prosperity for a nation that is on the verge of a financial and spiritual collapse.”

Rocky Twyman

This country, our America, is fading away, pulled apart and divided, and I also, in a less boisterous manner than Twyman, firmly believe it would be a uniting gesture to bring this country back together on a spiritual level. In fact, I think his numbers would soar if he would make a humble act of this nature. Bend a knee, thank God for your blessings, and pray for your nation’s future.

“I and many of my prayer warriors firmly believe that the Obama administration would be able to solve the serious unemployment and economic problems facing this nation if he gave praise and glory to God publicly for the blessings that he has received as president.”

Rocky Twyman

735.1 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day82.

Day446 Friday 11/18/11

ran 2.0 miles
Here are some stats and polls from Rasmussen Reports:

• Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 20% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 40% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a presidential index rating of –20.

• Overall, 44% of voters at least somewhat approve of Obama’s performance while 54% at least somewhat disapprove.

• Among American voters, 69% say the federal government does not have the right to require the purchase of health insurance.

• Only 25% of Americans believe government bailouts were good for America.

• Reaching a new high, 65% oppose automatic citizenship for babies born in America to illegal immigrants.

735.2 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day81.

Day445 Thursday 11/17/11

Iowa Republican Caucus poll from Rasmussen Reports:
Gingrich 32%
Romney 19%
Cain 13%

ran 1.7 miles
Here are some stats and facts about the state of Virginia (to check out stats and facts about more states click on “states of the union” on the right):

• Virginia was the tenth state to join the union on June 25, 1788, one month before New York and four days after New Hampshire.

• Population, as of 2010, is 8,001,024.

• Senators are Mark Warner (D) and Jim Webb (D).

• Representatives are Rob Wittman (R), Scott Rigell (R), Robert Scott (D), Randy Forbes (R), Robert Hurt (R), Robert Goodlatte (R), Eric Cantor (R), James Moran (D), Morgan Griffith (R), Frank Wolf (R), and Gerald Connolly (D).

• Virginia has thirteen electoral votes. Historically, the state has voted almost exclusively blue from Reconstruction through 1948. From 1952 through 2004, Virginia had voted exclusively red except for Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Barack Obama defeated John McCain 53% to 46% in 2008.

737.2 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day80.

Day444 Wednesday 11/16/11

$15 TRILLION!!!

ran 1.4 miles
Now that’s a mile marker worth mentioning. Today our national debt raised the bar on disappointment. If that’s not enough to cast a black cloud over our collective American future, here is something else---the Fed was recently audited for the first time in its nearly one hundred year history. Turns out that between December of 2007 and June of 2010, $16 trillion (yes, $16,000,000,000,000.00) was spent bailing out world banks, corporations, and governments. The deeper this rabbit hole goes the more daunting the task becomes of making sense of anything. $16 trillion is $1 trillion more than our national debt! And this money was spent all over the world while America has plenty of its own problems. Check out this article. There are tables of where this money in the hundreds of billions by hundreds of billions went. This audit was led by Ron Paul, Alan Grayson, Jim DeMint, and Bernie Sanders. This is Bernie Sanders’ Senate webpage and it has more information on this abuse of common sense.

738.9 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day79.

Day443 Tuesday 11/15/11

ran 4.0 miles
Here is an astonishingly disappointing portion of the American electorate. I think we might be in...month three now, maybe, with OWS and these people have obviously got nothing better to do. I'd like to stand on a soap box for a couple of months and scream my grievances but I am more interested in maintaining what I work so hard for presently and setting goals for my future. And, after all this time, Barack Obama has done nothing to calm down this motley crew. His silence enables them.

On a lighter note, here are some stats and polls from Rasmussen Reports:

• Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 25% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 40% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a presidential index rating of –15.

Our president has been gaining some points in the last couple weeks. Three or four weeks ago he was between –20 and –23.

• Overall, 49% of voters at least somewhat approve of Obama’s performance while 51% at least somewhat disapprove.

• The Generic Congressional Ballot shows that Republicans and Democrats are tied at 41%. For the two entire previous years Republicans have led every single week until now.

The tides seem to be changing. We are still far away from the election but these numbers are interesting. What changed? Occupy Wall Street? Foreign matters? The economy and domestic policy are still nonplussing factors in our president’s equation.

• A generic Republican candidate holds a slight lead in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida over Barack Obama.

• Leading up to the Supreme Court reviewing the constitutionality of Obama’s health care plan, a majority of voters favor its repeal.

740.3 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day78.

Day442 Monday 11/14/11

ran 6.3 miles
Legendary game-show host Chuck Woolery has been busy “solving America’s problems one trillion dollars at a time”. He has released a series of videos taking on issue after issue with both seriousness and farce. The particular video above actually makes a great point. If people like Warren Buffet and Matt Damon would like to raise taxes on themselves and others who earn absurdly large sums of money, why wait for a stalemated congress or an executive order from a president. They can give as much money as they would like as many times as they would like by simply logging onto www.treasurydirect.gov and giving whatever amount of money they feel is efficient. Lead by example.

If you can believe it, people actually do donate money to the cause of our national debt. After already being taxed, certain individuals give even more. Last year alone $3,277,369.23 was donated. The six years before that received at least over one million dollars per year.

Lead us Buffet. Lead us Damon. If you want to pay more taxes here is your opportunity to be pioneers in this movement. You can trust the government. They will put that money to good use.

Keep up the good work, Chuck!

744.3 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day77.

Day441 Sunday 11/13/11

ran 3.2 miles

Today ends week sixty-three of running against Obama. I ran 26.0 miles this week, averaging 3.71 miles per day.

I’ve been endorsing Herman Cain for a long time now. What attracts me to Mr. Cain’s ideas are his business experience, his direct approach to fixing the economy, the fact that he has never been an elected official, and I have one last selfish desire. Of all the candidates before us, Herman Cain is the man I want to see debate Barack Obama when that time comes. I believe Cain to be the most competent and able, passionate and driven, effective and direct means to exploit through debate to America exactly how unacceptable so many of Barack Obama’s decisions and actions have been during his presidency.

This is the way I see it. This is what I think is crippling America and this is what I think needs to happen. Our economy is the spine of our nation. As with a human body, if the spine becomes too injured or crippled to allow the rest of the body to work, paralysis occurs. America’s proverbial spine is degenerating and has been for a long time. Herman Cain has taken nearly bankrupted companies and flipped them right side up into a position of profitability. Our current president is spending us into oblivion. There is no other word to describe the amount of money this man is spending than to use an incomprehensible word like oblivion. But, all the while, we continue to give money to so many other countries that despise us while we have plenty of troubles of our own here on our own soil. America is the most taxed nation on Earth for conducting business and an excess of rules and regulations make it that much harder for existing businesses to thrive and for new businesses to begin.

There are a lot of issues out there that are up for debate but the point I am trying to make is that if we do not revitalize the ability of our spine, or our economy, to once again twist and turn and spark with life, to work the way it is intended to work, what else matters without that one, most important foundation?

Everyone gets health care now? Cool. Good luck with that in a crumbling economy. Gays can openly join the military. Awesome. I’m sure their families and partners would be a lot happier for them back home if more jobs were available and there were brighter plans for their financial futures. Abortion? Yeah, that’s a pretty important one. The economy is just going to have to wait until we can settle Roe vs. Wade. Stimulus packages? Obama is on his way to outspending every single president in American history combined…in the middle of an economy like this. Our president is pretty good at killing terrorists. I’ll give him that. But why don’t we quit giving the countries that harbor them hundreds of millions of dollars each year?

I like Herman Cain for President in 2012 because I believe he will cure our economy, which is the most important factor in our complicated American equation of issues. Worried about foreign affairs? Cain lacks experience here, but Barack Obama did, too. That is what Cabinet members, Ambassadors, and Generals are for, as Cain mentioned. As does every other president who has served, he will surround himself with worthy and capable individuals who are able to assist him with whatever issues need to be dealt with.

Again, the one most important issue in the 2012 election is whether to keep our economy bedridden with injury or too heal it and get it back on its feet. Every other issue will follow.

"It's the economy, stupid."

750.6 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day76.

Day440 Saturday 11/12/11

ran 4.6 miles
As listed on the Drudge Report regarding Occupy Wall Street:

• Dead man in Salt Lake City…

• Tuberculosis in Atlanta…

• “Zuccotti Lung” on Wall Street…

• Suicide in Vermont…

• Murder in Oakland…

As quoted by Rudy Giuliani:

"I believe that Barack Obama owns the Occupy Wall Street movement. It would not have happened, it would not have happened but for his class warfare. And remember, as it gets worse and worse because it's going to get worse and worse, where it came from. Barack Obama. He praised it. He supported it. He agrees with it. He sympathizes with it. And as it gets worse and worse, I believe this will be the millstone around Barack Obama's neck that will take his presidency down."

To compare OWS to the Tea Party is absurd. The Tea Party has a commonsense agenda and a clear path to acquire their goals, which was defined and heeded to during the midterm elections last year. While OWS is a swelling Petri dish of rioting, vandalism and utter chaos, coughing and hacking their way to nowhere, impeding their own long-term futures by behaving like debauched satyrs in a Dionysian forest of concrete and commerce, the Tea Party peacefully and calmly, with distinguished organization, made their point and achieved the results they desired.

What will OWS achieve? I think many of those who sacrificed time away from whatever it was they were doing before, which could not have been too important because they are now living in tents, enduring filth and the elements, will be filled with a huge sense of disappointment and disdain very soon. And this disappointment and disdain will be for Barack Obama, the superficial celebrities who made disingenuous appearances, Mayors and other political figures who allowed this farce to rage forward, and the media that daily bolstered their cause, just to name a few. There will be regret and it will arrive in the form of eventually rejoining American society and looking for a job. If they never find the happiness, contentment, and pride that comes with earning and providing for themselves, the liberation from a federal government who wants to convince them that they can achieve nothing by themselves, and if they never discover how to shake the shackles of socialistic ideas off their wrists, it will be a shame. They would be victims of what happens when a radical, leftist president implements the ideas that are currently failing so miserably all around us in other countries.

753.8 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day75.

Day439 Friday 11/11/11

ran 3.4 miles

This past week held numerous elections across the American landscape and some of these elections proved to be resourceful in getting a feel for how America as a whole feels about America as a whole. Ohio was a pivotal state as unions fought for collective bargaining rights and the state also voted on whether Ohioans should have the freedom to choose their own health care providers and plans. Despite the bad math and deficits, Ohio chose to repeal the state government’s plan to reduce spending by tightening the screws on collective bargaining rights, however, they did send a slap to the face of Barack Obama, loudly making him aware that they do not agree with his health care legislation.

But, even louder was the message Virginia sent to Barack Obama’s 2012 hopes of being a two-term president. In an article from the Wall Street Journal, by Kimberley A. Strassel, she commented, “Mr. Obama was the first Democrat to win Virginia since 1964; he beat John McCain by seven percentage points; and he did so on the strength of his appeal to Northern Virginia's many white-collar independents. Along with victories in North Carolina, Colorado and Nevada, the Obama Old Dominion win in 2008 inspired a flurry of stories about how Democrats had forever altered the political map.”

In the last six months, the Obama campaign has hosted approximately 1,600 events in Virginia in an effort to win its people over on both the state and federal level. Virginia was part of Obama’s bus tour (the Death Star) in October. Now that the votes in Virginia have been counted, Democrats have officially failed monumentally, wasting much of their time and money that could have been spent deceiving others elsewhere.

“Virginia Republicans added seven new seats to their majority in the House of Delegates, giving them two-thirds of that chamber's votes—the party's largest margin in history. The GOP also took over the Virginia Senate in results that were especially notable, given that Virginia Democrats this spring crafted an aggressive redistricting plan that had only one aim: providing a firewall against a Republican takeover of that chamber. Even that extreme gerrymander didn't work.”

Kimberley A. Strassel

Every single Republican incumbent won. There were fifty-two in the House and fifteen in the Senate. This will be only the second time in Virginian history that Republicans claim control of state government since the Civil War. And this on the heels of Republican Governor Bob McDonnell being elected in 2009 and three U.S. House Democrats being ousted in the 2010 midterm elections.

“Elected state Democrats—who form the backbone of grass-roots movements—couldn't distance themselves far enough from Mr. Obama in this race. Most refused to mention the president, to defend his policies, or to appear with him. The more Republicans sought to nationalize the Virginia campaign, the more Democrats stressed local issues.”

Kimberley A. Strassel

This is a loud message Virginia has sent to Barack Obama and liberals in D.C. If Virginia is any barometer of how the rest of the country feels then Barack Obama has a lot more work to do. And considering everything he and the Democratic Party exhausted in Virginia, to no avail, good luck, Mr. Obama. Fool us once, shame on us; fool us twice, shame on you.

758.4 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day74.

Day438 Thursday 11/10/11

ran 3.2 miles
Just in case you might have been under the impression that Barack Obama was a guaranteed one-term president after his dismal performance so far, don’t ever assume that to be the case. Beyond what you may think, give or take a couple of percentage points, half of this country pays federal income tax and the other half does not. I think that statistic says a lot, and the only slight minority of those who do not pay federal taxes is exponentially growing and catching up with those who do earn enough money to pay federal taxes. When that slight minority catches and then surpasses, at a sprint, the old majority, logic and reason will all be abandoned and America will become the final competitive nation to go down the path that so many other countries went down and failed at utterly. But there will be no one to bail us out as we had bailed others out. We will be owned and the world will have a new super power.

Barack Obama is not a stupid man. He is extremely intelligent, calculating, and charismatic. I think he knows exactly what he is doing. I do not think he has made one single mistake, at least not in his eyes, and I think he is laying down the foundation for an America that most have only read about in books and left alone as a mere matter of fiction.

The choice America makes on November 6, 2012, will be bigger than any words can explain. It will be an epic intersection in American history where we will, as one nation, reluctantly either turn left or right, and there will not be an exit to turn around at for a long time in either direction.

761.8 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day73.

Day437 Wednesday 11/09/11

ran 3.7 miles

Click on the chart for a better view to see how ridiculous it is every time a Democrat compares OWS to the Tea Party.

765.0 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day72.

Day436 Tuesday 11/08/11

ran 4.3 miles

Today was filled with a lot of important news.

• Herman Cain is standing with conviction against the sexual harassment claims against him and treating them with the absurdity they appear to possess as more and more information is revealed.

"I have never acted inappropriately with anyone, period. The charges and the accusations I absolutely reject: They simply didn't happen. They simply did not happen."

Herman Cain today at press conference in Phoenix, Arizona

"As far as these accusations causing me to back off and maybe withdraw from this primary race, ain't gonna happen, because I am doing this for the American people and for the children and the grandchildren."

Herman Cain today at press conference in Phoenix, Arizona

• For the first time in American history all radio and television broadcasts will be interrupted at 2 p.m. EST tomorrow as an Emergency Alert System test conducted by FEMA and FCC. For every legitimate reason these two government entities have for conducting this test there is an equally questionable reason why they are attempting to determine whether they have the power to completely interrupt or assume entire control of all radio and television broadcasts.

• Yesterday, during the G20 Summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama spoke candidly to one another about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not realizing their microphones were still on.

Sarkozy said, “I cannot stand him. He is a liar.”

Obama replied, “You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him everyday!”

There is some quality foreign policy.

• And finally, this is a really big deal, there was an election today in Ohio, which will set a precedent for the future of health care and the collective bargaining rights of unions. The results of this election will also give a useful reference point of where exactly this country stands regarding liberal and conservative ideas. Obamacare and collective bargaining rights for unions are obviously more liberal interests, while the freedom to choose your own health care provider and maintaining balanced state budgets are more conservative values. There are still many precincts that have not reported but at 8:16 pm here in Louisiana, the votes that have been turned in represent a landslide to keep union’s collective bargaining rights and to preserve the freedom of Ohioans to choose their health care providers and plans. A win for the unions and a loss for Obamacare.
  

768.7 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day71.