Whitney Houston's Death: How About Some Perspective?; Obama's Budget: DOA; Military Retirees To Take Hit In This Proposed Budget; Can Santorum Pull It Off; Who Is On SI's Cover? See Below; Will Peyton Manning End Up in Your City?

Have you noticed Romney doesn't even blow dry his hair anymore? He dries it naturally from Rick Santorum breathing down his neck. Leno

• I'm not going to re-hash my commentary on the death of Whitney Houston. If you're interested, you can read the piece I posted yesterday about her. But I do want to just make one additional comment about her passing: And that's simply this: what about some perspective? What do I mean by that? Just check out the images above. Need I say more?

• Almost everyone agrees that the budget Pres. Obama submitted yesterday is dead-on-arrival (And remember, while the administration will hammer the Republicans for being obstructionist with regard to this budget, his own party has not passed a budget in the Senate now for more than 3 years. In fact, last year, the president's budget was voted down 97-0. Even his own party didn't support it.  Keep that in the back of your mind when he throws those darts at the Republicans).
• There are a plethora of reasons why this budget is DOA and just really, really bad. For one, it includes almost $1.6 trillion in tax increases, including eliminating Bush's tax cuts. When projected, the budget will increase the national debt from about $15 trillion and some change to over $26 trillion in the next 10 years (since these are government estimates, know they usually "underestimate" projections). And just as disturbing, military retiree benefits will take a major hit if this budget were passed.  For example, with TRICARE alone (TRICARE is military health care), the cost to retirees will quadruple from about $520 per year to just under $2,500 a year. As retired Vice Admiral Norb Ryan stated, "...{this proposed budget} is a significant breach of faith with those who have already completed arduous careers of 20-30 years." (And just now over the Bloomberg Wires, in order to meet Obama's budget mandates, the Pentagon is reporting it might have to force military personnel out of the Service). In addition, this budget also eliminates tax breaks for oil, gas and coal companies (Real nice. So put the kibosh to any new exploration by making it that more expensive. And who does the White House think will have to pick up the extra cost?)  Tax deductions and tax breaks would be limited to 28%. Taxes will increase in big banks (you think you have large fees now, you ain't seen nothin' yet if this budget ever sees the light of day).

• And if this does not make you angry already, maybe this will. You know that Egypt has been holding about 19 Americans hostage for several weeks now (although you'd never know it by watching our media). Do you know this budget still has a line item of $1.3 billion for Egypt? If I'm lyin', I'm dyin'. (sources for all above: Yahoo News, Powerline, NY Post, USA TODAY, The Fiscal Times)
• So how bad is this budget proposal really? USA TODAY's editiorial described it this way: "Obama's Spending Plan Leaves The Debt Bomb Ticking." (However, in the body of the piece, they make a lot of excuses for the administration. I think a letter to the editor is warranted).
• There are several polls now showing that Santorum is besting Romney nationally. Even Public Policy is reporting their polling shows Santorum leading in Michigan and Michigan was considered a lock for Romney (Remney's father was the gov there many years ago). But should long-shots surprise anyone? You don't have to do retreat to ancient American history to see long-shots indeed do have a shot in America. For example, in 2008, who would have thought Obama would beat the Clinton machine? Not many. And almost 20 years earlier, an small state governor by the name of Bill Clinton, beat George Bush 1. The point is clear: when you hear the pundits making projections about anything in politics, they are wrong---a lot.
• From "The Typical Progessive File." "We need to love and respect all cultures and religions?---except Christianity. "Celebrate Diversity"---Except Conservatives. "Hates Capitalism"---but sends their children to private liberal arts colleges that cost more than a nice split-level home ( even in today's market). "Hates Big Corporations" but is religiously devoted to Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Androids, etc.  And also hates them until they get the first job offer from Wall Street "Protests Against the 1%" but says nothing of Michael Moore, Soros, rich Democrat politicians, and Hollywood (much of this courtesty of a poster I saw on Facebook.)

• I know many of my readers have been patiently awaiting who will be on the 2012 SI Swimsuit Edition. The beauty is pictured above. My, my!

• If you live in any of the following cities and your a die-hard NFL fan, you might have a shot at the guy above:  Miami Dolphins, Washington Redskins, and Seattle Seahawks. But then again, he just might stay in Indy.