Category Archives: Government

The solution to the Arizona water problem.

Arizona, Government

Introduction

Arizona, Nevada and the Southwest US in general are dry places. They are also beautiful places with modern cities that people want to move to. 

Water usage is measured in acre feet. This is enough water to cover an acre of land 1 foot deep. An acre foot is enough to provide ample water to about 3 households for a full year. It is 325,851 Gallons, and most people in a typical Arizona household use about 100,000 gallons a year, and even less if they don’t have a yard. When we talk about an entire state we use the measure of million acre feet (MAF). A million acre feet per year is then 325,851,000,000 gallons of water used over a year, 892,742,465 gallons of water a day, 619960 gallons of water a minute or 10,332 gallons of water a second, enough to fill the average backyard pool.

Agricultural use of water is much higher per acre than municipal use. In face over 70% of the water used in Arizona is still for Agricultural use. An acre of suburbs that is built replaces an acre of farms, and for this reason Arizona actually uses less water each year, with the peak water usage being in the early 1980’s. We are currently using almost 30% less water today than we did back then. Most agricultural water users pay $20 or less per acre foot of water. Home users pay about $3.20 per 1000 gallons which would be over $1000 per acre foot. Of course that cost includes all purification and transportation of the water which is much more expensive than the water cost.

Arizona gets a bit over 1/3rd of its water from the Colorado River, however the groundwater table has been getting lower and lower so will not be able to sustain the current withdraw rate forever. For much of the last 20 years the Colorado has not been producing as much water as needed. This has caused the levels in lake mead (our main surface water storage) to go down. 2022 and 2023 were fairly wet years and usage has gone down, therefore the levels have restored quite a bit but most official websites have not been updated to show this. It is not as much of a priority by these agencies to get the word out now that the problem is not as bad.

It is impossible to measure the exact amount of water that is used, but a close estimate can be made. In the early 1980’s Arizona had peak water usage and was using about 9-9.5 MAF per year, after that there was a steady decline and for the last few years we have been currently using about 7 MAF, of which less than 2 MAF are being used by all municipal and industrial uses. This was during a time when our population has almost tripled.

What is the Colorado River Basin?

A basin is an area of land where all the water that falls in that area goes to a single body of water. The Colorado River Basin is the grey area on this map, any water that falls in this area will eventually make it to the Colorado river, it may first spend a long time as ground water. The only natural way water is added to this basin is when it comes from the sky. The basin is created by topography because water simply only goes downhill.

CAP

The central Arizona project is a 336 mile system of canals that brings Colorado river water to the central part of Arizona. Without it Phoenix would not be even half the size it is today. It took 20 years and $4 Billion to build it, paid for by the Federal government, signed into law by LBJ on Sept 30th 1968. Construction started in 1973 and finished in 1994, with upgrades and maintenance continuing to this day. Cap has the ability to transport 1.4 MAF per year to central Arizona, and storage capacity of 300,000 acre feet.

So how do we save Arizona?

There are only two solutions, use less or start with more. We need to attack the problem from both sides.

We are well on the way towards the use less solution, mostly giving dramatic cuts to the amount of water given to agriculture. The number one crop grown in Arizona is alfalfa, which is used to feed cattle and other animals. This crop can grow in other areas that are not so water stressed. The federal government has started giving farmers $521 per acre foot of water that they reduce their usage by, but this is an expensive program for the government.

Getting more water into the basin.

There has been talk of crazy ideas like a desalination plant in Mexico and piping the water up hill all the way to Phoenix, this idea is very expensive and could cause issues if our relationship with Mexico deteriorates.

If we are thinking of desalination a much better idea would be to have water swaps. Arizona would pay to build a plant near LA, and give .5 MAF of water to LA, then they would take .5 MAF less water from the famers of the imperial valley and then they could take .5 MAF less from the Colorado allowing CAP to take that water instead. Unfortunately the current policies of California will not allow for the building of any new desalination plants, desalination plants are expensive and use massive amounts of electricity.

Legacy desalination plant at Huntington Beach near LA.

So what about other sources of water. In most of the United States water is not nearly as scarce. In the Columbia river basin, for example, the vast majority of the clean pure water simply flows to the Pacific ocean. The snake river alone discharges 36 MAF per year into the Columbia river. The Columbia river discharges an average of 192 MAF into the Pacific Ocean. There is so much water that everyone on this water system has no fears of shortage, and prices of water for agriculture are at or near zero.

Aerial photo of mouth of the Columbia River discharging into the Pacific Ocean

Snake River

Lets look a bit more at the snake river. It is a major river, and it the border between Idaho and Oregon for much of their border. The water in the snake river is owned by the state of Idaho and managed by the federal government, more specifically by the army corps of engineers. Most of the 36 MAF per year of flow from the snake river happens more downstream, but at the point of the American Falls Reservoir the discharge is 7 MAF per year, and that the Palisades Reservoir the output is close to 6 MAF per year.

The Green River

Now let’s look at the green river. It is a 730 mile river that starts near the grand Tetons and discharges about 4.5 MAF into the Colorado river each year just south of Moab Utah. It is big enough to handle additional water. All we need to do is move water from the Snake river to the Green River.

The Green Snake Project

So how would we move water from the snake river to the green river. The easiest way would be to build a pipeline at lake Palisades (elevation 5600 ft) near Alpine Junction Wyoming to the headwaters of the green river near Daniel Wyoming, where highway 191 and 189 meet. Daniel is a small village with a population of just 150 people and an elevation of 7200 ft. The straight line distance between these two points is just 50 miles. You would have to go through the pass between Hoback Peak and Mt, McDougal. These two mountains are both around 10,800 in elevation. This is rugged and mountainous land, with almost no people. It will not be able to take a direct path and will likely need to be at least 70 miles long unless tunneling is involved.

The snake river at Alpine Junction, Wy

The starting part of the green river may not be able to handle all the extra water, but additional infrastructure can be built to make it happen. By the time the water gets to the Fontenelle dam it averages about .5 MAF per year, but the powerplant at that dam can 1.2 MAF per year, while the dam itself and the river beyond it can handle 1.6 MAF per year. This means we could move an additional 1.1 MAF per year into this river system without significant improvements to existing infrastructure. With a $100M or less of improvements it could easily handle over 2.5 MAF of extra capacity.

View of the river overlooking Daniel Wyoming

The water will be carried all the way down to the Colorado river and then into our lakes, and eventually can be used by the thirsty cities and CAP. As the water goes down the Colorado river it will encounter many different reservoirs and dams which will generate much more electricity than it takes to move the water over the mountain range. It will also fill up every dam and reservoir below it over time. 2.5 MAF could go missing from the snake river annually and not even be noticed by the people who live on the river. Not all of the water will make it to Arizona, some will be used, some will evaporate and some will flow into ground water to fill it up first. We could easily expect to lose 40% of the water we put into the system, but this water will serve to help communities all along the river system.

Costs

The cost to build such a pipeline and pump station will likely be over $300 million. While the cost of water near the snake river is about $5 per acre foot, making an acre foot worth about $5M dollars, the value to Arizona is closer to $250 per acre foot while the federal government has set the price of water in AZ to $521 per acre foot. If we move 2.5 MAF of water that is a positive value add of over half a billion dollars per year, paying off the entire cost to build it in the first year. This is a drop in the bucket companied to the economic impact of not having to worry as much about water. Billions of dollars of new construction can be built, tourism at the lakes will increase and have a huge impact on their local economy.

Politics

Of course water is always a hot topic, and taking this much water from people who have come to expect it is going to be hard, even if they have so much they will hardly notice the withdraws. There are really only two ways to do it, either have the Federal government decide that it is more important for the SW to have the water, and they can just pass a new law. The other option is that Arizona, Nevada and other parties can buy this water and pay Idaho for it. Idaho can sell this water and create an even larger state surplus of funds, it can also be used to add additional water infrastructure in the state. You could also do a mix of the two. The current value of 1 MAF the water to Idaho is under $5 dollars, if we offered 10 times that much it would likely dissolve most resistance as long as that money was shared correctly with those that are harmed.

To get something like this to pass we need people to promote it. To make it easier promote we should all use the same name for this project, I felt that an obvious choice would be the Green Snake Project. People in power to make such choices need to become aware of this option.

Alternatives:

It would also be more politically viable and maybe even less costly option to follow existing highway systems. You could get water from the snake river near lake Walcott, at this point the snake river is larger and lower after having been fed by a few other rivers. You then could move the water on a pipeline along I-84 south to I-15 and then down south of ogden UT and back along I-84 until you reach I-80 and then release the water near Granger Wyoming. This would be a nearly 300 miles.

Another middle option would be to start near Pocatello ID you could take highway 30 to and release the water just north of Granger Wyoming which is just under 200 miles of pipeline. The benefit of either of these paths is that they go through the Salt Lake basin allowing you to release some water for the salt lake city area if it is needed.

There are also some other projects that could be done to bring water to the thirsty desert. Another barely viable project would be to take water from the Caballo Reservoir on the Rio Grande River near Caballo New Mexico and move it to the Gila river near Cliff New Mexico. The Gila river flows directly into the Phoenix metro area and then eventually to the Colorado river. This is much flatter land, but it is also long with a distance of about 100 miles. The biggest problem with this plan is that the flow of the Rio Grande at this point is too small, reserves are lower right now than even in Arizona and the current cost for an acre foot of land is actually higher than Arizona at this time.

Next Steps

The next step is to share this article with people in power. Most people don’t have the attention span to read even this short article, so a video should be made explaining all of these points in graphic form, such a video could be shared on social media and online, bringing this idea to the world.

About the Author

Jason Dragon is an Arizona native, a small business owner, and a Realtor. He has seen firsthand the beauty of our state, the massive water flows of the snake river and the policy impact of drought. He runs a computer hardware recycling company and has always had an interest in environmental protection, and of course making things green. The green snake project would make Phoenix and the surrounding areas much more green.

Jason Dragon, on the banks of the Snake River at Idaho Falls, ID

Credits:

Sources: www.arizonawaterfacts.com, nps.gov, www.cap-az.com, www.wbur.org, www.desertsun.com,

Images courtesy of: Shannon 1, WyGJim, Jason Dragon, arizonawaterfacts.com, cowboystatedaily.com

Understanding the divide

blogs, Bootstrap, Business, concepts, Entrepreneurship, Government, Inspiration, The World

The natural drive of people is different but can generally put into two categories.  There are some people who are driven to survive and others who are driven to succeed.  When it comes to life there are two vastly different attitudes that exist.  It is based on what you want out of life.  Do you want to be someone who wants to reach for the stars, make your dreams happen and take risks to do it, or are you the second type the ones that want to survive, have a happy life that you can enjoy.  This fundamental difference in attitude creates our great debate of how society should be structured.   Countless movies and books have been made about this subject.

In most of the world the survive mentality has taken hold.  People work to just earn enough so that they can live.  People want to be taken care of, they want to have a “fair” society, they work, and give a large amount of their earnings to the government, in exchange the system gives them guaranteed housing, food, health care, and leisure.   For people who lack ambition this is the dream society.  And of course, billions of people on this planet love the idea.  But then there are other people.  Men and women of who have a dream to be better than the norm, to make an impact on the world.  They want to build an empire and make it or fail on their own merit.  They want the government to stay out of their way. 

America was created by the dreamers and the ambitious, the people who came to America did so because of the promise that it offered.  Even though the ambitious are in the minority of the world population, they were the vast majority in the USA.  That is how we became exceptional, that is how we became the most successful nation in the history of the world.  This is how we became great.  The idea of a great America was not the idea it was great for everyone, but the idea that it is great for the ambitious, the dreamers, the empire builders.   And that has been taken away from us, little by little over the last 100 or so years.   But the seed that was sown into our great nation is being strangled.  American attracted the best, the boldest of the world.  Our nation was built on the idea that anyone here could rise above where they were born and build their Empire.  This is why New York is called the Empire state, it was the place to go to have the ultimate freedom and connections to be successful, and if anywhere has fallen the most it must be New York. 

The idea of empire is in jeopardy from the other group.  The millions who came here, not due to ambition, but by the desire to survive.  Some were forced to come long ago, others came from the poverty of the world not looking to build something but just because anything was better than where they were from.  The largest part of those who don’t go after ambition are the children who grew up in this prosperity, who had everything handed to them, who were told that everything they did was great.  They want a country that takes care of them.  It is sad now that for most ambition and the dreams of empire no longer exist.  They simply want to live a life where everything is given to them.  Then at the same time they see the rich, and the successful and they form tons of envy, they want that handed to them also, they talk of wealth inequality or injustice of every type.  They think life should be fair, but for them they are already well better off than the average human on this planet.  They have no idea how it is to live in India, or Africa, and how most people on the earth fight every day to survive, and yet we have a generation that is unhappy they can’t earn $15 an hour for almost no contribution to society, they are unhappy that they can’t have a nice car, a nice phone and still live in a nice house without working a decent job. 

Then we have an election, it is a very stark difference, on one side we have the people who believe in American exceptionalism and the idea that America should be a great place to build your empire.  Many people believe in this even they are personally too timid to ever do it for themselves, but they want the option to be there, for them or their kids.  On the other side we have the people who think that America should be a place that gives everyone what they need, no matter their contribution to society, that we need to be a fair and just society, where the rich pay for those who just want to live a life of leisure, they want a living wage enforced by the government and they want all of their creature comforts paid for and guaranteed no matter what they contribute to society.    It is a stark difference, and the way things are going we need to pray for the future of our nation. 

The American Dream Act

Government, Real Estate, , ,

So there is a voters initiative going around in Arizona, called the American Dream Act.  This act would remove property taxes off of any citizen over the age of 65.  On the face of it, you may be willing to support this effort, as I was, but after just a little thought about it, it is clear that this must be defeated.  Being a Realtor, I have a high degree of interest and knowledge in this subject.

First we must look at how property tax is calculated in Arizona.  First the county accessor figures out how much every property in that county is worth.  It can only go up at a small rate each year, so properties that have not changed hands in a long time are valued much less than they should be.  The amount the county says a property is worth is the Full Cash Value, then we have the Limited Property Value.  The property can go up any amount but the LPV can only go up 5% per year.  So in the last 8 years most property has gone up much more than 5% per year, but the LPV is a benefit for people who still own the same house.  The LPV gets reset to the FCV when the property is sold.  On an owner occupied single family residence the tax is based on 10% of the LPV Value this is called the assessed LPV.   Most commercial buildings are assessed at 18% of the LPV Value.  Empty land and investment property is 15%, Senior living centers are also 15%.  Schools and churches are even 15% though churches can apply to be exempt. 

So if you are a taxing body you send the amount you need to raise to the assessor’s office.  They then add up the Assessed LPV of all the properties in your jurisdiction and divide that by the amount you need to raise, and those properties are assessed that amount.  So lets say you are school district, you need $10 million to run your school.  Your district has $2 billion in Assessed LPV then that would mean for each $100 in Assessed property value a property has they will have a property tax obligation of 50 cents.  So if the home in that district is worth $200,000 and has an LPV of $120,000, then an assessed LPV of $12,000 that person will owe $60 to that school district.   Then we have layers and layers of different taxing bodies, each with different borders and different amounts.  This is a large task, mostly done by computers now, but after figuring out everything a bill is sent out for each property with a list of each taxing body they are paying tax to and how much.  All of this data is public record for every property.     For example a home in Sun City that is worth $173k has an assessed LPV of $10,376.  They have a tax obligation to three taxing districts, $102 to pay for Maricopa County Community Colleges, $342 to pay for Fire service in Sun City, and $70 to pay for Street Lighting improvements.  This is only $5 per $100 in Assessed LPV.

So lets say we make all senior citizen property owners tax exempt then they won’t pay these taxes any longer, BUT they still we be paid, the assessor will just have the remaining properties pay a higher amount.  So lets say this bill passed, and in sun city about 70% of the properties are owned by someone over the age of 65.  The rest are churches, businesses, property that is rented and such.  So in order for those 70% to pay nothing the rest must pay over 3 times as much as they are paying now because the tax base has shrunk. 

Imagine you are a business in Sun City, you already are assessed at 18% instead of 10% on the value of your property, but now that amount will go way up due to a smaller base.  If you own a building worth $500,000 which would be a small business, you already are paying on an assessed LPV of $90,000, about 9 times as much as the average home. If we use the same amount of $5 per 100 in LPV we would expect a tax of $4,500 for this small business per year.  If the base is shrunk by 70% this business will see a tax INCREASE of OVER $10,000 to over $15,000 per year.  This sort of thing can make the difference of that business staying in business or failing. 

Imagine you are renter in Sun City, you live in a nice home, or senior living and you rent from a landlord.  This property is also not exempt.  You may not directly pay property tax, but it is part of your rent, and if it goes up your landlord will surly pass it on to you eventually.  Lets say it is an average house with a $700 a year tax obligation, and lets say that 70% of the property value in sun city becomes non taxable, your new tax is over $2300 per year, about $135 more per month.   Let’s think about who rents, usually these are the most fragile, and poorest among us, the people who can least afford a tax increase. 

Because this new law is not means tested that means you will get the benefit no matter how much you make or are worth, but a renter, or someone who is just out of college struggling to pay their bills, or that small business will pay for your benefit.  You lived a good life, you are reaping the rewards of home ownership and now you want more benefits on the backs of those that can least afford it. 

If you are for this still for this, and your reasoning is that taxes are bad and that taxes are theft, I am with you.  But this will just shift the taxes to people who have a hard time already.  Furthermore, the senior population is with us on this cause to lower taxes, and once their taxes are gone they will no longer care about lowering property taxes, this will lead to even higher taxes.

If you are still for this because it will put money in your pocket, have a heart and care about the rest of the population, you had a good life, you own a home, you are ahead of most people, the generation that is coming up has it much harder than you had it.  

Luckily for me I live in Peoria, where the senior population is much lower than sun city, but if this was to pass it would still be a fairly large impact because I own a business also that pays a lot in property taxes but I have never minded them because I see where the money goes and those are things that I support.  But I don’t want to pay more than my fair share. 

When the Founders said “democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what’s for dinner” this is EXACTLY what they had in mind.

So I implore you to not sign petitions for this, and if it makes it on the ballot vote against it.   Unless of course you only care about yourself and are greedy then do what you want.  

Presidents in the age of the extreme.

Government, Inspiration, Politics, The World

For a long time now the country has been becoming more and more extreme.  You have people on both sides who listen to friends who think the same way they do, and maybe even more extremist.  Both sides have news networks and major blogs and publications that will support their point of view.   People see these stories and repost them, and their friends repost them, and the see them over and over in their feed.   This is the echo chamber effect.  What is being said is irrational.

I can tell you that I have never unfriended someone for having different political views, and I see both sides in my feed.  If you remove news that opposes your views you will be ill-informed.  You will only see one view, and that view gets more and more radical as time goes by because no other voice is there to bring rational thought.

This happened as Obama took office.  People on the left made him out to be their savior, that he would fix all of their social concerns.  People thought he would pay their bills, give them free health care.  There was so much hope in him that he was given the Noble Peace prize before he did much of anything.  On the right the same thing happened.  People kept saying he was the worst president ever.  People thought he would be the source of Socialism, Sharia Law,  FEMA Camps, death panels, martial law and much more.  They thought he would take their guns, promote abortions and generally destroy the economy and the nation as a whole.  Obama is NOT the savior and Obama is NOT destructor that so many memes and blogs made him out to be.

BUT this is ALSO true about Trump.  Most of those that loved Obama now hate Trump, most of those that hated Obama now love Trump with as much varicosity. All of these people protesting what could happen with Trump are misled by the media just as much as when Obama was given the Peace prize.  On the other side these people who think Trump is the savior are probably just as misled as when they thought Obama was the destroyer of our nation.

In retrospect Obama was a fairly weak, non-effective president.  He did not bring disgrace to his office as Clinton did but he did not inspire us like Reagan did.  He spent his first part fighting with the Dems and getting almost nothing done, and then the Dems were replaced by Republicans and then nothing of major importance got done.  He could only act by executive order.  Most of what he did was not majorly important to the vast population, and easily reversed because it was only an executive order and not a law.  His only major impact was Obama care.  Passed in the middle of the night on a holiday weekend using rules that were hardly fair.  It never should have passed.  But then it did have some positive effects, helping some get health care, but making it harder for others.  But it was not good economically, and most companies involved in it had major losses.  So it did have some good parts but a lot of bad also.  He ended up leaving office by going on a goodbye tour, going on TV shows and giving speeches.  It was nice when he was singing the national anthem when he arrived as his goodbye speech.
He seemed to be a good man, focusing on the prayers during Trumps inauguration.

Trump has been plagued by a media that is highly negative on one side.  They have been creating fear in their audience, and whipped them into a fervor. Resulting in protests that are on the verge of riots, smashing windows, and setting things on fire.  Fear is a very powerful motivator, just after Obama took office this fear fervor created the Tea Party movement, record gun sales (Because people thought Obama would stop sales any day), and grew the Republican party faster than any time in recent history.  The people who are anti trump, however, have much less respect for law and order than he people on the right did.  They will be much less peaceful than the right was.  They forget that people on the right spent the last 8 years buying guns, and gun laws have become much more free in right leaning states.
My prediction is that Trump will not do anything of consequence to hinder the LGBT community, he has shown that it is a non issue to him.  He loves and adores women, and will not trample their rights, no matter how much the liberal media has made you think he will.  Trump is very smart, and I honestly think he loves America and will do what he thinks is best for America.  The problem is that what he thinks is best is not what others think is best, but maybe his logic is correct.  He does not think we should let Muslims in during this time of ISIS, and I think he is correct, just as we were correct not to let Germans or Japanese in when we were at war with them.  I am not sure that the block on trade is a good idea, having studied economics so much, but it will bring more jobs in the short term.  I think a wall is a good idea, but when it is in the middle of nowhere I am not sure we need a real huge wall, just a fence with some good sensors.  Over half of our border is wilderness.

But I can agree totally that a smaller, less intrusive and less restrictive government will be better.  We do not need the government to be our nanny, we do not need them to tell us what to do and how to do it.  We also should not be babies and not put out our hand every time we are hungry or have any need.  We should be adults, standing or failing on our own efforts. The adults in our nation love this idea, but the ba
bies, the snowflakes hate it, they have grown up with it and will be forced to grow up without it, so they protest, just like any baby.

People should give Trump a chance to be a good person and not be what the liberal media makes them think he is, just liked they asked the opposite people 8 years ago when Obama took office.

The problem with me writing a story like this is that those on the left and those on the right will disagree with parts of this, causing no one to share or promote this article.  Lets see, I hope I am proven wrong, just like all those anti trump people will soon be, and all those Anti Obama people were.  This is the problem that happened with Glenn Beck.  At the start of Obama he came to fame feeding the echo chamber, and massed a huge following and created a media empire.  But recently he saw that this was part of the problem, and that it was dividing and not uniting our country.  Mr Beck has lost most of his followers and his empire because of this stance.  The people who consume the media want the extreme.  The more extreme a story is the more it will be shared and promoted, even though most of it is fake.  This is the key problem, they make money promoting and increasing the extremism even if it is clear it is tearing our nation apart.  My hope is that Trump will not do anything the left is afraid of, that he will make government leaner and fairer again and soon much of this extreme talk will subside, just as it did in the last few years for Obama.

 

Income Inequality in America

Business, concepts, Government, Inspiration, Money, Politics, The World

Recently there has been a lot of talk about income inequality in America.  There is some notion out there that it is ‘unfair’ for someone to make a lot of money.  The thing is that there are million of people working hard each day to get rich.  A few million people are entrepreneurs, people who take a risk and start a business, they hire people, come up with new ideas and in the mean time risk everything, and many of them fail, the best ones get up again and try again.  Many of them work for years without getting paid more than the people who work for them, some work a whole year and make nothing.  The stress about the business, the sales, the clients, and mostly about helping out the employees.  Why do they do all of this?  They do this because they have a dream, the dream to building something that will last, something they can give to their kids, and the dream of being rich.

So they work for decades and finally they are successful, they have a system that works and they are making good money, and they are now rich, making more money than any of their employees will earn in their lifetime.  These are the people that the pundits are calling the problem now, they took the risks and made the hard choices to put themselves in that position, and people look down on them for it.   It is a sad day in America where prosperity is a bad thing.

The main problem is that very few are educated now on how the economy works.  America is a great country, there still is a lot of opportunity here.  Someone can start with nothing, not even knowledge and learn in a short time how to do something useful for the economy, they can then work hard, and smart  and become successful in a short span of time.  I love to see how people come from other nations, nations where there is not much opportunity, and it is hard to get ahead, they come here and work hard, work smart and in a few years they are better off than most Americans.  And most Americans resent them for it, sad.

I think that a lot of this comes from the lack of education most Americans have about how the world really works.  Americans for the most part do not travel out side of the US.  In fact only 36% of Americans own a valid passport, and only 6% of Americans, on average, leave North America per year.  It is estimated that only 20% of Americans have ever left North America, and about a third of them did it while in the military.  Once you see how the world works, your understanding of how good things are here in America really changes.

The Philippines is a below average nation in wealth, with a per capita GDP of just about $3,000.  The average American makes more in 3 weeks than someone from the Philippines does in a year.  But they still need to spend on food and housing and many other things.  But no one there has an attitude of this being unfair, and that they should be given something for free.  That is a very American attitude.  They are thankful for what they have, they are happy for the most part, and everyone helps each other out.  If someone is in need the family and community helps them.  When they travel abroad, they come to work, because they know how they can make as much in a day here, as they do in a month there, they work hard, live simply and for that reason they usually have great success in the US and other nations.  If you earn $1000 a month there you are upper middle class.  People look at the wealthy there as something to aspire to become, not something to be taken down.

2015-08-23 10.50.40The attitude there is so much different and better than in the US.  In the US people feel entitled to free stuff, we are raising an entire generation who feel that if they don’t want to work they should have free health care, free food, free housing and free spending money just because they live here.  They feel that if they should bother working that they should make $15 per hour at least.  They have not yet seen the reality of the world.  Most Americans feel they need tons of money because they must have a $500 smart phone, with unlimited data, and they must have a nice big TV along with a big cable bill and of course, the most expensive of all they must have a car.  In almost all of the world a car is a luxury only the most wealthy have.   In most nations car ownership is under 15% of the population.  In our entitled society even the most poor among us feel that they need a car, and of course they should not pay for it.

I am a fair guy, I think that if you really can’t work that you still should be taken care of, I feel that the primary job of this should be done by charity, and that the successful among us should support such charity, but this is being done by the government, and we are forced, with threat of violence to support it, so we have become a less giving society.  I think that widows and orphans should be taken care of, given food and housing.  I think that the really disabled should be also taken care of.  In none of these cases should they be given money that they can spend on anything, but given vouchers for housing or food.  We need to redefine what a disability is, right now anyone with even a minor problem can be called disabled and get free money.  The vast majority of ‘disabled’ people could easily hold a job.  In fact many people who are getting free money from the government do hold jobs, they just work under the table, that is why the number of people working under the table or 1099 is now almost 1/3rd of the workforce, they want to work, but don’t want to mess up their free government money.  We have really gotten ourselves into a huge mess.  The problem is that about 1/3rd of the population is dependent on this system now.

We need to start to see things as they really are.  When you take money from someone who earns it without having the use of it and give it to someone who has it without earning it you are a thief.  You are teaching them both the wrong lesson, you are teaching the earner that they will be punished for doing well, most do it anyway because they still get to keep most of what they earn, but there is talk to make it more and more progressive of a tax if you earn more.  You are teaching the receiver that they can use the government to get them free stuff, that there is no need to better themselves and to work hard, that things will be handed to them.  This also puts the government in a morally wrong position, a position of being the thief, true everyone loves robin hood but he was still a thief.  This is on a much more massive scale.

I have no problem with a well run government to provide for the common defence, to build roads, and provide a good education, safe places to live and places to gather such as parks.  I even think that the wealthy enjoy such things more than others, and use such things to prosper themselves so they can pay a bit more.  I don’t think that there should be loopholes, the government should not use the tax policy to tell people what to do and what not to do.  But most of all I don’t think that they government should be taking money from one group and giving it to others as a wealth transfer.  Did you know that only 34% of our federal budget is spent to actually run the government, all the rest is used to move money around from one group to another.  Now to me that is what I call Unfair.  Some CEO who worked hard his whole life and makes a huge amount of money is ok by my, he worked hard to get there, he is likely providing much more in value than he costs or why would he be there.  But taking his money and transferring it is totally unfair.  Most people who are in favor of such transfers are usually the recipients of these transfers, or they hope to be.

I am sure that many will argue with this essay, they simply see the world differently than I do.  They usually have never owned a small business, have never traveled overseas, or they simply were raised with a different mindset.  People can rework stats and %’s to make almost any argument, all of my stats came from the most common official sources.

Let me close with a story I heard, if you have a bed to sleep in, a toilet that flushes, and a fridge to store your food you are in the richest 23% of the world population, if you have a computer or smartphone, now you are in the richest 17% and if you have a vehicle you now are in the richest 8% of the world population.  There are 6.4 billion people in the world, so 64 million people would make up the top 1%….of those 64 million people over 40 million of them live in the US.  If you live at the poverty line in the US, you are still in the top 5% of the world population.  If you live at half the poverty line in the US you are still richer than over 85% of the people on this planet.  So stop wining, and take advantage of the opportunity this nation provides, literally billions of people would do almost anything to be in your shoes.

Ted Cruz wins Iowa.

Government, Politics, ,

So tonight Ted Cruz won Iowa. First I want to make it clear that for many years now whatever republican Wins Iowa has NOT won the nomination. This year it may be different, this year it may be the same. Of all those running for president I think Ted is likely the one closest to the way I believe, BUT he has a few major problems. First, according to what I was taught and believe I feel that him being born in Canada makes him ineligible to be president. Second, I don’t like some of the more dirty things his campaign has done recently, such as the email telling people in Iowa that Carson was dropping out. Third, I totally dislike his tax plan. But with all of that I have watched all the debates, and I have problems with all the rest also. So I am torn, I really don’t know who to support. I guess it does not matter much really, the nomination will basically be over and decided before Arizona gets to vote. I can’t stand either of the Dems so whoever wins on the Republican side I will support them.

In all cases I feel that the media and the dems are holding key data back on most of the front runners. They are going to wait until the republicans pick their candidate and then all hell will break loose against whoever that person is. We already know about the flaws of both of the democratic candidates, but the media does not care about that. In an interesting twist, in the age of young people rising up both of the democratic candidates would, if elected be the oldest president ever. I think that the media has the most ammo to attack Trump, they are pushing for him to win now, so that they can attack and destroy him later, and make sure their Hillary gets elected.

So as for me, I can’t really push for any of them, I was hopeful Cruz would be the one, but I am not sure if he is real or fake, he acts all holy and Christian for the cameras and then plays dirty politics in the backroom. Maybe Jeb would have been good, but he just never got traction, he had a lot of good ideas and he does have the money to make it to the end, but just not the love of the media or Iowa.

2014 Arizona Technology Council Gubernatorial Debate wrap-up.

Arizona, Business, concepts, Government, Politics, , , , , , , , , ,

Today I had the pleasure of attending the 2014 Arizona Technology Council Gubernatorial Debate.  It also was a business mixer for the first little part.  It turned out to be a fun and informative event. 2014-07-09 16.30.45

During the event they had a large screen were people could tweet about the event and they would show all the tweets live and the candidates could read the live feedback during the event.  I was active on the tweet stream, look up hashtag #aztcgovs to see what was said.

There were a few surprises, the first and most shocking surprise was that Doug Ducey canceled at the last minute, many people there wanted to see what he had to say but he was a no show, a lot of people mentioned it on the twitter roll. The next thing that surprised everyone was how friendly the candidates were to each other, it was mentioned a few times that they all had deep respect for each other.  GOP heavys Joe Hobbs and Wes Harris were both there working the room for Frank Riggs.  There were also a group of folks trying to get the word out on Diane Douglas and how she is against common core, I agree with Diane on this issue, and was glad to see them there.

Education was one of the main topics of the night. All four of the Republicans were against common core. Scott Smith said that we needed to raise the bar, higher better teachers and challenge students, a lofty goal but no way on how to do it. Ken Bennett said that we needed to focus on the lowest 5% of schools each year and bring them to average and that if we did that for 4 years we would be one of the top states in the United States.  He also said we should allocate the funds for teachers separately from other district funds so that they get paid directly and get paid more. When asked about school connectivity most of them did not seem educated on the issue and just said that it was needed.  Only Christine Jones seemed to know that 150M was already given for this task and that this amount of money is more than enough to connect every school in the state that was not connected.  It is just that the government bureaucrats don’t have a clue how to do it so all of the money goes wasted.  Multiple GOP candidates said that we need to copy what is working in our best schools and push it out to all schools. Fred DuVal says that we need to throw much more money at the problem of lack of education, and that Common Core is the solution we have been looking for so that our kids can compete in a global marketplace.  I can’t see how dumbing down our schools will help us compete globally, and if money was the answer to educational problems then we would have no more problems. We waste way too much money, and more money just leads to more waste. Fred DuVal ended his talk about education talking about Khan Academy, but he had all of his facts wrong, he said that Salman Khan founded it for his kids, but he has no kids, he founded for his cousin, he also said he sold it to Bill Gates, also wrong, Bill Gates donated $1Million (Pocket change for him, but still a good thing.)  Google has donated at least double that amount.  Fred if you want to use something as an example then get your basic facts straight.

Next they talked about the small business climate. Ken Bennett talked about how we need to remove the personal property tax on businesses, this is a tax that most states don’t have but kills many businesses here in AZ.  It is where you need to pay taxes each year on the equipment that your business owns, such as servers or computers, or machines that make stuff.  This tax is one of the main reasons that many manufacturers choose not to locate here. Removing this law is vital, and Ken Bennett was the only one that addressed it.  Christine Jones talked about all the different rules that small businesses need to address at different levels of government and how it must be streamlined, that businesses need to focus on what they do to make money not dealing with the government, this is something I have said all along.  She also said she will be like Rick Perry of Texas and make it her job to personally call on large businesses to get them to move here.  Scott Smith focused on his history in Mesa of attracting Apple and helping turn around the williams airport and other things.  Frank Riggs says he will personally chair the Arizona Commerce Authority and that will be his prime focus.  He also said that the government is not in the job of choosing winners and losers and he would be against it making grants or loans to businesses and would be against angel investor tax breaks or any rules to make it easier for Venture Capitalists to do business here.   Christine Jones and Ken Bennett both pointed out how these tax breaks and easier rules have generated many times more money for the state than if we did not have them and that they would be in favor of renewal.  Fred DuVal said these grants and tax breaks need to be expanded.  He also said that we should embrace Common Core.

When asked about the EPA and Fed overreach all 5 of them were against it, Scott Smith was strong on how bad the EPA is and that shutting down NGS will replace a small air pollution problem with a Major water pollution problem, because NGS gets us fresh water.  He also said that they simply don’t understand how dusty Arizona is.  He has even gone the the EPA in person in Washington to talk about this.  Ken Bennett segwayed this into other forms of Fed overreach such as his case with them about ID at the Polls.  Fred DuVal waffled a bit, saying that some of EPA things are bad but some are good and that we need to embrace a Cap and Trade system.

The final question was about Arizona’s image in the rest of the nation.  Fred DuVal was quick to pounce on how awful it was, he focused on the 1062 problem.  The others had good ideas how to make it even better, and how to reduce taxes to bring more businesses.  One of them, I forget which one, said that we are in the new a lot because we are a thought leader on a lot of these issues and that others look to us to follow us.  I liked that idea.

Final Wrap Up

2014-07-09 16.42.43After attending this event this is my order of who I would vote for from these 5.

1. Christine Jones, she had obvious passion for doing this, she knew the right things to say and was able to point out the quick and easy solution to many problems.  She mentioned how she helped create many of the rules that govern the internet and how she has worked for years making it free. The negative about her is that she has not been in politics and likely will have trouble dealing with bureaucratic minded politicians, because they are just illogical in their actions.  I did love how she ended her closing remarks about going to “ChristineJones.com, proudly regestered for over 10 years with GoDaddy.com”  I liked that.  She did point out that she is the only one that does not owe favors to any political group.  I personally like the lack of government experience, we need fresh ideas, and they need to come from the top.  Before today she was maybe my 4th or 5th pick from the GOP field, she really has improved from the meetings from last year that we both were at.

2. Ken Bennett, he understands the system and how Arizona politics works, probably more than any of them, he did not seem to have as much passion but after 30+ of these events, with many days having 2 or more, I can see why.  He is a small business guy, and understands change and progress. He said all the right things, had researched positions and would be a great leader for our state.  I almost gave him first place, it was only because of Christine’s passion that I did not.

3. Scott Smith, he told a lot of jokes, was really friendly and his experience as mayor of Mesa has given him some executive experience.  He seems like a nice guy.  I don’t know how well he will work in a large organization like the state government.  He did say he will fight the feds about the EPA.

4. Frank Riggs is a very conservative guy, he also seems like he would be very rigid.  He seems like the guy who’s supporters will tear him up if he compromises on the smallest detail, the problem with that is there is no way to get things done with that attitude.  He did have a good point that he served in the Federal government and that experience would help him work with the Feds.  He also introduced the idea of a  Consumption tax, and he said that such a thing would level the playing fields from out of state businesses selling into Arizona, and eliminate the black market.  I have no idea what he means, or how this would work, and how can someone want a new massive tax and still look for Tea Party support, I don’t get it.  On the positive note he was very nice to me and was the only one I was able to talk to for a few minutes.

5. Fred DuVal supports Common Core, Cap and Trade, and spending a ton more money on education, he has spent years working in the Clinton-Gore administration. He mentioned multiple times about how he would work hard to promote marriage equality and pass laws making all sexual orientations equal.  He is likely going to be popular with those in college and those who have been brainwashed by our liberal school system.  He is the only one here that will for sure be on the General Election Ballot, but lucky for us we are such a red state that I doubt he will have much of a chance.

All in all it was a great event, people were cordial to each other, and I was among friends, knowing many of the people there from other Arizona Tech Council events and AZGOP events.

UPDATE:  They just posted the video of the event.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPwZxj8ZP4o

What is a Real Estate Agent and why do you need one?

Bootstrap, Business, Entrepreneurship, Government, how to, Real Estate

As many of you know I have been spending the last few weeks becoming a real estate agent.  Real Estate is very complex and takes a long time to understand all of the different wareal estate flow chart from listing to soldys to own it, work on it, finance it and transfer it.  There are also a ton of government rules and regulations regarding real estate, and then there are industry standards that must be followed so that we all can work together and speak the same language.

So really it is a system, with its own jargon, rules, laws, institutions and much more.  It is really a business ecosystem and it works much the same way that computer ecosystems work in.  You simply need to follow the rules and the format, copy and paste the code, and you have a contract.  There are about 70 different contracts and 100’s of forms to amend or support these contracts. You can think of it much like WordPress and how you can snap in a plugin that you need.  Working a real estate deal is much like this.  After going to all of these classes I now see who the whole system works and it is very elegant and complete.  It is mostly the same across the nation but each state has a few minor tweaks.

real estate agentSo I always resented the cost of real estate agents, heck that is one of the main reasons I want to be one, was to reduce them on my actions.  I have always used an agent for things I have done, even though there was a cost. Now that I am an agent I am glad I did, we have heard 100’s of stories of the pitfalls of real estate.  There are so many ways to mess up, and when you mess up it costs people money and if you are at fault they will make you pay.  The system is so complex, and there are so many rules that it is almost impossible to not mess something up if you don’t get expert help, and often even with expert help things go wrong.

On top of taking care of the system, and making it all smooth for you a Real Estate agent has access to the databases of listed houses. Of course they created this gated database just for this reason, that you need to come to them to access it.  Unless you are an expert, in the US today you really need an agent to make your transaction work without a headache.  This is the advantage that some investors have, and why they can consistently make money, there are too many people who still have problems, and there is a lot of opinions of what something is worth, it is not a totally efficient market.  A good agent can help you find the best deals, and stay away from the overpriced inventory.  There are many good deals to be had, and just as many overpriced duds on the market.

So next time you need to buy or sell a house make sure you use an agent.  And if you happen to live in Arizona give me a call, I will either help you myself or refer you to someone who can.

Do you know any good Republicans who want to make a difference?

Arizona, Government, How To, Inspiration, Politics,

Step up and Run for Office!

Did you know that there are 16 Seats for the house and Senate that there is not even a Republican running for here in Arizona.  Out of 90 over 60 are already Republican and we could take a few more away if people ran.

The good news is that there is still time for some good people to step up and fill these spots.  All they need to do is fill out a simple form and they will be a write in candidate.  Once they hold the August primary election they will be the Republican Candidate because no one else is running.  Then they will be on the November ballot for the General Election.  All 16 of these seats are in areas that have more Democrats than Republicans, but this year the Democrat base is discouraged and the Republican base is energized and will vote to make sure Obama does not get back into the White House.  this will give a 10-15% boost to Republican Candidates.

If the area you live in is currently full it is too late to run, but PLEASE do step 1 2 and 5 below to become active in the party.

People Currently Running.

There are two openings for the house in each area and two for the senate. Go to the Sec of State Office website for full listing.  CLICK HERE   If you run, even if you don’t win you will have a chance to get your views out and to give Republican voters a real choice in the election.  It is so discouraging as a republican to go to the polls and not be able to vote on an important position.

Map of LD’s

You will need to know where you live to see if you, or someone you know lives in an area that has an open seat. These are the updated Maps.
CLICK HERE FOR MAPS (Look at LD Maps not CD ones)

 

Now lets get started…

  • Step 1 Register as Republican if not already, go to servicearizona.com to do it.
  • Step 2 Fill out this form to be a Precinct Committeeman. DOWNLOAD FORM HERE, Print, Notarize, then send to Maricopa County. This is ONLY the form for Maricop County.  This form is due on June 13th at 5PM.  You don’t NEED to be a PC but it is HIGHLY suggested.  After June 13th you can not be an elected PC anymore but you can be an appointed one.  To be appointed you must contact your LD Chairman.  An appointed PC does not get a vote at the meetings in January and can not be a State Committeeman, but is the same otherwise.
  • Step 3 Fill out this form for write in candidate. CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION  According to the Sec of State Website the deadline is July 19, 2012 to file, but I would suggest that you file ASAP.  You will also need to open a Campaign Committee to file your finance records, this is rather simple and is free, like everything else.
  • Step 4 Go to county recorder and file forms and create campaign, they will also give you a quick walk-through of what is needed to do everything correctly.
  • Step 5 Call the AZGOP office at 602-957-7770 and ask for the information about the leader of your district, they will give you their phone number if they have it.  Call this person and then ask about when and where they meet.  Also ask them for help in running.  They will let you speak during these meetings to get more help.
  • Step 6 Start Running for Office, decide on where you stand on all the issues, educate yourself, talk to people in your district, talk to other leaders, make a website (I can help you with that if you call me at 602-579-4919), make a press release to the media (The more local the more likely they will publish it)
  • Step 7 Raise Money.  You have two choices, either you can run “Traditional” which means that you can use your own money and family money in unlimited amounts and you can get donations up to $420 or so from Citizens to help you run.  You also can try for “Clean Elections” funds, if you choose this you need to get 200 different people to give you $5 each and fill out a form, once you do that you will receive about $13,000 or so State Government.  You can not use your own money or get donations over $5 per person.  In both cases you will need to track and document every penny that you spend.
  • Step 8 Win the Primary and keep running
  • Step 9 Win the General Election
  • Step 10 Take office and start making a difference, defending freedom and making our state better.

Good luck.  I already have one person who wants to run in LD19.  In case you were wondering in 2010 Don Shooter of Yuma followed this exact path to make is way to the state Senate, and now he is running for Re-Election.

If this page inspires you to run please call me at 602-579-4919 or add Jason Dragon on Facebook, I would like to know if this helps anyone.

Arizona Statute of Limitations on Credit Card Debt

Arizona, Business, Government, Money, Politics, , ,

Many people have been asking me recently about Credit Card debt and the statute of limitations on it.  This the the amount of time that a bank can used the legal system and sue a customer to collect a debt.  After this time they can only ask but not use the legal system.  It is a complex issue here in Arizona because for many years it has always been Three years but recently things have changed the Arizona State Legislature created a bill, HB2412 to make it 6 years.  It passed on April 11th 2011.  But this bill was so short and so poorly written that it caused a huge amount of lawsuits and problems for the People of Arizona.

This is why…  There is a Federal law that defines all credit cards as “Open Accounts”.

Open-ended Accounts: These are revolving lines of credit with varying balances. The best example is a credit card account. Please note: a credit card is ALWAYS an open account. This is established under the Truth-in-Lending Act:
TITLE 15 > CHAPTER 41 > SUBCHAPTER I > Part A > § 1602
§ 1602. Definitions and rules of construction(i) The term “open end credit plan” means a plan under which the creditor reasonably contemplates repeated transactions, which prescribes the terms of such transactions, and which provides for a finance charge which may be computed from time to time on the outstanding unpaid balance. A credit plan which is an open end credit plan within the meaning of the preceding sentence is an open end credit plan even if credit information is verified from time to time.

And there is STILL on the books this ARS which defines all Open accounts as having a 3 years Statute of Limitations.

ARS 12-543. Oral debt; stated or open account; relief on ground of fraud or mistake; three year limitation

There shall be commenced and prosecuted within three years after the cause of action accrues, and not afterward, the following actions:

1. For debt where the indebtedness is not evidenced by a contract in writing.

2. Upon stated or open accounts other than such mutual and current accounts as concern the trade of merchandise between merchant and merchant, their factors or agents, but no item of a stated or open account shall be barred so long as any item thereof has been incurred within three years immediately prior to the bringing of an action thereon.

3. For relief on the ground of fraud or mistake, which cause of action shall not be deemed to have accrued until the discovery by the aggrieved party of the facts constituting the fraud or mistake.

So if you take both of those together, it would seem that it is still 3 years.  But with the bill passed in April 2011 they only edited ARS 12-548 to read…

ARS 12-548. Contract in writing for debt; six year limitation; choice of law

A. An action for debt shall be commenced and prosecuted within six years after the cause of action accrues, and not afterward, if the indebtedness is evidenced by or founded on either of the following:

1. A contract in writing that is executed in this state.

2. A credit card as defined in section 13-2101, paragraph 3, subdivision (a).

B. If there is a conflict between another jurisdiction and this state relating to the statute of limitations for a debt action as described in subsection A of this section, this section applies.

So the ARS now has conflict within it.  There is also nothing in the bill to “Grandfather” credit card debt that was already out of SOL but now is back within it.  So these questions, as most do, found their way to court and the Judges have decided to lean in the favor of the banks for the most part.  So now people who have old debt are now being made to pay, which will result in more Arizona bankruptcies, and more money leaving our state.  It would have been really nice if the above bill made things crystal clear by REMOVING the part in 12-543 about open accounts, but they did not.

IMHO I think that the limit on Credit card debt should be 3 years because if the bank can’t get their act together in 3 full years people should be free from the worry of the unknown so they can move on a rebuild this economy.

So now people can’t move on, and people are getting aggressive collectors calling them.  And our legal system is filling up with cases that were previously long dead.   This is a great example of a simple rule change that has huge unintended consequences.

As I have been getting into the ARS more and more I have noticed so many conflicts within it where two different things are said in two different ways in two different areas but they both affect the same thing and make it confusing for citizens, and a mess in a legal system.  There is nothing that can be done to these messes with out an act of the Legislature.   It is probably too late in 2012 to do anything about this but there is always 2013.