Category Archives: Inspiration

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. 

Life is so unfair….

blogs, Business, Inspiration

Life is so unfair……and I am glad it is. We are so lucky to be in the position we are in this world. We have enough freedom to conduct business, we can use our mind to focus on higher things than survival, most in the world can not do so, 2 Billion people don’t even have clean water to drink. Half of the world does not even have a bed to sleep in, they sleep on a mat on the floor or something like that. We need to thank God every day for what we have, and remember to help others out.

I am so blessed to be here, in the US, and have the chances I have to be successful. It was work, but mostly mental work, something that 80% of the people on this planet never even get the chance to do because their situation is hard. It does not matter how smart you are, or how creative, in most of this world the system will eat you alive. But in America is it only your perception of the system that exists that holds you back, everyone, who has the mental skills, can learn the system that makes success happen, and with mental and physical work get that success. The problem is that many people are taught the wrong things, and many are too busy making a living to make a life. Some may call it white privilege, but really is it American privilege, and anyone here can take advantage of it. No one know this more than the smart person who comes from another country, where they don’t have the ability to use their mind and be successful. This is why many business people who come from other countries are very successful here. It does not matter the color of your skin.

For many years I was VERY frugal, most of my friends would joke about it, but I wanted to spend way less than I made, I wanted to take that money and put it into my business. Yes I took calculated risks and almost every one worked out. Looking back I wish I took more risks, God was always there to protect me. I spent hours every night for years, reading books and changing my mindset. But more importantly I spent time talking with and being around other successful people. Finally now in 2020, everything is finally coming together, I can be less frugal, and some of the risks are paying off well.

If you are in America, and you want success, it is within your grasp…read the right book, take the risks, be your own boss….never trade your time for a wage. Buy other people’s time at wholesale prices and sell it at retail prices. Buy stuff at wholesale prices and sell it at retail prices. Market inefficiency is your friend. But everyone has time to be better, most people have at least 5 hours a day that is yours to decide what you do with it. How you spend this time is what shapes your future. Do you spend it watching TV? Do you spend it playing video games? Or do you spend it learning how the world works, how to be a better human, how to make the world a better place.

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.

Weird Al released 8 new videos last week, here they are, all in one place.

Inspiration, Internet, Music, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Weird Al decided to release 8 videos in 8 days.  Some were instant hits, others not so much.  He released some of them on different sites, and to help out some of his YouTube friends some were released on their channels, this makes it hard for someone to get a list of all of them in one place.  I decided that would not do so I have made this list with the best copy of each of them I could find.  So here are all 8 videos in one place.  Enjoy.

Tacky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsWo8apgLys
A parody of Happy, a video about all of the tacky things to so many people do, some are just really rude.

Word Crimes


My favorite of the 8, showing off some of the worst grammar mistakes that people make. It has great animation and is based on “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke.

Foil


A video showing his two main uses of Aluminum Foil, storing food and blocking the government from reading your thoughts. A great Parody of “Royals” by Lorde

Handy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt6R9Efvios
He has taken the song of the summer, Fancy, and made it into a long commercial for a fake handyman service.

Sports Song


An orginal work, a funny song about a generic sports team, with a generic marching band. Funny. “We’re great, and you suck”

Lame Claim to Fame


Stop motion animation, about name dropping and small encounters with or connections to celebrities.

First World Problems


A cute video about a whiney American who compalins about things that most people in this world don’t even need to think of.

Mission Statement


A very nice video about taking all of those buzz words we hear in business meetings and putting them all into a song.

Why do you do what you do?

blogs, Business, Computers, concepts, Entrepreneurship, how to, Inspiration, ,

Today I have been thinking about WHY I run this business.  Most people spend so much time on how they are going to do things, and What they are going to do.    Today, I wrote this and printed it out and posted it on my office wall, “Focus on Why we do what we do, If you do it for the right reasons What you do and How you do it will fall in line and success will follow.”

When I moved my business to its much bigger location I have only a rough idea of what we would be doing.  I had a few basic ideas of areas where money could be made, because I was already making money in those areas and my old business made money in those areas, but I was open to doing something else.  It turns out that now my most profitable part of my business was something I never did at my old shop.  It now accounts for 60% of sales and over 80% of profits, that is recycling computer products.

Once you know the what the “HOW” is very simple and obvious.  But I am here to talk about the Why….why do I do what I do?  Why am I a business owner and don’t have a job, why do I choose to work with technology?  For me that “WHY?” comes down to a few key things that I believe.

First I loved technology, it is always amazing to find out what is new, and to be able to actually play with it, not just read about it.  By owning a computer store I get the ability to design and build things for clients, forcing me to become an expert many different tech issues.

Next, I must have adventure  I also have found that I don’t like to spend much time on things once I figure them out, and technology is ever changing, allowing me to always be engaged.  For example here are some things I have done in the last month, I took apart a top of the line new Asus ultra-thin laptop to see what was inside, it was amazing how it is more like a Cell phone than a laptop.  I have explored new database ideas for WordPress, and how to import from XLS files to make carts on something that was designed for blogs.  I have had time to play new games. I played a lot with running windows 8 on a big screen TV with wireless keyboard, touchpad.  And the list goes on and on.  Every day is a new adventure, always learning and always teaching.

Next I love to share my passion for tech with others.  Spending time showing someone the new gadget, or the next big thing in the tech world is something that I love.  I also love to help people, to give them tools to make their life and their business better, then I love to see them a few months later and how what I did really changed their life.

Next I love a good deal.  I love to find good deals, I love to share them and I love to give them to others.  It is so fun when I can do something for someone better than they thought it could be done and under the price they thought it could be done in.  The side effect of this is that we have never been highly profitable.  I am always giving people deals and slashing prices.  For me it is often more about the sale than the profit, I have sold many things well below cost to make someone happy.  Recently I have been forced to charge most people a bit more to cover costs.

Those are the reasons I am in the IT industry, but now I think “WHY?” did I do it on my own instead of working for someone else.  Well I really enjoy my freedom, I also highly value spending time with my Family and friends.  I love to be able to sleep in a bit, knowing my shop is taken care of, then spend some time with the kids while they are still kids, and then be able to take them and my wife to work with me.  It is nice to be able to take time off when I need it.  I also like it when people count on me, when I can show someone…”Yes I built that”.

I guess it all comes down to the fact that if you love what you do then it never seems like work.  Most of the time it does not feel like work, it feels like fun.  There are there rare times where I told a client Yes to something I should not have because it is something I don’t like to do or don’t want to learn, and in those cases I have found that subcontracting is a great idea.

So what is your “Why”?  If you are in business, why are you in business, why did you do what you do, and why do you do it the way that you do it.  If you have a job, then why do you work where you work, does it fit in with who you are?  If the main answer to your “WHY?” is money then you will likely never live a very happy or fulfilled life.  Now-a-days there is also a large part of our population that lives off the government, why do you feel entitled to do that?  If you served in the military, or if you are retired after 45 years of work I can see why you would feel that way, but many feel entitled who need neither of these.  Do you feel that you could have somewhere else to serve, to make this world better?

You should work to make the most of your short life here, and doing things with no reason why is one of the easiest ways to waste your life.  Here are some questions that really helped me focus on what is important…Why do you surf the internet so much, do you really need to read Facebook that many times per day, do you really need to watch that TV show, what will you get out of playing that video game.

Watch what you do and see if it lines up with your why.

A Special thanks goes to today’s episode of the Glenn Beck show for getting my thinking about this again.

 

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.

My take on Arizona’s HB2677

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If you have not heard there is a house bill that was introduced that will dramatically raise the cost of sending money internationally.  It is called HB2677.  It will tax everyone who sends money internationally with the intent to build a fence between Arizona and Mexico.   The problem with this bill is that it is a large new TAX.  They are going to use it for one of the favorite causes of the tea party, to build a border fence, but let’s not get suckered into that.  The tea party is first and foremost an anti-tax group, even if they will use the money for one of our favorite causes.   It is just a bribe, and I am shocked and dismayed that the leaders of the tea party have gotten behind this new tax.

The major problem with the bill is that it taxes “Any entity” that sends money overseas.  That means that the next time there is a natural disaster in some faraway place Arizona will have their hand out, take money from the poor and hurting who are in crisis.  I have heard from some sources that they want a 5% fee on all transfers.  The typical fee right now is about $3.50 for the first $500.  This would add $25 to that fee, an outrageous amount.

Another problem is that it is easily circumvented.  People who are smart will avoid this law by setting up intermediaries.  An example would be that someone would set up an office in Nevada, and have their offices in Arizona collect the money, send it to Nevada and then it would be wired from Nevada to the receiver.  They would do this for a fee but it will be well less than 5%.  People are smart and this would really reduce the amount that is collected.

This bill is designed to build a wall between us and Mexico, so I would be FOR this bill if they restricted it to only personal remittances to Mexico.  They may even include Central American nations if they like, but adding this tax to everyone who sends to any location is way too broad.

The key to success for Arizona is to be free to do business and this bill puts a transaction tax on any money sent out of the country from Arizona. The bill does not state the rate of the tax but I know the fence will be costly so it will likely be at least a few %. Most importers have very slim margins and such an added cost will make them flee our state to go to ones that don’t have this cost.

This punishes people like me who want to do nice things and send money overseas. This bill will dramatically increase the current cost of sending money. Right now I use Wells Fargo for most sends and it only costs $3.50 no matter how much I send. Sometimes I use MoneyGram and they charge $10 for the first $500. Even a 3% tax on these transfers would take money and food out of the hands of the people I try to help.   I also send all of this money to either Asia or Europe, and that has very little to do with a fence between us and Mexico.

I would be for this if they changed it to state that it would only effect personal wire transfers going to Mexico, or even Mexico plus central and South America. But this idea of doing it for all business, charity and personal wire transfers for the entire world is a crazy dumb tax that should not be passed.  I am shocked that someone as conservative as Judy Burges would put her name on this totally unfair and punitive tax.

Jason Dragon

Peoria South Tea Party Leader

Area Coordinator, PC and SC in the Republican Party in LD9.

Business Owner, Importer and Entrepreneur.

ALERT: I just posted a follow up to this CLICK HERE!

I’m Back Again.

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It has been a while, about 11 months, from the last blog entry.  I did this because I really needed a break.   I had posted a lot of stuff, but I started to feel that I was simply rehashing things that others had said, and that they said much better than me.  But this is no longer the case.  I have done a ton of reading, a ton of meeting with people in the interim.

For the last 8 months I even ran for office.  I ran for city council here in Peoria Arizona.  It was a hard fight but at the end of it all it turns out that people in this area much rather have big government than someone who will sit there and stop the goodie train like I would try to.  I ran for office because I wanted to make a change and simply being a leader in the Republican party was NOT enough.  I also am active in the Tea Party movement.  But after doing all of this I decided I wanted to do more, so I ran for office.  I basically put my life on hold.  It cost me about $2700 to run but the real cost was my distraction from my normal life, from the business I enjoy, the family I love and even from blogging.  I did learn a lot, and I got a new perspective on life.  All told I am glad that I did it, and looking back I made a few mistakes that if I had not made them I would have won.  I think the biggest mistake was being so openly Republican in an area that is mostly democrat.  The next biggest mistake was trusting people so quickly, and having these people become traitors and use the information I gave them in confidence against me.

But now that this is all over I am going to make life simple again.  Focus on making money, getting my thoughts together by blogging, focus on my family, and I will even try to get into shape.

Now here is a REAL president!!

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This is a new feature of my blog.  As with most people I know, many of my friends forward emails to me.  90% of them are useless but every now and then there is something very interesting in the email.  I don’t like to forward as a general rule, but I will take some of these select emails and post them here, on my blog.  This blog then goes out to my Facebook and many people get to read it.   Here is the first one…

About time we accept this attitude. We’ve had enough damage to this country by “Political Correctness”

America, Canada, all Europe ….. needs a President like this

Nowherei1
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd - Australia

During a very recent speech here are some points that PM Kevin Rudd made.


Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation’s mosques.

Quote: ‘IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.’

‘This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom. We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, Learn the Language!’

‘Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.’

‘We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.’

‘This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.’

‘If you aren’t happy here then LEAVE. We didn’t force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted..’

Maybe if we circulate this , American citizens will find the backbone to start speaking and voicing the same truths.

Well, let the flames begin!   If you liked this post please use the buttons below to email it or put it on your Facebook also.

About time we accept this attitude. We’ve had enough damage to this country by “Political Correctness”

America, Canada, all Europe ….. needs a President like this

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd – Australia

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation’s mosques.

Quote: ‘IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.’

‘This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom. We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, Learn the Language!’

‘Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.’

‘We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.’

‘This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.’

‘If you aren’t happy here then LEAVE. We didn’t force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted..’

Maybe if we circulate this , American citizens will find the backbone to start speaking and voicing the same truths.

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