Make them Legal! Why not?

wilsoncenter.org

Many of you have been following the “gang of eight” and the new immigration bill that is making its way through Congress right now. I have been trying to read the details of the bill from both sides, just to make sure I am getting as much of the information as possible. I find that I have to do that these days in order to cut through the political bias that the media pours on us.

Getting back to the topic, I want to provide a little bit of my personal back story on this issue. As many of you know, I am conservative. That said, my initial reaction shouldn’t be too much of a shock to anyone. I was completely appalled by the idea of making all the illegal immigrants legal, which was the main focus of the bill from the start.

Eventually, I took the time to really think about what that would mean. The biggest argument for immigration reform is that the illegal immigrants weren’t paying taxes, yet were draining from our budget through social programs and the prison system. Don’t get excited at that last remark. I didn’t come up with the idea.

So it finally dawned on me – the illegal immigrants would become legal and have to pay taxes. Isn’t that a success story? Doesn’t that solve the biggest problem? The only other major issue I can think of is the sudden saturation in the market when it comes to low income jobs. I am no economist by any means, but if more people are making more money and putting it back into the economy, isn’t that a good thing?

If the illegal immigrants become legal and have the ability to make more money for their skills, couldn’t that bring the trades back? That is an issue that I have been passionate about for years.

What do you guys think? This is only my analysis of the bill when it comes to the legalization process. As I find time, I will try to pick through the other parts of the bill.

- BCS

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4 Proven Ways to Make Money Online

Many people who read my blog have asked me about making money online (other than blogging). I have done quite a bit of research on this topic over the years, and I have found 4 proven ways to make money online.

1. Do you have any skills that others may be looking for? Elanceis a wonderful website for selling your talents to others, to include writing, bookkeeping, secretarial work, music, web design, and even voice acting. If you have any gifts or skills at all, Elance has a way for you to market them. Check out my article on easily and quickly writing research papers here.

2. Do you have old junk around the house? Maybe you like to frequent garage sales, thrift stores, or flea markets. Put you treasure hunting skills to good use by selling those great finds on Ebay. Another thing that many people do is buy store items by the truckload or pallet to sell individually on Ebay. There are plenty of websites that offer pallet or truckload purchases, but one that I have used is Merchandize Liquidators.

 

3. Are you crafty? Do you make jewelry, clothes, or other knickknacks? If so, Etsy is the place for you. On Etsy, if you can make it, you can sell it. I have personally seen people start selling their little creations (in this case, personalized aprons) on Etsy and turn it into a booming online business.

4. Finally, there is a whole lot of money on the internet for gurus of any sort. If you know how to do something, make an instructional video on YouTube or post your knowledge on the web with a blog. If you haven’t already, check out my other posts on 12 Steps to Make Money Online Easily by Blogging and 9 Reasons to Use Google for All Your Blogging Needs to learn more.

Thank you all for reading my 4 proven ways to make money online. As always, if you have any suggestions, questions, or comments, please feel free to use the comments section down below.

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Oklahoma Tornadoes: What THEY Want You to Feel

news.yahoo.com

First, I want to say that I feel deeply sorry for all of those people who lost their loved ones in this horrible tragedy. I have and will continue to pray for the comfort and resolution needed to deal with that sort of loss.

I have been watching the news quite a bit lately (as always), and I have been very surprised by some of the ways that the media has tried to spin public interest. When did we get to the point that we needed the media to tell us how to feel about a devastating tornado or other tragedies?

When I was watching CNN about two days ago, I saw a woman come on and complain about FEMA. She said that the money that people would be getting from FEMA would be better used to build storm shelters for each home. She at least pretended to think it was wrong that the organization would help people rebuild their houses without providing them the added benefit of something they didn’t have before. Would insurance cover it? Why should FEMA be responsible for upgrading your home? Is it their fault that you didn’t build some sort of shelter the last time a tornado hit? Is it the tax payers’ fault? If I were involved in something that catastrophic, I would hope to think that I would be grateful for anything I got.

Another thing that the media has forgotten to talk about is insurance. If you live in a place that constantly has natural disasters, you should probably invest in it. I don’t want to sound cold, but if you decided not to cover yourself with homeowner or rental insurance in order to save a little bit of money, I consider that irresponsible and I have a very hard time feeling sorry for your material losses.

Later on another broadcast, the anchors were talking to an expert of some sort (probably simply survived a natural disaster at some point in their lives) and asked why the state or local governments did not require storm shelters or storm cellars to be built for every home. Really? Now you want the government telling you another criterion for living your own life? Just take your FEMA money or insurance claim and build one yourself. That is what I would do (aside from moving). If you feel like your insurance company is trying to cheat you out of money after filing a claim, you should probably get a good attorney (they already did).

Why is it that during and directly after the tornadoes, the major cable networks were pretending to be talking to the actual people on the ground during the coverage? They said things like, “Please take cover and protect your families” and “Do not go outside for any reason.” Did anyone else recognize the false show of support that the news anchors were showing toward people without working electricity to power their televisions? Some people didn’t even have natural gas to warm water or anything. They did the same thing with the flooding that happened the next day. We see what you are doing there, news guys.

What do you guys think about it? Am I going overboard here? Does anybody else notice that the media capitalizes on tragedies in order to increase ratings? Let me know in the comments section down below.

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5 Simple Steps to Get the New iPhone for FREE! (Seriously)

original photo

What do you guys do with your old iPhones? What if I told you that I have always had the newest iPhone and I only paid for the first one? If you have AT&T, you could upgrade to a new iPhone for FREE by following the 5 simple steps below (and maybe even get a good case for it, too)!

1.  Check to make sure that you are eligible for an upgrade by logging into your AT&T account or calling customer service.

2.  Look on eBay to make sure a FACTORY UNLOCKED version of your current iPhone is selling for $200 or more.

3.  Go to the AT&T or Apple Store and upgrade to the new iPhone.

4.  As soon as you get home from the store (don’t talk and drive), call AT&T and tell them you would like your old iPhone UNLOCKED. They might give you a link to a website that doesn’t work and takes weeks. Tell them, “I have tried to use the website many times before and it has never worked for me. The last time I tried to do this, the person told me to just call from now on.” They should do it for you the same day and give you instructions on how to unlock it. If not, you may have to do the website thing and wait a week. (Note: AT&T will not unlock your iPhone if it is currently being used on your account. You have to upgrade first.)

ebay.com

5.  When your phone is unlocked, sell it on eBay (if you have never done this before, CLICK HEREto learn how!). I always say free shipping and avoid international buyers, but that’s just what works for me. I also set the reserve to just under what you expect to get ($200 or $250 in this case. Try not to get greedy). The key is to get the payment for your old iPhone as quickly as possible. Since you already spent the money on the upgrade, think of it as a 100% rebate! (Note: If you plan on doing this again, SAVE YOUR BOX! iPhones sell faster, easier, and for much more if you include the original box and accessories, especially close to holidays.)

That’s it. I have done these 5 simple steps to get the newest iPhone for free for every version of the iPhone (except the iPhone 3GS, which I never owned) and it has worked for me every time. A few years ago, AT&T made this process much easier when they started unlocking phones. Before that, we had to jailbreak and unlock them ourselves.

If you have any questions or other methods of performing this awesome process, please let me know in the comments section below!

- BCS

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Link Between IRS "Scandal" and Obamacare... Really Guys?

photo from netrightdaily.com

Until now, I haven’t said anything about the Internal Revenue Service issue going on right now because I haven’t really had an opinion. What they were doing was clearly wrong and someone should be punished. Obviously, the key leadership who really ordered or influenced the headache that was served to Tea Party political groups will not be tried or punished. We have scapegoats for all that. Unless the people being questioned have real political ambitions, I seriously doubt they would take it upon themselves to play in the political game of thrones.

Now we have conservatives like the Minnesotan representative, Michelle Bachman, trying to tie the IRS issue with Obamacare. Suddenly, I have an opinion on the matter.

First, I want to apologize to the Associated Press about my comment on their Twitter post “GOP hoping scandal over IRS will grow to include Obama's health care law”, where I claimed that it was the most ridiculous thing that they said yesterday. I thought at the time that it was just a liberal political stunt, aimed at making the members of the GOP look silly. Thank you, Ms. Bachman for stepping up and taking that responsibility head on.

If any of you didn’t know, my political views sway to the left.  

I don’t like Obamacare. That said, the supposed tie between the IRS “scandal” and Obamacare is Sarah Ingram, who used to be the commissioner of the tax-exemption department of the IRS. In December 2010, she was laterally transferred to head the Affordable Care Act office, but has openly indicated that she worked both positions until 2012.

photo from riehlworldview.com

I did some research on the topic because I didn’t understand what the IRS had to do with Obamacare. I found out that the IRS is responsible for collecting income information from their tax activities and forwards that information to the people who enforce Obamacare.

I really don’t see that much of a link, other than she now collects income information and forwards it. I think this tie is a stretch, at best. So far as I can see, the position she holds doesn’t have much influence on Obamacare legislation. She was simply in charge of formulating and executing a plan to deal with the legislation.

This example comes to mind: I am in charge of an organization’s computer helpdesk. Corporate releases a new information security policy that states all systems will be scanned weekly for personal photographs and my supervisor asks me to find a feasible way to make the requirement happen.

Later on down the road, it is suspected that someone on the helpdesk has been stealing company-owned computer keyboards and an investigation ensues. Someone who doesn’t like the corporate security manager or their new security policy sees that I was in charge of the helpdesk and also worked to make sure that the corporate security policy was executed as ordered. They try to formulate a link between the stolen equipment and the security manager in order to attack them.

photo from georgiapoliticalreview.com

Am I getting this all wrong? Even though I find value in following politics, sometimes it just makes me sick. 

Now the Tea Party is suing the IRS for maltreatment. I’m not surprised about this and I don’t think it is really a story. The only reason I am mentioning it is because the media thinks it adds more drama to the situation. If anyone else was put through the ringer in this way, they would probably sue as well.  I would if I could afford the legal fees.

Let me know what you guys think. I always welcome feedback, even if it contradicts my opinion.

- BCS

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