Yesterday, at 5:00 AM, my 10 year old son woke me up and said “Hey Dad, we haven’t had a breakfast alone for a long time, left’s go!”  Of course we could not find anything open besides Denny’s so we said our prayers and headed there.

We had a great time, talked about school, XBOX 360, Spring break plans, summer vacation, it was all around a wonderful time :)

Then came the time to pay and head back home.  Oops, I forgot my wallet at home!  No credit cards, no cash, no driving license, nothing.  The bill was $17, so I went to the cashier and explained the situation and she was not pleased :(

She went and brought the manager on duty who said “I am sorry if you have no way of paying the $17 I will need to call the police”  I laughed, I thought he was joking!  unfortunately he was not.  I asked if he would take a credit card over the phone and he said yes!  So I called my wife and woke her up and got the numbers and passed it to him while he was still very upset.

The final part of the story is my favorite part, while he was entering the numbers manually into the system, he stopped at the end and turned around and asked me “How much would you like to leave for tip?”

Well, I have been a Republican since I immigrated to the United States in 1991. It was a simple choice for me really, I just did not believe that people that don't work hard should enjoy the same benefits in life as those that work their butt off.  There has to be a difference between these two categories.  I could never force someone to work extra hours or study very hard to become somebody but I reject the notion that they deserve to be at the same level of standard of life of those that do.

That said, this is the first time I am contemplating voting for a Democratic President, Barak Obama.  I like this guy!

President of the United States of America for me is not really a Job, it is a title.  I expect the President to be surrounded by a lot of very smart people that are expert on the subject matter at hand to advise him.  My expectation is also that the President be smart enough to listen to them and make the correct choice based on their feedback.

For me, the President of the USA has to have "PRESENCE", when he or she speaks, people listen!  it is a gift, not everyone has.  I expect when my President travels abroad, citizens of other countries receive him in awe, respect and admiration.

You have to be able to tell that you are listening to the most powerful man in the world from the most significant country in the world.

Barak Obama gives me that feeling.  Very elegant speaker and a convincing one for sure.

MCCain stands for all that I believe in, I am with him on Iraq (I think I am qualified on this as I spent more than half my life in the middle east and I know how things work there).  I am also with him on the latest economy issues like bailing out consumers on the mortgage crisis.  Why? Why should the US Government bail citizens out that made bad choices in getting ridiculous mortgage deals that they can not afford, why should I be paying for that?  And what about my mortgage and my good choices, I get nothing for that?

So it was hard this year to find an easy answer of how to vote, until I decided to do what I am good at and use numbers:

Capital Gains Tax:

• MCCain -> 15% (no Change)
• Obama -> 28%
• Clinton -> 24%

How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into  a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.

Dividend Tax:

• MCCain -> 15% (no change)
• Obama -> 39.6%
• Clinton -> 39.6%

How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama or Clinton become president. The experts predict that "Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit."

Income Tax:

• MCCain -> No Change
• Obama -> Reversion of pre-Bush tax cuts (Very Significant)
• Clinton -> Reversion of pre-Bush tax cuts (Very significant)

Inheritance Tax:

• MCCain -> 0%
• Obama -> Keep the inheritance tax
• Clinton -> Keep the inheritance tax

How does this affect you? Many families have lost businesses, farms and ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will not only lose them to these taxes.

New Taxes being proposed by both Clinton and Obama:

• New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet
• New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already)
• New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity)
• New taxes on retirement accounts
• and last but not least....
  New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries!!!

So although I like Obama as a person very much, I am afraid I can't afford him!  Go MCCain!

It is Saturday, I am getting some TV time this weekend and just saw some ridiculous news on CNN.  You know food in the US is not charged Taxes unless ordered in a restaurant.  Buying just straight food is not taxable.

Our friends in the state of IOWA decided that Pumpkins are not used as food much but mainly as "decorations", well IOWA state is starting to charge TAXES on pumpkins. If you intend to purchase the pumpkins to eat, you are expected to fill out an application at the store stating your intent and that it will not be used for decoration.

Are you kidding me!

If you ever wondered what does it mean to have a Team Collaborate, take a look at the picture below where Adam Markowitz (ActiveFocus Chief Architect) is debugging some C# code while Jordan Halls (Executive sales manager) is asking for a customer requested feature, in the mean time, Mike Saad is holding the phone for Adam to reply to a customer's support call.  What a Team! :-)

I am excited to start my own blogging site to share my views, thoughts and expertise with others and also get feedback from others about anything and everything in life from Technical to Family to Life.

Cheers

- Lino