Today's Tip: Cut out the Cokes.

I know it's painful… we've been well marketed too… we NEED that bubbly, colored, sugar water.  Or at least we need the caffeine.  :) 

Consider this: a 20 oz bottle of Coke has 250 calories. If you eat out where the servers keep your drinks topped off, it's easy to consume the equivalent of 5 bottles a day without even realizing it.  That's 1250 calories or HALF most people's calorie needs for the day.  Make the switch to water and your body will be happier and you dieting will be EASIER.  Need the caffeine?  Replace your Coke fetish with unsweetened ice tea.

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Well had some technical difficulties with my Garmin today… forgot to hit "start" - oops!

• Bike 15 miles - 1:04:44 

Well back from my trip, I set out to put in some time on my bike yesterday.  My normal route had to be changed since S.W.A.T. had set up a command center in the middle of it.  I guess fact is stranger than fiction.

• Bike 14.95 miles - 1:05:55
• 164 Ave BPM & 696 Cal 

We've added some immigration banners to our site's header.  They will take you to info to current and up and coming politicians views on the immigration issue. Be informed.   

Also, feel free to "steal" the banners and add them to your site to spread the word. 

Apparently Sen. Bill Frist isn't taking the Easter break off.  He has been working on watering down the Immigration Bill during the break.  He has been working with the Speaker Hastert to remove the felony provision from the House's Bill:

"…It remains our intent to produce a strong border security bill that will not make unlawful presence in the United States a felony", House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist have said in a joint statement.

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So today is the day you pay your taxes.  Today you see and feel the pain of your hard earned money leaving your hand…

So, how much did you really pay? Now many will answer, I didn't pay anything, I got $200 back.  Nope, that just means you overpaid.  Before filing away your forms look at the real amount you paid in… if you're like most you filed online or with the $30 tax software.  Both will let you view/printout a PDF version of your 1040 form.  If you filed old school you already have your 1040 in your hot little hand…  

Ignore the bottom most line (73a if you got a refund or 75 if you still owed money) and look at line 63.  This is after all the additions and deductions is your TOTAL TAX.  That is how much you paid the government - not the two hundred or two thousand dollar check you wrote this weekend.  A lot bigger isn't it?  Kinda makes you want to find out where it all goes doesn't it?

Here are a few other tax tid bits that will make you think:

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He is risen!… He is risen indeed!  So last year (He Is Risen ) I laid out the case for Easter pretty well, so this year I thought some pictures of the dawn seemed appropriate. Pretty cool photo effect eh?

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Well it's the dreaded April 15th [dramatic score] Tax Day!  Well - usually. This year the stars aligned and bought us 2 more days until the tax man cometh: April 17th.  But realistically, the tax man has been in your pocket ALL YEAR.  Thanks to the political genius of withholding the government already has your money - or at least most of it.  In fact their is a penalty if you haven't paid in at least 75% of your tax bill PRIOR to April 15th. 

Now a few still owe a reasonable amount of money but that shortfall is more than made up for by the saps that overpaid the government and gave the government an INTEREST FREE LOAN.  These are the same saps that rejoice at their huge refund and act like the government is giving them money. Guess what?  It was your money in the first place and if you were smart you would have had it last year.

Here's the math: a typical refund of $6000 means that you made a $500 payment to the government every month.  That would be a pretty nice car payment.  The government then graciously gives you your money back + zero interest.  If you want to give someone loans look into private mortgages… you can get 9-12%.  Afraid of the risk? Give it to me and I'll to a PM for 9-12% and give you a guarantee on your money and 1% return on your money.  That'd be a refund of $6600.  The crazy thing is that withholding is a fairly new addition to the income tax.  Surprised?

So what? We can't do anything… actually we can. The fair tax solves many, many tax issues (except that we actually do have to pay some taxes regardless the system).  Check it out:

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Another great day for a bike ride.  Unfortunately I left my Garmin on last night so the battery died 7 minutes in… luckily I had my bike computer to fall back too…

• Bike 11.2 miles - 53:12 

Bob Parks has an interesting piece on the current illegal immigration issue.  He also has a nice counter-protest to the "Day(s) With (illegal) Immigrants" that keep filling the news. He suggests a "National Day Without Citizens" on Cinco de Mayo (May 5th). A tempting plan to be sure, though, I will need to gain steam if it's going to work.  I'd hate to see only a few people do it and then have to explain to their bosses why they weren't at work on Friday… of course American's have been known to call in sick… ;)

“I'm going to sneak into your house. Once I'm inside, I'm going to find a place to hang out. I'll sneak around and take whatever money I can find. I'll use your computer and sign myself up on your family's health insurance. I'll help myself to whatever food is in your fridge. And should you catch me, I'll protest and demand that I not only stay in your home as long as I want, but that you call the police and have all charges against me dropped. Oh, and by the way, my family will be moving in soon.”

As over-simplistic as that may sound, that's where we are with this whole illegal alien thing. The very people who use our laws as toilet paper and violate our sovereign border, are now taking to our streets by the hundreds of thousands, seemingly daily, to tell us stupid, racist Americans that they are here, deal with it, and give them what they want… or else.

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