Texsox

Home inspection in a couple hours.

The circumstantial evidence keep mounting against the guy and possibly his wife. I'd rather be the prosecutor than the defense attorney on this one.

The last time I financed a home purchase the interest rate was above 10%. I like seeing sub 3.5%

We're deciding between a canoe or kayaks

QUOTE (knightni @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 09:17 AM) You're gonna miss the ocean more than anything. A dirty river is a poor substitute. The gain is being much closer to Big Bend National Park. But, yes, the surfing really sucks on the river lol

We're moving to San Antonio and spent the past couple weekends looking at homes. We fell in love with a slightly smaller 3/2.5 that had an amazing city lot. We will be in a gated area on a cul de sac. The lot is pie shaped with the house pushed way to the front leaving almost no front yard but a very large back yard. The original owners had planted an awesome garden. As I was walking through the garden I saw an engraved stone that read Willie and Bills Garden (the missing apostrophe was annoying). It went on the market Saturday and at 2:00 pm we were the sixth showing. We went back Sunday and by then close to twenty people had toured the home. We were told they would be taking offers until 5 pm Monday. My wife is very practical and wasn't going to get in a bidding war. We offered close to the asking price which was in line with the comps for the area. We did make one demand of the seller; we asked for a history of the garden, planting guide, and any other information that would be important to maintaining the garden. That got us the house over the high bidder. Their Realtor mentioned to our Realtor that when they were reviewing the offers our request and interest in the garden moved us to the top even though another person offered more money. Another factor in the decision while so many people were viewing the house, Bill passed away. They were an older couple and they were only moving because Bill was dying. My wife loves to garden and I love stories, so this house works great for us.

Thank y'all.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 24, 2014 -> 04:53 PM) Since it's acknowleged they will be among the poor as they will work for low wages, these will not amount to much. most will not own property so there will not much property tax. I should amend the "will not pay taxes" to they will pay very little in taxes. Again, I'm not against the idea of immigrant workers. I think they are necessary. I just think the open borders and unrestricted policy would work. Who ever works that job fits that description of not paying taxes. Most Americans who we've invested $$$$ in their education, do not want nor do they need to, work those jobs. If people wish to stop this immigration issue, stop the violence in South America (some of which we started), and have your children work these jobs.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 25, 2014 -> 09:28 AM) But the balance changes a whole lot when you actually count the payroll tax. His number $24k is a person who, if being paid as a normal worker and paying payroll taxes, would be paying a pretty solid amount to the federal government even after counting the EITC because of the payroll tax hit. Serious Q: how exactly would an employer who has an undocumented immigrant working for them be paying the payroll tax for them? That seems like a pretty dead giveaway to the government and it seems like probably a big part of the motivation for places like walmart to hire undocumented workers. As I've read the numbers the negative income tax rate includes the employer contribution. Basically the employee winds up with what the employer sent in. Most of who we call undocumented use fraudulent social security numbers. Most of the illegal workers are not working for cash. Which by the way happens a lot for retired people trying to circumvent social security and other pension rules. When someone applies for a job and has the necessary paperwork, it is hard to find fault in the human resource department. The worker avoids filing a return because two returns on the same account sends up flags and is more traceable. I am told there are even people who will "lend" their social security number to someone and file the taxes as if they worked the job. They add social security wages and quarters to their retirement benefits, and pick up the refund. Our immigration system is set up to hire $75,000 workers, not minimum wage workers. We don't mind when someone comes here and takes a high paying job but they damn well better hire an American to be their gardener or nanny.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 15, 2014 -> 09:16 PM) You can't honestly be comparing 70's taping technology to what we are talking about here. These are two massively different things, and one of them has all kinds of checks and balance to NOT be erased as public record. If you mean erasing computer files is easier, I agree. When his secretary demonstrated how she would have had to sit for 18 minutes it was laughable. But, things happen.

Anyone earning less than $24,000 and files a return has a negative tax rate. After credits and deductions, they will not pay federal income tax, and probably receive a refund check beyond what they actually paid in taxes. Think about that for a moment. Now if the person does not file, for example if they are here illegally and using a fraudulent social security number, they will not be receiving a refund. The federal income tax that the employer paid and the contribution from the worker will stay in the treasury. Now, if that worker files a return, that money leaves the treasury as a refund to the individual. For more information look up effective federal income tax rates.

Starting in August I will be the head golf coach and English IV teacher at a San Antonio high school. It was my #1 district choice, my #1 coaching choice, and my #1 teaching choice. I mean it doesn't compare to getting an admin spot here, but it still is pretty nice. There is a freshman player coming in that was last year's 8th grade champion. Now if I can find a couple more to build a team . . . Relocating is going to be a struggle.

I stopped by a local shelter run by a group of Churches. You have never seen desperate like this. The stories I heard from volunteers are that many or most of these people didn't want to leave their homes but were fleeing violence and poverty. It is a literal life or death struggle.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 23, 2014 -> 06:33 PM) Then they get a bus ticket to Harry Reid's house in NV. These are the real problems facing the people trying to solve the problem. These kids come from towns without a bus stop. Would you send the kid on a week long multiple bus trip, that will only get them possibly near the place they left from with no one waiting for him? Maybe you would. To me that sounds like not caring if the child lives or dies. The problem that we are facing are not easy ones. It will shape how America is known for possibly generations to come. Did we ignore tens of thousands of refugee children, or not? Are we really the country that our enemies claim we are?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 23, 2014 -> 06:21 PM) I would give the kid a meal, maybe find him some new clothes and shoes, maybe even pay for a bus ticket back home, but I will NOT take him in, feed him until he is 18 and pay for his college when I can barely do that for my own kids. And when the kid doesn't know where home is or if there is a parent there to meet him/her?

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 23, 2014 -> 06:12 PM) This would be true if the people were coming here to work. In the example here, I believe al lor most of them are children under the working age. These are not workers thus will not add much to the economy but will take from it. And just like our debate here, the children are caught up in this problem. I don't think Alpha would turn away an 8 year old on his doorstep asking for help. But it is easy to say no to a faceless illegal out to screw America.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 23, 2014 -> 06:10 PM) Are you just ignoring the massive ID fraud that occurs with illegals? No.

Alpha, as a business owner, would you pay $100,000 (public education in the US) to train someone to wash dishes? And then offer them school reimbursement, retirement, etc? Or would you rather hire someone without any training, train them for $100 and have them leave when they are through washing the dishes and never pay them again? That's why we have this issue. (the rest is just politics)

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 23, 2014 -> 06:05 PM) I think ILLEGAL immigrants take away from the pie. I have zero problems with legal immigration and even a guest worker program if it can be implemented correctly. Flooding us with illegals, whether they be 8, 38 or 88 does this country no good at all. It does Alpha, which is why we haven't changed anything, ever. No Social Security number and you do not receive all those benefits. It is better for the national budget to have a no public benefit person work those low income jobs than someone who has be given a public education valued at $$$$ and will continue to collect more benefits than they will even contribute to. Better (tax wise) for someone to sneak in, work the job, then go home.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 23, 2014 -> 05:25 PM) More welfare recipients = more welfare benefits = more taxes needed to pay for the increase = increased cost of doing business to pay the taxes. I'd like to see some data that illegal immigrants become a net job producer. I find that incredibly illogical. It's pretty tough to open a business when you're an illegal alien. Or hell, maybe not given how this country has been the last decade about immigration. s***, we probably provide government grants for it. Or are you saying that more supply means more cheap labor, which again just screws people already here. Great, now all the poor Americans b****ing about not being paid $30/hr at McDonalds are out of work because immigrants are happy to make $7.50/hr. How does that system help anyone? You need a SS# to apply for benefits. So the American you hire at a low wage job applies for the benefits, the undocumented worker, does not. The illegal worker buys food, pays rent, buys clothes, etc. without receiving additional government benefits like SS, unemployment, child care, college tuition, etc. There is ample evidence that business owners prefer to pay legal workers and not risk getting caught. But, there are not enough workers to accept the worst jobs in our economy. Citizens do not want to follow the crops as migrants. They don't want to scrape dishes and mow lawns. Thankfully, our education system is creating workers that do not need to work these lowest level jobs. Instead we need to import workers to do that. The problem is our immigration program is not set up for $7.50 / hour jobs. Instead we can bring in $80,000 per year software engineers and doctors.

Interestingly Texas, with the most immigrants weathered the Great Recession better than most states. The lowest tax brackets actually receive more in benefits than they pay in taxes. When someone who is here illegally without a SS number works that job they do not apply for those benefits, do not file a tax return. When someone legal or who has a social security number works that job, they grab all those benefits. It is actually cheaper tax wise for an illegal to work the job than someone here legally. Which is why politicians haven't offered any meaningful solutions. Plus, our agriculture industry, already hurting, will close down. We already import more than half of our food. Do we want to be in a position that we can't feed ourselves with our own agriculture program? We need a guest worker program that allows workers to come or stay here with limited benefits, basically like the bracero program during WW2.

You do realize we're talking about young children. Jenks, you decide what happens to that 8 year old that shows up without anyone, what do you do? Send them where exactly? How do they get there?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 09:33 AM) The thing is, no company should be scheduling interviews if they are moving a position out of state, or even considering it. If the do that on a routine basis I agree. I can understand once in a decade a situation comes up that is unpredictable. In this case if they are utilizing an employee in a different location instead of laying him/her off, etc. it should be forgiven.

Lately the immigration issue that is receiving the most attention here on the border are the thousands of unaccompanied children that are arriving. I keep hearing some people say, send them back, but back where? These kids don't know where they are at or where they came from. How desperate are parents to send their pre-teen children thousands of miles, on a chance for a better life? We've seen refuge camps in other countries filled with people being displaced by famine, violence, and all sorts of evil. Maybe that's the solution. We sign blank checks to the Halliburtons of the world to solve problems half way across the globe, yet we reject children who have come thousands of miles asking for help? Why aren't celebrities lining up to adopt these kids?

Two apps / websites that may be helpful are Zillow and Trulia. I like using them to filter neighborhoods. I'm in the same boat, my wife and I are moving and we will be renting the first year or so. By putting in our search criteria I quickly new to look in the east and west sides of San Antonio and avoided wasting my time in the north central. I'm using a Realtor to set up visits to some properties he thinks will work. We're looking for single family homes and we do not have a lot of time so it works out best for us.