Do yourself a favor.

Unless you're George Costanza, you hate carrying around a fat wallet.
I know I sure do, so yesterday I came up with an idea.

If you've got Google Drive, Evernote, or even iBooks on your mobile
device, then you've got the ability to keep PDF copies of documents
right on your smartphone as well as saved in the cloud.

So, go ahead and scan everything in your wallet into PDF files.
Insurance cards, drivers license, etc.; just scan it all. That way,
you've got copies. Do this with your passport as well if you plan to
travel internationally.

Got it? Boom. Now you can lighten that billfold a bit. You still
have to carry your government issued drivers license (or passport if
you're out of the country), but the rest of those paper cards can
clear out.

Bonus, if someone needs a copy of an insurance card or other document,
email it to them. All of those products listed above have email
capabilities.

While you're at it, stick a copy of your résumé in the cloud. It just
might come in handy.

Lean your life.

You're welcome.

What am I missing?

Ok. I give up. I've tried for years to figure out what everyone's problem is with Tim Tebow, and I give up. Why is he supposedly not good enough to start at QB in the NFL? And why do most people hate him?

Tebow rode the bench since he arrived in New York. When he wasn't on the bench he was used in all manner of positions from punt protection to some kind of running back. Is everyone just going to accept that Mark Sanchez is such a better QB? That's hard for me to stomach because MARK SANCHEZ IS TERRIBLE! Two years in a row I had him on my fantasy team and he was worthless both years. Also, let's not forget: TEBOW WON IN DENVER. Didn't make it all the way to the Super Bowl, but since when is that the sole criterion used to pick a starter? Hell, look at the Falcons, Matty Ice has been their starter for years. Tim isn't the best QB in the league, but he's good enough to start somewhere and one of those places was New York. He was unfairly saddled with the "unconventional" tag and since everyone overthinks everything in the NFL, he's had to live with it.

Another thing I don't get is all the ire aimed against him. Why does everyone hate this nice young guy? Yes, he's very religious and no, I probably wouldn't want to sit next to him on an airplane and hear his thoughts on Jesus Christ, but I'll buy his "nice guy" deal. He is an insanely hard worker. He volunteers his time and money, he's never in trouble with the law, and he enunciates when he speaks. Would everyone rather he just father a bunch of kids with a bunch of different women so when he's out of football he can get behind on child support? Should he build an entourage or shoot himself in the leg at a nightclub? That seems to be the norm now.

I'll wrap this up by saying that Tim Tebow is a good player, much better than people give him credit for. He'll start somewhere this season. Mark my words.

All-In-All You're Just Another Prick in a Wall

Well, it took almost 12 and a half years, but the terrorists have finally won, thanks in no small part to a hipster in Portland.

The unidentified woman, known to acquaintances as, "Stupid Bitch," managed to fall about 12 feet between two buildings, and was wedged into a space about 9 inches wide for several hours this morning.

While it's not immediately clear how S.B. managed to stumble upon such jackassery, neighbors say she was smoking up on the two story roof at about 3 A.M. when they heard her screams.

Unfortunately, the talented first responders of Portland managed to prevent S.B. from inflicting any more bodily harm upon herself than she had already done with that stupid stud in her face.  Her hipster glasses stayed in place throughout the ordeal, thereby ensuring the douchebaggiest of rescues.

We can only hope that nobody worthwhile had to wait for emergency services during the course of this operation.

Lance Armstrong

Reports have come out stating that Lance Armstrong admitted to cheating during his prolific cycling career. The sources all relate to an interview he did recently with Oprah. Reports of his admission to using performance enhancing drugs, however, cannot be confirmed. Regardless, all seven of his Tour de France titles have been stripped.

So there we have it. He broke the rules, was caught, and is now suffering the punishment. At this point, I say justice was served. What bothers me, though, is society casting judgement down on Lance Armstrong from up on Mount Pious.

So Lance cheated on some bicycle races. Big deal. Do you think anyone in America would have cared about the Tour de France if we didn't have a fellow American burning up the French countryside? Furthermore, here's a guy who fought back from the brink of death to win (cheating aside) one of the most grueling races in all of sport. And he did it seven times. Most importantly, the guy is directly responsible for raising millions of dollars for cancer research through Livestrong.

But I digress. He cheated and admitted to it, but let's stop with all the false indignation and get on with our lives.

Lastly, what happens to his seven trophies? Does a diminutive Frenchman peddle up on a Peugeot and take them? Just try it, Frenchy. I'll bet Lance keeps those trophies.

Cheer Up: Why The Payroll Tax Increase Is A Good Thing

By tomorrow, every working American will have received their first paycheck of 2013. A lot of folks (77 million tax payers) are pretty angry over their smaller paychecks this year. As we all know, this is due to the expiration of the Social Security tax holiday which raises the tax on earned income (up to about $110,000) from 4.2% to 6.2%. That extra 2% may sound small, but it's noticeable when it's your money.

Since the President signed the American Taxpayer Relief Act, we've listened to wonderful stories about how we were saved at the 11th hour from tax hikes on the middle class. It hasn't really been mentioned until paychecks started going out that our taxes have in fact gone up.

I'm not here to bellyache about it. I submit that the payroll tax increase is a good thing, and here's why:

Government costs money. I know that, but many Americans fail to grasp this concept. For too long, those in favor of bigger government and more spending would vote for whomever would take care of them because someone else (rich people) would foot the bill. With the expiration of the payroll tax holiday, everyone is kicking in more taxes and everyone is unhappy about it.

I think this can open people's eyes. You don't want to pay higher taxes? Me either, so lets get on the same page and start cutting some things from the budget.

There will always be taxes, but there will never be an amount of tax revenue that will satisfy the folks in Washington. They will constantly come up with more ways to spend money. It's what they do.

So cheer up, wake up, and stop asking what the government can do for you. Work. Raise your kids. Save your money. Let's all take care of ourselves and start voting for less programs and less waste.

A Fiscal Cliffmas Miracle

So a deal has been reached and the US economy has averted (for now) the fiscal cliff. I don't know the terms of the deal, but let's all be certain of one thing: we may not be going over the cliff, but we're still heading into the canyon.

Our government cannot keep spending more than they're taking in, period. Furthermore, balancing the budget isn't good enough. We need drastic budget cuts to eliminate the budget deficit, produce a surplus, and start paying down the unsustainable national debt.

I'm going to say something that may destroy my credibility as a fiscal conservative: I was almost ready to go over the fiscal cliff. Don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly believe that Washington doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. But if I thought for a second that a tax increase and mandatory budget cuts would put us on the right track, I'd fall in line, suck it up, and pay.

America is in a hole. We've already got the wealthy paying way more than a fair share. Middle class families are paying their way. Let's start getting something out of the folks who aren't kicking in anything. 47% of Americans pay no income taxes. That is an immense, untapped tax base. Let's get some cash out of them.

Anyway, maybe it's the few cups of cheer I've had this evening, but I'm rambling.

Merry Fiscal Cliffmas. God bless us, everyone.

Why Going Over the Fiscal Cliff Is Exactly What Congress and the White House Want

Most of us are hoping for a swift solution to the looming "fiscal cliff." In my opinion, you can just keep on hoping, because nobody is going to do anything to prevent it.

Let's go back. Last August, Washington was embroiled in a fight regarding the raising of the debt ceiling. As part of the legislation passed which ultimately raised the debt ceiling, automatic budget cuts were included and set to take place on January 1 of 2013 if no budget cuts could be agreed to before then.

Now I'm all for budget cuts, but there is also a key piece of legislation still yet to be sorted out: the expiration of the current AMT thresholds.

AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) was developed to make sure that wealthy taxpayers didn't benefit too much from the normal tax code and were made to pay more if their income was over a certain threshold, which has been adjusted, or "patched," to account for inflation.

If Washington fails to act on AMT, the thresholds will revert to the 2000 tax year income levels. For single filers: from $50,600 to $33,750. For married filing jointly: from $78,750 to $45,000. This means that AMT will catch a vast number of filers it was never meant to: middle class filers. Add this in with other tax increases (expiration of the Bush tax cuts that were extended in 2010, Obamacare, etc.) and American taxpayers will be toting lighter wallets in 2013.

Now, why won't Washington do anything? Because this is exactly what everyone in Congress and the White House wants to happen.

Think about it. Without action, on January 1: Americans will be paying higher taxes, budgets will be cut, and both sides of Washington will be able to point across the aisle and say it was the other side's fault. Bases will be galvanized and since we just had elections, no one in Washington will be up for reelection until 2014.

Get ready America. We're going over.