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My employer is a big supporter of the Children’s Miracle Network and their One Darn Cool School program which they support in conjunction with the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Every year we hold numerous fundraisers in order to raise funds for this program, which provides educational materials and instruction for children unable to attend school regularly due to their stay at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. It’s a great program and really provides a lot of fun and educational opportunities for the children who, due to health conditions, are unable to attend their regularly scheduled classes.

Every year for the past several years my employer has held a CMN Bowl-A-Thon in an attempt to raise funds for the Children’s Miracle Network. It’s been very successful for the past few years and this year will hopefully be better than ever. I have the opportunity to participate this year in the CMN Bowl-A-Thon and I’m hoping that I will be able to raise a nice sum of money to donate. I’m looking for people to sponsor me in the CMN Bowl-A-Thon.  In return I’ll be sure to take plenty of pictures and maybe even a video or two of the Bowl-A-Thon and post them here at Debit versus Credit.  You’ll be able to get a good laugh out of it and you’ll feel good for helping to brighten a child’s life.

All you have to do to donate is either send me money via PayPal or if you’d prefer to donate via cashier’s check or money order you can do that as well by sending an e-mail to joseph[at]debitversuscredit[dot]com and letting me know you’d like to donate.  If PayPal is your preferred method (you can send payments through paypal with either a credit card or your bank account information) then you can send the money to joseph.mcclellan@gmail.com. If you have any questions at all then feel free to send me an e-mail.

For more information on the Phoenix Children’s Hospital and their partnership with the Children’s Miracle Network please visit their website.

Here’s some awesome news and something I am excited to be a part of.  Daily Blog Tips has just kicked off the very first Blogging Idol competition.  Blogging Idol is a competition between (as of last count) 96 bloggers to see who can gain the most subscribers between today and the end of July.  I’m absolutely thrilled that I am able to be a part of Blogging Idol and I hope that Debit versus Credit can make some great gains between now and the end of the month with its subscriber count.

If you’re new here and have not had a chance to read through all of my previous posts then go ahead and check out some of the following links to see what sort of content you can expect to receive on a consecutive basis by subscribing to Debit versus Credit.

What I Learned In Mexico: Business Negotiation
The Worst Years of My Financial Life
My 33% Savings Plan
How Your Credit Score Defines You
Oh, America…

I’m writing this post with the hope that I will gain your support for this competition! All you have to do to show your support is either to subscribe to my RSS feed or subscribe to Debit versus Credit by e-mail.  It will only take a minute and you can be sure that you will receive constant updates with all of my newest blog content!  You can alternatively subscribe by e-mail by filling out the form below:

I was reading the financial news today at CNN Money when I ran across an article highlighting presidential candidate Barack Obama’s plan for revitalizing the shrinking U.S. economy.  He says that he wants to spend billions of dollars on education, infrastructure, health and energy systems.  Specifically (and this is to improve America’s competitiveness according to the article) he wants to spend “$10 billion on childhood education, $150 billion over 10 years developing alternative energy and $60 billion over 10 years to build 21st-century infrastructure.  Where will the money come from to fund these spending plans?  By ending the war in Iraq, reducing government waste, charging polluters for greenhouse gas emissions and ending the Bush tax cuts, but only for wealthy individuals.

Not A Bad Idea, But Will It Really Work?

Honestly I’m all for increasing spending where it’s important for the future of the country, and more importantly the future of the world.  Education is a great place to spend money on (efficiently of course) and I’m definitely all for developing alternative energy.  Overall the places which Mr. Obama has outlined as important to spending I agree with.  However I’m not so sure how realistic it is to assume that the money to fund these plans will actually come.  The war in Iraq is probably likely to end if Obama is elected (at least if he does what he is saying he will), but what does it really mean when someone says that they want to reduce government waste?  Or charge polluters for greenhouse gas emissions?  These are quite vague.  I drive my car to work which means I emit greenhouse gases.  Does that mean I’ll be taxed for these pollutions?  Any ideas out there?

Globalization Is Inevitable

Another interesting part of this article was Barack Obama’s response when asked about protectionist trade policies designed to protect American jobs.  He said, “it is impossible to turn back the tide of globalization.”  Good man.  I’m glad that someone in Washington is smart enough to at least realize the truth of this matter.  We’re going global, whether we like it or not.  If we prepare for it and stay competitive then we’ll survive in a global market.  If we don’t and instead whine and complain and fight for protectionist trade policies and increased tariffs, etc. we’ll crash and burn as a global economic superpower.  I’m actually a fan of his policies regarding this.  I’m glad that he’s realized that we need to change and adapt, if we want to stay competitive.  Now if we could only convince everyone else…