Your Health Care Choices

The President seems to be trying to force his version of health care down our throats. Because of we must accept the personal responsibility to be vigilant and clear as to what a new health care bill should focus upon. Here are the key points:

• There should be tax deductions for self-reliant individuals who purchase their own health care plan.
• There should be national competition among health care companies for our health care premiums just as the property and casualty companies compete.
• There should be coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions through an insurance pool and a reinsurance network with the same rates as standard insurance.
  
• And, the public option should be eliminated - the politicians will not accept it for themselves and their families and neither should we.

Let your Representatives and Senators know what you think.

Man's Best Friend - Human or Animal?

I have been recently thinking about the significance of animals in our lives and the relationship of animals within their own species and how one species relates to another. Four notions occurred to me: often one specie of animals view another specie of animals as food; another specie of animals may not view another specie of animals as food at all; some animals are trainable by humans and can become loyal as well as a great source of fun and security; and still another specie of animal are hardly trainable at all and can be a great source of danger.

Although many animals have the capacity to be trained by humans to a certain extent, they all function on the basis of instinct and can not make any moral choices. Human beings, however, have the capacity to make moral choices and can choose all their behaviors and therefore can provide the type of relationship to another human being that no animal can provide. Moreover, depending upon our needs the quality of relationships we have with other human beings can have a direct effect on our mental health.

Personally, I don't eat animals nor do I keep any type of animals as pets, although I accept the fact that certain animals can be great companions. I just prefer human companionship and believe that another human is man's best friend.

More on this later.

A Meatless Diet, More Money in Your Pocket

Being the curious person that I am, I often ask my friends and acquaintances what their food bills are each month and then I become amazed. Being a vegetarian leaves me with a very low food bill each month. Meat happens to be the most expensive item in most everyone's shopping cart. If what you are putting in your cart are fruits (in season), vegetables, brown rice, whole wheat bread, cheese, whole wheat spaghetti, juice, eggs, macaroni, and legumes, you'll have healthy foods and foods that will give a variety to your diet and last a while. Once meat is eliminated from your diet, you achieve two outcomes: more discretionary money and better health.

You can then use the discretionary money to invest in yourself as you continue your quest for success. If you are already a success, congratulations. If you are still on the path to success, here is a step to incorporate in your plans

A Key Housing Program

The $8,000 Home Buyers Tax Credit is only available to qualified taxpayers who have not owned a house during the previous three years, and who close by Nov. 30th, among other requirements. Buyers can amend their 2008 returns to claim the credit or claim it on returns for 2009.

However, efforts are being made in various states to find ways to provide the money upfront to buyers who need money for down payments and not next year after they file their federal returns and get refunds. Check with your state housing finance commission or a similar agency.