The Fragility of Freedom

We are living in a pivotal time in history.


Over the last couple decades, the focus in our country has been divisive social issues. It is time to put aside our differences on those issues because there are much more serious threats with which we need to deal. They are threats – both external and internal – that threaten our freedom.


How we deal with these threats in the next few months will shape our lives for decades to come. Yet most of our citizens are so uninformed that they don’t even realize what those threats are. Unfortunately by the time we realize what is happening, it takes significant action to undo the harm, if it can be undone.


 Read more:   http://http://www.mydigitalpublication.com/display_article.php?id=442780


For more information on Anne, visit http://www.anneschwab.net/
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Is the Threat From Iran, Terrorists and the Taliban Real?

Someone who wished to post a comment on my blog (the comment will be posted as soon as "anonymous" identifies herself) wrote that my recent article "The Fragility of Freedom" was using scare tactics. In the article I referred to several external  as well as internal threats to our citizens' safety and liberties.

On the external threats, I referenced included:

1. Iran's ability to have nuclear weapons within the next two years and that if they were to drop a bomb on one of our major cities, such as Chicago, the events of 9/11 will pale in comparison.
2. Countries around the world have theocratic governments (meaning church and state are combined) and the mission of those governments is to convert the world to their system. In those countries, women have no rights.
3. Terrorists who cloak themselves in religion intend to inflict as much harm as possible on our country and our citizens.

I believe these external threats are real and should be taken seriously.

Do you agree or disagree?

All comments are welcome. For your comments to be posted, you must provide your name and city. If you request, we will not publish your name.

For more information on Anne, visit www.anneschwab.net For more information on Authentic Woman Magazine TM, go to: http://authenticwomanmagazine.com/

Note to Anonymous

Dear Anonymous:
You made some good points in your comments posted last Friday.

I am willing to publish your comments if you are willing to identify yourself. It's only fair - you know who I am. I deserve the same courtesy of knowing who you are.

Anne

For more information on Anne, visit www.anneschwab.net For more information on Authentic Woman Magazine TM, go to: http://authenticwomanmagazine.com/

Our Government Can't Limit How Much Profit My Business Makes! Or Can it?

If we do a good job at the business we run, we should expect to make a profit. No where in our constitution is the power granted to Government to limit how much profit a business can make. Or does it?

In the new health care bill signed into law this past March, insurance companies are required to meet a medical-loss ratio. The medical-loss ratio is the amount the insurance company must pay out in claims versus the premiums they collect. Regardless of how well an insurance company ran its business in the past, they must now pay out at least 80% of what they collect in premiums towards medical claims.

I am no fan of medical insurance companies. This law, though, effectively limits how much profit the companies can make.

If such laws can be implemented against one industry, what is to stop the government from implementing comparable laws against your industry? Is there no limit to the government's power?

On this Independence Day weekend, Thomas Jefferson's words in the Delcaration of Independence are poignant:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ... to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

Have we, the governed, consented to granting the government to limit our profits?


For more information on Anne, visit www.anneschwab.net.
For more information on Authentic Woman Magazine TM, go to: http://authenticwomanmagazine.com

How Potato Parable Can Teach Us About Abundance

As a child I was pretty inquisitive. When I got a toy, it wasn’t unusual for me to take it apart to see how it worked. I remember when I got my first doll with moving arms and legs – I pulled the doll’s arm out of the socket to see what allowed it to move.


So it shouldn’t surprise you that as a child I once planted a potato in the ground to see what would happen.


Click here to read what happened: http://www.mydigitalpublication.com/display_article.php?id=298379

For more information on Anne, visit http://www.anneschwab.net/.  For more information on Authentic Woman Magazine TM, go to: http://authenticwomanmagazine.com/

DuPage Woman Newspaper nominated for American Express Shine a Light Award! Your Endorsement is Needed

DuPage Woman needs your help! We have been nominated for the Shine a Light award by American Express, a recognition program where the winner will receive $100,000 in grant money.

To be considered however, we need at least 50 endorsements. Endorsing us is easy – simply click on the link below that brings up our profile, then click on “Endorse Now”. Note: After clicking on Endorse Now, below those words will appear a request to login or register. Registration is very simple: setting up a user name, password and contact information. The registration is required for the endorsement to be counted.

http://shinealight.ivillage.com/sbo-profile/?ProfileID=8060


Here is how we need your help:
1. We must have at least 50 endorsements by Sun. 9/13 at 11:59 pm to be considered. Please visit the site and endorse us now – it will only take a couple minutes!
2. Please pass this email on to others and encourage them to endorse us as well.

Our heartfelt gratitude!


For more information on DuPage Woman Newspaper, go to:
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Should the proposed health care reforms scare you to death?

Everywhere you turn, the buzz is about the proposed health care reforms. Much of the buzz is about the details. What is true? What isn’t true? Will it be good for us, or will it make things worse? If legislation is passed later this year, only the passage of time will answer those questions.

Many details of the proposed legislation have been brought to light and are being debated. The main question, though, is do we need to overhaul the entire medical system? As someone who has been in health care administration and as a Certified Financial Planner, my opinion is that a total overhaul of medical care is akin to tearing down the entire house because you want to remodel the bathroom and kitchen. I believe we can cure what ails the system without a massive overhaul.

Because of the sheer magnitude of the proposals, it is impossible to address all the issues in one article. So in this article, I want to focus on the aspects of the proposed reforms that should scare you. In my next article I’ll focus on some of the cures for what currently ails the system without having to do major surgery.

1. A 1,000+ page document written in legal terms is scary!
The bills currently being considered are about 1200 pages in length. This is the equivalent of an instruction manual for medical care. And have you looked at it? It’s written in legal terms that even with an MBA I have difficulty following.

How many Congressmen and Senators have every read a 1,000 page book! Yet they expect medical providers and insurance companies to not only read but also to implement the provisions of this massive document. Wouldn’t you rather have your medical professionals boning up on current trends in health care instead of boning up on the law?

How long will you have to wait while your doctor or insurance company finds the appropriate passage in the law when determining whether you are eligible for a particular treatment? Do you really want to know how long it would be?

2. Add 45 million to the health insurance rolls AND reduce costs?
If 4 people were added to your family, what would happen to your food expenses? What would happen to your utility bills? What would happen to your medical costs?

The two objectives are a physical and fiscal impossibility. The primary method being proposed to reduce costs is by paying doctors, hospitals, therapists and technicians less – in effect, a pay cut for doing the same amount of work. What would you do if the government reduced your pay check? Would you be able to live in your current lifestyle? Would you stay in your job or look for other employment? (By the way, over the last two decades, the primary way that our government has reduced medical costs was to reduce payments to medical providers.)

So why would doctors be different? Or what if doctors were paid less than what it costs to provide the service (which, by the way, is already happening)? There already are doctors developing their exit strategies.

And how could hospitals stay in business if their incomes are less than their expenses? And what will happen when there are fewer doctors? And fewer hospitals?

The overall effect will be fewer doctors, less hospitals which translate to greater scarcity – basic economics! Do medical care shortages scare you?

3. What would health care look like under a government run system?
Would it be run like the IRS, the Post Office, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the banking overhaul, the $787 billion stimulus package, General Motors, the EPA …. ? If that doesn’t scare you, nothing will!

4. Do you trust politicians to avoid using their influence to benefit a family member or friend over your needs?
The University of Illinois admissions scandal, the bribes required to get a permit to build medical facilities (the focus of the Blagovich and Rezko scandals and indictments), congressmen and senators steering business to their favored constituents (a la Barney Frank saving auto dealerships in his district from losing their contracts). If government has primary control of the medical care system, will you need to petition your Congressman or Senator for a heart bypass procedure? Or for a hip replacement? Or for cancer treatment? Do we really want to concentrate so much power and decision making in the hands of so few? Does it scare you that your choices will not be yours to make?

5. To truly understand the direction in which reforms are being steered, it is imperative to become familiar with the writings and opinions of the people providing advice.
Presidential appointee Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist and brother to Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s Chief of Staff, is already an influential advisor. As I read about his beliefs and writings, my entire body shivered.

A Wall Street Journal editorial on August 27, 2009, reports that Dr. Emanuel’s beliefs include:
· True reform must include redefining doctors’ ethical obligations. He admonishes doctors for focusing only on the needs of their patients and believes that medical students should be trained to “provide socially sustainable, cost-effective care”.
· To ensure that medical resources will be allocated in a way that keeps society going, he suggests that those individuals who ensure healthy future generations with full and active citizen participation should have services socially guaranteed as basic. Those who are prevented from being or becoming participating citizens are not basic and should not be guaranteed, he argued. An example he used was that health services should not be guaranteed to patients with dementia.
· Establishing “priority life curves” on which individuals from roughly ages 15 to 40 receive the most substantial opportunities, while services to the youngest and oldest are diluted. The Jews were not the only ones annihilated by Nazi Germany – also sent to death camps were the disabled, the weak, the old: anyone who was not able to contribute to society. This may sound harsh, yet a close reading of his views begs the comparison. Under these proposals, it could be your mother who is denied cancer treatment because she has dementia, or your fiver year old denied treatment for leukemia.

What should be done? There is no question that some aspects of our current medical and the related insurance systems need to be reformed. I do question though the need for a top to bottom overhaul, especially with such draconian measures.

I believe we can cure what ails the system and that there are ways that that can be accomplished without increasing costs (aka taxes). What is needed is a thoughtful, deliberative look at the consequences of this legislation and to shape reform so that it is for highest good of all. Look for some of my reform suggestions in the next newsletter.

In the meanwhile, continue to educate yourself about what is being proposed and make your opinions known to your elected leaders. We should not be rushing through such an important and life altering legislation.