I also can’t understand why you would encourage someone, on a limited income, to blow $100 when she needs practical items. I can attest to the fact that a new set of sheets is not only practical but feels like I’m spoiling myself. As a frugal person, I certainly would suggest, at the very least, a balance. I certainly wouldn’t suggest an expensive store where you’re paying for the name. I don’t know this person’s geographical location but $100 can go very far at places like walmart and biglots.

Proclaiming abhorrence for the act but then stating you have no right to judge such things because you are not a doctor or psychologist is nothing more than a balancing act atop a rather rickety fence. That is why your wife intuitively pointed out your true position.

I do not come at this issue from a religious point of view because I am not a religious person. I think a good society protects the innocent so I am against abortion in general but would demand one if it was the only way my wife or daughter could survive a troubled child birth. That is my belief. The “nuanced” opinion a doctor could provide would not change this belief. Would it really change yours?

It was important to me to actually DO before I started writing … I got the idea to write about 5 years ago, but was only 2 years into my 7 years journey that took me from $30k in debt to $7million in the bank DOING WHAT IT IS that I advise people who read my blog to do … integrity counts!

BTW: Like you, I have no way of really KNOWING, but Trent and a couple of others that I recommend on my blog appear to be the REAL-DEAL on guys who are still on the journey and are writing authentically about their experiences.

I recently read your article on Maximizing Your Sleep Effectiveness and found the idea of periodic sleeping intriguing. I’ll have to give it a try.

My question is this: How do you get up so early in the morning?

I’ve always been a night person, and getting out of bed each morning feels like a chore. I’ll wait until the very last minute, end up rushing out the door, and still get to work 5 minutes late about half the time. I’d like to start getting out of bed earlier so I could eat breakfast, exercise more, work on other projects, etc. But I can’t stomach getting out of bed 10 minutes earlier to make it to work on time – getting up 60-90 minutes early sounds impossible.

Do you have any tips? Motivational techniques? Was it always easy for you or did you have to adjust? Thanks!

But Obama CHOSE the rev as his spiritual mentor. He CHOSE to attend that church for 20 years, even after hearing those hateful, vile sermons. He CHOSE that man as someone who would influence his worldview and decision-making. He CHOSE to make that man a very big part of his life. I personally don’t want a president whose CHOSEN mentor and advisor is someone who says “God damn America.” That worries me. A crazy old uncle saying the same thing wouldn’t really worry me and I might still have voted for him. But this is very, very different and I can’t in good conscience cast my ballot for him. I was actually leaning toward Obama before all of this, but Rev. Wrong decided me.

And I promise, this is the last time I will mention politics in your comments section :-)

What have you learned about affiliate marketing that you recommend to bloggers with a small readership? In my case it is about 200-300 unique visitors per day.

Ah, but income tax is not your total tax burden. It is estimated that Canadians pay an average of 48% of their total income in taxes each year. Americans on the other hand pay about 10% less. A full 22% of all taxes in Canada goes toward healthcare. Some Provinces use up to 40% of all taxes brought in to cover health care. So how cheap is it really for your health care if 22% of your taxes goes to it? How about 40%? You are paying (as you researched) about the same income taxes, BUT you pay almost double in sales tax, let alone all the other taxes ($100 for a car air conditioner. Did you know that?).
Here in the U.S. I know exactly what I am paying for health care. My premiums plus any deductible and copays. Your cost is hidden. You think everything is free, but in reality you could be paying huge amounts for it.

“It doesn’t cost to go to Emergency or to a walk in clinic if you don’t have a family doctor. It doesn’t cost for a room if you’re admitted to hospital, and they don’t charge you for every aspirin and tissue you use. It doesn’t cost any money to have a baby, from prenatal care to hospital or home birth to postnatal care for both you and the baby.”

This is exactly the type of comment I expect to get from people who support a single payer system. They see the services they receive as “free”. None of that is actually free. There is no such thing as a free lunch (TINSTAFL). Someone is paying for it. And its YOU! You just don’t realize it.

The Wright situation convinced me more than ever that I had made the correct choice in a candidate. Let me explain.

One of my older relatives is a sweet old guy. He’s been incredibly kind to me throughout my life. He drove eighteen hours through some disastrous weather to attend my high school graduation party and he taught me several of my best techniques for hunting mushrooms in the woods. He’s danced with my wife, held my son, and made me both laugh and cry during an afternoon of conversation. He’s given me probably more good life advice than anyone I know.

Every once in a while, though, he’ll go on a crazy rant about something – usually it’s affirmative action or something along those lines. He’ll take a stance that I find abhorrent, something that’s tantamount to the views of George Wallace, and I’m shocked by the rhetoric that comes out of his mouth.

I usually wait until he’s cooled off, then I quietly suggest to him that he’s maybe viewing things through the context of forty years ago and that the landscape has changed.

So, when I heard about Rev. Wright and heard his speech, I immediately thought of this relative, and I thought to myself, “What would I do if I were running for President and someone trotted out my uncle?” I looked at the options. I could completely denounce my relative and publicly reject him. Or I could be a bigger person than that and stand by my relative, a person who has stood by me through thick and thin.

If Obama had tossed Wright to the curb because of this, some of Obama’s appeal would have been washed away for me, but I would have understood politically why he did it.

The fact that Obama did not, that Obama took the politically risky road and didn’t desert someone like Wright, impresses me a great deal.

There are very few instances where you would have to pay any money at all for a medical test ordered by a doctor. An example would be if you were 25 years old with no family history of heart problems and you requested your cholesterol levels. You never pay to go to the doctor (whether a GP or a specialist), but you pay a fee if you want them to fill out your kid’s form for camp or whatever (maybe $25).

It doesn’t cost to go to Emergency or to a walk in clinic if you don’t have a family doctor. It doesn’t cost for a room if you’re admitted to hospital, and they don’t charge you for every aspirin and tissue you use. It doesn’t cost any money to have a baby, from prenatal care to hospital or home birth to postnatal care for both you and the baby. Emergency care is excellent. You might wait to get a bed if they’re busy, but you can get a CAT scan or MRI within an hour or two and be in surgery very quickly in a crisis situation, such as a heart attack or car accident.

I have no idea what Danny means by “Then why is the cancer center of Canada in the USA? They are choosing to get taken care of in another country.” The only person I personally have *ever* known who left Canada for cancer treatment went to *Mexico* for laetrile treatments for leukemia.

Jon, who has confused me with Monica, pays just slightly more than most employed single people would here, but it’s not clear whether his employer is paying half his premium or a larger percentage. The $300 Louise quotes for a couple is more like what other people have told me. (I’ve heard of folks paying $600/mo for a family.)

I’ve looked at US & Canadian taxation info online and here’s my take on it, based on what I found.
Let’s say a single person had $40k in employment income and compare the income taxes they’d pay in each country, living in 2 major West Coast cities (Seattle and Vancouver).

The Canadian would pay $4,453 in federal and $1,787 in provincial income taxes, for a total of $6,240.

The American would pay $6,424 in federal and $0 in state income taxes, for a total of $6,424.

Since Washington is one of only 7 states that doesn’t have a state tax, our American taxpayer would obviously pay even more in any of the 43 states with a state income tax. So, I’m not really seeing Jon’s POV on the issue of income tax.

The Washington state sales tax is 6.5%, in BC it’s 7%. There is also a 5% federal sales tax (the GST, a kind of Value Added Tax) in Canada, so Jon is right that our Canadian would pay more tax on taxable purchases. Or he could move 800 miles to Alberta where there is no provincial sales tax, only GST.

OK, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, allow me to say that I really enjoy your blog and think your Monday Mailbags are a great idea.

Then why is the cancer center of Canada in the USA? They are choosing to get taken care of in another country. That doesn’t sound like it works well at all.

What are co-pays like in countries with socialized health care?