One of the best aspects of traveling is the interesting people you meet everywhere you go. In Thailand earlier this month, we met two Americans who had come to Bangkok to get dental work done. And who wouldn’t want to, when the surgeries they were getting were thousands of dollars cheaper in Thailand than America — even after the costs of travel?

It’s an interesting trend, medical tourism – one that so far has been one of those things you see in 60 Minutes clips. But its popularity is growing tremendously, especially with the recession leaving Americans strapped for cash and desperately seeking affordable healthcare. But that reflects pretty poorly on the American healthcare system and says a lot about just how desperately we are in need of serious healthcare reform.

Since 1994, the cost of healthcare in America has more than doubled. Almost twenty percent of the population between 18-65 was uninsured last year – a staggering number. And according to Michael Leavitt, former Secretary of Health and Human Services, the average American household’s spending on healthcare expenses will go from 23 to 41 percent of average household income over the next two decades.

Healthcare is about to get far more expensive, at a time when more people are losing jobs and fewer people can afford basic health insurance. So it’s no wonder that everyone’s border-hopping for cheapers drugs and surgeries. But really, the situation could be prevented if America would just give its healthcare system the overhaul it needs – universal healthcare.

One bit of good news though: Obama’s proposed new stimulus package right now — you know, the $825b one — contains a substantial amount of money reserved for healthcare reform:

• $39 billion in subsidies to health insurance for the unemployed; providing coverage through Medicaid
• $90 billion to shore up state Medicaid programs
• $20 billion for health-information technology systems
• $4 billion for preventative care

However, it’s only a start. The rising popularity of medical tourism is a perfect case for why America needs universal healthcare more than ever, despite the naysayers against it. As America heads into what is expected to be a deep recession, the staggering costs of American healthcare is going to be a huge obstacle for many, and overhauling our healthcare system should be one of the Obama’s administration’s top priorities.

Nisha Chittal is a writer and journalist who currently serves as Associate Editor of CitizenJanePolitics.com and is a political columnist for UniversityChic.com. Her personal blog is Politicoholic, where she offers commentary on a range of topics, including but not limited to politics, technology, and the changing role of women and Generation Y in politics today.

I woke up this morning and the first thing, I did, over breakfast, was check my feeds. About 90% of my Google Reader is clogged with news and political feeds from just about every political writer, major news blog, and mainstream media outlet you can think of. Reading the news — and assorted political blogs — consumes like 20% of my day. I can’t leave in the morning without knowing what’s going on around the country and around the world.

So I was really, really excited when I read the news this morning and found out President Obama granted his first official interview as President… to Al-Arabiya, an Arabic-language TV station based in Saudi Arabia.

The symbolic importance alone of this decision is huge. But then you have to examine what he said during the interview:

“Now, my job is to communicate the fact that the United States has a stake in the well-being of the Muslim world, that the language we use has to be a language of respect. I have Muslim members of my family. I have lived in Muslim countries … the largest one, Indonesia. And so what I want to communicate is the fact that in all my travels throughout the Muslim world, what I’ve come to understand is that regardless of your faith – and America is a country of Muslims, Jews, Christians, non-believers – regardless of your faith, people all have certain common hopes and common dreams.

And my job is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives. My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy.”

During the whole campaign he downplayed his ties to the Muslim world for fear that his attackers would use it against him. Now he’s being open about it and reaching out to the most volatile, complex region of the world and offering, above all else, respect — something the past administration refused to offer. And the fact that we have a President that can even make such statements as in that first paragraph is still astonishing on its own.

The last time I got this excited about something in the media was when Colin Powell defended Muslims on Meet The Press and condemned the anti-Muslim attacks used in the election:

“Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian.  He’s always been a Christian.  But the really right answer is, what if he is?  Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?  Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, “He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.” This is not the way we should be doing it in America.”

Obama, in his Al Arabiya interview, emphasized that the US will listen instead of just dictating, that the US is committed to Arab-Israeli peace, and that we care about the quality of life of all people — in Israel and Palestine and everywhere else. And the statements that he has made — and that Powell made towards the end of the election — are, I hope, indicative of a new era in US-Arab relations.

Look, I’m normally one to be kind of skeptical of politicians. I know how campaigns work. I know federal government is bogged down by all kinds of bureacracy. And I certainly don’t mean to constantly heap praise on Obama on this blog all the time — I certainly don’t agree with everything he does and I didn’t even vote for him in the primaries.

But, it’s really hard not to be optimistic about the future of the relationship between the US and the Muslim world when we have a President that is committed to honestly, respectfully, engaging the Arab world and actually making progress in the Middle East.

The most important thing he can do is what he has already begun doing: changing the tone of the conversation to one of respect.

Nisha Chittal is a writer and journalist who currently serves as Associate Editor of CitizenJanePolitics.com and is a political columnist for UniversityChic.com. Her personal blog is Politicoholic, where she offers commentary on a range of topics, including but not limited to politics, technology, and the changing role of women and Generation Y in politics today.

Reprinted with permission from Israelnewsletter.com

Many reasons have been thrown around to the continued rout in global stocks. After all with 24/7 media, they need to have something to talk about. Bank failures, plugged up credit markets, as well as a general panic among investors are just some of the reasons given for the market slide. But what about the fact that Wall-Street may be on edge regarding a potential Obama presidency. Could it be that investors are worried that a Democratic president and Democratic controlled congress is a recipe for disaster?

Much has been made over the years about gridlock in Washington. Many of us believe that gridlock is good because nothing ends up getting done in Washington, which means that nothing can get screwed up. With a potential Democratic sweep, investors may be fretting about increased spending, increased taxes and increased intrusion into the lives of each and every one of us. After all the Obama policy of hope and change is innocent enough, but if it’s backed up by Nancy Pelosi et al. running with a majority in both houses, things could interesting.

Here is a chicken/egg one for you. Common wisdom has Obama surging ( I guess this is one surge he supports!) due to the current economic crisis. But could the market crash be a result of Obama’s poll surge, and the fact that investors are scared of a Democratic sweep?

Please see our Disclaimer HERE.

Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

I spent a lot of time over the last day or two watching cable news and the feeling I got was that it’s over. Close up the shop because the US economy is about to enter a recession or even a depression. Even congressmen were using the dreaded ‘D” word, irresponsibly I may add. But is it really time to throw in the towel and declare the end of America as we know it? Is this just a ploy by the media to scare Americans into voting for a Messiah, who will then save the country from itself?

There is no question that the economy has some problems, namely a credit crunch, but Sec. Paulson’s plan will help relieve the crunch and open up credit flow. If you examine the economic data, we aren’t even close to the average recession. The amount of job loss pales in comparison to average job loss in recessionary times. the amount of banks that close is negligible compared to the hundreds that close during recessions. And I could go on and on. So why isn’t ‘main-street’ getting this information? Anyone notice that the usage of ‘main-street’ has taken on a life of its own?

What’s scary is the Democratic plan to save humanity. Capping salaries of private company CEO’s is not only illegal, but will scare them off from trying to purchase ‘toxic’ assets. Larry Kudlow had a brilliant point on the matter. He said, “And then there’s the ownership question. Some Democrats want Uncle Sam to take an ownership position in all the selling and purchasing banks. This is nuts. In America, this is nothing but property confiscation. It also will sharply curb buyers of the distressed assets.
You think Henry Kravis or Steve Schwarzman are gonna take a salary cap and lose an ownership share of the private-equity funds they themselves created and built? They shouldn’t and they won’t. And these funds are crucial to the new process. The only banks that will sell in this over-regulatory environment are the absolute, near-bankruptcy turkeys.”

Right on! He goes on to say that in the case of Fannie and Freddie and other companies bailed out by the government that in those cases you can feel free to pay the CEO along the lines of a high salary bureaucrat, but not the CEO of private company.

I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and get a bit of perspective. Things aren’t as bad as they are being made out to be. Pass Paulson’s plan, and allow the market to work the problems. My gut feeling is that if we do that, we are going to be in fro a bigtime economic boom.

Please see our Disclaimer HERE.

Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

I find the whole argument about whether a ‘mom can be a VP’ to be quite obnoxious and sexist, and I am a man! There is no question that opening up a national dialogue about the role of a mother in society is very important, but so far most of arguments have been made with a political agenda at the forefront. Let’s forget about what I think, let’s take a look at a few blogs and see what other are saying.

Matt Lewis at Townhall.com says, “I’m honestly surprised that the media is questioning whether or not being a mom should disqualify someone from being vice president.  I wonder what Hillary Clinton thinks of how this story has turned.  She obviously felt the media were sexist — particularly MSNBC.  It also reminds me of Shirley Chisholm, who famously believed that her presidential chances were harmed more by being a woman than by being African-American.”

Over at Huffington Post, Hanna Ingber Win has an interesting take. She believes that women should be able pursue any career that they want to but she questions what kind of mother can work around the clock and still be a mother. She says, ” But running on a national ticket months after your child was born? Let alone a son who has Downs Syndrome and therefore under the best of circumstances is going to need every last bit of attention. How can one possibly be an involved and nurturing parent while campaigning in such a heated race? You can be a great mother and work. But you can’t be a great mother and work 80 hours a week. There is no way you are a great mother if you are not there.”

BTW- She also goes after Obama, who rightly preaches on the importance of father involvement with raising kids, on how he can be an involved father running for and hoping to be president.

OpMom keeps it simple. She says, “She is 44, the mother of five, her youngest is 4 months old and has down syndrome.  I am thinking this woman has better things to do with her time than campaign 24/7!”

Clearly the choice to have Gov. Palin as the republican VP candidate, has opened up a dialogue about a mother’s career choice. Let’s hope that sexism plays a lesser role and the dialogue can focus on the real issues.