Questions About Health Care Reform

By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

As many of you have probably heard, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey recently caught some flak for writing an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal opposing any new health care entitlements on the grounds that they would have to be financed with major deficit spending.

Mackey’s article sparked a wave of outrage among political progressives, many of them Whole Foods customers. His arguments even instigated an organized boycott of the grocer that currently numbers in the tens of thousands. This is just one instance that demonstrates how high emotions run in this debate, and some claim the intense passions we’re seeing expressed on both sides of the political spectrum are about more than just health care.

Is that true? In a sense, yes. Emotions aside, the health care debate boils down to distinct philosophies concerning the proper role of government and the private sector, as well as conceptions of rights. Read more

Sugar Ray Leonard: “Knocked Down Doesn’t Mean You’re Knocked Out”

By Katherine Tarbox, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

I hope you’re planning to join us in San Diego, Calif., for the 2009 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in November, which will feature boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard. I had the pleasure of interviewing him this afternoon for the October issue of the magazine about what it takes to stay in the ring and persevere during tough times.

Interestingly enough, Leonard understands how tough it is for practitioners since his son works as a mortgage banker in Atlanta. “The good times are gone,” he says. He noted that fighters get knocked down all of the time, but the key is that they have 10 seconds to get up. Read more