AMES, Iowa – "Donald Trump said on Saturday that GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona was “not a war hero” because he had been taken prisoner by the Vietcong, prompting a firestorm of criticism from Republican leaders.“He’s not a war hero,” Trump said during an onstage Q&A at the conservative Family Leadership Summit, an event that features a number of Republican presidential contenders. “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured, okay?”

Source: GOPers denounce Donald Trump amid fiery feud with John McCain | MSNBC
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                 Welcome back My Dear Shoevians to The Other Shoe.This is just WAY out of line, IMHO! I am a well known Democrat, but even I (myslef) find this just too hyperbolic for ANY party at ANY time. I am reading that, shortly after making these distrubing remarks, he DENIED that he EVER SAID IT!!! My Dear Shoevians, America and Americans MUST make a STAND against this type of gut wrenching hyperbolic rhetoric. . What do YOU think? Share you feelings, thoughts, impressions below with COMMENTS!
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ENJOY!

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Danny Hanning Writer, Editor, Research Staff and Publisher at The Other Shoe
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© 2010 – 2015 Hanning Web Wurx and The Other Shoe

The Republican Party of 2014, is there HOPE?

Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. Late in the day, on Wednesday of this week, I wrote an answer to a post of a very good friend on Facebook. Looking back, on this post, I realized that… either due to pain, or overwhelming need of sleep, I had managed to write a synopsis of a problem that has plagued our great Republic for more than a decade. Many times, over the past decade, I have tired and worked tirelessly to put to voice the root of this plague.

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Either by chance or due to mental awareness unimpeded by restraint, I finally managed to put to voice something I had struggled with before. Below… I am sharing that posting. I do this… because not all of you, My Dear Readers, have me as a friend on Facebook and you might otherwise never see this synopsis of the plague of our great Republic.

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Read and be informed. Read at your own risk;

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The great divide, within the Republican party, will be huge fodder for; authors, historians, and writers of all stripes for generations. Let me explain their dynamic, in small words. Billionaires, with political axes to grind, took over the Republican party at the turn of the century. Talking heads, hired and supported by some of said billionaires, flooded airwaves with divisive hyperbolic rhetoric (focus group tested and created). The 'Radical Right' started running over moderates alienating any but the 'converted'. With tens of millions of dollars invested in; redistricting scams, voter suppression and the creation of the 'Tea Party'. (Yes, there is now proof the tea party was not created by grassroots movements as previously claimed), the Radical Right forced an extremist agenda on a once reasonable and 'Grand' party. With the help of the internet, Americans (mostly absent from politics for their entire lives) were drafted and given a 'voice'. They went to web sites and printed out their 'talking points', flooding town meetings in ever state. Within a decade the Republican party was split in twain, when Steele was replaced with Rance Prebius the extreme became the center and American politics saw a huge shift right... In the process the center was lost. Considered debate lost to one-side hyperbolic rhetoric. Compromise became a four lettered word, lines were drawn... in blood. Most non-partisan political watchers... bloggers... writers agree. America is more divided than any time since the Civil Rights movement... or the Civil War. America has lost its ability to reach a consensus. Lost the Unity that was so instrumental to our greatness. The 'War on Poverty' and compassion were replaced with overt greed, avarice, and a 'War ON the Poor'. Since the 20008 recovery 98% of all wealth generated has gone to the top 1-5%. The Middle Class has been more than decimated (to decimate is to reduce by 1/10, and often misused in media). I am one of few Americans with the courage to speak up about the horrible harm... done to our great Republic. WE are ALL guilty.... We LET this happen to the greatest Democracy in human history, handed down to US by the 'Greatest Generation'. One day... Americans WILL weep at what was lost and what we left them. 2014 Will look and sound like all the past elections. And I will cry.

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Two points, in this posting, are salient points. First, we cannot, sitting in time where we do today, know how authors and historians will judge today’s political environment.However, if you can take a step away from ourselves, our own political beliefs and agendas, we might catch a glimpse of what will be written… in time. We must learn from the political mistakes of the past (at least) several years.

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For the very first time in the history of our nation our Congress is gripped with intransigence. I have looked at the records, I have scoured the numbers. The last three sessions of Congress our House of Representatives has been ‘the least productive in history’! There have been years, during the Civil War and during World War Two, there were single years where, either due to the lack of members or sue to too many Representatives serving their country, a single year saw fewer bills passed into law.

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However, NEVER BEFORE in the history of this great Republic has a Congress, specifically the House of Representatives been so gripped by political ideology that intransigence was so pervasive. Resulting in several sessions in a row being ‘the Least Productive in History’ through no fault of war, or civil unrest. This cannot stand, least America’s democracy fails. Congressmen, elected to serve in the House of Representatives are elected as LAWMAKERS.

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When these duly elected Representatives fail to be lawmakers and, through the pursuit of political purity, choose instead to be seen as “law repealers” (Spoken by Speaker of the House John Boehner – Face the Nation 2014) we, all Americans, are forced into a crossroads. Shall we allow elected Congressional Representatives to violate the Constitution and their ‘Oath Of Office’ and merely draw a check, and do no work?

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How, then, will history judge us? Not only will history, time, judge these intransigent and lawless Congressional representatives harshly, will they not truthfully judge us, too, as complacent with their lawlessness? This does not bode well for the continuation of our Constitutional Democracy. If duly elected Congressional Representatives are allowed intransigence by voters, how can our democracy function? Will this not set a precedent, where when ever a group of lawmakers collectively decide to hold the lower House in the grip of political ideology resulting in a democracy plagued by intransigence, will it not fail?

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We, as a nation, cannot go without the rule of law. Nor can we go for any prescribed period of time without the writing of law, and rewriting of law whose time has passed? Aye, there’s the rub! For even if you are of the mistaken ideal that ‘there are too many laws’ how, then, can you reconcile your inaction with the tides of change the tirelessly flow through our society? Laws expire as the need for them wanes. How, then, can we undo, rewrite or prescribe new, when laws come to a point where their existence does more harm to a society, than good… If there not sufficient lawmakers willing to work to; rewrite, undo, repeal or prescribe new?

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You see, My Dear Readers, there is where there sophomoric ‘reasoning’ fails horribly, and our great Republic right behind. This is why I bring to bear great arms against this wooly logic proffered by the political ideologists. They may grouse at my methods, they may taunt and insult me (personally) for my “attacks” but it is THEY that are the root of the plague. Why not should I attack, like an antibiotic or an antiviral, the very disease that plagues our great Republic?

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I leave you with this, I fight against intransigence because I have the foresight to see that it is an attack on our very democracy! I will not stand idly by and allow my nation’s democracy, and the Republic, be attacked without defending with all my will and powers. To all those that would attack America with intransigence and political purity? I give you fair warning; I will take no prisoners I will show no mercy… no quarter! Be yea fair warned.

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Addendum: Since I first penned this article, I have been catching up on my reading. Seems that the Tea Party is perched to “leave the GOP” as soon as the 2014 elections (just six months away). In state after state, moderate GOP candidates are drawing sistinct lines between themselves and the “radical policies” of their (used to be) Tea Party brethren. In Kentucky sitting Republican Senator Mitch McConnell (minority leader in the Senate) has brought his huge ‘War Chest’ to bear against is Tea Party primary contender. Matching his rhetoric with his actions Senator McConnell has issued a threat to all those Tea Partiers that would ‘primary’ mainstream GOP candidatures. Saying:

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“The goal is to deny them any Senate primary victories, cut into their fund-raising and diminish them as a future force in Republican politics. “I think we are going to crush them everywhere,” Mr. McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, said in an interview, referring to the network of activist organizations working against him and two Republican incumbents in Kansas and Mississippi while engaging in a handful of other contests. “I don’t think they are going to have a single nominee anywhere in the country.”[1]

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It is my (informed) opinion that IF (and that is a BIG ‘IF’) the GOP/Republican mainstream can surgically remove the Tea Party Cancer? It would be the single greatest achievement by Republicans (Mainstream Republicans and Moderate Republicans) in the past decade! Quite honestly the Tea Party is the reason that Republicans have yet to gain a majority in the Elder Congressional body, in contrast to holding the majority in the Lower House for three elections.

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Further, IF the BOP can be successful in quashing all Tea Party primary entries, and replace Reince Priebus with… say, Michael Steel? That would signal the single greatest stabilization of the party, and a rebirth of the Grand Old Party. It is no secret that the Tea Party (lead and created by billionaires like the Koch brothers and other billionaire political amateurs) has cost the Republican party; TWO Presidential elections, the Majority in the Senate and THREE terms of the “Least Productive Congress in History”.

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If the Tea Party were a single player, say, on a baseball team? They would have been cut from the team some time ago. Like this nutcase in Nevada, what’s his name… Cliven Bundy? You know, the nutcase that (until two days ago) Sean Hannity (at Fox) had crowned as the poster child for state’s rights, and “like the Founding Fathers”? Well, now Sean Hannity is doing just about anything (short of actually admitting the mistake he made, out of political expedience) to distance himself from Cliven Bundy, post racist remarks against African Americans.

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SEE, right there that is the problem with the Tea Party and those (politically uninformed, or political rhetoric parrots) that make up the vocal part of the Tea Party. From “I’m not a witch” to this week’s “African Americans were better off as slaves” the kind of people that are self-described Tea Party members are generally unelectable. That is a fact that has cost the mainstream of the Republican Party dearly! I genuinely hope that the core of the Republican Party, the moderates that guided the party prior to the ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ that was the ‘Tea Party Movement’, can remove the cancer. I hope that the Grand Old Party can be brought back to its former glory, take a stand in the ‘Center-Right’ of the political debate and begin again making compromises so that government can work!

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So long as the extremists, the ideologues of the Tea Party that have thrown a monkey wrench into the inner workings of Washington, and labeled intransigence a “political victory” have the Republican Party by the short hairs our nation is at risk. For any democracy that simply cannot get the work of governance done, is a democracy headed for extinction. I have long said that “intransigence must be replaced with compromise” and that as long as “Republicans allow Freshmen Congressmen and Senators contorl the debate, is like letting the teenager in the house4 control the budget!” That quote, of mine, is from ‘Face the Nation’ and Bob Schieffer asked it of Senator Mitch McConnel, ironic that now he is trying to stop the Tea Party from winning any Republican primaries.

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My Dear Readers, any thinking person can clearly come to the understanding that intransigence is no replacement for compromise, and that parroted hyperbolic rhetoric s no replacement for informed debate. PERIOD! I am just glad that someone finally took my advice and are ready to jettison the dead weight of the Tea Party. Kudos to Senator Mitch McConnel!

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As always I am deeply honored that you come here and read my work.

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Adieu!

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Thank YOU!

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[caption id="attachment_2296" align="aligncenter" width="630"] The Other Shoe's Daniel Hanning 2/2014[/caption]

 

[1] http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2014/03/10/mcconnell-tea-party-candidates-will-get-crushed-everywhere-in-gop-primaries-n1806523

Avarice in America

                      Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. Today President Obama is to make a Presidential address about inequality in America. I heard about this from the Facebook feed to Professor Robert Reich (once Labor Secretary under President Clinton). In the statement the Professor says this:

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“Today the President will be giving a major address on inequality. He can be expected to say it’s the central domestic challenge of our time, that equal opportunity is the keystone of our social compact, that widening inequality threatens our economy and corrodes our democracy, and that he’ll be devoting the rest of his presidency to this fundamental challenge.”[1]

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Another voice, in a growing chorus, seeking to make everyone (yet, mostly Americans) of the severe damage an era of greed has wrought upon our great nation. If you are a frequent reader of this blog, then you will know that America’s Avarice is often a topic of my writing. I have, also, made everyone aware that our newest Pontiff, Pope Francis, has frequently made avarice and inequality topics of his dictums, speeches and press releases. Seriously, one would have to be burying their head in the sand most days, and deaf the rest, not to hear the growing cries against avarice and for equality.

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“The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience.”[2] (Also found here: ‘Pope Francis Strikes, Again’ http://theothershoe.blog.com/2013/11/pope-francis-strikes-again/)

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Fact of the matter is that for the handful of Americans get that did get reap the financial benefit of our recent economic upturn, life is quite good and I am sure this is the last thing in the world they want anyone talking about. However, for the rest of the 310 million Americans that saw no benefit, this is a topic that is not getting enough ink. My Dear Readers this is a topic there will always be space for here at The Other Shoe. I am not against my fellow man making a good living or, if they are fortunate enough, amassing a fortune.

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My problem lies with my fellow man’s avarice. Avarice. Now there is a very old word, a very old word indeed. King Midas had dreams of avarice. King Solomon is what most would see is the epitome of avarice. What follows is the dictionary definition of avarice;

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“extreme greed for wealth or material gain”

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“Extreme greed” is the textbook definition for avarice. Aye, there’s the rub! For it is in that one word… That one adjective that I see the frailty and disease of mankind. Extreme, as if there isn’t enough of that already today. Extreme poverty. Extreme religion. Extreme governance. You see it is in fact, where mankind so often falls, that goes before the fall. As a young boy my father, God rest his soul, warned me of extremism… Of steel and zealotry. You still me it was a good thing to be diligent, it was a good thing to persevere, and it was great to Excel . however, he warned that extremism field and zealotry always came before the fall . So I say to you today it is with America. So I say it is today with the extreme right wing of our Republican Party; the tea party. Today’s tea party is the group most responsible for the intransigence of the last two sessions of Congress. Most tea party members will freely admit that they are extreme and that they are selling. You see, that’s when they lost me. And, My Dear Readers, that is where they should have lost you, too. Extremism demands so much from its followers, takes from everyone else and leaves the world behind it in shambles. All too often, in this life, I and I know you to as well have seen the evidence. The zealotry and religion of the Spanish Inquisition that fell a tree of the third Reich needing to the second world war. In the extreme bigotry and racism of the Ku Klux Klan and the John Birch society’s.

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One simply cannot trust seal… Extremism… Zealotry… Or fanaticism. For when you give up all that is you to become your believe? One news is one’s self. Today America is gripped in the throes of extreme capitalism. We hear the cries of the devout

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“too much regulation will strangle growth…”

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Yet, when asked to provide proof that what they’re saying is true? None is forthcoming. As a matter of fact time magazine, just last year, ran a very short article about the regulatory practices of all the industrialized nations in the world. I found it most enlightening to see that the greatest growth in commerce was in India, at the time of this article. However, most ironic India was also the nation with the largest growth and regulations. Looking back just on the history of our nation. One can quite easily see a very recent parallel. The 60s saw this single largest expansion of the middle class, and our national economy, and the history of our nation. Not surprisingly, the 60s were also the time of the greatest growth of regulations and regulatory agencies in the history of our nation. It was the 60s when”tree huggers”started their campaign to save our national ecology. It was the beginning of the environmental protection agency. I apologize that I don’t have the time nor in my of the strength to fully document the expansion of regulation we saw in the 60s and the 70s in America. I know that most of you, My Dear Readers know that what I say is true and I ask for your understanding. So I see it is no coincidence that one time magazine, and 2013, looks to find the single largest growing economy on the face of the earth they find it that very nation is also the single largest growth and regulations. I dare any of you to go and find me proof that the opposite is true.

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I have not written in the past three days. Not only is my body wracked with an unusual level of pain I just keep getting these fevers. Thankfully Allen is working nearly every day. When his paychecks catch up with the hours might actually be able to eat better, again. However, I am afraid that I have to bring this article to a premature close. I am getting quite dizzy and have a growing extreme headache. I apologize I was just beginning to gain some wind in my argument. You all know this won’t be the last time I come here to speak to you of the disease like state of avarice in our nation. I use the word disease most accurately. For avarice has infected our nation. Greed has infected the minds the hearts and souls of too many good people that I knew and grew up with I pray every night for the strength and the lack of pain so that I might complete my novel. One day soon regardless of my condition I will finish this novel. And it is my prayers that my novel is quite popular. And that that popularity I through the the strength of my will and the sharpness of my wit translate into a good deal of wealth of my own. And then I can stop talking about avarice and I can show you… I can show you all what should the done with any wealth. More children go to bed every day right now today in America than any time in our nation’s history. Children, not adults… Not crack whores are welfare moms but children! What ever did children do to deserve to live in poverty and sleep in the hunger?

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Avarice

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As always I am very flattered that you come here and read my work. I hope and pray that in the coming days I will feel better so you get back to writing on more daily basis. I apologize for my absence and I just hope and pray that I feel better soon because I have so very much to say to you all.

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Thank you!

P.S. Please excuse any typos or errors. In my current... condition... I apologize, I jst didn't have the strenthto prof prior to publication. I will check, tomorrow... when I feel 'better'... o less, depending on the malidy.

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[1]https://www.facebook.com/#!/RBReich

[2]http://www.scribd.com/doc/187329248/Pope-Francis-s-Nov-24-2013-Evangelii-Gaudium

Weekday Wisdom - The Lie About Your 'Cheap' Health Plan

Welcome back My Dear Readers, to The Other Shoe. I know this is supposed to be “WeekEND Wisdom’ but my hand was being pushed. I have been reading… some posts on Facebook… and comments from others on posts on Facebook. The complaint that I am hearing, and the retort for many still supporting the Affordable Care Act (law) is a simple (minded) one.

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“I wasn’t allowed to keep my old health plan… and now I have to pay more…”

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On the face of it, this seems to be a genuine complaint, often aired by (what appears to be) intelligent and ‘informed’ people. Nothing could be further from the truth, unfortunately. The proof is coming out, all over the place, that these claims are ‘junk’. Just as the plans these unfortunate (and often grossly uninformed) Americans had been paying for, often for many years.

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See, what happened was that unscrupulous insurance agents had found a way of taking advantage of Americans in good health, and unfortunately poor legal & reading skills. If one can read outside of one network, and one radio station, they will soon be forced to hear or read and articles, like this one;

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“An example from CR: A plan costing $65 a month held by Judith Goss, 48, a Michigan department store employee. When Goss was diagnosed with breast cancer, she discovered the drawbacks of the policy's coverage limits of $1,000 a year for outpatient treatment and $2,000 for hospitalization -- barely enough to cover a day and half a Tylenol in the hospital. She delayed treatment, so her cancer got much worse before she finally opted for surgery. Those sorts of coverage limits are illegal come Jan. 1.”[1]

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Many Americans (without understanding… knowing) had unwittingly been hornswaggeled (by crafty/devious and cunning… if not ill reputable)insurance agents into purchasing very low premium health insurance plans. These plans (as outlined in the report by Consumer Reports[2] ) were crafted for low-information consumers in good-to-great­ health. Only to have, these poor unfortunate consumers, faced with huge medical bills if they were misfortunate enough to get sick, or have an accident.

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“Many people who believe they have adequate health insurance actually have coverage so riddled with loopholes, limits, exclusions, and gotchas that it won't come close to covering their expenses if they fall seriously ill, a Consumer Reports investigation has found.

At issue are so-called individual plans that consumers get on their own when, say, they've been laid off from a job but are too young for Medicare or too "affluent" for Medicaid. An estimated 14,000 Americans a day lose their job-based coverage, and many might be considering individual insurance for the first time in their lives.”[3]

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Further, many thousands of Americans had no idea that they possessed one of these ‘Junk Health Plans’ until this year when they went to their agent and were told “we are no longer offering your health plan… because of Obamacare…”. When the real truth of the matter is that the plans were no longer being sold… BECAUSE? These junk plans were now illegal under Federal Laws to protect consumers!

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“We talked to insurance experts and regulators to learn more. Here is what we found:

• Heath insurance policies with gaping holes are offered by insurers ranging from small companies to brand-name carriers such as Aetna and United Healthcare. And in most states, regulators are not tasked with evaluating overall coverage.


• Disclosure requirements about coverage gaps are weak or nonexistent. So it's difficult for consumers to figure out in advance what a policy does or doesn't cover, compare plans, or estimate their out-of-pocket liability for a medical catastrophe. It doesn't help that many people who have never been seriously ill might have no idea how expensive medical care can be.


• People of modest means in many states might have no good options for individual coverage. Plans with affordable premiums can leave them with crushing medical debt if they fall seriously ill, and plans with adequate coverage may have huge premiums.


• There are some clues to a bad policy that consumers can spot. We tell you what they are, and how to avoid them if possible.


• Even as policymakers debate a major overhaul of the health-care system, government officials can take steps now to improve the current market.”[4]

Many Americans, often low information consumers, were being used and defrauded by, what they often thought were, honest and reputable insurance agents. Either due to financial constraints, continuing to use the same agent my father used, or living under the misnomer (based on low information) that “if you just look hard enough…”.

“"There is this persistent dream of consumers that, if they only look hard enough, they'll find really good insurance that costs a lot less," said Metcalf. "It's not going to happen. There's no such thing as a bargain on health insurance. If it's cheap, it's cheap for a reason."[5]

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Now, do not get me wrong, I am not placing the entire blame on these consumers. The industry certainly shares much of the burden of blame.

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“Major insurance companies, including Cigna and Aetna, offer mini-med plans that allow for minimum and capped benefits. Robert Zirkelbach, press secretary for America's Health Insurance Plans, the national trade association representing the health insurance industry, said many states use these types of plans to expand coverage for uninsured Americans.”[6]

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Whereas I do not ‘blame’ these consumers for the years and (often) decades of paying for a plan that did an injustice to them and their families. I do, however, blame them for their actions to spin their ignorance into a slam on the Affordable Care Act. In all reality these individuals, and families, should be thanking President Obama, and the Democratic Congressmen and Senators that made this bill law, and set about protecting consumers from themselves.

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These mini-med plans are no illegal to sell, as they should be, and now Americans will not be faced with crippling debt due to their lack of due diligence (when it came to becoming informed about the health care coverage). Here is the real rub for me, as an American and as a writer. These mini-med health plans? They were costing the average tax payer hundreds of millions a year!

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They cost the taxpayer by shifting the cost of care from the ‘insured’ American consumer to the public sector once these consumers fell through the cracks. Once their plans paid out, the cost of their care (Americans making $50,000 - $500,000 a year) was shifted to the public sector plans. Having their savings gutted by irreputable agents and a chronic or catastrophic health concern, high wage hard working Americans ended up on the public services. Whereas, if they had done their due diligence and not looked for something for nothing they would have manageable bills and not ended a burden to society.

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So, here in the ‘No Spin Zone’ of my “Weekday & Weekend Wisdom’ articles I am shifting the paradigm and blame back to these Americans that honestly thought “I had a find with my pervious health plan… now Obamacare has ruined…”. When the reality is that, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, a law they hold in public disdain has protected these very Americans. Can we say IRONY?

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As always I am honored that you come here and read my work.

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Thank you!

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="234"] The Other Shoe eBay Store[/caption]

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[1]http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-healthplans-20131030,0,5590179.story#axzz2jFin59GP

[2]http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/05/hazardous-health-plans/index.htm

[3]http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/05/hazardous-health-plans/index.htm

[4]http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/05/hazardous-health-plans/index.htm

[5]http://abcnews.go.com/Health/mini-med-health-plans-useless-consumers/story?id=15522939

[6]http://abcnews.go.com/Health/mini-med-health-plans-useless-consumers/story?id=15522939 ibid

The Implosion Heard Round the World

       Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. It brings me no sense of pride to report on this implosion. However, we are bearing witness to the implosion of the Republican party. Again, I will emphatically state, I am a ‘Reagan Democrat’. It is a matter of public record that I voted for Ronald Reagan. Anyone that knows me, knows that I believe in; personal responsibility (I have lost twenty pounds of weight, and damaged my health just to avoid asking for Food Stamps), that I will harm myself before asking others for help (just last month, I caused serious damage to my health when Allen left my side… for three weeks I forced myself to do work I knew I shouldn’t and I am still paying the price with increased pain and decreased mobility and loss of use), and I absolutely hate asking for government handouts. (I am still reluctant to ask the County of Orange to pay Allen for the work he does to help me overcome my disability, even though he is fully qualified and I completely qualify for said aid).

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Anyone that doubts my bonafides is just looking to pick a scrap with me. I vote for the person and not the party. Yet, today’s ‘Republican’ party is rapidly becoming an embarrassment to much of the nation... and the world. Here is what David Letterman said, last night, when commenting about the rampant dysfunction caused by the rift within the Republican party;

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“Maybe we could put in some calls… and see if England will take us back…”

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Ok, David is a blue-blooded Democrat. How about Speaker John Boehner?

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“In explaining the origins of the first government shutdown since 1996, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) reportedly admitted to President Barack Obama earlier this month that he was "overrun" by his Republican caucus.

“John, what happened?” Obama asked Boehner on the second day of the shutdown, according to Politico.

“I got overrun, that’s what happened,” (Speaker) Boehner replied as he reportedly tried to exit a White House meeting for a smoke break.”[1]

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Now, the talk inside the beltway is that Speaker Boehner is going to resign, come 2014.[2][3] Seems that the Speaker just can no longer take the pressure of answering to the With House about his inability to heard the cats that currently make up the extreme fringe of his party. See, I have always had a quite respect for the Speaker… hell, any Speaker of The House of Representatives… the Speakership is a position that should be admired and respected (as should the Office of the President of the Untied States… regardless of who is President or which party they represent).

So, Speaker Boehner is just getting tired of taking the flack for the actions of the; Cruz(s) and Paul(s) of his party… the radicals that just seem to want to burn down government and let everyone run gunshot over their neighbors. Do you remember the footage of Senator Paul (loudly) whispering to Senator McConnell, last week, in front of an open mic? Well, it was Senator Paul that just put Senator Mitch McConnell in front of the far right’s firing squad. See, we can thank Senator Mitch McConnell for being reasonable and marshalling support for the compromise that was passed by the Senate, and the House. Yes, Mitch threw in a $2.9 billion rider for improvements to locks and dams on the Ohio river within Kentucky (now, known, as the “Kentucky Kickback’[4]) [I am on the record for backing the actions of Senator McConnell in doing WHAT HE WAS HIRED FOR… and getting a little pork for Kentucky and addressing a real problem with the Ohio river valley in his state]

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Now, Senator McConnell may well loose his Republican primary because (Jim DeMint’s) Heritage Foundation is;

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“former Senator and Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint, has endorsed Matt Bevin, the Republican challenger running in a primary against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.”[5]

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So, here we are… a senior member of the Republican party… the Minority Leader of the Senate is going to get primaried (I literally hate this new 'verb') by the extremists of his party. Why? It is because Senator McConnell is seen as compromising with President Obama and assisting in the return of a functioning government. As opposed to, the alternative, supporting known Republican blowhard and embarrassment of the nation Senator Ted Cruz.? His (Senator Ted Cruz's) actions have caused Republican approval numbers to plummet.

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“Just 24 percent of respondents have a favorable opinion about the GOP, and only 21 percent have a favorable view of the Tea Party, which are both at all-time lows in the history of poll.”[6]

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Senator Cruz’s grandstanding may have hurt the party… the national economy and cost the Federal Government $24 billion[7]. However, it did help Senator Cruz to raise money$$$

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“In three week period following Cruz’s speech — even as GOP’s national approval ratings plummeted — conservatives frantically built their fundraising lists and campaign coffers. In the last quarter, Cruz’s political action committee raised in $797,000, nearly twice what it pulled in the quarter prior, and Heritage Action — which has pressured conservatives to vote against any bill that does not undermine Obamcare — collected $330,000.”[8]

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And

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“Basically, Cruz admitted that he personally has benefited during the previous three weeks. He has culled more than 2 million email addresses from a site opposing Obamacare.

In addition, Cruz’s PAC pulled in almost $800,000 and he is considered a front-runner for the Presidential nomination by some conservative Republicans.”[9]

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See, My Dear Readers, these are the outward signs of the deep division within the new Republican party. A handful of radical Republicans are using the shutdown of government (and all the personal and economic harm that causes families and our economy) to further their personal political career at the expense of the party and nation.

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The fear of being primaried runs through the veins of every single Republican Congressman and Senator like ice water. Many Senators, and most Congressmen, hang their heads in shame as the few damage the Republican brand, and the nation, knowing there is little they can do without risking their own political careers.

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It is this fear that is the real infection harming the Republican Party and the Republican brand. The fear of being primaried by the well funded extremists of the Republican Party. The fear of being seen, again by this radical and extreme fringe, as working with Democrats or the President. However, it is not just for the Republican Party I have concerns. It is for our nation, and our two party Republic.

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See, in our two party system if one of the two parties is infected by fear? Our whole system begins to fail. As we saw in the past debt debacle. Let me outline;

1. First, it was about “Obamacare” how it wasn’t ready… “not ready for primetime” ( I don’t know that our politics should be rated like primetime television… that whole analogy just scares the crap out of me.)


2. Then, it was about “fairness for the American people…” See, like ALL Federal LABOR Laws, the Federal Government is exempt from compliance… (you cannot sue the Federal Government) Senior Republican members used low information voters to gin up anger over a regular legal exemption.


3. Then, it was about the “poor World War 2 Veterans… unable to visit the memorial…”


4. And several butcher’s aprons… (Monty Python reference…)

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The fact of the matter really was? Fund raising and the furtherance of a handful of political careers. Because, you see, nothing was actually done about; Obamacare, the Federal Employees Exemption, National Park Closures… or the poor aprons of butchers.

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Earlier this week I wrote, a not so well received, article outlining the deception and lies that are being perpetrated on the poor unwitting Republicans across our great nation. Like a canary in a coalmine filling with noxious gas, I squawked my warning to all those who would dare to read. Here it is Friday, and I am working my fingers to the bone, and causing myself untold pain and suffering in my neck and back. All for the very same reason. I deeply care about our nation, our government, our Two Party system, and the Republicans that are unwittingly being lied to and lead astray.

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I only hope that My Dear Readers understand the genuine nature of my concern. Further, that my heart, mind and soul are all working together to communicate a genuine and valid concern to the people of these United States. There is a terrible disease infecting our national debate.. our national dialogue and our two party system. This infection stands to damage our body politic and cares not of the personal harm it does to any single American. We, the American people, need to see this infection for what it is… and not be so easily lead.

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It is very much like the warnings we received, as children, about the stranger with candy. Don’t get into the car with strangers with candy. So it is, today.

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As always, I am honored that you come here and read my words. Please, keep coming back… I am working just as hard and fast as I can to produce good quality content for YOU, My Dear Readers.

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Thank YOU!

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[1]http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-boehner-i-got-overrun-by-my-caucus

[2]http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/05/will-john-boehner-retire-in-2014/

[3]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/04/john-boehner-retirement_n_3866110.html

[4]http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/conservatives-mitch-mcconnell-kentucky-kickback-spending-deal-98428.html

[5] http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/18/conservative-demint-group-endorses-mcconnell-primary-challenger/#ixzz2i6yPsVtf

[6]http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/10/20903624-nbcwsj-poll-shutdown-debate-damages-gop?lite

[7]http://www.policymic.com/articles/68717/government-shutdown-cost-24-billion-and-accomplished-nothing

[8]http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/10/16/2791091/ted-cruz-admits-budget-standoff-fundraising/

[9]http://aattp.org/ted-cruz-admits-already-knew-shutdown-debacle-fundraising-push-video/

Video Announcement of Return to Political Blogging!

            Welcome back, My Dear Readers, to The Other Shoe. Just in time to blog about the end of the government shutdown, and the complete failure of Senator Ted Cruz to “defund Obamacare…” I have made this video announcement of return. I hope to write freely and frequently of all things political. My Dear Readers, I have greatly mellowed and I can assure you that my political articles will not have the bite or harsh rhetoric that may have been in my past.

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I mean no disrespect to my fellow Texans or any Republicans that may read my blog. I will not pull my punches, but there is no need to make these articles personal or attack-articles. I love to write, so very much, and now I am going to have freedom to blog political. Soon, I will be writing five to seven articles a week.

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When I meet with Dr. Gorlick, November 5^th, I am going to ask that he change/upgrade my pain medications so that I might be able to spend more time behind the computer. I genuinely want to write more.  Honestly, the one factor that keeps me from writing more frequently is the PAIN. Once I have his support and moved to the next level of pain medications, I just know that I will be able to write frequently and regularly.

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Below is a short video announcing my return to political blogging. I really hope that I do not loose Facebook friends… or Readers. That would just cut me to the quick.  So, click on the video, watch my announcement… and Enjoy!

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As always, I am deeply honored that you come here and read my work.

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Thank you!

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The Starving Of America

Welcome back, My Dear Readers, to another edition of The Sequester blues. Readers over the next few weeks and months I will do my best to put a face on The Sequester. This problem, that is reaching epidemic proportions in America, will harm millions of Americans, from every walk of life every income level every educational level. They are being harmed by the Republican sequester. Let me correct that, The Sequester itself was the idea of Pres. Obama. However, the Speaker, Rep. Cantor, Rep. Ryan and a majority of House Republican Congressional Republicans supported The Sequester. However, it is House (tea-party) Republicans that are preventing the end of the sequester, and are demanding further cuts.

In order to avoid a complete collapse of America’s economy Democrats signed on, unwillingly, to The Sequester as well. My Dear Readers nobody was really actually supposed to have to live under The Sequester. When The Sequester  deal was reached, and this was back around the holiday season 2010, nobody sitting at the table ever imagine a Congress so entrenched in intransigence that it could not reach a budget deal prior to the trigger being pulled of The Sequester . It was flipping unthinkable people.

Yet here we are. I am writing about The Sequester because it is literally taking food off my table. Full disclosure! However, this punishment is hurting; parents with college-age children, teachers, Wal-Mart workers, firefighters, policemen, students, seniors, veterans, the disabled, and the poor. Like a virus this sequester has infected an epidemic level of Americans. You know what the crazy part is? The crazy part is that is just 85 Republicans in the House that have forced this atrocity on Americans.

Well now, My Dear Readers, you may well ask why you say that Daniel? Shortest possible answer is: 21^st-century McCarthyism. Let me explain something, My Dear Readers. The United States Congress, the House of Representatives, on its best day is like dealing with a dear stuck in headlights. And on the worst day is like herding cats. Right now in the House of Representatives there are 85 Republican members that are tea party promoted candidates.

These 85, first and second term, Republicans were swept into power in Congress with the tea party and the last two elections. Quote from tea party Rep. Michele Bachmann “if you don’t work you don’t eat…”. That, My Dear Readers, is the very essence of the tea party as it is playing out in our US House of Representatives. Why else would America be turning its back on the now 55 year-long ‘War on Poverty’? Why else would House Republicans be getting away with additional cuts to food stamps?

That’s right, My Dear Readers, this is not a dream run article at the other shoe. This is Republicans taking a second Apple off the table of the poor. Today 30 Democratic House members have taken a pledge. They have pledged that for the next month they will live on what the average food stamp allotment is for an average American. Like a Wal-Mart worker. Let me share that with you:

To protest nutrition assistance cuts this week, nearly 30 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are limiting their food budgets to what a person gets from food stamps.

        It's called the SNAP Challenge, and they're doing it because the House will soon consider legislation that cuts the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by 2.5 percent, likely depriving nearly 2 million Americans of benefits. Currently 47 million Americans receive an average monthly benefit of $133 from the program. [1]

Well no hang on a minute, My Dear Readers, this sounds really familiar. Doesn’t it, yes, it should sound familiar. If you are paying attention yes it will sound familiar. If you’re just paying political lip service then you won’t remember this:

        “Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) along with eight other congressional Democrats are eating on a budget of about $4.50 a day to show solidarity with food stamp recipients who receive $32.59 a week.

The personal thrift, which is part of a challenge organized by Fighting Poverty With Faith, was reported by Pacifica Patch.”[2]

That, as you can see from the footnotes below, came from October 31 last year. So, let me get this right, the least advantage of our nation gave up tens of billions of dollars worth of food benefits last year to satisfy rabid Republicans. And here it is now not even a year later and the same; seniors, disabled, veterans, children, and poor have to give up another 20 billion? This is about 10 steps past cruel and unusual, right?.

Since I am writing for a bit of a targeted audience, I am going to take a liberty here… I may end up regretting this… but journalism is about taking risks to make a point. Please read the following:

“I don’t think they ought to be balancing their budget on the backs of the poor.”  George H.W. Bush (Said while running as a ‘compassionate Conservative’)

Source: US News & World Report, p. 36 Oct 18, 1999[3]

That was Texan loved George Bush, Jr. while running for President his first time. Yet, right now today, Congressional Republicans are demanding ANOTHER multi-BILLION dollar cut to food stamp benefits. The United States budget FELL SHARPLY over the past year. Calendar year 2012 the U.S. budget decreased SIX HUNDRED FORTY-TWO BILLION DOLLARS!

Let that sink in a sec. …

The dreaded deficit decreased nearly ONE TRILLION DOLLARS and there is some genuine need, today, to cut food benefits to the least advantaged right now? N o. No, there is no genuine reason for Congressional Republicans to further cut food subsistence programs for the; disabled, seniors, children, veterans and the poor. I do not even want to think of the real why. It makes me sick in my soul. It makes me afraid… afraid of the darkness that is moving through our society as… Republicans.

I am a ‘Reagan Democrat’. I voted for Ronald Reagan. I am a centrist Democrat and have known many Republicans (still do) and have a great deal of respect for them and their beliefs. And in the pit of my soul… I know this is wrong.

Thank you, My Dear Readers, for dropping by and sharing. I know that there are a lot of places you can go for content, and something to read, and I am honored that you came here to The Other Shoe.

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[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/food-stamp-cuts_n_3429301.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

[2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/31/food-stamps-congress-budget-cuts_n_1068336.html

[3] http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/More_George_W__Bush_Tax_Reform.htm

Starving the Poor

This hits very close to home... my home.
"…the House version of the farm bill making would throw nearly 2 million people off food stamps, most of whom are working families with children or senior citizens. More than 200,000 kids would lose access to free school lunches, according to the group." (NBC News see link below)
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Is there some lack of proper education on the part of Republicans? The market(s) crashed in 2008. Since then the Food Stamp roles have more than doubled. Is that a surprise to anyone? Poverty increases in time of economic collapse. Nobody is surprised, looking back at The Great Depression, that there were bread lines in every major city in America.

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We have, as a society and a people, moved passed making families with children stand in bread lines. Who is it, exactly, that wants to take the United States back to bread lines and poor houses? Social progress undone is evil winning and immorality replacing Christianity. Not since The Great Depression has hunger swept across America the way it is now. And this number will only grow if Food Stamp benefits are cut.

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America has fought hunger and poverty for the past three generations. Republican Presidents; Eisenhower, Nixon, and Regan all supported programs to feed the poor, the disabled, the elderly and vets. Literally every President since F.D.R. has supported feeding the hungry from the Federal level. It is a NATIONAL responsibility. When, again, did this change? When did this fundamental tenant of our society get overruled? Who is it that made this decision that the poor need go hungry when our debt is SHRINKING?

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Now two million Americans (including working poor families, they ARE WORKING FAMILIES) will be hungry? Just as a filter for this eventuality (if you do not act) 70% or Seven out of Ten Wal-Mart workers (that ring you up and help you in the store) will be without daily sustenance. Three out of ten college students will be without a proper diet.   Why?

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Now there are some that will say “What about the food banks and churches? Shouldn’t they carry the load? Won’t they help?” I will let a representative with the Food Research and Action Center (A Food bank monitoring group) answer that question:

 

        “James Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, is working with food banks and organizations that focus on hunger issues to lobby Congress against slashing food stamp spending. For them, it is not a matter of politics or theories on the role of government, but a matter of getting people the assistance they need.

“People in the field know how much harm these cuts can cause,” said Weill. “Those who actually work with low-income Americans around the country know they can’t provide a sufficient amount of people with the help they need if these cuts take place.”

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So the short, and correct, answer is “No!” America’s churches and food banks are already stretched beyond capacity. Our social welfare safety net is in tatters, and the churches cannot assist further. No, this IS the responsibility of our Federal Government. So says President Dwight D. Eisenhower:

        “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final

sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone.

It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities.

It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population.

It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of concrete highway.

We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat.

We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.

This, I repeat, is the best way of life to be found on the road. the world has been taking.

This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”[1]

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President Richard M. Nixon had this to say about hunger in America:

 

        “That hunger and malnutrition should persist in a land such as ours is embarrassing and intolerable.”[2]

 

Now for President Kennedy on hunger:

“"The war against hunger is truly mankind's war of liberation."[3] And ““There is only one rule by which to judge if God is near us or is far away – the rule that God's word is giving us today: everyone concerned for the hungry, the naked, the poor, for those who have vanished in police custody, for the tortured, for prisoners, for all flesh that suffers, has God close at hand. We have the ability, we have the means, and we have the capacity to eliminate hunger from the face of the earth. We need only the will."[4]

 

Now for President Carter:

"We know that a peaceful world cannot long exist, one-third rich and two-thirds hungry."[5]

 

Now for President Clinton he acted on hunger: ‘Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief Act of 1993’[6]

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President George W. Bush on hunger in America:

"I also acted on this timeless belief, to whom much is given, much is required. We have been given a lot in our country. And it's not only in our strategic interests that we deal with hunger and disease, it is in our moral interest that we do so, as well. In the Western Hemisphere, we expanded trade and helped our fellow democracies deliver prosperity and social justice to their people. And around the world, we built a coalition of more than 90 nations to fight terror and advance the cause of freedom in the great ideological struggle of our time. In short, we've made our alliances stronger, we've made our nation safer, and we have made the world freer."

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President Obama has acted in the war against hunger, much like President Bill Clinton did with : ‘President Obama Signs Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 Into Law’[7]
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Well, if you have read this far I have captured your attention, and maybe your heart. Right now you might be asking yourself “Yes, Danny, but what can I DO?!” If you are, KUDOS! What you can do to help FIRST? Look around your circle of friends. Be they are work, at church, in your neighborhood or your old friends found-again on Facebook. Reach out and offer help. Believe me when I tell you that right now all around you are people; good honest hard working people, genuinely hungry people that you can easily reach out and help.

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Contrary to some ill-willed rhetoric not all poor people are drug addicts or alcoholics. There are good and honest people that would love to work, but their disabilities make it impossible to work, or are incapable of living/working without a caregiver. Reach out and help. Put some food in a box and mail it, leave it at a door or take it to a food bank. Get involved in a local church or business group’s support of food banks.

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Lastly? :Let your voice be heard. Call or write your Congressman and Senators. (I have posted the phone information below) Need to find out WHO to write or call? Go here: Find Your Representative

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HERE is the number to get a hold of your Senator: United States Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121
HERE is the number to get a hold of your Congressman: To call your Member of Congress: US Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121
that was the same number... I am going to leave that there... see if anyone... ;)
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Taking food from the already hungry is just wrong. Today is SUNDAY, the Day of Sabbath. Will you make a pledge to help protect food for the poor and hungry?
Will YOU call your Congressman and Senator?  Will YOU reach out to someone you know is hungry or going without food? This level of hunger (One in SIX Americans depend on Food Stamps for all or part of their diet) demands Federal and grassroots action. It requires something from everybody. I stepped up to the plate and have spent four hours over two days preparing this article. I posted that I would be taking a break, but this issue would not let me rest. How about you, My Dear Readers?

Thank you for your time, your consideration and your efforts.

 

 

This article was inspired by the article linked below.
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http://inplainsight.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/19/18307642-ax-hovers-over-food-stamp-program-as-costs-grow?lite

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[1] http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2011/09/30/the-origins-of-that-eisenhower-every-gun-that-is-made-quote

[2] http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=2038

[3] http://www.stophungernow.org/hunger-quotes

[4] http://www.stophungernow.org/hunger-quotes

[5] http://www.stophungernow.org/hunger-quotes

[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Bill_Clinton

[7] http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/12/13/president-obama-signs-healthy-hunger-free-kids-act-2010-law

The 'Hollowing-Out' of the United States Government

What do you (a Republican) do if the majority of Americans are against your policies to harm governance? You gain a majority in the Lower House and 'Hollow-Out' government from the inside, like termites.
It is time to get the termites out of governance. Time to make America 'Exceptional' again.
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[youtube=http://youtu.be/8flADdPMMeQ]

The Death of the Tea Party

I started this blog, back in 2010, to “stand against a sea of troubles and by opposing, end them…” I had faith in the America people and that faith has been rewarded. The Tea Party is dying on the vine. Sarah Palin is gone from fox and fox’s viewership is falling. President Obama’s approval is 60%, and the number of solid Blue states beat the number of solid Red states 20 to 12 in the 2012 election. All the signs are here and my love and faith in the American people has paid off. Well, sort of.

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In September of last year (at the peak of the 2012 elections) I made a conscious decision. From July all the way to September I had worked hard to try not to alienate my friends and family, in the South, with my political views. I was working to raise money for a much needed ‘Power Chair’ and to move me from the ‘Extended Stay Motel’ I live in (with no elevator, or way to get my power chair downstairs) into a safer building that was ‘Wheelchair Friendly’. The building, I still live in, has had seven shootings in five years, three deaths, one riot, and drugs running in and out every day.

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I sought to write and post and hoped to rally support for my cause, to move out of danger and into a safe home. However, the election was drawing close and the numbers for President Obama did not look good. I knew that if I kept quiet about my prophecies and President Obama lost, I would regret my decision for the rest of my life. In late September I broke with my policy of political silence and began posting and writing political works, again. My ‘Daniel’s Moving Assistance Fund’ failed, just as I had predicted, and I knew that my unpopular political views were the nail in the coffin.

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Today I read the headlines and realize that my prophetic writings were correct, but that they cost me my opportunity to move. I still live, in fear, in the same motel. Being on the second floor, I have used my Power Chair all of five times since October 14, 2012.  I have no regrets, but it is difficult to know that I was correct in my writings but damaging to my safe future. We all make choices, and we all learn to live with them, and I will live with my choice.

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After the campaigns were over, and the election done, I thought of running another campaign. One just to get me to a safe and disabled-friendly building. At that time I was given council that I should not do that under any circumstances, from what I thought was a good and long-term friend. Since then, this friend has unfriended  me on Facebook without so much as a warning or message. I have messaged him, texted him and tried to find out why he dropped me as a friend. To no avail. This hurts deeply. I have no idea what I said or did, and no way to find out. However, since he has ended our friendship I am now reconsidering starting a new campaign to raise the funds I need to move to safety.

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First, I would like input, feedback, on this idea. Second, I am not physically capable of writing as much as I did late last year. This article, alone, has taken me two days to write and post. My caregiver is offering to help me purchase a ‘Speech to Text’program, so that I can write from my bed without needing my hands nearly as much to work. If that assistance materializes, I am hoping to start writing again. I miss everyone that comes and reads my work. I miss the socialization, I miss the support… I miss the love.

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What do you  think?

Thank you for your kindness and support.

Daniel