David's country is taking shape.

The lazy and sheep like media types in this country have been beating us over the head over the past few weeks about the shortcomings of the ACA. (Obamacare)

If you believe everything you hear from these folks, people are being kicked out of their current plans left and right, and the "evil government" is making the health care system worse, not better, here in America.

Every day we hear a new story about some poor ordinary Joe who will be kicked out of his current health plan, and was subjected to "sticker shock" when he saw how much he will have to pay for one of the Obamacare plans.

These anecdotal stories make for good sound bites and echo chamber nods of approval, but this is far from the norm. I suspect that they all know this but they also know that  "passive consumers" won't question them or do a little research.

If they did, they would realize that behind some of these stories are folks like Ian Hodge.

"For Ian Hodge, 63, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the issue is all about getting the same care from the same doctors. When he learned his policy was canceled his reaction was “surprise and disgust,” he said.

Hodge said he tried 10 times to get information about a new policy on Oct. 1, the day the online federal exchange went live. He’s still trying to figure out his options, he said in a telephone interview.
“The website is not very clear,” Hodge said. “I’m concerned about being able to get affordable health care that’s at least as good as what I had previously.”New Coverage 

Hodge and his wife Sara, who also is 63, paid $1,041.85 a month for a plan offered by Highmark, he said. They like the care, their hospital and the doctors, and they worry they won’t be able to keep them under a new plan. 

“I had heard the repeated assurances by the president and people who work for him that if you have health insurance, don’t worry, you’ll be able to keep your health insurance,” Hodge said in a telephone interview. “Well, that’s clearly not true. I wasn’t allowed to keep my health insurance.”

So, this is just an average Joe getting screwed over by Obamacare.  Or is he?  Let's do some digging on the Google.  

The first thing I find is a LinkedIn profile describing Ian as an Independent Financial Professional with a degree in Political Science from Penn.  OK, a degree in Political Science doesn't necessarily mean you aren't an average Joe.
The next thing I see is information about Ian's home, valued at $481,500 on a three acre lot.  That's nice, but nothing extraordinary.

Next, I found an article from 2012 about a political flap about Ian's appointment to the township planning commission.

Manheim Township Commissioner J. Michael Flanagan wondered out loud during Monday's meeting whether the appointment of township resident Ian Hodge to Manheim Township's planning commission was politically motivated.

and later,
Flanagan said during Monday's meeting that Hodge, a frequent critic of township spending in recent years, donated money to Heck and Kling's campaign last year, when the duo were running for commissioners' seats as a team.
Ok, it seems like Ian is politically active.  That doesn't mean he can't be an average Joe.

Then I found a website of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County.  On this page are listed the 2013 Republican Committee endorsed candidates.  And near the bottom is our friend Ian, now running for Manheim Township Commissioner.  

Ian is not an average Joe.  Ian is a Republican candidate for local office.  That has some relevance to Ian's quotes in the Bloomberg article.  I don't know about the facts Ian quotes, but his surprise, disgust, concern and worry could be politically motivated, don't you think?  Couldn't Ian's run for office have been mentioned in the Bloomberg story?  This is journalism missing the mark, at the very least.

But, then I kept looking.  This isn't the first time Ian has been quoted in a news article.  In Lancaster Online from September 24, "Thousands of Highmark insurance customers in Central Pa. face cancellationsManheim Township man must shop for new policy

Hodge, of Manheim Township, said the letter surprised him. "They're canceling my policy," he said. "That's not something that was supposed to happen under Obamacare."

That article doesn't mention his run for office either, even though it is a local media outlet.

One could naively think that Mr. Hodge just happened to be contacted by two media outlets for his views.  I like to think Mr. Hodge has been contacting reporters, pushing his story.  Evidently, when a reporter is offered a money quote out of the blue, he or she may just run with it.  And that's why I like to Google news articles."

I am not mad at the right. They are doing whatever they can to win the propaganda war. There is a lot of money and power at stake. There is the potential for such a large fundamental shift in how health care services are delivered here in America, that I am quite sure some people are going to do everything in their powers to make sure that it doesn't happen.

You would think that journalist in this country would be talking about the poor children who are going to go hungry because republicans saw fit to vote to cut the food from their dinner tables. The candy and goodies that they get from trick or treating tonight can only go so far. At some point mommy and daddy will have to go grocery shopping. (Did I mention that taking food from children will also hurt the economy ?)

The beauty of being an elected politician who earns over $170,000.00 per year is that you will never have to worry about depending on the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) program or any other program that the government has to offer. This makes it easy for you to look down on the little poor people from your D.C. bubble and tell them how pathetic they are because they haven't been as fortunate as you are in life.

I will leave you with the words of republican representative, Steve Fincher:

"quoting a Bible passage, "Anyone unwilling to work should not eat."

It gets worse.

"Fincher, it should be noted, has collected millions in farm subsidies. Assistance is good enough for him, a person in power, but far be it from the little man to receive their meager SNAP benefits in order to feed their families." [Source]

Kids, don't eat all the goodies tonight. I suspect that you will need some of them soon.

No food for you. Invisible in North Carolina.

Those [right] wingnuts in congress are at it again. Today they voted to cut almost forty billion dollars in food stamps (SNAP)for you poor and little people. Almost four million of you will be cut off. Tell the kids to learn to eat mud pies.

Unfortunately for one in seven Americans, depending on the government to get a little help with their food bill is not going to cut it with certain people in Washington. Only rich corporations and deep pocketed folks who contribute to political campaigns deserve a break from these [right] wingnuts.

Memo to [right]wingnuts: Not all people depending on food stamps are like Jason Greenslate. He was a FOX News creation created to distract from the real issue of people in need of assistance.

The irony of all of this is that most of these right wing politicians represent people who are poor and come from poor states.

"Politically it's a great issue," says Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., one of the conservatives who has pushed for the larger cuts. "I think most Americans don't think you should be getting something for free, especially for the able-bodied adults."

Tim, you need to take a look in the mirror. You and your friends have been freeloading off taxpayers ever since you got to Washington.

Finally, the effort by folks in the majority population to whitewash our history (pun intended) and dilute and weaken black culture continues.

You all might have noticed a growing trend in this country to label anyone who even talks about racism to be labeled as racist themselves. So this is not a good time to be banning great historical books written by iconic African American authors.

Anyway, school boards across the country are getting into the act.

"Ralph Ellison’s ‘Invisible Man‘ has been banned from Randolph County school libraries after the Randolph County Board of Education voted 5-2 to remove all copies of the book from school libraries.

The action stems from a Randleman High School parent’s complaint about the book. Committees at both the school and district levels recommended it not be removed. 

Voting in favor of the ban were Board Chair Tommy McDonald and members Tracy Boyles, Gary Cook, Matthew Lambeth and Gary Mason. Voting against the action were Board Vice Chair Emily Coltrane and member Todd Cutler who both first introduced a motion to keep the book in the schools. This first motion was defeated by a 2-5 vote.
The book, originally published in 1952, addresses many of the social and intellectual issues facing African-Americans in the first half of the 20th century… 

The board action was prompted by a complaint about the book from Kimiyutta Parson, mother of an RHS 11th-grader. She submitted a request for reconsideration of instructional media form, which detailed, in a 12-page supplemental document, her reasons for the book’s removal. 

She stated, in part, “The narrator writes in the first person, emphasizing his individual experiences and his feelings about the events portrayed in his life. 

This novel is not so innocent; instead, this book is filthier, too much for teenagers. You must respect all religions and point of views when it comes to the parents and what they feel is age appropriate for their young children to read, without their knowledge. This book is freely in your library for them to read.”

Parson also objected to the type of language used in the book and its sexual content. " [Source]

So now the "Invisible Man" will become invisible to the children of North Carolina. And America wonders why the rest of the world is passing us by.

I sure hope that Kimiyutta Parson is not a sister, because if she is, someone needs to call The Drop Squad.

 

     

America is full of surprises.

Some things in life still surprise me, and some things, well, not so much.


For instance, I was surprised to learn that most people on food stamps live in the burbs. The way some folks go at those urban dwellers you would think that they are the only ones living off the government dole these days.

"When talking about food stamps (or SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as it’s now called), many people imagine that it’s primarily an urban benefit—think Ronald Regan’s “welfare queen” living on the South Side of Chicago. That image still persists today: When talking about government nutrition assistance, news stories are often illustrated with images of single mothers of color or older retirees in large urban housing developments. Seldom do the suburbs—the land of cul-de-sacs, strip malls, and minivans—come into play in regards to SNAP.

But increasingly, the ’burbs are becoming the defining image of food stamps. The number of Americans living in suburbs who receive SNAP doubled between 2007 and 2011, and the majority recipients nationwide—55 percent—now live there, according to an analysis of American Community Survey data by the Brookings Institution." [Source]

So that was all a bit surprising, but I was not surprised to read that George Killerman is in trouble with the law again. (Can you say O.J. boys and girls?) 

"George Zimmerman has been pulled over for speeding in central Florida.
Lake Mary police report that Zimmerman was stopped and ticketed Tuesday morning for going 60 mph in a 45 mph zone.

Zimmerman was previously pulled over on July 28 near Dallas, Texas, but was let go with a warning." [Source]

I was also not surprised to learn that the monster in Ohio who held those three young ladies captive for years in his home checked out a little sooner than we all expected. Or maybe not.   

"He was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years for a heinous crime, but in the end he cut that life short.

Ariel Castro, convicted of kidnapping and raping three women, as well as murder, committed suicide in his prison cell Tuesday night, the Franklin County, Ohio, coroner's office said.

 

The discovery of the three women who had been Castro's captives in his Cleveland home for about a decade was shocking from the outset, and surprising in its end.

 

Castro, 52, hanged himself with a bedsheet, Coroner Dr. Jan Gorniak told CNN on Wednesday. He was being held at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient. " [Source]

 

I guess there is something to this wages of sin is death thing after all.

 

I was also not surprised to read that a person of the cloth has a lot of love for those folks in the majority population.

 

"North Carolina pastor Makeda Pennycooke sent out a mass email asking that 'only white people' greet visitors at the 9:00 a.m. service at Freedom House Church and her congregation has raised holy hell.

“I was floored,” recalled church member Carmen Thomas. ”Like it was a jaw dropper. You can put a white face all over the front door. But when you come through those doors, you’re going to see African Americans, you’re gonna see Asians. You’re going to see people of color.”

Pennycooke serves as the Executive Pastor of Operations for Freedom House Church, located in Charlotte, North Carolina." [Source]

 

I know you work in the lord's house Ms. Pennycooke, but I am about to send you to another one.

 

Finally, I was surprised to read about a man getting kicked out of Universal Studios because he wore a t-shirt with "POLICE STREET CRIME UNIT" written on it.

 

"A family man says he got kicked out of Universal Studios in Orlando for wearing a T-shirt that reads, "Police: Street Crime Unit."

Christian Jarosz, of Jupiter, Fla., brought his family to the amusement park to surprise his daughter for her Sweet 16 on Saturday night, but the real shocker came from park officials.

"He just basically said you can't have that shirt in the park," Jarosz told local station WPTV.

Jarosz, who is not a police officer, got the shirt from his brother, a cop in New York. He has worn it to Disney World without incident and was cleared by Universal security before entering." [Source]

I would say that this was a case of reverse racism, but it was Universal Studios who refused to show my man any love. That's  just a case of white on white profiling, and in this case it wasn't right.

Mr. Jarosz, you might want to go for the solid t- shirt look next time.