John Edwards' Six Point Plan to Fight Hunger

This time of year, alot of folks finally start to pay attention to the amount of hunger we have in this country. That hunger and "food insecurity" as it is known goes on all year but it makes us feel good to focus on it during this "giving" season. John Edwards has released a six-point plan for combatting hunger in this country that does more than simply feed folks a good holiday meal. The plan goes a long way in addressing some of the core institutional ways in which this country can address hunger year-round. This is what Edwards plans to do:

Today, as American families begin to gather together to celebrate Thanksgiving, John Edwards laid out a six-point plan to address widespread hunger. He released new proposals to expand food stamps and other food aid for low-income families, children and seniors. He will also help families struggling with home heating costs and improve access to healthy food in every community .

1. Pass a Farm Bill with Strong Nutrition Programs: The nutrition programs in the Farm Bill are critical to increasing food security in America. Just two programs - food stamps and the Emergency Food Assistance Program for food banks - help about 25 million Americans a year each. Unfortunately, federal funding has not kept pace with growing need and rising costs. Last week, Senate Republicans used a filibuster to block the farm bill, sending Congress home for Thanksgiving without helping overtaxed food banks or hungry families. Edwards believes that Congress should quickly pass a strong and fair farm bill with robust funding for federal nutrition programs and President Bush should sign it. [ASH, 2007]


2. Get Food Aid to More Eligible Families: Food stamps - cash assistance averaging only about $1 per person per meal - help families purchase food and provide nearly a two-to-one benefit for the local economy. But one out of every three eligible families is not enrolled in the program, including millions of families who visit food banks and other community food services. Edwards will expand a pilot program, Express Stamps, which provides online enrollment kiosks at local food pantries. He will expand alternative hours at food stamp eligibility offices so that working families can enroll without missing work. To modernize eligibility and benefits, Edwards believes that Congress should quickly pass reforms to raise the minimum benefit level (which has remained at $10 since 1977), allow families to deduct their actual child care costs and protect families with modest retirement or education savings so they do not have to chose between putting food on the table and their longer-term need of preparing for the future. [CBPP, 2007; USDA, 2006 and 2007]


3. Provide Healthy Meals for Children: The 12 million American children who go hungry are 90 percent more likely to be in fair or poor health, have 30 percent higher hospitalization rates, and have lower test scores, attendance and other academic indicators. As president, Edwards will ensure robust funding to meet the nutritional needs of low-income school children through school breakfasts, free and reduced lunches, after-school snacks, fruit and vegetable programs, and the critical but under-used Summer Food Program. [Cook et al., 2004; Frongillo et al., 2005]


4. Strengthen Food Support for Seniors: One in six low-income elderly families does not have a regular, reliable source of enough to eat. President Bush has repeatedly proposed eliminating funding for the critical Commodity Supplemental Food program, which delivers nutritious food packages to nearly half a million seniors in 32 states and two Indian territories. Edwards will strengthen support for this program and expand other supportive services including Meals-on-Wheels for seniors and people with disabilities. [CBPP, 2007]


5. Address the "Heat or Eat" Crisis: Nearly half of the families served by the nation's food banks have been forced to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel. Without assistance, even more families will struggle with this winter's anticipated record home heating prices. Today, Edwards called on President Bush and Congress to fully fund the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program -- nearly doubling it to $5.1 billion - and adjust the standard utility allowance in food stamp eligibility rules to reflect soaring prices. He will help states implement new low- and no-interest consumer loan programs through states and non-profits and double the funding for weatherizing homes. He also has a plan to fight rising oil and gas prices by creating energy competition, reducing speculation in the oil and gas markets, and bringing down demand through greater building conservation, fuel efficiency and access to renewable sources. [ASH, 2006; EIA, 2007]


6. Support Food Access in Every Neighborhood: Wealthy neighborhoods have over three times as many supermarkets as non-wealthy neighborhoods. Small corner stores are usually more expensive and offer less nutritious food. Food-insecure families in rural areas often face high transportation costs to reach the nearest food pantries. As president, Edwards will launch a public-private partnership to bring fresh, nutritious food to new neighborhoods. He will create a national food access map that identifies neighborhoods lacking grocery stores, emergency food banks and regular access to fresh produce. His new Healthy Neighborhoods Seed Fund will offer needy communities challenge grants for projects including full-service supermarkets, community gardens and food stamp-friendly farmers' markets. [PolicyLink, 2005]


As Edwards points out, we do not have to wait until he is in office to do something. For this reason, the Edwards campaign has rolled out what they call the OneCan campaign:



Each one of us, in our way, can help change America for the better over this holiday season.

John Edwards is asking Americans to volunteer. Be the change you believe in.

1. Volunteer 1 hour or more to fight hunger,

2. donate 1 can or more to a local food bank,

3. donate 1 toy for a child --

4. and call on 1 friend or family member to do the same.

To my way of thinking, these small suggestions should be the least of what we do, but they are a place to start.

Lost a limb and can't serve now?...You owe us...

At least that is how the military operates. Have ya'll seen this?! Evidently, not only have our soldiers been asked to risk their lives, limbs and well-being; they are also now being forced to return signing bonuses because they can no longer fulfill their agreement to serve for a certain time. This is not a new rule. It's been around for a long time. How archaic can you get? So much for "supporting" those dedicated soldiers. This is not about partisan politics. This is about a government with its priorities so screwed up that they are literally tossing its soldiers out on the street if they can't pay up for being injured! This needs to be shouted from every rooftop and directly at our representatives in D.C. Sit on Wyden and Smith (we'll see how sincere he really is about representing Oregon's values) about this. I'm sure I'll post about this later but for now I'm gonna go fire off some letters and get on the horn.

http://wyden.senate.gov/

http://gsmith.senate.gov/public/

A Day to Remember...and Ask Questions

I have never been good at remembering important dates. It took moving 2500 miles away from my parents to remember their birthdays without looking at a calendar. I've been gay all of my life but it wasn't till this year that I remembered without being reminded by the HRC that October 11 is National Coming Out Day. Embarrassingly enough I still didn't remember that the Transgender Day of Remembrance is today. Thank you to Alley Hector at QPDX for reminding everyone, myself included.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder in 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Since then, the event has grown to encompass memorials in dozens of cities across the world.

Just in time for remembering those lost to violence simply for who they are (and who continue to be left out of protective legislation) Lynn and Pat Mulder, who son was killed for being gay, have submitted a question for the next Republican debate, scheduled for Wednesday, November 28th. Let's see how the candidates square their family values and compassionate conservatism when confronted with the reality of their dismissive bigotry.

They've got Gordon Smith in their sights

I seriously doubt that loads of readers will be seeing this video short produced by the Oregon College Democrats for the first time, but for those one or two that haven't seen it on BlueOregon or LoadedOrygun, I am posting it here.

Gordon Smith is an embarrassment to what Oregon stands for as far as I am concerned and the OCD have done a great job of demonstrating why, and scarily enough, it really only scratches the surface of why Smith is bad for Oregon and for this country.

If you want to get active in helping to "retire" Smith, and I know you do, then head over to StopGordonSmith.com

Amanda Fritz is serious about citizen involvement and engagement

My list of reasons for supporting Amanda just keep growing. One of the great services that she has provided on her personal website is an ongoing piece called " Next up at City Council". It has helped me alot in being aware of what is happening in Portland, how the City is making its decisions and what those decisions are. Well, as City Commissioner, Amanda plans on continuing this service and even expanding upon it.Over at her campaign site, Amanda has posted descriptions of some of what will be available on her Commissioner site:

When I am a City Commissioner, three of the tabs on the front page of my web site will be "Next Up at City Council", "Coming Down the Pike", and "What was Done, What comes Next".

Next Up at City Council will have links to the Agenda, like the current series. There will be many more easy-to-find links to background documents and staff contact information (because I'll be able to find out that information, from the inside), and a quick "Give me your opinion on this" option because I'll want to know what you think. And, each Monday after I've heard the briefings from staff on the Agenda items, I'll post summaries on the lines of "This is what I've heard on this. This is what I'm thinking. These are the questions I'd like to know more about at the public hearing. Please comment/participate if you care."

Coming Down the Pike will be one-stop shopping for important issues being worked on in the bureaus I oversee. Too often now, citizens find out about public involvement processes too late to participate early enough to make a difference. And the City's web site is a maze where you have to know what you want to find, in order to find it. Part of my job as a City Commissioner will be making sure staff and citizens use time and resources efficiently and effectively, and work together on projects and policies.

What was Done, What comes Next is the third concept sorely lacking in City processes today. Citizens can find out the bare bones of the vote on items on previous Council agendas by going to the web site, but there is rarely any feedback from Council members about their votes - unless you have the time to attend the hearing or catch the rebroadcast on cable, which most people don't. Citizens who bother to give their opinion on City issues should be given more information about why their request was approved or denied. And when the City approves changes in policies or practices, there should be follow-up to make sure the changes work out as intended. Closing the loop - rarely done now. Should be done always. Will be, in my office.

I'm well aware that these plans won't knock the socks off most citizens. "Giving and gathering information to help citizens" sounds like something anyone could do. But nobody is providing these simple services currently. I will focus on basic needs that will help our city run more smoothly and efficiently, and make it easier for citizens to know what's going on. And to make a difference, if you want to.


Seems to me that something so simple should be a no-brainer for the Council but, as Amanda points out, no one has done it yet. Which is why I'm glad Amanda will be there to keep those folks grounded, not to mention continue to inspire the rest of us to get involved.

John Kroger-Democrat for Attorney General

One of the great benefits of getting involved on some level with party politics is that candidates come to you, to speak and present themselves. I've ben fortunate enough to hear both John Kroger and Greg Macpherson speak at monthly Multnomah Democratic Caucus meetings and compare them both. While I was put off by several things that Macpherson said, I concentrated on the actual content of each candidate's prsentation. I have to say that for me, the choice was clear. I strongly support John Kroger for Attorney General of Oregon. I support him for several reasons. First and foremost, his agenda is very much based on protecting and defending the rights of all Oregonians. He has a whole picture outlook about law enforcement that includes not only aggressive action around addiction-related crime, but a strong prevention and core-cause component, as well. He also applies this view to aggressively going after corporate toxic waste dumping, instead of allowing them to continue with their less-than-above board practices.

This is a list of priorities, including the above-mentioned, that are posted on his campaign site:

*Fight meth aggressively, with more effective enforcement and a new plan for drug treatment.
*Hold every polluter responsible for the damage they cause to our health and our environment.
*Ensure that every single parent in the state gets the child support to which they are entitled.
*Protect consumers and retirees from scam-artists and crooked companies.
*Defend civil rights, a woman’s right to choose, and the rights of Oregon crime victims.

I know that Greg Macpherson has some solid backing and is a great legislator, but when I listened to both candidates and put what their priorities are and how they would address the Attorney General position, John Kroger is simply the more aggressive, energetic and plan-specific of the two. I believe that he would make the better, and stronger, Attorney General.
And here is the rest of it.