Friday, November 01, 2013   Published Weekday Mornings   To see the full version of today's cartoon, click on the preview graphic of the cartoon (below the Commentary) to be taken to the full version in your favorite web browser. Hungry For Humanity After Friday, states will lose $5 billion in food aid As Cuts to Food Stamps Take Effect, More Trims to Benefits Are Expected Food Stamp Cuts Kick in as Congress Debates -& Delays- More Families brace as billions in food stamp cuts set in The Real Cost Of Food Stamps? About 10 Cents A Day, To Most Americans November 1 SNAP Cuts Will Affect Millions of Children, Seniors, and People With Disabilities Mistreating The Military-Nearly One Million Veterans To Suffer The Pain Of Food Stamp Cutbacks Health Care Checkup Google, Oracle, Red Hat join effort to fix HealthCare.gov Obamacare marketing push on hold, as site repairs continue Kaiser Health News: Why State Exchange Websites Worked While The Federal Site Faltered The Fight of Obamacare's 'Navigators' Against Republican Hurdles Obamacare enrollments got off to very slow start, documents show In first month, the vast majority of Obamacare sign-ups have been in Medicaid CHART: 'Winners And Losers From Obamacare' Todd Purdum: The Obamacare sabotage campaign Igor Volsky: How To Spot A Fake Obamacare Horror Story Dylan Scott: What Really Happens To People Whose Insurance Is 'Canceled' Because Of Obamacare Greg Sargent: Americans are not ready to give up on Obamacare Republicans are their own worst enemy on Obamacare. Here's proof. Chart: Why Some People Can't Keep Their Insurance Plans Jonathan Chait: Why Letting Everyone Keep Their Health-Care Plan Is a Terrible Idea Eugene Robinson: There's still plenty of time to fix Obamacare Greg Sargent: What do Republicans say if Obamacare ends up working? The Spying Game Tech companies urge lawmakers to reform NSA programs Sec. of State Kerry admits U.S. surveillance has, at times, 'gone too far' Senate panel OKs modest surveillance reforms Adam Serwer: Feinstein gives the NSA what it wants The Fight To Vote Reid Wilson: Texas election shows impact of voter ID laws Norm Ornstein: The Right to Vote Equality in America Sec. of Defense Hagel calls out states denying military LGBT spouses IDs Momentum building for Illinois gay marriage vote next week Crime & Courts Court Blocks Stop-and-Frisk Changes for New York Police Trying to explain the unexplainable: In 4 days, 4 mass killings of 4 families in 4 states Nations In Turmoil Syrian army captures strategic northern town Israeli air strikes hit Syrian military base UN Envoy Brahimi: No Geneva peace talks without Syrian rebels Protests increase in Egypt ahead of Morsi trial International News Indonesian govt. summons Australian envoy over spying Toronto mayor caught smoking crack cocaine on video Germany allows 'indeterminate' gender at birth South African rapist jailed for life National Politics Alex Seitz-Wald: A How-To Guide to Blowing Up the Constitution Alex Seitz-Wald: What If We Redrew State Boundaries? Virginia 2013 McAuliffe trounces Cuccinelli in late donations in Virginia governor's race Too much tea? Democrats might win Virginia Gov. mansion next week Bill Scher: Virginia's gubernatorial race is a referendum on ObamaCare - and the GOP is going to lose Midwest Roundup Sen. Johanns of Neb. says farm bill deal could lead to budget deal Former Neb. Rep. John McCollister dies at 92 Iowa food stamp benefits getting cut Iowa Insurance Commissioner unsure how many have signed up for Obamacare Finding Satisfaction With Halloween and the World Series over, Thanksgiving just four weeks away, and Daylight Savings Time rolling to its end for this year, the minds of our staff members seem to be as unsettled as the leaves outside our office doors. Call it an early holiday distraction. After all, while we're already discussing some of our favorite holiday foods, we're also torn today even  thinking about food. In case you missed it, America's food stamp program is $5 billion shorter today, thanks to the obstruction of unhappy extremists in the GOP. For a program that only costs the average American 10¢ a day, yet multiples the power of a single dollar in our economy by $1.70 - all while preventing millions of elderly, disabled, children, and nearly a million desperately poor veterans from starving - there's no logic to why Republicans continue to fight to keep food out the mouths of their fellow Americans. Still, the extremists in the Republican Party are continuing to fight for even more cuts in the Farm & Food Bill. Thankfully, there are some like Sen. Mike Johanns who believe a deal may yet be possible. We applaud Sen. Johanns' optimism, and hope that he's right, that an honest compromise can be reached on the farm bill, as well as many of the other bills finally being officially debated in Congress. Of course, it would help Sen. Johanns and all of the members of U.S. Senate if their counterparts in the Republican-led House would actually stay in DC and do the work that is their responsibility, as members in both chambers did earlier this week. Don't look for the House to get back to that work level any time soon, though, as they're on vacation - excuse us, "working from their districts" - for the next two weeks. For all the progress that may have been made in Washington this week, the fact is, extremist Republicans still seem perpetually angry and dissatisfied. This week's hearing on the Affordable Care Act, with Sec. Sebelius was a perfect example of that perpetual lack of satisfaction from those on the political right... To continue reading... click here. And now, for your Daily Felltoon preview for November 01, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) Jobs & The Economy Private sector adds 130,000 jobs in October Jared Bernstein: Slower Economic Growth Isn't Just Coming From Government Economic Inequality Billionaire Bill H. Gross: The era of taxing "capital" at lower rates than "labor" should end Paul Krugman: The War on the Poor Wall Street Watch Global banking regulators propose tougher measures on capital requirements for all banks CFTC hit hard by federal budget constraints | Fannie Mae sues nine banks for colluding to rig LIBOR interest rates Wells Fargo Settles With Federal Housing Finance Agency  War on Workers Workers allege union-busting at government contractor in Georgia Infographic: The Legislative Attack on American Wages and Labor Standards War on Women 5th Circuit Court Reverses Ruling on TX Abortion Regulations; one-third of Texas' women's clinics to close Poll: Only 23% of Republicans Want More Women Elected to Congress Communications Breakdown The FAA comes to its senses, will now let flyers use electronic devices throughout flights Brad Plumer: Why is the FAA usually so slow to change airline safety rules? Ethics & The Media Hypocrites In The Digital Age: What It's Like When Redditors Ban Political Websites Comcast donating heavily to defeat mayor who's bringing gigabit fiber to Seattle Energy, Climate & Environment Solar Goes Big: Launching the California Valley Solar Ranch Pew Research: GOP Now Deeply Divided Over Climate Change Media Matters Newspaper Guild seeks to mediate Philadelphia newspaper mess USA Today Jumps to Most Widely-Circulated Daily Newspaper Here It Is! Your Paul Fell PREDICTION preview for November 01, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) White House Update Obama's pitch to foreign investors at business event: Bring us your money, your factories, and your jobs | President Obama Feeling 'Enormous Frustration' With GOP News From Capitol Hill GOP holds court nomination hostage...again Jonathan Bernstein: Why Democrats have to fight -and win- on filibusters now | G.O.P. Filibuster of 2 Obama Picks Sets Up Fight GOP-Led House Reduces Workdays On 2014 Calendar After Working So Hard In 2013 On The Left According to new book, before 2012 race, Obama's advisers considered replacing Biden with Clinton Dylan Byers: President Obama, off the record On The Right Jonathan Capehart: Yet Another Texas Republican adds to GOP disrespect of the Presidency James Pethokoukis: Time for the American right to declare peace on the US welfare state States Of Confusion New Jersey poised to add a minimum wage hike to its constitution In Alabama Race, a Test of Business Efforts to Derail Tea Party Elections 2014 Nate Cohn: Was The Post-Shutdown Democratic Surge Actually Real? Paul Waldman: Why Winning Elections Is the Last Thing the Tea Party Wants We hope you enjoy "The Daily Felltoon" every business day. Thanks for continuing to be a member! Paul Fell Shawn "Smith" Peirce Paul Fell Cartoons, Inc.