The last paragraph of the April 2008 Open for BusinessTM report really tells the tale:
In 2007, West Virginia offered the 21st-lowest cost-of-living in the United States…the state’s per capita income remains 49th in the country.
In all honesty, I’m shocked as hell that West Virginia has only the 21st lowest cost of living in America. That means there are 20 states that are cheaper to live in than West Virginia, but only one state where people make less money.
And Joe Manchin is bragging about it? Really?
Along those lines, here’s something else for Joe to brag about: West Virginia’s income gap is among the widest in the nation. From the Gazette article:
- The income gap between West Virginia’s richest and poorest families grew faster than in all but seven other states since the 1990s.
- Only Alabama’s poor are poorer than West Virginia’s poor.
- Only Arkansas’ and Mississippi’s middle class earn less than West Virginia’s “middle class.”
When I read stuff like this year after year, I really don’t understand why people aren’t foaming-at-the-mouth angry. That’s West Virginia for you. And if there’s one question I could ask every single person running for office in West Virginia, it goes something like this: West Virginia has one of the widest gaps between the rich and the poor in the America, and 49th lowest per capita income. How do you think we can change that?
If the they don’t give you an immediate answer of some sort, don’t vote for them. I mean, you’d expect someone with a loudly sucking chest wound to at least know it’s there.
And another thing — if you’ve ever wondered how Republicans so easily convince people to vote against their own interests by even mentioning taxes (even for the rich), it’s because adjusted for inflation, the American people haven’t had a raise in over 30 years. Most people truly cannot afford to give any more than we already are. So there’s really no wonder that it is such an effective scare tactic.
Of course, it’s really fucking frustrating to watch someone’s eyes glaze over when you try to point out that income taxes are hardly the only “taxes” you actually end up paying, and that Bush’s dirty war has cost every American family something like $16,000. And honestly, there’s really no wonder as to why West Virginia doesn’t “get it,” so long as our politicians continue to make sure that we have the shittiest schools in America.
I’m mostly pissed off that more people aren’t pissed off.
