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EDITOR: On Dec. 12, I hit the Mountain Democrat’s trifecta by being taken to task by three different letter writers over my letter on Boone County, Ky. It’s a mystery why, post-election, the MD keeps printing letters I obviously wrote pre-election.
The European reporter I quoted citing Boone County as the poorest in the U.S. was wrong, as Ms. Fitch points out in her Dec. 12 letter. So, mea maxima culpa on not fact-checking. According to the 2010 census, Owsley County, Ky, is the poorest in the U.S. and Booneville is its county seat; the reporter may be forgiven for confusing Booneville, where he was, with Boone County.
It’s interesting to note that Kentucky, one of the more Republican/Tea Party states, has the dubious distinction of being home to the four poorest counties in the U.S., Owsley just being the poorest of all.
Whether Kentucky’s Boone County, or Booneville, or Boonetown, or Boondocks voted for Romney is a distinction without a difference; the pictures on the television told the story: citizens of a third world corner of Kentucky, where the yearly median family income is just above $20,000, were going to vote for a near-billionaire whose only interest was in continuing the status quo, that is making sure cheap coal and labor remain available for his energy industry pals like the Koch brothers.
What is truly depressing is the fact that the $20,000+ median income includes welfare payments as well as in-kind aid such as school breakfasts and lunches, food stamps, medical care, rent support and other subsidies granted to the very poor. If we were to exclude these Federal and state grants and payments, the median family income in Booneville and Owsley County, would likely drop well below $10,000 per year.
So I say to George Alger and his Tea Party pals: Try living on that kind of money without federal and state aid.
JOHN GARON
Placerville
The Mountain Democrat does not necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy
EvelynDecember 12, 2012 - 9:24 am
MITT ROMNEY'S BILLIONAIRE BACKERS: At least 42 members of the Forbes billionaires list donated money to “Restore Our Future” @ http://pinterest.com/pcactionfund/mitt-romney-s-billionaire-backers/ ********** And the winner (drum roll) is . . . Sheldon Adelson, with $24.9B. Close runners-up: the Waltons, with Alice coming in at $23.3B and Jim, $23.7B. Ken Griffin (with but a miserly $3.0B) laments “the wealthy have 'insufficient influence' in politics.”.
Paddy O'furnitureJanuary 07, 2013 - 7:09 am
Blah, blah, blah. Maybe the reason your letters get bumped is in favor of letters more interesting. Did the MD really waste the ink to print this one? They should bill you for it. And every reader should bill you for the time it takes to read this crap-minimum wage will do. Please find a hobby other than sniveling.
SparkyJanuary 07, 2013 - 8:51 am
Let's see Booneville's population is less than 120 and yet it is the county seat. Owsley County's population is 4800 and just over half of the household incomes comes from government assistance. It small rural county in the Appalachia foothill region that is also in the old school bible belt. These folks know that the government has cost them jobs, they know they are financially poor and they know that they want to work. They do not have the "benefit" of California bias or elitism to analyze motives or have some outsider tell them they should be different. These people are more likely givers than takers and should be respected, not used for rhetorical benefit.
cookie65January 07, 2013 - 9:31 am
Have you ever heard of Detroit Michigan? It is a bastion of liberal democrat union success. The police there leave notes on the utility poles to enter at your own risk. The police has a revolving door of top officials because they are up in charges for all kinds of behavioral and corruption issues. Here is one of the latest reports to survive the kneepad media blackout of life in Detroit. http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/01/05/detroiter-claims-911-call-of-stolen-van-with-gun-was-ignored/
cookie65January 07, 2013 - 9:36 am
I wonder how many Indian reservations (total govenment dependence) were not included in the totally biased media report intended to paint conservatism as stoneage ideology? Not that Mr. Garon would ever question a media source that specializes in telling him exactly what he wants to hear. This so-called reporting is like the global warming fraud. They determine the outcome before they ever do the study.
cookie65January 07, 2013 - 11:29 am
The wealthy have insufficient influence in politics especially when obama can spend a trillion dollars on entitlements. How do you compete with that when what you are offering is a job?
Ken SteersJanuary 07, 2013 - 3:12 pm
I would like to take the '70's SNL skit where Chevy Chase responds to Jane Curtins point with the same response on every topic. "John you ignorant slut". I think that covers it.
Jethro McSwiftJanuary 07, 2013 - 8:38 pm
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