Poor education not taxes responsible for poverty in McConnell's Kentucky

Kentuckians are some of the poorest people in the country despite relatively low taxes. Looks like there may be something wrong with McConnell’s theory that low taxes translate into overall economic well-being.

Here are the facts:

Kentucky ranks 5th out of the 50 states for poverty. According to the US Census Bureau, the state counted 17.3% of its population living below the official US poverty level in 2007. Imagine what it is now with one of the longest and deepest recessions in history.

Median household income for Kentucky is around $40,000. That's $10,000 less than the National figure. This means Kentucky ranks 47th out of all 50 states in this statistical category.

Are high taxes to blame for Kentucky's poverty?

TaxFoundation.org says that “at 9.4% of income, Kentucky's state/local tax burden percentage is ranked 25th highest nationally, below the national average of 9.7%.”

TaxFoundation.org also claims that according to its scoring system, “Kentucky ranks 19th in the Tax Foundation's State Business Tax Climate Index.” But the favorable tax climate doesn’t seem to do much to bring actual jobs to the State. Source: http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/30.html

Poor education means low wages and fewer employment opportunities in Kentucky

With Kentucky’s high school graduation rate 6 points below the national average at 74.1% and 7 points below the national average of people with Bachelor’s degrees, its no surprise wages are lower, unemployment is higher and opportunities for good paying jobs are fewer. Source: US Census Bureau

This Kentucky school boosts fast food chains like McDonald's and Papa John's. Could this be contributing to the growing obesity problem in the State? Maybe they should support students to succeed in graduating high school. Check out the video below: