29,000 homeless children on Kentucky streets = 29,000 dead homeless children unless someone does something

Senator Mitch McConnell has more than 29,000 homeless children among his constituents. On the other hand, the Kentucky senator is worth nearly $33 million according to Open Secrets.org

With more than 29,000 homeless children Senator McConnell's Kentucky ranks 40th out of the 50 states in child homelessness according to Campaign to End Child Homelessness.

Read the full report: http://www.homelesschildrenamerica.org/pdf/report_cards/long/ky_long.pdf

Surely you should break your bread for the hungry, and bring the moaning poor to your home; when you see a naked person, clothe him...then your light will burst out like the dawn and your healing will speedily sprout; your righteous deed will precede you and the glory of the Lord will gather you in.

Isaiah 58:7-8

McConnell's Kentucky leads the nation in child abuse deaths. Joblessness blamed.

Mitch McConnell's Kentucky is No 1 and rising for child deaths due to abuse. This report from Fox News affiliate FOX41 blames the increase on Kentucky's high unemployment, the sixth highest in the US.

Learn about the full scope of Kentucky's public health crisis.

Four out of the nation's FIVE POOREST counties in McConnell's Kentucky: new US Census report

Since 2000 the poorest Americans have only gotten poorer.

Census results are only beginning to be released, last week the results of the American Community Survey were revealed. The ACS details data such as languages spoken in a home and income levels. The data comes from surveys mailed to three million addresses from January 2005 to December 2009.

Southeastern Kentucky was home to four of the nation's poorest counties. The country's poorest county saw its median income drop $1,500 since 2000.

Read the full article: HuffingtonPost

The Four Kentucky Counties in order of their national ranking (poorest first)

1. Owsley County, KY
2. Lee County, KY
3. Breathitt Country, KY
5. Magoffin Country, KY

Poor education and poverty are ancient history in eastern Kentucky, home to four out of the five poorest counties in the United States.

You have to wonder how Mitch McConnell his Republicans explain the fact that 9 out of 10 of the ten poorest counties in the US are in red states. Does this confirm that conservative politics has a negative impact on overall prosperity? Stay tuned, we plan on looking into this in an upcoming related blog.

Read about how Jim Demint ally, Senator Mitch McConnell's Kentucky is home to four out of the five poorest counties in the US.

Kentucky loses jobs even while unemployment in the rest of the country drops

Image from Distributorcapny.blogspot.com. Please visit this unique and entertaining blog.

Given the fact that the holiday season is upon us and the rest of the country is experiencing modest job growth, its shocking that Kentucky is left behind the rising trend. Now is not the time for government job cutting.

Unfortunately, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell believes that budget cutting is the answer. In fact Kentucky lost 1,300 jobs last month to government spending cutback that only contribute to more unemployment and poverty in one of the poorest States in the country.

Read more in this article from Kentucky.com

Kentucky tax payers to foot bill for Noah's Ark Theme Park without feasibility study

While the State of Kentucky lays off 1,300 workers, they plan to provide tax incentives for a controversial Noah's Ark theme park without independent review. Could this be another example of why the investor's journal Wall St. 24/7 has rated Kentucky the WORST RUN STATE in the U.S.A.

The Victoria Advocate reports:

Jim Waters of the government watchdog group Bluegrass Institute in Bowling Green says he thinks it's "outrageous" that the incentives (for the controversial theme park) were offered without officials ever seeing a 10,000-page feasibility study.

Ark Encounter LLC is the group building the theme park and it is the group that commissioned the study. The company says the study predicts the park will attract 1.6 million visitors in its first year and create more than 900 full- and part-time jobs in Grant County.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports it discovered through Open Records Act requests that the state doesn't have a copy of the report. The newspaper says Ark Encounter officials declined to give the Herald-Leader a copy of the report.

Read the full article by Victoria Advocate.com

Kentucky County is poorest in the nation and getting poorer: US census

Owsley County, Ky., has the lowest median household income outside of Puerto Rico, according to the US Census Bureau. And its getting poorer with  median income having decreased to $18,869 from $20,346 in 2000.

Is this what Mitch McConnell has in mind for the rest of the country?

Read this: Four out of five poorest counties in the US are in Mitch McConnell's Kentucky

Read the ABC News report.

There's alot more than trees falling in Owsley County, Kentucky than is pictured in this shot of a local landslide. So while Mitch McConnell fights for the rich in Washington, DC, the residents there remain the poorest in the nation with high rates of drug addiction and incarceration.

Mitch McConnell's Kentucky: an environmental disaster area

Conservative politicians like Mitch McConnell believe environmental regulations are bad for the economy and so it comes as no surprise that the price for such policies is reflected in a Kentucky that's sick and getting sicker. Nonethelss, weak environmental protections don't see to have helped to relieve the State's chronic poverty.

We will be looking in more detail at the Kentucky environment and adding more information to this post. But in the meantime we invite you to take a look below. And if you have any informatio to share please write a comment.

• In late 2007, Forbes Magazine rated Kentucky 45th out of 50 in their ranking of America's Greenest States.
• Kentucky ranks 41st for Air Pollution as measured by fine particulates in the air. 
• No 1 for cancer deaths in the nation

Here's a quick pass over Eastern Kentucky where they're chopping off the tops of mountains and flooding ponds and streams with all kind of toxic chemicals.

Mitch McConnell's Kentucky ranks high for teen births

It may come as a surprise to conservatives, but it seems that Kentucky is no exception: teens are having sex just like they are everywhere else. Unfortunately, Kentucky teens have more problems with teen pregnancies than most as the State ranks 9th for teen birth rates, according to statistics provided by the Center for Disease Control.

Knox County, KY health officials blame budget cuts to sex education on the county with the biggest teen pregnancy problem in the entire state.

Mitch McConnell's Kentucky: one of the poorest states in the US despite low taxes

Despite years of conservative economic policies Mitch McConnell's Kentucky remains one of the poorest states in the country. According to the US Census Bureau 17.3% of Kentuckians live beneath the official US poverty level.

The pressures of poverty and unemployment can lead to tragedies like the September 2010 killing spree that lead to the deaths of six people in a Jackson, Kentucky trailer park.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1311300/Husband-enraged-wife-cooked-eggs-kills-others.html#ixzz17WNOIl4x

With a median household income of around $41,000 per year (US Census Bureau), nearly $10,000 below the national figure, Kentucky ranks 47th among the 50 states in that statistical category.

Interestingly enough, the state boasts of taxes that are lower than the national average according to TaxFoundation.org thus proving low taxes are no magic formula for prosperity.

Read about how Owlsely Country Kentucky became the poorest county in America and is getting poorer according to the latest US Census.

McConnell's Christmas present to 33,000 of Kentucky's unemployed: lose your benefits

Kentucky unemployment offices require extra security as tempers flare. While on the floors of Congress Mitch McConnell leads the Republican charge to delay or deny unemployment benefits to the poorest of the jobless.

Check out the article and excellent video from Louisville TV Station WLKY:http://www.wlky.com/r/25948793/detail.html

The fact is he using the issue as a bargaining chip to extend the Bush tax cuts to the rich claiming this will put Kentuckians back to work.

Mitch McConnell's Kentucky: sick and getting sicker

It is shocking that Kentuckians are some of the least healthy people in the US with the highest cancer rates in the nation, low life expectancy, high infant mortality, and unusually high incidences of depression and obesity. According to a number of health rankings Kentucky lands nearly at the bottom of all 50 states.

Could this be due to weak environmental regulations?

While lawsuite settlements are only a tiny percentage of overall health care costs and people in Kentucky are dying of some of the worst health problems in the country, Mitch McConnell claims junk lawsuits are the biggest health care problem facing Kentucky and the USA. According to the Congressional Budget Office, "the evidence available to date does not make a strong case that restricting malpractice liability would have a significant effect, either positive or negative, on economic efficiency."

Kentucky health quality, poor and getting poorer 

No. 44 in overall health in 2010 down from No. 41 in 2009, according to the United Health Foundation. Could this be do to weak environmental regulations?

No. 43 according to USA Today that measured 20 key measures of wellness, such as rates of obesity, infant mortality, cancer deaths and high school graduation. 

Poor Education contributes to poor health in Kentucky

These studies and a number of additional ones not listed here claim poor education is one of the major contributing factors to the comparatively poor health of Kentucky residents.

Kentucky a health care failure: here's how it ranks among the 50 states
 

No. 1 for Cancer deaths No. 8 for Occupational fatalities. Source: http://www.americashealthrankings.org/yearcompare/2009/2010/KY.aspx

No. 1 and climbing for child deaths due to abuse

No. 2 for cigarette smoking. Source: http://www.americashealthrankings.org/yearcompare/2009/2010/KY.aspx

No. 3 for depression Source:  http://www.nmha.org/go/state-ranking

No. 6 for obesity. Source: http://www.americashealthrankings.org/yearcompare/2009/2010/KY.aspx

No. 8 for Occupational fatalities.Source: http://www.americashealthrankings.org/yearcompare/2009/2010/KY.aspx

No. 9 for teen births

No. 15 for infant mortality. Source: http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/ranks/rank17.html

No 44 for life expectancy. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_life_expectancy

Many Kentuckians are going without health insurance:  

With 16.1% of the population lacking any kind of health insurance, Kentucky ranks 32nd out of the 50 states for number of people insured.  it makes you wonder why Mitch McConnell has pledged to dismantle the recent health care reform legislation, that his constituents desperately need. 

Besides high poverty and unemployment and poor education, could Kentucky's many health problems be related to weak environmental regulations of industries such as coal? Read this:http://mitchmcconnells-kentucky.blogspot.com/2010/12/mitch-mcconnells-kentucky-environmental.html

 

 

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:

Mitch McConnell's Kentucky: 6th highest unemployment rate of all 50 States

As of October 2010, Mitch McConnell's Kentucky has the 6th highest unemployment of all 50 States. Makes you wonder why McConnell is leading the charge against extending unemployment benefits.


For more information regarding poverty in Kentucky here: http://mitchmcconnells-kentucky.blogspot.com/2010/12/poor-education-not-taxes-responsible.html

And of course it can always be worse somewhere else. Just take a look at Jim Demint's South Carolina.

Check the Bureau of Labor Statistics ranking here: http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm

Kentucky gives tax breaks for Noah's ark theme park

Kentucky claims the tax breaks which apparently are being granted without proper review, will provide badly needed, although low paying jobs. Critics claim it violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Do conservative politicians like Mitch McConnell really believe theme parks biblical or otherwise are a viable strategy to replace manufacturing that has been decimated in this country despite decades of tax cuts and union concessions?

Howard Friedman (Science Blogs) reports:

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear announced yesterday that, subject to approval by the state Tourism Development Finance Authority, the state will grant tax incentives that could total more than $37 million to developers of a new theme park, Ark Encounter.

The park's centerpiece will be a 500 foot long replica of Noah's Ark, and will also feature an ancient walled city, a petting zoo, live animal shows featuring giraffes and elephants and a replica of the biblical Tower of Babel. The day-to-day operation of the park will be handled by Answers in Genesis, the group that operates the successful Creation Museum in northern Kentucky.

Mike Zorvath, co-founder of Answers in Genesis ministry says the mission of the new park is to dispel doubts that Noah could have fit two animals of every kind on his ark.

State involvement in the $150 million project brought outrage from groups focused on the separation of church and state, but Beshear said there was nothing "remotely unconstitutional" about the proposal...

Beshear said the law does not allow the state to discriminate against a for-profit business because of the subject matter. Not everyone supports NASCAR, the governor said, but that did not stop him from providing incentives to help Kentucky Speedway hold a Sprint Cup race next year.

Well yes, but the Constitution doesn't say anything about government funding and endorsing auto races; it does have a thing or two to say about funding and endorsing religion.

Read the Science Blog article at: http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2010/12/kentucky_gives_tax_breaks_for.php

Investors Journal says McConnell's Kentucky is worst run state in the US

The online investment journal, 24/7 Wall St. has completed "one of the most comprehensive studies of state financial management ever performed by the mainstream media."

Their study ranked Kentucky worst out of the 50 states. 24/7 Wall St. claims their study is "based on evaluation principles used in the award-winning Best Run States In America ratings published by the Financial World Magazine during the 1990s."

Here is what they say:

50th. Kentucky
Debt per Capita: $8,899 (37th)
Unemployment Rate: 10% (38th)
Home Price Change (’06 – ’09): 6.1% (24th)
Median Household Income: $40,072 (41st)

Although Kentucky doesn’t place 50th in any one category, its overall poor scores secures its place as the worst-run state on our list. It is 43rd in GDP per capita, 47th in median household income, 47th in citizens with high school diplomas, and, at 18.6%, is 48th for percentage of the population below the poverty line. Kentucky also has an extremely weak S&P rating of AA-, supporting our assessment that it is the worst-run state in the country.

Read more: The Best and Worst Run States In America: A Survey of All Fifty - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/2010/10/04/the-best-and-worst-run-states-in-america-a-survey-of-all-fifty/#ixzz17M3nVh8o

Basic business assumptions behind Kentucky's poor evaluation

The study assumes: "Well-run states have a great deal in common with well-run corporations. Books are kept balanced. Investment is prudent. Debt is sustainable. Innovation is prized. Workers are well-chosen and well-trained. Executives are picked based on merit and not “politics.”

While as a Senator Mitch McConnell is not involved with the management of the state he represents he does align himself with the leadership and largely conservative political values of Kentucky which have embraced low taxes,low wages,high debt, and minimal social spending which continue to fail Kentucky the way they fail many of the red states like Jim Demint's South Carolina for example.

For more information, please read the full article at:http://247wallst.com/2010/10/04/the-best-and-worst-run-states-in-america-a-survey-of-all-fifty/