July 16, 200719 yr Wednesday, July 18 - 1:30 p.m. Old Floyd County Courthouse Prestonsburg, Kentucky If I was still in Louisa, I would be there for this. This will Edwards last stop of a 3 day 11 city tour. He will also be Wise, VA ; Whitesburg, KY before ending at Prestonburg. http://www.johnedwards.com/road/day3/
July 16, 200719 yr More gravel-on-the-road-at-election-time politics. See many congressional types visiting the mountains in non-election years?
July 17, 200719 yr Anyone else embarrassed that a presidential candidate is visiting eastern KY on the "poverty tour"??? IMO, it further validates the stereotype that eastern Kentuckians are uneducated, poverty stricken hillbillies.
July 17, 200719 yr Anyone else embarrassed that a presidential candidate is visiting eastern KY on the "poverty tour"??? IMO, it further validates the stereotype that eastern Kentuckians are uneducated, poverty stricken hillbillies. So, is Eastern Kentucky one of the highest poverty rate regions or not? Last I checked it was. Wouldn't it be nice if a candidate offered a solution to the end of that problem? There are educated poverty stricken citizens as well, you know.
July 17, 200719 yr So, is Eastern Kentucky one of the highest poverty rate regions or not? Last I checked it was. Wouldn't it be nice if a candidate offered a solution to the end of that problem? There are educated poverty stricken citizens as well, you know.He could get his hair cut there, that would bring the entire region out of the poverty status.
July 17, 200719 yr Wouldn't it be nice if a candidate offered a solution to the end of that problem? . Yeah, like sending ALL of the coal severance tax dollars back to eastern KY instead of half.
July 17, 200719 yr Anyone else embarrassed that a presidential candidate is visiting eastern KY on the "poverty tour"??? IMO, it further validates the stereotype that eastern Kentuckians are uneducated, poverty stricken hillbillies. Poverty is a REAL issue here. It makes me mad whenever the national media finally exposes the truth and all of a sudden every city council across eastern KY files complaints on local tv stations or in the local newspapers. Before a problem can ever be fixed, it must first be realized to be a PROBLEM. Unfortunately, when Edwards is here, if he tours anywhere, I'm sure that he will be taken up to Stone Crest golf course and take a tour around one of the most expensive sub-divisions in the entire state instead of going up into the head of David or up into Wheelwright where he can actually see the problem alot of people in Eastern KY live in. It embarrasses me that we won't face our problems!
July 17, 200719 yr Poverty is a REAL issue here. It makes me mad whenever the national media finally exposes the truth and all of a sudden every city council across eastern KY files complaints on local tv stations or in the local newspapers. Before a problem can ever be fixed, it must first be realized to be a PROBLEM. Unfortunately, when Edwards is here, if he tours anywhere, I'm sure that he will be taken up to Stone Crest golf course and take a tour around one of the most expensive sub-divisions in the entire state instead of going up into the head of David or up into Wheelwright where he can actually see the problem alot of people in Eastern KY live in. It embarrasses me that we won't face our problems! :thumb:
July 17, 200719 yr Poverty is a REAL issue here. It makes me mad whenever the national media finally exposes the truth and all of a sudden every city council across eastern KY files complaints on local tv stations or in the local newspapers. Before a problem can ever be fixed, it must first be realized to be a PROBLEM. Unfortunately, when Edwards is here, if he tours anywhere, I'm sure that he will be taken up to Stone Crest golf course and take a tour around one of the most expensive sub-divisions in the entire state instead of going up into the head of David or up into Wheelwright where he can actually see the problem alot of people in Eastern KY live in. It embarrasses me that we won't face our problems! I understand the position both you and MTNFAN are taking. I was in my early teens during the War on Poverty in the early '60s as were probably many of our E. Kentucky politicians. It was painful to watch the three network's broadcasts each evening showing the most rundown shacks and communities they could find while interviewing the most hopeless, backwards residents of the areas. While I agree that if we want change these images must be shown, if they are not at least partially balanced with images of the homes and lifes of those who have risen to other levels, the perception of the dumb, welfare dependent hillbilly stereotype is all the world will see and remember. Sure, it will draw more social programs and handouts, but what industry would want to move into such an area? And at the end of the day, it's all about jobs and opportunities.
July 17, 200719 yr As for Edwards' tour, I'll wait to see if he sincerely has a workable plan to fix the problem or if this is just another time we'll be exploited by some politician to prove that past administrations aren't getting the job done. The very first item on his website states points out the percentage of Wise Virginia's population that is claiming disabilities. What is not mentioned is that disability claims are a way of claiming entitlements passed along from the days of the War on Poverty. We may be dumb hillbillies, but we have become very adept at figuring out creative ways to tap into the government coffers.
July 17, 200719 yr WHITESBURG, Ky. - As a 17-year-old living in one of the poorest counties in Appalachia, Evelyn Cosgriff eagerly listened to Robert F. Kennedy's early morning speech on Feb. 14, 1968 at the Letcher County Courthouse. His speech was brief, but passionate. "There are great possibilities in eastern Kentucky," Kennedy told the crowd on this stop of his two-day, 200-mile poverty tour. "But there have to be people who are going to fight for eastern Kentucky." Nearly 40 years later, the towns on Kennedy's poverty tour continue to struggle with poverty. This week, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards is making them a part of his own poverty tour, shifting the spotlight to the issue and in the process, linking himself to a Democratic icon. But some eastern Kentuckians are less hopeful this time around. "I don't think people around here will take it as seriously," said Cosgriff, a secretary for a local arts center. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070717/ap_on_el_pr/poverty_tour_kentucky
July 18, 200719 yr He could get his hair cut there, that would bring the entire region out of the poverty status. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: I might even walk across the street to see him then!
July 18, 200719 yr Poverty is a REAL issue here. It makes me mad whenever the national media finally exposes the truth and all of a sudden every city council across eastern KY files complaints on local tv stations or in the local newspapers. Before a problem can ever be fixed, it must first be realized to be a PROBLEM. Unfortunately, when Edwards is here, if he tours anywhere, I'm sure that he will be taken up to Stone Crest golf course and take a tour around one of the most expensive sub-divisions in the entire state instead of going up into the head of David or up into Wheelwright where he can actually see the problem alot of people in Eastern KY live in. It embarrasses me that we won't face our problems! And just what do you think E. Ky needs to get rid of poverty? If you were President, what would you do? Serious questions.
July 18, 200719 yr And just what do you think E. Ky needs to get rid of poverty? If you were President, what would you do? Serious questions. I also would be very interested to read spe60's response but while we're waiting I'll give my opinion. Time. Generations of subsistence living followed by two or three generations of government handouts are not going to change overnight. Each generation must strive to do better than the one before. This will require changes in attitudes brought about by education and by community role models. Stricter enforcement of existing laws and a few new ones. In my small town we have 3 gas stations, a handful of fastfood restaurants, one sit-down restaurant, two chain type markets, yet six drugstores with a Walgreens scheduled to open within the next year (on the property currently occupied by the sit-down restaurant). See the pattern? There are few zoning laws. It is not at all uncommon for a person to be selling used cars from his front yard. A vacant lot in a neighborhood next to where one has built a home last year often becomes a trailer park for HUD recipients the next. Not the most attractive neighborhoods for would-be employers. Tourism. We need to take advantage of what we have, ie. beautiful scenery, exotic wildlife such as bear and elk, and a wealth of pioneer history. Tourism in itself provides only service jobs, but the money spent will increase the tax revenue allowing for greater spending on the infrastructure and schools. Politics. This will be the hardest to change. We simply must wake up and vote wisely. We've got to look past the corrupt politicians taking care of our gravel roads and look for intelligent, educated leaders with a vision for the future. Good luck with this one. These are only a few ideas and there are many subplots to each idea, but it's where I would start.
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