Appalachia grows beyond impoverished mountains

Appalachia grows beyond impoverished mountains

It's hardly the heart of Appalachia, the rugged hills where President Lyndon B. Johnson declared war on poverty some 44 years ago. But like it or not, Tubbs and her neighbors are now residents of the impoverished region, at least in the eyes of the federal government.

"It's funny, I think," Tubbs said last week, glimpsing out at the landscape from the window of her Carlisle beauty salon.

Folks in the heart of Appalachia aren't amused that President Bush, with the stroke of his pen, has redrawn Appalachia's geographic boundaries in a way that could take federal money away from some of the poorest communities in the United States.

Bush signed a measure Oct. 9 that gives 10 additional counties in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia a cut of about $87 million in federal money set aside this year for poor mountain communities to pay for economic improvements. The money will be distributed by the Appalachian Regional Commission, a federal agency that has been fighting poverty in the mountain region for more than 40 years.

Dee Davis, head of the Kentucky-based advocacy group Center for Rural Strategies, said the ailing national economy has spread financial misery beyond Appalachia, and political leaders are looking for help from the ARC.

"Given the current state of affairs, they may want to stretch Appalachia all the way to Chicago," Davis said.

When Congress created the ARC in 1965, its territory stretched across 360 counties from Alabama to Pennsylvania with its core in the remote and rugged region where Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia converge. Political leaders in other states quickly recognized the benefits.

Later that year, Sen. Robert Kennedy added 13 New York counties to the ARC's territory. In 1967, 20 mostly hilly Mississippi counties were included. Since then, it has been expanded to include 420 counties spanning 200,000 square miles, portions of which, like the horse-farm dotted Carlisle, aren't traditionally or geographically Appalachian.

Poverty indicators show the contrast between counties in the heart of Appalachia and the new additions. For example, the federal government sent more than $12 million worth of food stamps in 2006 to Kentucky's Harlan County, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Nicholas County, where Carlisle is located, received just $1.1 million.

------snip-----

"Most of the severely distressed counties in Appalachia have been persistently distressed for more than a half century if not longer," Eller said. "In many cases, the counties being added have gone through a more recent cycle of decline, and have not been persistently distressed in that way over time."

The ARC has pumped more than $11.7 billion into the region to build highways and expand the economy over the past 43 years, and Davis said people along the edges of Appalachia want to tap into those funds, even it means embracing a region and culture that has carried a stigma in the past.

"When I was growing up, people were trying to run from the idea of being Appalachian," he said. "Appalachia's stock must be going up if people are wanting in."

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/National/Expanding_Appalachia.html

Most of the severely distressed counties in Appalachia have been persistently distressed for more than a half century if not longer

ziggy wrote:What, if any, are the differences between the WV Democratic and Republican parties?

As for legislatures, I'm not concerned with Republicans getting a chance to run this state but I would love to see some pro-business consertatives get a crack at it.

Aaron wrote:I'm likely voting for JJ. I figure if I'm going to waste my vote, I might as well do something that could possibly lead to some good down the road.

I have ZERO hope for the Mountain Party as I've read your platform and then wiped with it but I do like the idea of a viable 3rd party. Perhaps this could lead to one that is actually worthwhile someday.