The South is America's poverty belt, and Republicans want to make all of America more like the South

[eridani]

http://m.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/02/1311236/-The-South-is-America-s-poverty-belt-and-Republicans-want-to-make-all-of-America-more-like-the-South



The South has never been America's bright spot when it comes to things like poverty and health outcomes, but recent years show that there's always room for things to get worse:

North Carolina and a handful of other Southern U.S. states saw the biggest increases in the number of people living in what are known as "poverty areas" between 2000 and 2010, according to a new Census Bureau report. Poverty areas are places where more than 20 percent of the people live below the federal poverty line, which varies by family size. For a family of four, the poverty line in most states is an annual income of $23,850. [...]

Note that Southern states were five of the six biggest gainers. This should not be much of a shock, as Southern states consistently lag the rest of the country in good things like wages, economic mobility and access to health care, while leading it in bad things like poverty, obesity and general unhappiness. Another thing Southern states have in common is Republican political leaders that have spent the past decade shrinking the social safety net.

It's terribly sad and kind of a blot on the entire country that such a large region of the country could have such high poverty. But what's worse is that Republicans want to expand the policies that heighten the distress in the South across the entire country.

[merrily]

1. "Right to work" = right to low wages and bad working conditions

This country is past ripe for a new union movement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which_Side_Are_You_On%3F

Workers, unite!

[Veganhealedme]

3. +1 Right to work(for less)..

works at growing the wealth divide and income gap.

And, puts us all in the poorhouse and/or unemployment line.

Wage-Free trade, union-busting, southern states job and factory poaching are destroying the economy of this country.

[merrily]

4. Yep, and repeal of federal laws that protected union membership,

plus, no EFCA.

Funny how so many things come together on the federal, state and local level to result in workers getting screwed and unions getting busted. I wonder: do most people today even know how heinous it is to cross a picket line?

[Veganhealedme]

8. Sadly, many don't even know what a picket line is.

Your very correct about it being a heinous act to cross a picket line and how few people today realize that fact.

America needs EFCA. Unions created our high standards and good quality of life before we free traded our factories overseas. Union-busting has severely eroded that once decent quality of life.

[merrily]

9. Sadly, I think the Frickin Five on the SCOTUS said unions cannot coerce

people to be affiliated with them. I think that probably would cover EFCA, assuming our blessed Congress could ever have been arsed to pass EFCA.

[Enthusiast]

5. +1

[GoCubsGo]

11. Yep.

Every last one of those dark blue states is a "Right to Work (for Less)" state. I live in one of them, and most of the people here have been exposed to so much union-bashing that they don't even understand what a union is. It's amazing that the region that gave us Norma Rae is so anti-union.

[merrily]

13. Unions should rent out movie houses from 8 am to 11 am and show it free.

?w=627



Meanwhile, it is on Netflix.

http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Norma-Rae/60010724

[Art_from_Ark]

14. Northern companies began relocating to the South

Last edited Tue Sep 16, 2014, 02:02 AM - Edit history (1)

in large part because of the lack of unions and an abundance of workers.

What do you think, for example, was one of the reasons why Daisy Manufacturing (the BB-gun company) relocated from Michigan to Arkansas in 1958? They found a skilled and loyal non-union workforce in Arkansas who would work for less than their Michigan brethren (and sisteren), and yet the wages the Arkansas workers received were above average and definitely living wages for their area.

I'm sure the same scenario has been repeated countless times throughout the South. Southern cities and towns that had had no economic base besides agriculture were attracting relatively high-paying manufacturing jobs (for their area) in large part because they were not unionized but had dedicated workers with desirable skills.

[Populist_Prole]

2. Absolutely confounding it is

Not just the OP's point ( which is valid 100% ) but how many people truly buy into this race to the bottom bullshit. By "buy into it", I don't mean just "fellow traveller" team-player type loyalty; I'm talking true believer stuff: Slavish bootlickers. I live in the south and I can't tell you how many times I've heard the basic "We'll get these jobs from overseas back to the US if only we just work for less and cut taxes for busnesses" type meme.

It's an article of faith among those dolts rivaling the machinations of some charlatan evangelical fundamentalist christian.

[merrily]

12. Yes! You, too, can live and work like workers in a fourth world nation.

[mnhtnbb]

6. When Republicans took control of North Carolina in 2012, they weren't even coy

about their plan to change NC so it would be less progressive and "more like its
southern neighboring states".

[merrily]

10. More antebellum? More white? More red? More Jim Crow-ish?

More poor?

Does this mean NC will be flying the Confederate flag over the state house?

What the hell do they mean?

[DAMANgoldberg]

15. I live here...

and yes, they have succeeded in turning NC into a "backwards" state. Especially disappointed in the Governor, who was a pretty decent mayor during his tenure. However, the Moral Monday movement and others like it are helping to turn the state back around and can't wait for the voting opportunity!

GOTV NC like your life depended on it. It just might!

[merrily]

16. Good for the Moral Monday movement and best wishes with GOTV.

Last edited Tue Sep 16, 2014, 07:33 AM - Edit history (1)

[eridani]

17. You have it wrong. The Moral Monday folks are populist n/t

[merrily]

18. Thank you. I assumed a Moral Majority flavor. I will re-read and edit

accordingly.

[butterfly77]

7. K&R..