Why Are They Poor?

The poverty level in New Orleans is approximately 30%. Half of the children in that city live in poverty. Whatever you think of Bush, the national poverty rate is half that, at 12.7%. The Detroit News had some statistics. Incomes in the hardest hit areas were $10,000 below the national average. But that's $32,000, higher than the average in Rome, NY. Certainly enough to afford bus tickets to an offsite shelter. Of course, Louisiana didn't prepare for offsite shelters and didn't allow the feds to take over until days after the levee broke.

There is an expectation that local government in Louisiana has a perfect right to blame Bush for everything and any counter argument is a lie to protect an incompetent president. Well, this president is not a "buck stops here" kind of guy. He doesn't find any nobility in falling on his sword just because his political enemies want to skewer him. Power goes from the federal government to the states to the counties and towns and cities. The buck stops at the door. The feds are the salvation of last resort and the four day response time reinforces it.

I'd like to know why the poverty rate in New Orleans, Louisiana is so high. The area is run by Democrats. Why not tax the rich and redistribute income to the poor? Why not explode the size of government and give everyone a make-work job? My guess is that those plans don't work. Urban neighborhoods run by Democrats seem to be hubs of poverty.

But let's not focus on one party. Political inertia keeps life the same. People like Democrat Mary Landrieu who got into office by nepotism or Republicans like Don Young who can get $300 million bridge for 20 people on an island that has daily ferries to the nearest city are the problem. The reason why Bush has low numbers has to do with the fact that he really is a uniter. He unites everyone in pork spending.

Tax and spend liberalism is bad because it cuts economic growth. Spend and spend conservatism is becoming just as bad. On one hand, the feds are controlling spending growth on social programs while the states increase it and the taxes on the lower and middle class. The poor have it bad regardless, but now the middle class is disappearing.

What's a good conservative to do? I would support candidates that want to control the Southern border. Wages won't rise until employers have to have provable citizenship documents. If we're going to do business with a communist country like China, they had better follow capitalist monetary practices. And if New York doesn't want a 30% poverty rate, they'd better lower taxes on homeowners who make less than $20,000 a year.