West Virginia has a diverse history and strong record of struggle. From the original settlers to the current citizens, they have always found a way to survive and succeed (Wilson, 1990). The economic struggles of West Virginia have been due to the outsourcing of resources, income, capital, and information for the past 100 years (Cometti, 1966). This has led to reliance on the state and federal government to provide subsidies, and other welfare programs to help the citizens of the area feed, clothe, and shelter their selves (Erickson, 1986). Roughly, since the Kennedy administration’s increase of spending on food stamps and other assistance programs, and the correlated dwindling down of coal mining in the state, the adoption of citizens utilizing assistance programs has increased exponentially (Greenberg. 1969). Historically, democratic representatives display more favor in continuing or increasing these expenditures for assistance programs.
West Virginia’s voting for state and Congressional representatives have been overwhelmingly democratic since the 1960’s. For example, the late, great Robert C. Byrd was a democratic US Senator from 1959 to 2010. His efforts to bring pork barrel spending and ear marks to benefit his represented citizens was the understood methodology of his incumbency. The West Virginia House of Delegates is current 54 to 46, with Democrats being the majority party. Twenty-eight Democrats and six Republicans (WV Constitution) fulfill the 34 seats in the Senate. The federal representatives of the House and Senate are similar, with incumbent Democrats Jay Rockefeller, and Joe Manchin, as well as two Republican, and one Democratic representative in the House. For my local region of West Virginia, Shelley Moore Capi...
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...ww.votesmart.com/. Accessed
November 25, 2013.
West, C. Deadly Force and Public Reason1. http://wpsa.research.pdx.edu/papers/docs/Deadlyamswpsa.pdf (accessed November 25, 2013)
West Virginia Blue Book (pp 535, 2012 edition)
West Virginia Constitution, West Virginia Legislature http://www.legis.state.wv.us/WVCODE/WV_CON.cfm (accessed November 25, 2013)
West Virginia Well-Being". Gallup-Hathaway. http://www.well- beingindex.com/files/2013WBIrankings/WV_2012StateReport.pdf (accessed November 25, 2013)
Wilson , Charles Reagan and Ferris, William. Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Univ. of
North Carolina Press, 1990.
WV Cycling. Jan. 1, 2011 By working to improve the state's infrastructure, Congresswoman
Shelley Moore Capito is promoting safety and helping grow the economy. https://wvcycling.wordpress.com/tag/shelley-moore-capito/. Accessed November 24th, 2013
Linda Gordon's article is thoughtful, insightful and highly relevant. As governments slash poverty relief programs at all levels and as welfare-bashing reaches an all-time high, it is instructive to take a step back and look at how the current system developed.
Hard Times: 1920 - 1940. (2008, November 20). In Land of Contrast: A History of Southeast
Virginia in 1676 was a colony in turmoil. For a number of years the popularity of Governor Sir William Berkeley had suffered, especially among smaller farmers and those living on the edge of the frontier. Issues of complaint included land ownership, requirements on voting rights, high taxes, low tobacco prices, restrictive Navigation Acts, and, most importantly, lack of protection from attacks waged by Native Americans. Berkeley’s attempts to negotiate peace with the Native Americans caused him to avoid confronting violations of treaty obligations for fear of making the situation worse. As a result, as a greater percentage of the white population began to infiltrate Indian lands, more and more Virginians, especially unemployed colonists who had formerly been indent...
Appalachia is no longer the land of severe poverty that it was three decades ago, now the poverty rate of one in 15 is close to the national average. The number of adults who have received a high school diploma has also jumped from one out of three to two out of three; and the infant death rate has been cut in half. Comparing the 391 counties in the Appalachian Regional Commission with counties outside the region that were similar to Appalachian counties in the 1960s, researchers found that Appalachian counties grew significantly faster than their counterparts. Specifically, overall income in Appalachia grew 48 percent faster; per capita income grew 17 percent faster; and population grew five percent faster.
O?Beirne, Kate. ?The State of Welfare: An old and tricky question resurfaces.? National Review 54.2 (February 11, 2002): 1--2. Online. Information Access Expanded
Many people looked to the federal government for assistance, but, especially before the government set up assistance programs, when the government failed to provide assistance many people “the shantytowns that cropped up across the nation, primarily on the outskirts of major cities, became known as Hoovervilles” (Lears 2). Hoovervilles were constructed of cardboard, tar paper, glass, lumber, tin and whatever other materials people could salvage. “Most shanties, however, were distinctly less glamorous: Cardboard-box homes did not last long, and most dwellings were in a constant state of being rebuilt” (Lears 2).
Virginia, being a large state proposes that representation should be based on the state’s population. This means that the more citizens that populate a state can send more delegates to represent in congress. This would put larger states at an advantage because larger states naturally have a larger population. Therefore by having a larger population, they can send more representatives and consequently have a “larger” voice in the legislature. Ultimately, the smaller states would not accept or agree to Virginia’s plan because they would be at a disadvantage since they have fewer citizens. Within its plan, they believe in a bicameral legislature where there are two separate chambers in congress where the people elect the lower house and the lower house would vote to elect the upper house. The members of each chamber are determined proportionally. In addition, there will be three branches of government legislatures such as legislatives, executive, and lastly
After the devastation left from the Civil War, many field owners looked for new ways to replace their former slaves with field hands for farming and production use. From this need for new field hands came sharecroppers, a “response to the destitution and disorganized” agricultural results of the Civil War (Wilson 29). Sharecropping is the working of a piece of land by a tenant in exchange for a portion of the crops that they bring in for their landowners. These farmhands provided their labor, while the landowners provided living accommodations for the worker and his family, along with tools, seeds, fertilizers, and a portion of the crops that they had harvested that season. A sharecropper had “no entitlement to the land that he cultivated,” and was forced “to work under any conditions” that his landowner enforced (Wilson 798). Many landowners viewed sharecropping as a way to elude the now barred possession of slaves while still maintaining field hands for labor in an inexpensive and ample manner. The landowners watched over the sharecroppers and their every move diligently, with harsh supervision, and pressed the sharecroppers to their limits, both mentally and physically. Not only were the sharecroppers just given an average of one-fourth of their harvest, they had “one of the most inadequate incomes in the United States, rarely surpassing more than a few hundred dollars” annually (Wilson 30). Under such trying conditions, it is not hard to see why the sharecroppers struggled to maintain a healthy and happy life, if that could even be achieved. Due to substandard conditions concerning sharecropper’s clothing, insufficient food supplies, and hazardous health issues, sharecroppers competed on the daily basis to stay alive on what little their landowners had to offer them.
The prospect of the welfare state in America appears to be bleak and almost useless for many citizens who live below the poverty line. Katz’s description of the welfare state as a system that is “partly public, partly private, partly mixed; incomplete and still not universal; defeating its own objectives” whereas has demonstrates how it has become this way by outlining the history of the welfare state which is shown that it has been produced in layers. The recent outcomes that Katz writes about is the Clinton reform in 1996 where benefits are limited to a period of two years and no one is allowed to collect for more than five years in their lifetime unless they are exempted. A person may only receive an exemption on the grounds of hardship in which states are limited to granting a maximum of 20% of the recipient population. The logic behind this drastic measure was to ensure that recipients would not become dependent upon relief and would encourage them to seek out any form of employment as quickly as possible. State officials have laid claim to this innovation as a strategy that would “save millions of children from poverty.” However, state officials predict otherwise such as an increase in homelessness, a flooding of low-waged workers in the labour market, and decreased purchasing power which means less income from tax collections. The outcomes of this reform appear to be bleak for many Americans who reside below the poverty line. How does a wealthy country like America have such weak welfare system? Drawing upon Katz, I argue that the development of the semi-welfare state is a result of the state taking measures to ensure that the people do not perceive relief as a right and to avoid exploiting the shortfalls of capitalism ...
The whites are mainly known for their wild and criminal ways, as they are for their Hill Billy tap dancing. West Virginia is the poorest state in the United States. Being the poorest state in the United States, the education system is not as we would expect. Without an education or available employment, the whites resorted to becoming a corrupt family to survive in the declining economy of West Virginia. Corruption within the White Family began when the father Ray White was murdered.
In today’s America, there are many people who would either be disgusted at the very mention of Welfare or be highly grateful for its existence. I believe that in order for welfare to be more effective in America, there must be reform. From the time of its inceptions in 1935, welfare has lent a helping hand to many in crisis (Constitution Rights Foundation). However, at present many programs within the system are being abused and the people who are in real need are being cheated out of assistance. The year after the creation of welfare unemployment was just about twenty percent (Unemployment Statistics). The need for basic resources to survive was unparallel. Today, many people face the same needs as many did during the 30s. Some issues with
It is no secret that, within the last decade, America has faced an economic crisis of historic proportions. Though the nation appears to be in a state of recovery from the greatest recession since the Great Depression, there are still major issues to address; namely poverty. Poverty today has hit more homes than ever, especially in places such as Eastern North Carolina. According to the 2010 Bureau of Economic Analysis, North Carolina ranked as the ninth wealthiest state with gross domestic production worth $424.9 billion.[2] North Carolina is among the top states for agricultural output, which consists of poultry, tobacco, hogs, cattle, sweet potatoes, and soybeans. A U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey, however, states that North Carolina’s poverty rate spiked to 18 percent, surpassing the official national poverty level of 15.2 percent (1). While those percentages may seem considerably small, it equates to 1.7 million people without adequate housing, health care, education or employment. This ranks North Carolina as the 12th highest poverty state in the nation. Moreover, the federal government reports that at least 20 percent of the residents of 10 Eastern North Carolina counties have consistently reported living in poverty for the past 30 years. These counties of “persistent poverty” include Bertie, Bladen, Columbus, Halifax, Martin, Northampton, Pitt, Robeson, Tyrell and Washington County.
The state of Ohio has a population of about 11 million people. It is also considered to be one of the major states that are going to factor in the presidential race. This year happened to be the year when Ohio senator Mike DeWine's term ends. This of course meaning that there would have to be an election. This election for the one of the positions Ohio has in the United States senate. It would also mean that two men, one democrat and one republican, could be that senator. Their names are Mike DeWine and Ted Celeste.
When James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay drafted the Federalist Papers to persuade the state of New York to ratify the newly drafted United States Constitution, they could never have envisioned the controversy that the political theory of Federalism would generate, and the subsequent evolution of federalism that would follow. The Framers of the Constitution never planned for the federal government to be directly involved with the general welfare of people living within the United States beyond ensuring for a national defense and the creation of a national economy (Wills, 1982). As debatable as this issue was in 1787 and 1788, the subject is still controversial today, and has spawned political factions that have called for a return to those Constitutional fundamentals grounded in federalism. In his introduction for the Federalist Papers, Wills (1982) defined federalism as a basic political tenet of the United States Constitution which recognized that the post-Revolutionary colonies could best be governed by a mix of local and central government decision-making. Today, states are called upon to address issues of social welfare such as abortion, gay marriage and public housing; yet, federal agencies and federal dollars are caught in the political crosshairs for legislative resolution to these issues. This essay will examine this evolution of Federalism and discuss the significance of it, as it relates to the current state of intergovernmental relations for public agencies involved in housing.
Lyndon Johnson was the next president to make significant advances in social welfare. He launched his War on Poverty, aimed at turning America into a Great Society, one without homeless on the streets or hungry children. In order to accomplish these goals he established liberalized requirements for government money. Over the next thirty years, Johnson’s dreams of a society without poverty were not realized. Time showed his programs did more harm than good, raising the nation debt to staggering proportions. In 1996, Bill Clinton signed a Welfare Reform bill as passed to by a Republican Congress. Reform in 1996 meant cutbacks in aid to the peopl...