rumitoid wrote:
It’s The Poorest State, But In Trump’s Head, West Virginia Is The Best Off – Thanks To Him
In the world according to Donald Trump, West Virginia is “producing record setting numbers and doing really well” ― a complete reversal from when he took office, when “it was practically shut down and closed for business.”
In the actual world, West Virginia has increasing poverty, more deaths than births each year, a significantly smaller workforce than a decade ago and the lowest median household income in the country.
He is nearly certain to tout his fake, prosperous West Virginia rather than the true, impoverished one.
At an August, 2018, rally in Charleston, Trump claimed: “So we went from being down and out [to where] you’re one of the most successful in the union. Very close to the top. That is some big change.”
“By the way, your state is booming like never before,” Trump told a Wheeling rally audience the following month. “Poverty is plummeting.”
Economic data compiled by Trump’s own agencies, however, suggest the exact opposite.
A 2018 U.S. Census Bureau report found that West Virginia was one of a handful of states in the country where median household income actually decreased during Trump’s first year in office, falling $1,400 to $43,439 and dropping it below Mississippi to make it dead last among the 50 states. The state’s poverty rate increased to 19.1% in the same time period, a full 7 percentage points higher than the national average and the fourth worst in the country.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-west-virginia-222720246.htmlHow on earth can any sane and decent person tolerate Trump's pathological lies without speaking out and decrying this severe abuse of public trust? The cowardly GOP put their collective head in the sand but his base seems to love the duplicity. Do none of you on the Right worry about the image of America or the degenerative effect on our society that the president's falsehoods and ridiculous exaggerations will have. Who would want to be president now? Is he someone children should emulate and model?
It’s The Poorest State, But In Trump’s Head, West ... (
show quote)
Like any state there are areas that are doing much better under President Trump while other areas are struggling. For example the Southwest part of the state that depends on coal mining is still dealing with the obama effect, where many mines were closed, the the cost of keeping them open under obama's administration was cost prohibited. So, income has fallen and unemployment is up. It is so bad that 1 out of every 6 household must depend on welfare to keep a roof over their heads. It is indeed grim. Having delivered the bad news first, many parts of the state is showing job growth.
–The state has added 8,700 jobs since 2017, all but 300 of them in just eight counties—Jefferson, Berkeley, Monongalia, Marshall, Harrison, Doddridge, Ritchie and Jackson Counties. Coal/natural gas and pipeline construction accounted for more than 7,000 of those added jobs.
–The Metro Valley (Kanawha, Putnam, Cabell) is holding its own. Since 2016, real wages are up four percent, but employment is down two percent.
–North Central West Virginia (Monongalia, Marion, Harrison, Taylor, Preston) is a growth area, driven primarily by Monongalia County. Wages have risen 18 percent in the last two years while employment is up six percent.
–The Eastern Panhandle (Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan) is booming. Wages have risen 15 percent since 2016, while employment is up nine percent. The growth there is different from other parts of the state because the eastern panhandle has no coal or gas production.
–Deskins defines Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Tyler, Doddridge and Richie Counties as the “Shale Boom Region.” Employment has held steady, but wages have risen 16 percent in the last four years.
Governor Jim Justice has been touting the monthly revenue figures as a sign that the state’s economy has turned around. However, as research shows, the degree to which the economy has improved depends on what region of the state you are talking about.