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Posted on 07/10/2010 10:24:03 AM PDT by rhema
'His heart belonged to you," President Obama told the hundreds of West Virginians who attended Robert Byrd's funeral last week. "Making life better here was his only agenda." Maybe so. But despite the $4 billion in pork that Byrd served his constituents over the past 19 years alone—not to mention the untold billions before observers started keeping tabs—West Virginia remains the third poorest state in the country. Government spending does not prosperity make.
When Byrd became senator in 1959, West Virginia ranked No. 39 in median family income, and No. 42 in per capita income. Today, it's No. 48 in both categories.
[ . . .]
Take Route 50. Thirty years ago, the federal government extended the route from two lanes to four with the hopes of spurring development. But hit the open road today and you'll notice it's just that—open. "You won't see another car for two hours," says Russell Sobel, a professor of economics at West Virginia University. "You can't just build roads and expect that things will happen. People who want to transport goods and services need to be there."
Byrd's supporters point to Interstate 68. In 2003, the federal government built a penitentiary in Hazleton, W.Va., precisely because the highway made it an ideal spot—sparsely populated yet accessible. But in both cases, the government made the development, not private investors. In fact, 51.3% of the state's economy relies on spending by the local, state and federal government—the highest level of any state. "We've created this culture of dependency," warns Mr. Sobel, "Our human capital is not good at competing in the marketplace; it's good at securing federal grants."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
We call it route 50 or just 50. I’ve never heard anyone call it US 50.
No it hasn’t, but - and this is what really counts - look at all it did for Byrd.
W.Va. Would need much more than Byrd to become prosperous.
He did however transfer quite a chunk of Federal govt. work offices to his state. Which in turn creates well paying jobs there in lieu of having them in say D.C. where they would cost much more.
And he was quite striking in his KKK get up.
Must be why the article refered to Route 50. I thought it was kind of odd. I have take US 250 from Sandusky to Virginia. It was a fun ride.
No, but they made a bunch of contractors and union workers VERY prosperous, which is all Byrd cared about as long as the campaign contributions kept coming.
We know, but WV people don’t know that.
‘His heart belonged to you,” President Obama told the hundreds of West Virginians who attended Robert Byrd’s funeral last week.
Obama may be right about Byrd’s heart. But I’ll bet his soul is in the hands of Satan right now.
People in WV truly believe that Robert Carlyle Byrd was indispensable to their prosperity. They are sincerely wrong and shall remain so.
Big government doesn’t work ping
...all liberals could reverse the course of poverty, urban violence and single parent families simply by resigning.
There fixed it. :)
Madness takes its toll.
Please have correct change.
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