poverty

I had been struggling to write something that would tug at your heart strings about being thankful and all that, so I was thrilled to see Momo's entry about her sweet, happy family. We all have so much to be grateful for.

But I don't want to forget the flip-side of that coin, which Chris Fitzsimon covers beautifully today in his column at NC Policy Watch.

Thanksgiving is here and that usually brings a flurry attention to the plight of the poor and the hungry, canned food drives at school, news footage of a Thanksgiving meal at the local soup kitchen. Poverty is a news story this time of year.

Charles Taylor, Robin Hayes, and the Republican Party (along with 34 unprincipled Democrats) skulked into the chamber last night, well after every decent American had gone to bed, and offered up an immense tax cut to the wealthiest people in the nation. The vote was 230 - 180.

"H.R. 5970: to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the unified credit against the estate tax to an exclusion equivalent of $5,000,000, to repeal the sunset provision for the estate and generation-skipping taxes, and to extend expiring provisions, and for other purposes

(Cross-posted at the Appalachian Voices blog) I hope yall will forgive my temporary absence from the BlueNC scene. I've had quite a bit goin on, and Im glad to be back!.

According to the US Census Bureau, Appalachian States continue to be the poorest in the country.

Median annual incomes for the Southern and Central Appalachians:

Alabama- $45,768

Georgia- $49,745

Kentucky- $43,953

Maryland- $69,695

North Carolina- $47,112

In November, Democrats and progressives in my neck of the woods will have a strong alternative to the 6th District's perennial Republican representative Howard Coble, who will be seeking his 12th term in the US House. Rory Blake made some time in his busy schedule to provide thoughtful answers to questions on the issues and politics that will pave the way to November:

Looks like there's a high-noon showdown coming between Big Bidness and We the People, with an excellent pre-game guide prepared by the hard-working wonks at NC Policy Watch. I was especially happy to see NCPW training their guns on the Puppetshow's hand-wringing about the hired-help not knowing their place.