Republicans rig the system by robbing the poor of funds needed to improve their lives and using that money to give tax cuts to their rich donors.
This is how the Republican scheme works: deny people a decent education, housing, healthcare, clean water - and tell them to just work harder. Use tax payer money to pay for tax cuts to wealthy donors rather than invest in opportunities for the needy. Prevent the poor from voting and stacking the courts with GOP cronies.
Where's this exploitation the worst? We used data from the Justice40 Initiative to map which counties suffer the most using this criteria:
- Affordable housing
- Education and workforce development
- Clean energy
- Pollution
- Clean water
- Affordable transit
- Relief from global warming
How the poor are robbed to pay the rich in West Virginia
"Sen. Joe Manchin has presided over West Virginia’s Democratic Party, crowning candidates and throwing cushy appointments to allies while the state’s jobs, wages, and environment have gradually been ground to dust.
“I don’t love political parties, so I view what we did here as democratic with a small ‘D,’” social worker-turned-organizer Selina Vickers said. “For me, it’s about changing the party we have so that West Virginia has an actual chance. You get pissed when you see people living in poverty in coal camps, people breathing in silica, all of this stuff directly related to policymakers in Charleston. It doesn’t matter if you’re a progressive or a moderate or an independent, there’s a seat at the table if we can unrig the system.”
“We are going to build livable jobs, safe jobs, sustainable jobs, sustainable housing, a public education system that will be respected, where educators, personnel, and students will all have a voice,” Democratic Del. Danielle Walker said. “We don’t just want West Virginians to barely survive. We want them to thrive.” - Intercept
The Justice40 Initiative
President Biden’s Executive Order 14008 created the Justice40 Initiative which aims to provide 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments in seven key areas to disadvantaged communities. These seven key areas are: climate change, clean energy and energy efficiency, clean transit, affordable and sustainable housing, training and workforce development, the remediation and reduction of legacy pollution, and the development of critical clean water infrastructure.
Hows communities are held back
- Majority of residents suffer from asthma, diabetes or heart disease
- People have a low life expectancy
- Household income is at or below 200% of the Federal poverty level.
- Most of the residents 15 or older are not enrolled in higher education
- Houses have lead paint and the median home value is very low
- The cost of of having or renting housing is unaffordable
- People denied a living wage and have low income
- Communities suffer from wastewater discharge
- Air pollution from particulates and diesel
- Close to hazardous waste facilitiesThe area is prone to avalanche, coastal flooding, cold wave, drought, hail, heat wave, hurricane, ice storm, landslide, riverine flooding, strong wind, tornado, wildfire, and winter weather.
- Source: Council on Environmental Quality
How the rich rig the system to get richer
"Poverty is a system of control. We’re told that the Constitution gives us rights. The reality is that if you don’t have any money, you aren’t empowered to defend those rights. Abusive people understand this and they stop people from having money.
The simple reality is that rich people delight in tormenting poor people. It happens all the time. It can be direct and physical, or it can be voyeuristic. These days billionaires are getting their kicks from going up into space so they can look down at all the people suffering in the world and laugh at them in zero gravity. We don’t let private citizens own nuclear weapons because we don’t trust them with the power. Billionaires are the fiscal equivalent of private citizens with nuclear weapons. They shouldn’t have them. Sooner or later, their existence only leads to abuse. The only reason nobody’s talking about this is because billionaires have the power to bury the stories. But they can’t bury the truth, not forever." - Walter Rhein in Medium
TakeAway: The game is rigged when the poor are being robbed to pay the rich. Vote to unrig the system!
Deepak
DemLabs
DISCLAIMER: ALTHOUGH THE DATA FOUND IN THIS BLOG AND INFOGRAPHIC HAS BEEN PRODUCED AND PROCESSED FROM SOURCES BELIEVED TO BE RELIABLE, NO WARRANTY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED CAN BE MADE REGARDING THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, LEGALITY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY SUCH INFORMATION. THIS DISCLAIMER APPLIES TO ANY USES OF THE INFORMATION WHETHER ISOLATED OR AGGREGATE USES THEREOF.
CREDITS: This map was created with ArcGIS Online using data from esri. This data layer assesses and identifies communities that are disadvantaged according to Justice40 Initiative criteria in the U.S. and its territories. Census tracts that meet the criteria are shaded in a semi-transparent blue to work with a variety of basemaps.
