What do the Poorest 10 Cities in America Have in Common?
Government programs designed to help the poor have destroyed generations of American families, schools, and culture. One would think that repeated bad economic news and the downgrading of families that inhibit job growth would lead people to find a better solution to help them out of their impoverished condition.
Instead, they vote for the same type of politician who blames the wealthy, calls for tax increases, and wonders why poverty goes up, businesses move out, and crime and illegitimacy soar.
The following ten cities have a great deal in common. The first thing is their poverty level. The second is that they mostly have been governed by Democrats over the years.
- Detroit, Michigan – 36.4
- Cleveland, Ohio – 35.0
- Buffalo, New York – 28.8
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin – 27.0
- St. Louis, Missouri – 26.7
- Miami, Florida – 26.5
- Memphis, Tennessee – 26.2
- Cincinnati, Ohio – 25.7
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – 25.0
- Newark, New Jersey – 23.9
“Milwaukee emerged as America’s fourth-most impoverished big city in 2009, as the Great Recession rippled across the city and state, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released” in September 2010. “Milwaukee’s poverty rate reached 27%, up from 23.4% in the previous year. Only Detroit (36.4%), Cleveland (35%) and Buffalo (28.8%) had higher poverty rates among cities with populations greater than 250,000. Milwaukee was ranked 11th in 2008.
In 2010, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, a Democrat who was running for governor at the time, “said the poverty numbers ‘are unacceptable and should be of concern to everyone in the community and the state.’” The poverty rate may be unacceptable, but the only proposed solution was more taxing and spending.
At that time, Scott Walker was the Milwaukee County Executive and said that it was the “anti-business” policies of Democrats Barrett and then sitting governor Jim Doyle that directly affected “the poverty levels in Milwaukee and cities across our state.” What’s true for Wisconsin is true for cities and states across the country.
Walker became governor of Wisconsin in January 2011 and worked diligently to bring fiscal sanity to the state. The Democrats fought him all the way. They even tried to recall him when he tried to trim some union benefits. Walker understood that cost cutting and tax cutting are the ways to grow an economy:
“As part of his campaign platform, Walker said he would create 250,000 jobs in his first term through a program that would include tax cuts for small businesses, capital gains tax cuts, and income tax cuts for the highest-earning Wisconsinites. He proposed cutting state employee wages and benefits to help pay for these tax cuts. Critics argued that his proposals would help only the wealthy and that cutting the salaries of public employees would adversely affect state services, while supporters argued that tax cuts for businesses would reduce the cost of labor, which would ultimately promote consumer demand and more job growth.”
There’s a lesson here for Republicans. What works at the state level will work at the national level. Gov. Walker did not back down even though he had the entire Democrat Party against him and the public sector unions. Will Boehner and company comprise with the Democrats, or will they wake up and fight for what is right.