I am an American. Born in the state of Kentucky and I have lived here all my life. I have been in 49 of the other states and during those travels I did see a similarity to my own beloved home of Kentucky. Those similarities are as follows..

Here in my state poverty is RAMPANT. There are no jobs of any decent calibur, only WalMart, McDonalds and the like. The majority of people can afford to shop only at THE DOLLAR GENERAL STORE or THE FAMILY DOLLAR STORE, living on minimum wage barely pays the bills. The people in my community struggle with worry constantly due to the recent EXTREME increase in the price of natural gas and electricity. I am actually uncomfortably cold as I write this post. Along with the lack of employment comes the lack of health insurance, the people of my community must choose to pay either the heating bills or for medical attention which carries with it insane medicine costs. All with VERY LITTLE assistance from the federal government. Substandard housing is the norm here. Mobile homes or very old homes which you must cover the windows with plastic and stuff rags into cracks to keep out the bitter cold. The jobs that ARE availabe are using imported mexican and romanian labor, working them non-union in our local oil refinery which happens to be the fourth largest refinery in the USA.

The last time I checked, the national poverty guideline was like $25,000 a year and that was some time ago.

I was a union steel painter from the time I graduated high school in 1987 until I was hurt in an off work accident in 2000. I am now disabled and support a family of four on $10,200 a year. Very much below the poverty level.

And what is alarming to me is that the number of people who live in my state under these exact same conditions is tremendous.

Substandard food

Substandard clothing

Substandard medical care

Substandard dental care

Substandard housing

Substandard automobiles

Living week to week

Living month to month

No possible way to get ahead or establish a savings

No jobs

Demands for property tax

Demands for automobile tax & insurance

I see nothing positive in any of this.

I see no way out and no body who cares....

SOMETHING is going to happen.

It has to.

And my points cannot be argued because I live this reality EVERYDAY.

Ike in Kentucky