That was Then and This is Now
Following Mitch’s Money, Presentation by Doug Price on Oct. 19, 2020
Mitch is making the rounds in Kentucky, handing out money. His words and political ads stress that essentially, he should be reelected because he is able to provide more funding for Kentucky. Is he good for Kentucky? Or good for Mitch?
In 1984 Mitch entered Congress as a new Senator making an annual salary of $72,600. The Federal Minimum wage was $3.35/ hour translating to an annual salary of $6,968. Today Mitch’s salary is $193,400 and the Federal minimum wage is $7.25. The Federal minimum wage is just above the poverty level wage of $6.13 per hour. That amounts to approximately $13,800 per year.
Mitch makes over $190,000/year. How many of you make $190,000/year?
Here is a comparison of Kentucky’s poverty level and other states both then and now. In 1984 Kentucky’s poverty level was the 7th highest in the nation. As of 2019 Kentucky’s poverty level is the 7th highest in the nation. I will concede that our percentage level of poverty is less now than in 1984 but the point is we have a “better” poverty rate than Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, South Carolina, Arkansas, and West Virginia. Thank God for those states. The national average is 10.6% and Kentucky is 13.6%.
Mitch talks about the CARES Act original funding of $350 Billion and how much that brought to Kentucky. Here are some sad facts: Kentucky received per capita loan dollar amounts of $928.60 based on 23,797 loans. The swing states of Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin all had higher per capita rates than Kentucky. Florida has a lower per capital rate of $838.70 but over 3 times higher than Kentucky’s number of loans. All of this makes one wonder if loans were more heavily promoted in swing states than in others. Is there any connection to the November election?
Mitch talks about how he has helped Kentucky communities. Here is one that was noted in Matt Jones book Mitch, Please. As an aside if you have not heard our Nate Orchans Mitch, Please original song then go to our Facebook page! It is an amazing description of Mitch.
In the book, Matt details a story about how Mitch called a friend in Henderson KY. Essentially telling him that he had $8 million dollars left over from a transportation grant and wondered if the friend had an idea where the funds could be used. The friend suggested the City could use a new waterfront area and that is how the funds were spent.
Could these funds have been put to better use in other Kentucky counties? There are 16 Kentucky counties with a poverty level above 30%. All in Eastern Kentucky except for Fulton County.
If you watched the McGrath/McConnell debate you heard Mitch snicker and laugh many times — why does he thinks this election is a laughing matter?
The bottom line is that after 36 years Kentucky is not better off. Kentucky has not moved forward during the 36 years that Mitch has been in Washington. For several years Mitch has been in total control of the US Senate and one would think that our Mitch could have/should have done a much better job for Kentucky but sadly, that is not the case. That was Then and This is Now. Kentucky is not better off, the 800,000 Kentuckians in poverty are struggling but Mitch is doing quite well.
We know the truth. Now it is up to us to Ditch Mitch on November 3, 2020.
Doug Price is a member/treasurer of the MMRC and a regular participant on the #MoscowMitchMonday live stream, discussing Mitch and Money. Doug is an advocate of governmental change on the State/Federal level and has periodically worked on Democratic campaigns dating back to the 80s. Follow Doug on Twitter @ PriceDoug
