Pork Barrow Politics

•Much has been made of the failure of the War on Poverty. Many point to the inevitable failure of Johnson’s policy of “guns and butter.”

•Clinton made “ending welfare as we know it” a keystone of his domestic policy.

•John Williams, however, points to a different dimension of economic policy and its effect on the Appalachian region.

•The Cold War era has been described as one of military Keynesianism.

•John Maynard Keynes formulated the economic policy that brought the Western nations out of the Great Depression and was designed to prevent a recurrence. Economic downturns would be corrected by government spending. Rapid growth would be corrected by increased taxation.

•Government spending in the U.S. was primarily military. But the spending did not benefit Appalachia to the same degree it benefited other parts of the country.

•The exceptions Williams mentions are Oak Ridge, Huntsville AL, Kingsport TN and Radford VA.

Control Room of the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge

                                      

                              

Space Camp at Huntsville

News ReleaseOffice of Governor Don Sundquist

Press Secretary Beth FortuneO) 615/741-3763

Fax: 615/741-1416http://www.state.tn.us

FOR RELEASE: January 23, 1998

GOVERNOR DIRECTS STATE OFFICIALS TO ASSIST DISPLACED RAYTHEON EMPLOYEES

NASHVILLE --With today's announcement that Raytheon will close its Bristol manufacturing facility, Gov. Don Sundquist directed four top administration members to work with company, local and chamber officials to assist displaced employees.

I want to assure the 490 employees and their families affected by this closing that the state will do everything possible to assist them during this difficult transition," Sundquist said. "I have directed the appropriate Cabinet members to act quickly in responding to the needs of these Tennesseans."

Radford, Virginia

LABOR ANALYSIS Virginia has right to work laws. There have been no work stoppages in the last 10 years.

CURRENT AVAILABLE WORK FORCE7,676

AVERAGE ANNUAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 4.2%

Vocational Programs available through Radford High School and New River Community College

ESTIMATED TOTAL AVAILABLE LABOR FORCE (30 miles)

81,463

ANNUAL NUMBER OF RADFORD HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES 87

•Powerful Appalachian politicians—Williams mentions Howard Baker of TN, Sam Erwin of NC, Robert Byrd of WV, among others—did not secure a fair share of the military pork for Appalachia.

•Corporate recipients of the pork made the decisions regarding plant locations, and Appalachia was not on their mind.

As Appalachia enters the 21st century, it is still faced with uneven development, corrupt and incompetent political leadership, under performing schools, in most areas a declining population, and an environment devastated by a century of extraction and exploitation.