Via Lou Kaye (aka citizenkaye) who blogs primarily at Rock Netroots...
The front-page story in Sunday's Janesville Gazette reported on the growing poverty facing Janesville's school children. Titled, Pupils feel pinch of poverty, the newspaper failed to touch on any of the possible causes for the decline and also left out scads of pertinent information. One item they left out is the number of homeless school children - over 350. Instead they wrote about the personal struggles of several Janesville students trying to keep their head above water, which isn't difficult to relate to considering this is Rep. Paul Ryan's hometown. To the newspaper's credit, they at least didn't try to hide one important number. The fact that nearly half of Janesville's school district kids live in poverty. You read that right. 47.3% of children in the Janesville school district are living in low-income homes. Of note is a percentage chart the newspaper produced that shows poverty among school children has been on a relentless upward trajectory since 2000, interestingly the beginning of Rep. Paul Ryan's occupation of our district seat in Congress.
Over 350 homeless schoolchildren in a town of over 62,000. That's a statistically insignificant one half of one percent. Nothing to see here, right, but there's more...
Beginning in 2005, Ryan's district has seen an annual precipitous drop in average tax return dollars through federal grants and contracts totaling $3.72 billion dollars through 2008. During the same period, other Wisconsin districts did not experience the same cut-off of federal aid. Ryan, for whatever ideological reason and there are plenty, went on a personal fiscal crusade against his district that resulted in a draining effect on many of district's more economically fragile communities. Ryan is so far out there in Bizarro world that this could be his own Frankenstein experiment to prove that the working poor and unemployed need less money in their pockets in order to liberate themselves from poverty. The theory is once rock bottom is struck, the only way forward is up. At 50% poverty, Janesville is only halfway there.
Oh, Snap! This guy, Lou Kaye, pulls no punches.
Off topic... You may know Mr. Lou Kaye as the creator of this iconic image:
Enough about him, we're here to talk about Paul Ryan's hometown:
With nearly one out of seven residents out of a job, the Janesville-Beloit area continues to top the state's unemployment list.
The state Department of Workforce Development reported Wednesday that the Janesville-Beloit area's unemployment rate for February was 13 percent, up from the 11.6 percent reported in January.
(snip)
Local unemployment numbers started reflecting layoffs at General Motors and supplier companies Lear Corp. and LSI in last month's report. Most of the workers associated with the December end of sport utility vehicle production started collecting unemployment in January.
Local economic development officials have said unemployment rates are high and are likely to stay that way for some time, barring a dramatic turnaround in the local economy.
All of this coming at the same time the Wisconsin no longer qualifies for extended unemployment benefits:
A decrease in Wisconsin’s unemployment rate has disqualified the state from an extra six weeks of unemployment benefits that was approved by Congress in November. Based on a three-month rolling average rate, Wisconsin’s unemployment fell just below the required 8.5% threshold in early January, said John Dipko, communications director for the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
As a result, about 100,000 unemployed people in the state whose benefits have continued because of the November extension are at risk of having them discontinued earlier than expected.
I'm sure Congressman Ryan would like to chalk all that up to tough luck and a tough economy. After all...
CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers visited his district, and says that while Ryan's reviews are mixed, many residents are supportive of the congressman's approach.
Uhhh... BULLSHIT!
It seems that Paul Ryan’s proposal to cut the deficit by privatizing Medicare and eliminating Medicaid doesn’t sit too well with his constituents. Obviously, Ryan isn’t overly concerned by that. And why should he be? He’s a monopoly in his district:
(snip)
It’s not that Ryan’s constituents aren’t willing to sacrifice. They just want to know that it’s absolutely necessary, and that the pain will be spread around equally. But as Benen points out, it isn’t and it won’t be:
(snip)
If one looks at this situation through a free market lens, however, the larger issue in the specific instance of Ryan’s district is that he needs some competition.
Well Kathy, you asked for it, and so did Paul Ryan:
(Kenosha County Supervisor Rob) Zerban, who announced his campaign (for Ryan's Congressional seat) just over two weeks ago, has launched a new website dubbed handsoffmygrandma.com, which turns the tables on the argument, popular among Republicans during the health care reform battle, that Democrats wanted to ration care for the elderly.
"After taking contributions from health care lobbyists, Paul Ryan now wants to empower insurance companies instead our seniors," the site's message says. "In fact, Ryan's plan will end of Medicare as we know it - raising premiums and cutting benefits for more than 20 million seniors across the country."
"Ryan is wrong, and we can't let him hurt our seniors," it says in a pitch for email addresses and names. "Sign up today to send a clear message to Paul Ryan - Hands Off My Grandma!"
Please feel free, nay ENCOURAGED, to stop in and sign the petition to tell Paul Ryan "HANDS OFF MY GRANDMA!"