While the United States is still one of the wealthiest countries on the planet, there are parts of it that are still quite poor.
As a US Senator representing Kentucky, Rand Paul knows this all too well. Paul recently visited the cities of Inez and Louisa.
He tweeted on April 12, 2022,
“Great to meet with so many Kentuckians in Louisa and Inez. All across the Commonwealth, people are concerned about rising prices. Nothing in life is free, and because of reckless government spending, American’s everywhere are paying the price through inflation.”
https://twitter.com/SenRandPaul/status/1513921383973240833
Inflation is a harsh reality under the Biden regime. It’s a product of the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy and it’s exacerbated by the government’s response to the Wuhan virus pandemic, increased spending, and other government regulations that restrict the supply of goods and services. Inflation disproportionately hurts the working class and America’s most humble citizens, especially those in cities like Inez and Louisa.
For example, Inez’s median household income is $21,875 and the median income for a family is $25,938. The city’s per capita income is $14,183 and 35.5% of the population lives below the poverty line. Inez has a small population of 711 people.
Louisa has a population of 2,375. Its household median income is $16,690 and the family median income is $24,474. Its per capita income is $16,746. 32.8% of the population is living below the poverty line.
These areas of Kentucky are likely taking a beating right now. Such scenes are commonplace across the Rust Belt, the Deep South, and rural areas nationwide. If the US wants to truly defeat poverty, it will need to put the regulatory state on a diet and go back to a sound money standard. Structural problems require structural changes.
