Last week the city I currently call home made the national news. And, while I think this small eastern NC town could use the notoriety, I am not proud of how it made the headlines. It seems Forbes Magazine has included Rocky Mount in its list of the most impoverished cities in America.

Forbes, which included Rocky Mount’s metro area (suggesting Rocky Mount has a metro areais like suggesting John Heder has a large following) focused on median income, income of the bottom fifth, percent of people below the federal poverty line, percentage on food stamps, unemployment rate, and national health care enrollees. (I am curious how the last figure will be adjusted with the passage of Obamacare.). Regardless, here’s a little hometown insight, although admittedly slanted to the right. 

Rocky Mount had a per capita annual income of $22,662, and income of the bottom one-fifth of residents was $7,840. About 7.8 percent of people earned below 50 percent of the poverty line, and 17 percent received food stamps.

More than 28,000 people received public health care, and the unemployment was 8.7 percent. Since the survey was taken, the unemployment rate has risen to 13.8 percent.

Obviously the all the previous numbers are indictative of the last; no job, no money, no health insurance. So why is the unemployment rate so high, uh, no employers. Although, Mayor David Combs disagrees, Rocky Mount area is not a place that attracts new businesses. 

Mayor David Combs said Wednesday that there is no denying that the city has had its economic struggles, but he questions whether the statistics are a fair assessment of the city.

“There are also ongoing efforts to recruit new industry and new businesses to the city,” he said.

Major efforts, both state and local, like raising state corporate income tax, now the second highest in the southeast, or changing the local property tax; Edgecombe County has the fifth highest in NC. Efforts like increasing employer overhead, Rocky Mount utilities are also among the highest in the state.  

[City Councilman Reuben Blackwell IV ] “We can’t pretend that the numbers aren’t real. We can’t pretend that the realities that exist don’t exist. We just have to now mobilize ourselves, create a plan and work the plan together as a region.”

Create a plan to increase government and work the plan to provide entitlements for the residents. Rocky Mount is the perfect picture of how liberal, err- progressive policies fail; jobless numbers continue to rise, because employers are closing or leaving. With few employers, residents lean on the government for support, and as government support increases so do the taxes, and the cycle continues.

From WRAL

cross posted at ConservativeNC