Reply to #1 Priority for a Blue VA?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Expand Medicaid. Fund all public schools from Appalachia to Nova.[/quote]

Nova shouldn’t get a dime. Let Fairfax County raise property taxes or levy a local tax. [/quote]

I support that in theory. That poorer schools in Southern VA could get more money.  Maybe the restaurant tax could pass now?[/quote]

I'm the PP and agree.  We don't want to be Maryland or DC, but upper income people in NoVA like our family could stand to pay more in taxes to support southwest Virginia.  Otherwise you end up with a tale of two states and a lot of resentment.  That doesn't work in Nova's favor when the majority of the state (and, therefore, representation) does not live in Nova.  [/quote]

A few additional points here.

First, NoVa has already been subsidizing other parts of the commonwealth for decades.

Second, we’ve had “A Tale of Two Virginias” for at least 30 years.  The gap has widened even further over the past 20 years, and there is already plenty of resentment going around.

And third, it’s not just NoVa vs SWVA.  It’s NoVa/Richmond/Hampton Roads vs SWVA/Western Virginia/Southside Virginia/rural Tidewater Virginia/Eastern Shore.[/quote]
I agree that divisions in VA are more complex than Nova vs rova. That said people in Nova are in a position to help impoverished regions of the state with not just tax dollars, but with other kinds of knowledge and capital. I definitely wish we could get rid of the "I'm better than you" attitude. That does not help a single mother in Southside VA escape poverty. [/quote]

The poorer schools in SW and rural VA already get money from NoVa taxpayers.

So you propose just throwing more money at these areas will somehow help them 'rise up'?  I grew up in one of these 'impoverished' areas you speak of and was raised by a single mother who worked three jobs because she refused to use gov't handouts.  She was an anomaly amongst my friend group where expecting handouts, rampant drug use and teen pregnancy were the norm.

Money doesn't change the culture of the area. Those areas need more than money, they need a cultural shift.[/quote]

I agree that there needs to be a culture shift and money won't accomplish that completely. We can use money to fund anti-poverty programs and also attracting businesses to those areas. Actually funding job training for rural, suburban and urban impoverished should be a priority. Housing should be a priority. In rural, this means structurally sound housing. In urban and suburban areas, this could mean not aggregating low income housing income area and going after predatory land lords. I don't having an attitude of superiority due to educational attainment helps anybody especially those living in poverty.[/quote]

Anti-poverty programs? Funding for job training? These are nice catch phrases that sound more effective than actual implementation of them tend to be.

What businesses are you going to attract for a job pool of candidates that very often don’t even graduate high school? If America as a whole went back to becoming a country that actually manufactured things rather than import them, then yes, this would be a fantastic idea.

But that’s not the case, and tax dollars from NoVa are not going to be able to make the sweeping changes that could lead to a cultural shift there. That’s going to take more than NoVa dollars. [/quote]

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