Crossposted from Hillbilly Report.

It seems like the one constant that can be depended on in this country anymore in good times or bad is the fact that working folks are working harder and harder and simply are not getting ahead. Even before the Republican recession last year wages have stagnated for decades and the gap between rich and poor has only widened as our middle-class continues to shrink. New numbers show that while incomes across the board have fallen, the recession has once again hit middle and lower class working Americans the hardest.  

Crossposted from Hillbilly Report.

The compromise in the House is not real Healthcare reform. Although our country desperately needs Healthcare reform just supporting any bill offered is not progress. After Corporate Democrats and Republicans have gotten a hold of the bills in the House and Senate they are so watered down that they will not be anything that will do much good.

Crossposted from Hillbilly Report.

The Blue Dogs that have fallen in with Mitch McConnell and the Insurance lobby in opposing a Public Option have said that they worry about health coverage in rural areas. They maintain their position comes from worry about small businesses and and rural areas. However, if they really cared about the problems in rural America, their position would be quite different.

Crossposted from Hillbilly Report.

The Oil and Gas Companies definately get the best of both worlds, unlike the American taxpayer. While extracting natural resources from public lands that are owned by all of us, they also get to take us for a ride in more ways than just gouging prices. An ideas piece by Nick Rahall, the Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources has spelled out some of this welfare given to Corporations that posted record profits on the backs of the American consumer in the last several years.

Crossposted from Hillbilly Report.

You know, one thing I get so sick of hearing from all the right-wing loons is how Progressives like myself and many of you are un-American. We have our patriotism questioned on a daily basis. Right-Wing idiots on the radio rail about how we do not believe in the Constitution and the values this country was founded on. Well, details that have emerged in the last couple of days show that the Bush Administration and their shameless enablers in the Republican Party and the former Republican Congress are the ones who really do not believe in the Constitution, or the freedoms granted by it.

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Crossposted from Hillbilly Report. Come join the conversation on Rural America, our issues and candidates for the 2010 elections!! City-Slickers welcome too!!

We all remember the no-bid contracts we were so opposed to under the last administration. Now, it has long appeared that all the crimes committed on all levels in this fiasco will go unpunished. Although we are still far from punishing the lies and propoganda unleashed on the American people to start this war, after a court ruling hopefully at least part of the rampant fraud that will cost Americans well over a trillion dollars will be punished.  

Join the discussion for Rural Progressives on our issues, challenges, and candidates for 2010 at Hillbilly Report. City Slickers are more than welcome too!!

When one thinks about children in poverty in many regions of the country one normally thinks about children living in urban societies. While much child poverty exists in urban conditions the fact is that rural Americans face even a greater challenge uplifting their children from poverty. New statistics are very disturbing for those of us raising children in rural areas of the country.

Greetings from Kentucky to the Iowa Progressives on Bleeding Heartland. I created an account and lurk here from time to time, but try to respect the Iowa-based format. I must say I enjoy reading here and much of the writing and comments.