[lbo-talk] what's the matter with...

[SA]

So, the NYT has a big story about the rise in food stamp use in the 
recession. It focuses on localities where food stamp use is particularly 
high, and mentions Owsley County, Kentucky, where half of the 4600 
residents receive food stamps. I decided to find out how Owsley County 
voted in the last election.

As I was searching, I discovered that Owsley is actually part of a large 
cluster of extremely poor Eastern Kentucky counties. In fact, according 
to Wikipedia, of the 100 poorest counties in the US by median household 
income, 16 are in this region of Eastern Kentucky. So I looked at the 
2008 voting returns in those 16 counties. Remember, these are counties 
where probably around half of the residents depend for survival on food 
stamp appropriations (not to mention Medicaid, TANF, etc.).

http://www.elect.ky.gov/results/2008gen.htm

Clay - 78-21 M
McCreary - 75-23 M
Wolfe - 50-47 O
Leslie - 81-17 M
Martin - 77-22 M
Knox - 72-27 M
Magoffin - 52-45 M
Jackson - 84-14 M
Owsley - 76-23 M
Breathitt - 53-44 M
Knott - 53-45 M
Menifee - 51-46 O
Bell - 70-29 M
Harlan - 72-26 M
Letcher - 65-32 M
Lawrence - 62-36 M