Four Rural Americas -- Place Matters

Leave it to the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute to do a new study that helps us understand the challenges of rural America.

The report -- "Place Matters: Challenges and Opportunities in Four Rural Americas" -- identifies four separate and very different places in rural America.

• Amenity-rich areas with seashores, mountains, forests and lakes, enjoyed by vacationers, retirees and 2nd home owners.
• Declining resource-dependent areas -- regions that once prospered because of agriculture or mining, timber or manufacturing, now without enough opportunity to maintain a middle class.
• Chronically poor regions which have lacked investment and lost jobs for decades.
• Transitional, defined as regions that seem to be balancing resource-based decline but still have amenity growth.

Some of our readers may ask why all this matters? Our answer to this very important question is that Carsey's "Place Matters" further proves that rural America isn't all alike, and that policy solutions will need to be flexable as we work to address rural America's unique challenges.

When Congress Works

David Broder's July 31 column for the Washington Post offers info on the new National Housing Trust Fund, which makes a good beginning on creating affordable housing for both cities and rural areas. In "When Congress Works", Broder says,

"For far too long, the federal government has been shirking its responsibility to help the neediest Americans meet their basic housing need. Food stamp allocations have been increased repeatedly to combat hunger, in part because the farm lobby values the additional markets for its products."

Well ... yes. We agree. The farm lobby does appreciate the fact that when people are hungry, they need food ... whether they can afford it or not.

And well ... yes. Finally. The housing lobby, pushed by the home mortgage loan crisis as an extra incentive, finally got the job done, or started. Our congratulations to Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Jack Reed and Richard Shelby ... and all the other folks who helped too. Read more.

See John McCain's Everyday Shoes -- $520 per pair

Bet you already know that we don't usually advertise for NeimanMarcus on this site? ... But every rule has its exception. In this case -- our exception offers opportunity for you to find (buy?) Ferragano loafers just like John McCain's ... so you too can wear them to the State Fair or perhaps to play golf in. Just click here to see John McCain's Salvatore Ferragamo Pregiato Moccasins for a mere $520 per pair.

Isabel Wilkinson, writing for Huffington Post, has pictures of the shoes in her story. Yet another fun read can be found at CNN's site: "McCain's $520 loafers put 'elitist' shoe on the other foot".

We think "elitist" is exactly the right word. After all, McCain is the guy that thinks Farm Bills are nothing but nonsense -- voting no on every single one since the mid-'80's. That's a lot of NO NO NO's ... NO to conservation, NO to affordable housing in rural communities, NO to school lunch, NO to new water/sewer systems for small towns, NO to fresh fruits and vegetables, NO to organics, NO to food safety and NO to food security.

Al Gore: "Environmentally Responsible is Economically Responsible"

Last week, Al Gore spoke to a turn-away crowd about the U.S. (and the world) energy crisis. So many people wanted to attend that people who RSVP'd first were asked to please let the organizers know if they weren't coming so that people waiting in line could take their place.

Gore, urging a 10-year goal for our nation to make the change from carbon-based fuels to 100 percent of our electricity from clean, renewable sources, said,

"We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that has got to change."

What we liked best -- recognizing that making the switch won't be easy, is how thoroughly practical and straightforward, the mainstream media has covered Gore's challenge.

E.J. Dionne covered the story in the Washington Post with this comment, "

"It sounds like a typical, idealistic Al Gore idea. But two things about this proposal merit attention. It points a country that uses too much energy down the right path. And Gore is showing that being environmentally responsible is economically sensible."

Gore and T.Boone Pickens aren't alone in ringing the "EMERGENCY BELL." Many are others are too. Click below for more info.

• Warming is Major Threat to Humans, Says EPA
• Gore Urges Fast Energy Makeover
• Transcript: Gore Delivers Remarks on Energy and the Climate

Nation's Security on the Line: T. Boone Pickens says "Time to Stop Digging"

T. Boone Pickens spoke plainly as he testified to the Homeland Security Panel which Senator Joseph Lieberman chairs and Senator Susan Collins serves as Ranking Member.

Pickens stated:

“We are more fragile today, from a national security standpoint, than we have been since World War II. This danger stems directly from our overwhelming dependence on foreign oil, which has risen from 24 percent in 1970 to 70 percent today. What worries me, and what should worry this committee and the American people, is that much of this dependence is on oil that comes from countries that are not our friends. And in some cases, this dependence on their oil has placed the US in the position of paying for the tools these countries use to embrace, export and manifest their ideology that would like to see us fail as a democracy and as the leader of the free world.

"And further, by spending this $700 billion year importing oil– more than four times the cost of the Iraqi War -- we are strangling our economy and putting ourselves and our nation in greater harm’s way. All without our enemies ever having to raise a hand in anger. This is more than a disturbing trend line. It is a recipe for national disaster. This is a crisis that cannot be left to the next generation to solve and shame on all of us if we don’t grab this bull by the horns and wrestle it to the ground. And we must do it now. I have been traveling all around the country with a simple message – that our country is in a deep hole and it’s time to stop digging. I have a plan where we can do this in a way that actually improves our economy and our way of life, and I have to tell you the response to the plan has been tremendous.”

Click here for Picken's 5 points as reported by Business Wire:

"T. Boone Pickens to Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee: National Security Is Jeopardized by Crippling $700 Billion Dependence on Foreign Oil from Countries We Cannot Trust with our Future."

Click here for more detail on Picken's Plan.

Bush pastor: "James Dobson Does Not Speak for Me"

CBS News reports: President Bush's own pastor -- Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell who introduced Mr. Bush at the Republican National Convention in 2000 and also married Bush daughter Jenna a few weeks ago at the Bush family ranch -- has disavowed long time conservative evangelical religous leader James Dobson.

Rev. Caldwell's announcement comes in the form of a new website: jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com

Caldwell dials in for Senator Obama's weekly Friday morning prayer call (hosted by the Obama campaign) but is not an official surrogate for the campaign. Rev. Caldwell heads the 14,000 member Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas. For more on this story, click here.

Anderson Cooper at CNN also reports additional detail in his AC360 degrees column. Meanwhile, Senator Obama has reacted to Dobson's distortions, saying evangelical leader James Dobson "was making stuff up' when Dobson accused Obama of distorting the Bible.

Rural Roads Responsible for More than Half of Road Accidents

The University of Minnesota is the home of the McNamara Alumni Center which houses a new clearing house for safety on rural roads. Deputy Transportation Secretary Thomas Barrett described the situation this way,

"Rural roads carry less than half of America's traffic, but they are home to far more than half of the nation's vehicular deaths. The death rates on rural roads are almost twice what they are on urban or interstate highways."

Barrett also noted behavioral differences in rural versus city accidents. "They're more likely to take place at higher speeds. The incidence of people driving under the influence is higher. The rate of seat belt usage is lower. The lowest seat belt usage we have in this country are by drivers of pickup trucks."

kare11 in Minneapolis/St. Paul tells the full story here. From our viewpoint, the most important part is about a new "Device (that) will tell parents when their children are speeding".

The Second Amendment -- Guns and Hunters

The story "The Elusive Hunter" was actually published a couple of years ago by Newsweek, but it is still worth reading because it so clearly describes all the good things about hunting ... boys learning responsibilities, fathers and grandfathers with their sons, sportsmanship.

There is, of course, much controversy about gun ownership, perhaps best described by how people in cities are known to worry about street warfare while people in more rural regions of our country believe guns are all about sportsmanship and safety. The "Hunter" story reminded me of one time when I was in Montana visiting a ranching family there. Walking across the dining room floor, I almost tripped over the head of a bear, still firmly part of what had become a huge furry bear rug, of course. When one of the family started telling me how they came to own the bear rug, my awkwardness disappeared. The family story, of course, was about how the (gigantic) bear had been tearing off the shutters covering one of their house's windows, when the oldest son shot the bear.

Hunting ... safety ... street warfare. Isn't it funny how both sides of the rural v. urban viewpoints about guns meet in the middle about safety?

A few days ago the Supreme Court tackled this same subject. As described in the Kansas City Star, the "Supreme Court Ruling Still Allows Reasonable Restrictions" on guns.

“Like most rights, the Second Amendment is not unlimited,” Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in his lead opinion. “It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”

Reacting to the ruling, Ray Schoenake, President of the American Hunters and Shooters Association had this view:

"On behalf of our many thousands of members, we applaud this decision, which is critically important for all of us who believe in gun rights. This balanced, thoughtful approach to the Second Amendment is shared by an overwhelming majority of the nation's 80 million gun owners, including AHSA's members. The Supreme Court has soundly rejected the extreme views of the N.R.A., which espouse unlimited access to any weapon. "

We agree.