Which State has the Highest Poverty Rate in the Country? You Might Want to Sit Down for This

Let me ask you a question: which state has the highest poverty rate in the country?

I don’t even have to be in the same with you to know some of you just thought of backwoods southern states — Mississippi, Kentucky, or West Virginia.  You’d be forgiven if you neglected to mention the true answer, a state where almost one out of five people is poor.

That would be my home state of California.  Surprised?  Well, you wouldn’t be if you knew that the Golden State has hit the bottom of the poverty pit and just keeps digging. Our Democrat-dominated legislature has spent billions upon billions…and we’re now the poorest state in the nation.

The legislature has been completely controlled by the left for decades.  If you want to know what unfettered leftism gives you… look no further than a beautiful state full of natural resources impoverishing its own citizens.  PJ Media has the story:

That’s according to the Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, which factors in the cost of housing, food, utilities and clothing, and which includes noncash government assistance as a form of income.

Given robust job growth and the prosperity generated by several industries, it’s worth asking why California has fallen behind, especially when the state’s per-capita GDP increased approximately twice as much as the U.S. average over the five years ending in 2016 (12.5%, compared with 6.27%).

 You better believe our politicians have “waged war on poverty” here, and it went just as bad as you might’ve expected.

Sacramento and local governments have spent massive amounts in the cause. Several state and municipal benefit programs overlap with one another; in some cases, individuals with incomes 200% above the poverty line receive benefits. California state and local governments spent nearly $958 billion from 1992 through 2015 on public welfare programs, including cash-assistance payments, vendor payments and “other public welfare,” according to the Census Bureau. California, with 12% of the American population, is home today to about one in three of the nation’s welfare recipients.

The generous spending, then, has not only failed to decrease poverty; it actually seems to have made it worse.

Hmmmm….  Sounds suspicious, doesn’t it?

Is it possible that these bureaucrats want to create a welfare state, one that reliably votes for the “hands that feed it?”  PJ Media reports that “some 55 percent of ‘immigrants’ receive means-tested benefits, while only 30 percent of native Californians do so.”  And believe me, there are a ton of bureaucrats. (In 2014, there were 883,000 full-time-equivalent state and local employees.  Yes, really.)  Also, misguided real estate and housing policies have further perpetuated poverty.

Remember that the next time liberals pretend to be kind-hearted.  PJ Media has more:

“Higher housing prices means more money in the pockets of Angelenos and San Franciscans when they go to sell, high energy prices have a disproportionate impact on the poor, generous welfare “benefits” mean an endless supply of new Democrats and permanent employment for the public-employee unions who actually run the state.”

No, these leftists aren’t compassionate at all.  They’re simply creating more and more need… need that the government will be more than happy to swoop in and fulfill: and all for the price of your vote… and your liberty.

Hat Tip: PJ Media

Image Credit: Pixabay