John Edwards for President-Restoring Hope to Rural South Carolina

Restoring Hope to Rural South Carolina

Edwards Outlines His Rural Recovery Act

Too often, the problems of rural America are forgotten by politicians working in far-off capital cities. Many small towns in South Carolina are struggling: rural families earn 13 percent less than other families, and the ten poorest counties in the state are rural. Rural manufacturing has been hit particularly hard by international trade, outsourcing, and automation. As young people move away, small towns are turning into ghost towns. Forty percent of the state's rural counties lost population in the 1990s. Born in Seneca, John Edwards knows the struggles of rural South Carolina families and believes that America cannot turn its back on the rural communities that are the keepers of American values like family, work, community, and freedom. Today, Edwards outlined initiatives to restore economic fairness and create new jobs and businesses in rural South Carolina and rural areas across America, help struggling counties and towns, and protect the rural way of life. [USDA, 2007]

Restoring Economic Fairness To Rural America:

Investing Seed Money for Rural Recovery: Cultivating small businesses is a promising economic development strategy for rural areas, but only 1 percent of state economic development funds now support local entrepreneurs. Edwards will create the Rural Economic Advancement Challenge (REACH) Fund to bring capital and management expertise to small town America. The REACH Fund will connect investors with rural entrepreneurs, organize businesses into networks to help them succeed together, and ensure that rural areas have access to investment capital. [RUPRI, 2007]
Creating the New Energy Economy in Rural America: Renewable sources of energy -- including ethanol, biodiesel, wind, and solar -- can make the U.S. independent of foreign oil, cut global warming pollution, and create new industries and hundreds of thousands of jobs in rural America. Edwards will establish the New Energy Economy Fund to jumpstart renewable energies with start-up capital.
Investing in Rural Broadband: Rural households are about half as likely to have a broadband connection even though digital inclusion is one of the surest ways to attract businesses. Edwards will identify service gaps to encourage investment, require telephone and cable companies not to discriminate against rural communities and set aside a portion of the broadcast spectrum for community providers to improve service in rural areas. [ITU, 2006; CWA, 2006; Pew, 2006]
Prohibiting Banks from Discriminating against Rural America: Rural communities have fewer bank branches and per-capita small business loans, and more high-cost mortgages. Edwards will prevent banks from discriminating against rural areas and increase investment in rural small businesses. He will also enact a strong national law against predatory mortgages common in rural areas. [NCRC, 2007; Carsey Institute, 2006; FRB of St. Louis, 2004; SBA, 2004; ICBA, 2006.]
Creating Fairness for Family Farmers: Edwards will strictly enforce laws against anticompetitive mergers and unfair pricing, and will support country-of-origin labeling laws. He will enact a national ban on packer ownership and a moratorium on hog farm lagoons. To help family farmers, he will limit farm subsidies to $250,000 per person, close loopholes in payment limits, and expand conservation programs.
Fighting for Economic Fairness: The 11 counties with the highest rates of child poverty in South Carolina are all rural. To eliminate poverty nationwide within 30 years, Edwards will immediately raise the minimum wage to at least $7.50, cut taxes for low-wage workers, help workers save and invest, and expand affordable housing near good jobs and schools. [Census Bureau, 2000]

Helping Rural Towns And Counties:

Guaranteeing Rural America the Funding It Needs and Is Entitled to: More than half of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's $70 billion in rural development funds has gone to metropolitan regions, suburbs, and resort towns like Martha's Vineyard. Edwards will rewrite funding rules to bring resources to needy rural areas. Because many small towns lack grant-writing expertise, Edwards will direct federal agencies to simplify the grant application. [Washington Post, 4/6/2007]
Strengthening Rural Schools: Small rural schools often struggle to attract and retain excellent teachers and provide a complete curriculum. Rural schools in South Carolina are five times more likely to be rated below average or unsatisfactory. Edwards will improve pay for teachers in rural schools and offer college scholarships for students who commit to teach in rural schools. Distance learning can bring the content of the world's best universities, libraries, and museums to rural areas. Software incorporating virtual reality, digital modeling, and intelligent tutoring systems can dramatically accelerate learning. Edwards will invest in bringing these new teaching tools to rural America. [SCALJC, 2003; RSCT, 2006 and 2007; Digital Promise, 2003]
Improving Rural Health Care: Over the past 25 years, 470 rural American hospitals have closed. Rural counties have only one-fourth as many doctors per capita and face critical gaps in trauma care. Edwards' universal health care plan will cover the 9 million uninsured rural Americans and establish a national network of safety net clinics and public hospitals. He will rewrite unfair funding formulas, and invest in telemedicine to connect distant specialists and advanced equipment with local doctors and patients. Improving health care in rural America will also drive economic development -- each doctor creates eight new jobs. [Winbush & Crichlow, 2005; USDA, 1999; Wakefield, 2000; KFF, 2003]

Protecting The Rural Way Of Life:

Ridding Rural America of Methamphetamines: Many areas of rural America are facing the devastating effects of meth abuse. Edwards will invest in enforcing drug laws in rural areas, help states make meth ingredients more difficult to get, and expand treatment programs.
Protecting Lawful Gun Ownership: In small towns, hunting and gun ownership is a way of life. We can protect Second Amendment rights while also doing more to keep guns out of the hands of people who may pose a danger to themselves or others. Edwards will protect the right of law-abiding citizens to participate in gun shows, while ensuring that firearms sold there are subject to an instant check.
Expanding Access to Clean Water: Eighteen thousand South Carolina families lack basic plumbing facilities. Across America, rural households are four times more likely to go without proper plumbing. Edwards will help local areas improve their infrastructure and tackle local pollution problems. He will also establish tough clean air and water requirements for concentrated animal feeding operations. [Census Bureau, 2000; RCAP, undated]