Sunday, November 19, 2006
CHRISTIAN COUNTY VOTERS SURPRISINGLY CHRISTIAN
Sorry about the lack of posts lately. The Mailbox BRBs, then doesn't show up for a week after the election. All the Mailbox will say is that big things are circulating.
As for the 2006 elections: No big shockers. Presiding commissioner John Grubaugh was re-elected (David Stokely made a respectable showing of 41 percent). Big majorities for Jay Wasson, Dan Clemens, Roy Blunt and Jim Talent, which fall in line with the county's Republican majority. County voters said no to Amendment 2 by 59 percent, no to Amendment 3 by a bare 50 percent.
The lone surprise for Christian County: Voters passed a minimum wage increase to $6.50 an hour by 73 percent.
The U.S. Census reports that as of 2003, the county's median income was $42,566 and the percentage of people below the poverty line was 9.3. The minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, which adds up to an annual income of $10,712 before taxes, significantly below the poverty level.
That means a majority of voters who make much more than the poverty level were generous enough to give more to the poor. That's significant in a Republican-minded area, because conservatives fear raising the minimum wage, believing it to hurt small businesses and raise prices in the economy. It's incorrect to label the vote as charity, because Christian County voters didn't vote to give their own salaries to the poor -- they simply told businesses to raise theirs. However, it's interesting that 73 percent of the voters chose to deviate from this conservative conventional wisdom.
Sorry about the lack of posts lately. The Mailbox BRBs, then doesn't show up for a week after the election. All the Mailbox will say is that big things are circulating.
As for the 2006 elections: No big shockers. Presiding commissioner John Grubaugh was re-elected (David Stokely made a respectable showing of 41 percent). Big majorities for Jay Wasson, Dan Clemens, Roy Blunt and Jim Talent, which fall in line with the county's Republican majority. County voters said no to Amendment 2 by 59 percent, no to Amendment 3 by a bare 50 percent.
The lone surprise for Christian County: Voters passed a minimum wage increase to $6.50 an hour by 73 percent.
The U.S. Census reports that as of 2003, the county's median income was $42,566 and the percentage of people below the poverty line was 9.3. The minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, which adds up to an annual income of $10,712 before taxes, significantly below the poverty level.
That means a majority of voters who make much more than the poverty level were generous enough to give more to the poor. That's significant in a Republican-minded area, because conservatives fear raising the minimum wage, believing it to hurt small businesses and raise prices in the economy. It's incorrect to label the vote as charity, because Christian County voters didn't vote to give their own salaries to the poor -- they simply told businesses to raise theirs. However, it's interesting that 73 percent of the voters chose to deviate from this conservative conventional wisdom.
Labels: CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ELECTIONS, politics
// posted by MoJoe @ 13:02 
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Perhaps this was the idea...
Sniderman's analysis:
Poor people in rural communities wanted a raise, didn't want to pay more for their cigs... and didn't want a cure for their lung cancers when they were dying.
http://the2dollarbill.blogspot.com/2006/11/premature-results-are-in-whoopty-doo.html
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Sniderman's analysis:
Poor people in rural communities wanted a raise, didn't want to pay more for their cigs... and didn't want a cure for their lung cancers when they were dying.
http://the2dollarbill.blogspot.com/2006/11/premature-results-are-in-whoopty-doo.html
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