VIRGINIA GOVERNOR WANTS MORE THAN A PEANUT - ARC Funding Cut, Iraq Gets $87 Billion Installment

(10/17/2003)

Virginia's governor feels that Appalachia should get more than a peanut in funding for infrastructure, in view of the fact that America taxpayers are re-building Iraq to the tune of billions of dollars. Governor Mark Warner says it would be disingenuous to cut funding to the Appalachian Regional Commission, which the Bush administration has proposed to do. The ARC's funding has been cut in half to $33 million, while the current funding bill for Iraq is $87 billion. And that's just a start for the occupied country. The federal agency supports rural communities in 13 states, including all of West Virginia. Warner says if the US can spend 87 billion dollars in Iraq, it should spend more money to bring roads, water, infrastructure for economic growth in the Appalachians. The commission works to improve health, education and the economy in the traditionally impoverished Appalachian region from southern New York to northern Mississippi.

Hur Herald ®from Sunny Cal The information on these pages, to the extent the law allows, remains the exclusive property of Bob Weaver and Dianne Weaver The Hur Herald. All information may be freely used but must not be sold or used in any type of commercial endeavor, or used on any web site without the express permission of the owners ©Bob and Dianne Weaver, The Hur Herald, 1999, 2000, 2001