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Comment by nodesocket | Hacker News Reader

> "Trump for President.” (Kentucky went 63 percent for him.)

What does that have to do with the article? I really despise the media bias and overtly political tone that seeps its way into everything. I live in the South.

The real story should be the economy is booming, opportunities are omnipresent, and the American dream of working hard and progressing your way up the financial ladder of success is obtainable for everybody. Kudos for going out taking the class, learning to code, and taking control of your future and economic success.

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> What does that have to do with the article?

I'm from this area of Kentucky and the fact that it went for Trump has everything to do with the subject.

I'm 36 now, and coal has been in decline for almost my entire life. Yet the area cannot move beyond it because they keep waiting for 'coal to come back'. Politicians come and lie, and say they will return them to the glory days of coal. Trump came and told the most brazen, unrealistic lies of any previous politician. And so the state went for Trump.

Coal isn't coming back, and Appalachia cannot accept this. Until they can accept this and move on, Appalachia will always be impoverished. Sure the rest of the country is having economic boom times, but Trump made Kentucky worse.

Mentioned in the article: http://time.com/4793315/donald-trump-budget-appalachian-regi...

I had already forgotten about the Trump administration's attempt to slash the ARC. That would have been a huge economic hit to Appalachia.

> Trump made Kentucky worse

Unemployment rates and total laborforce are at lows and highs respectively since 2000 in Kentucky as of the latest bls data (look at the graph since 2000). Nonfarm wage and salary metrics are at all time record highs in Kentucky. The data suggests contrary, you may have a promising career at the NYT.

https://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.ky.htm

There's something you don't understand about Kentucky: The huge economic divide between Eastern Kentucky (Appalachia) and the rest of the state. Appalachia clings to being a coal based economy, and it's been failing them for decades now. According to the state Government, as of August 2018 the unemployment rate for Eastern Kentucky is much higher than the national average at 7.8%: https://kystats.ky.gov/kylmi/index/

Taking the state wide average masks how bad things are in Appalachia. Eastern Kentucky cannot catch up to the rest of the state until politicians stop lying to them and lay bare the sobering reality: Coal isn't coming back.

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