New Deal Rugs: Craftsmanship, employment, recreation, job training, therapy, thrift, and social welfare

Above: The description for this 1941 photograph reads: "Farm worker's wife making hooked rug in sewing class. A WPA (Work Projects Administration) project at the FSA (Farm Security Administration) labor camp. Caldwell, Idaho." During the New Deal, many classes were conducted to teach people how to make products out of scrap material, either for sale (to make a little money) or home use (to save a little money). Photo by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration, and provided courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: A WPA hook rug project in the Virgin Islands, between 1935 and 1943. The description for this photograph reads, "These women are adept at all handicrafts, and the products are both artistic and colorful." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Another view of the WPA hook rug project in the Virgin Islands (see previous photo). The description for this photograph reads, "Under this project women have been taught to hook rugs. It has been so successful and a market has been found for the rugs that it is hoped this industry will continue." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: New Deal rug-making projects in the Virgin Islands had started even earlier than the WPA, for example, this project in the Civil Works Administration (CWA, 1933-1934). Photo from: Henry G. Alsberg, America Fights the Depression: A Photographic Record of the Civil Works Administration, New York: Coward-McCann Publishers, 1934, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: This photo was taken in Miami, Florida, between 1935 and 1943, and the description for it reads, "Women of all ages find rug making a very interesting and profitable activity. This activity is part of the WPA Recreation Program in Miami." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Women making rugs on a WPA sewing room project in Spokane, Washington, December 1935. WPA-produced rugs were usually given to families in need of assistance. For example, in 1935 it was reported that WPA sewing rooms in Idaho would be making clothes, and also "pillow cases, sheets, and rugs for relief clients" ("Idaho Gets Funds For Needlework," The Oregon Daily Journal (Portland, Oregon), September 17, 1935, p. 13). Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Two disabled military veterans on a WPA rug-making project in Springfield, Massachusetts, between 1935 and 1943. The New Deal recognized and utilized the skills of disabled Americans on many projects across the country. This type of work provided therapeutic benefits, modest pay, job training and, of course, goods for distribution to lower-income Americans who could not afford to buy  such products in the private marketplace. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: Another scene at the WPA rug-making center for disabled workers in Springfield, Massachusetts (see previous photo and caption). Photo from the National Archives.

Above: A WPA class for weaving rag rugs, Costilla, New Mexico, September 1939. Photo by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration, and provided courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: Newspaper archives are filled with articles about New Deal rug-making projects and show, among other things, that young women in the National Youth Administration (NYA) produced many rugs between 1935 and 1943, winning awards and accolades along the way. In this Associated Press article--from the March 21, 1937 edition of The Humboldt Times (Eureka, California)--we see that thrift not only guided the search for scrap material, but also for tools! Image from newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: In between the termination of CWA (see 4th photo & caption from the top of this blog post), in March 1934, and the beginning of WPA, in July 1935, the Work Division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) provided jobs for the unemployed, and funded the same types of projects as CWA and WPA, including rug-making. Indeed, FERA workers made 70,700 rugs during the Work Division's existence, just 15 months. Photo from the Work Division's final report.

Above: Another FERA rug-making project (see previous photo and caption), 1934-1935. Photo from the Work Division's final report.

Above: FERA also provided funding for cooperatives; and some of these co-ops produced rugs, such as the Berkeley Self-Help Cooperative. Image from the Work Division's final report.

Above: "Women of the Rug Cooperative," an organization funded by the New Deal's Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA), 1937. To learn more about PRRA, be sure to check out: Geoff G. Burrows, The Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration: New Deal Public Works, Modernization, and Colonial Reform (University Press of Florida, 2024). Photo from Archivo de Arquitectura y Construcción de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (accessed January 12, 2026).

How Many New Deal Rugs?

It does not appear that a comprehensive study has ever been done on New Deal rugs; and, if records were kept at the time, they are not easily accessible today. However, if 70,700 rugs were created under the auspices of FERA's Work Division, in just 15 months, the total number--when we consider the much longer-lived WPA and NYA, as well as CWA and cooperatives--might be close to a million.

Republicans raised my healthcare costs, after cutting taxes for themselves and their wealthy donors

Above: A WPA poster, highlighting the New Deal principle of affordable healthcare. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Lower taxes for the rich, higher costs for everyone else

I renewed my ACA health insurance exchange coverage today--same plan, same doctors, same medicine--and my monthly premiums have increased by 44.6%. The increase is due to Republicans not wanting to extend health exchange subsidies currently in effect.

But the Republicans DID want to extend tax cuts for the rich, including themselves, and so they did. 

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy explains the effect of the Republican's "megabill," signed by Trump this past July: "More than 70 percent of the net tax cuts will go to the richest fifth of Americans in 2026, only 10 percent will go to the middle fifth of Americans, and less than 1 percent will go to the poorest fifth. The richest 5 percent alone will receive 45 percent of the net tax cuts next year."

This is what happens every time the GOP is in charge - the rich get coddled and the working-class gets pummeled. Sadly, this phenomenon also happens--though usually to a lesser degree--when neoliberal, corporate Democrats are in charge, as we painfully saw during many of the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama years. Obamacare (the ACA) was nice of course, but it's only as good as the subsidies it gets.

Perhaps someday the working-class will realize that the super-wealthy and their political marionettes are not their friends. Perhaps one day the working-class will unite and demand another New Deal. But unfortunately, that day is not today. Today, the working-class has allowed itself to be divided up into warring factions, battling each other over one cultural issue or another. Oh, how the wealth-controlled media has done a number on us!

Working-class Americans are beating each other senseless--men vs. women, whites vs. blacks, gays vs. straights, native-borns vs. immigrants--while the 1% giggles, keeps wages stagnant, and jacks up the prices. In fact, if you listen... very carefully... you can actually hear the voices of the 1% coming from the mega-yachts passing by: "Thanks suckers."

The New Deal Built Hospitals in Missouri. The 1% Are Shutting Them Down.

Above: This graphic shows 20 hospitals built in Missouri from 1933 to 1939 with funding from the New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA). Image from America Builds: The Record of PWA, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1939, p. 269.

Above: This graphic is from the Missouri Hospital Association, and shows hospital closures from 2014 to 2024. Image used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: The Works Progress Administration (WPA) also engaged in hospital construction in Missouri. The description for this photograph, taken in December 1937, reads: "Fulton State Hospital No. 1 [Missouri] - New wing on old building - all work by the WPA." Photo from the National Archives.

Above: The WPA also helped staff hospitals in Missouri, for example, with nurses and sanitation workers. The description for this photograph, taken in July 1936, reads: "Pharmacists employed by WPA are shown working in St. Louis Hosp. #1. The employment of these men as assistants in public institutions is part of the Missouri WPA program. They are mixing medicine for the charity patients of the hospital." Photo from the National Archives.

The 1% Are Shutting Down Our Hospitals

The New Deal had an extensive public health program, including the construction of many new hospitals, many of them built in rural areas. Today, the 1% are shutting down hospitals, all across the country, in their never-ending quest for tax cuts, profits, and the destruction of programs that help the middle-class and poor. Rural communities are being hit the hardest, because the 1% realize that less populated areas have less profit potential or require too much government funding, i.e., taxes. (This is the same reason that the 1% did not want to provide electricity to rural areas - a problem that the New Deal solved with the Rural Electrification Administration.)

In a recent article in The Mexico Ledger (Mexico, Missouri) we hear about the pain and suffering that the 1% are willfully inflicting on rural Americans:

"For Elizabeth Berry, 72, and Randy Dickson, 63, not having a hospital means more than not having a place to get the care they need. There is another layer of difficulty when it comes to actually getting to the closest hospital, which, for most in the Mexico area, is about 40 miles away in Columbia.

"'You pretty much know, if you have an emergency, you are in serious trouble,' Dickson said. 'It's a bad situation. And when you do get down there, it's so crowded that you can't get in. You have people who are being treated in the waiting area.'

"These struggles impact everyone in the area and the impact is greatest on people who are older, can't drive or have health issues and are on their own.

"'The only way I can get there is in an ambulance, and I can't afford it,' Dickson said. 'So if I have an emergency, I just have to hope I don't die before I get there.'

"Berry's husband died after years of battling kidney failure and heart issues. She is still struggling to pay off the debt that came with his medical bills, which were exacerbated by the lack of local care.

"'He had to be airlifted a number of times or had to take an ambulance because of his issues, and I am still dealing with the bills that are coming in for transportation,' Berry said."

(From: "'And that’s all gone': Rural health centers in Missouri close, end continuous local care," The Mexico Ledger (Mexico, Missouri), September 24, 2025).

Why all this suffering? Answer: The 1% want more tax cuts and profits so they can buy more luxury items--sports cars, 4th or 5th mansions, private islands, luxury doomsday bunkers, jewelry, $50,000 dollar dresses and watches, etc.--and if the poor and old have to die in the process, so be it. This is why mega-yacht sales are on the rise at the same time rural hospitals are shutting down.

Hopefully, one day, the working-class will realize that the 1% are not their good buddies. But until that day comes--until they stop relying on billionaires to "lead" them--they will be experiencing a lot of unnecessary illness, pain, and death.

Disaster relief: New Deal action vs. modern apathy

Above: "Flood waters," a lithograph by Paul Weller (1912-2000), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, between 1936 and 1939. Image courtesy of the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Action vs. Apathy

West Virginia Watch recently reported on disaster victims in southern West Virginia who aren't receiving nearly enough help. Nine weeks after historic flooding, residents are dealing with perpetually wet carpet, waterlogged floors, lack of heat, lack of running water, muddy basements, trash that isn't being removed, and mold. And even before the flooding disaster, "some residents haven’t had clean drinking water for decades" ("McDowell residents feel forgotten, overwhelmed as they face flood recovery with limited help," West Virginia Watch, April 23, 2025).

One elderly resident summed up the insufficient federal, state, local, and charitable assistance by saying, "Nobody cares, I'm telling you, this day and time."

But in a different day and time, long ago, the New Deal cared. It sent in armies of WPA and CCC workers to evacuate victims; assist with search and rescue; provide food, water, and clothing; clean-up debris; repair infrastructure and utilities; and even provide music and activities to calm rattled nerves. It provided these services all across the nation... for example, in West Virginia.

In 1937, when damaging floods hit several West Virginia counties near the Ohio River, WPA workers cleaned streets, made and distributed clothes, provided sleeping quarters, assisted the Red Cross, and "answered 4,000 miscellaneous calls for help such as for evacuating homes, rescuing stranded persons, salvaging personal belongings, transporting food, medicine, physicians, and nurses" ("WPA Workers Help In Crisis," The Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, West Virginia), January 26, 1937). A little over a month later, WPA workers were repairing flood-damaged streets, sewer systems, schools, and buildings (Bluefield Daily Telegraph (Bluefield, West Virginia), March 6, 1937, and The Independent-Herald (Hinton, West Virginia), March 31, 1937).

We could provide this same WPA-style disaster relief today, to those in need, if we weren't so addicted to prioritizing personal wealth over the common good.

The New Deal delivered the childcare that Americans aren't permitted to have today

Above: This map shows nursery schools in the United States funded by the New Deal's Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). At the time this map was created (1935), there were about 72,000 children enrolled in 1,821 nursery schools. These general numbers were maintained throughout the New Deal period, with WPA taking over the schools starting fiscal year 1936. Shortly after the U.S. entered World War II, many WPA nursery schools were converted into childcare centers for defense workers. And then, after the war, they essentially disappeared. The FERA and WPA nursery schools showed the nation what was possible, but the nation discarded the lesson and has struggled with childcare ever since. The map and enrollment statistics above are from: The National Advisory Committee on Emergency Nursery Schools, Emergency Nursery Schools During the Second Year 1934-1935.

Above: A WPA nursery school, at Virginia and Clendenin Streets, Charleston, West Virginia, 1937. As the article notes, the nursery schools (and most particularly, the facilitation of cooperative group play) was intended to instill the values of democracy and good citizenship in the children. Image above from The Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, West Virginia), January 10, 1937, and newspapers.com; used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: Much thought was put into the types of toys to be made available at the nursery schools, and building blocks proved to be one of the most popular with the children. Image from a WPA bulletin.

Above: Many creative methods were used to create toys for the nursery school children, for example, recycled materials (see the spool toy above) and toys that parents could make and donate. Image from a WPA bulletin.

Above: WPA administrators provided many instructions on how to make nursery schools more efficient and manageable, for example, this movable bathroom rack. Image from a WPA bulletin.

Above: Suggested dimensions for a WPA nursery school easel. Image from a WPA bulletin.

Above: A WPA nursery school in Scott's Run, West Virginia, 1936. Photo by Lewis Hine, courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA nursery school in Scott's Run, West Virginia, 1936. Photo by Lewis Hine, courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A daily schedule at one of the WPA nursery schools. Image from a WPA Bulletin.

Above: Story hour at a FERA-funded nursery school in Oakland, California, ca. 1934. The "SERA" you see in the caption refers to the State Emergency Relief Administration of California. Each state set up its own emergency relief office to administer funds from FERA. Photo from "The Project," January 1935 edition, a publication of FERA and the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation.

Above: A WPA nursery in Savin Hill, Massachusetts, 1936. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA nursery in Seattle, Washington, ca. 1938. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA nursery in Seaford, Delaware, ca. 1938. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Year after year, decade after decade, the childcare needs of post-New Deal America are never met

Grace Langdon, the director of FERA, WPA, and wartime nursery schools, wrote, "Prior to October 1933 [i.e., prior to the New Deal] some 300 nursery schools existed in the United States serving for the most part children of families well-to-do or at least in comfortable circumstances" ("What our Best Nursery Schools Have to Offer," The Project, January 1935, p. 33, a publication of FERA and the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation).

The nursery schools that Langdon oversaw were enormously successful and offered a blueprint for Americans to build upon. But Americans chose not to, and have paid the price ever since with childcare financial gimmickry, e.g., insufficient tax credits, insufficient funding programs, and the like.

Things are about to get worse. For example, at the federal level the Trump Administration and Congress (which are now one and the same) are planning to gut or eliminate Head Start (which needs to be enhanced, not cut).  See, "White House proposes eliminating Head Start funding as part of sweeping budget cuts," Associated Press, April 17, 2025, and "'We are fighting for Head Start:' Advocates sound the alarm over proposed elimination," WCHS News, April 18, 2025.

As if that were not bad enough, at least some red states that fancy themselves mini-MAGAs are also failing to adequately fund childcare. For example, in West Virginia, a state with almost no Democrats holding office, the following was noted of the recent legislative session: "When it comes to caring for the future of West Virginia, its children, nothing happened this session. Lawmakers in the male-dominated body didn’t advance any bills that would help child care providers stay open for working parents" ("In state budget, West Virginia Republicans stash millions for tax cuts and carve up small programs," Mountain State Spotlight, April 18, 2025).

And so, America's pathological rejection of the New Deal continues, with tens of millions of Americans financially crushed and, in many cases, still eager to vote for those who crush them. Amazing.

How the New Deal created a "new era" of improved sanitation in West Virginia; and how we're forbidden to know about it today

Above: The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out sanitation projects all across the United States, and especially in rural areas. These projects included mosquito control, mine sealing, sanitary privy construction (sanitary privies replaced poorly constructed outhouses), and the clean-up of polluted streams. As this map shows, all of West Virginia benefited from some type of sanitation improvement. Also, keep in mind that this map shows projects only through June 30, 1936 - only one year into the eight year existence of the WPA. Map from an October 1936 WPA report.

Above: By the end of its program, the WPA had installed 308 miles of new storm and sanitary sewer lines in West Virginia, and nearly a quarter of a million sanitary privies. This work helped reduce the incidence and death rate for typhoid fever, a disease that thrives in areas with poor sanitation. It also helped reduce other diseases, e.g., dysentery and hookworm. Graph from 1938-1940 Biennial Report of the State Health Department of West Virginia.

Above: In addition to the WPA's work, the New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA) built large sewage disposal plants all across the country. Map from America Builds: The Record of PWA, 1939.

Above: Here is the West Virginia section of the map, showing 12 large sewage disposal plants constructed in the state by PWA. Many of these were built near rivers--such as the Bluestone, Ohio, and Big Sandy rivers--and helped prevent raw sewage from entering waterways.

Above: In its 1936-1938 biennial report, West Virginia's Health Department explained how the PWA's sanitation assistance marked "the beginning of a new era in West Virginia" and how the WPA's work had improved the cleanliness of West Virginia's streams (pp. 173-174). The important point here is that West Virginia is telling us, from the past, how to fix sanitation problems. Keep this in mind as you continue below. Image above courtesy of Hathitrust.

Above: In its 2020 infrastructure report card for West Virginia, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave West Virginia's wastewater infrastructure a "D" letter grade, noting insufficient funding, aging & deteriorating systems, and the "discharge of untreated wastewater" into streams and rivers. In its recommendations section, the ASCE makes no mention of the New Deal. Why not? Just two sentences would've been nice, for example, "During the New Deal, tremendous improvements were made to West Virginia's sanitation infrastructure, as noted by the state's health department. Similar solutions should be considered today." In other words, let people know that we have faced this problem before and solved it! (or at least, greatly improved it). Image above from the ASCE, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: In this screenshot, from the video, "Sewage smell concerns neighbors in Fayette County" (WSAZ News Channel 3, July 2023), we see raw sewage coming up from the ground and into a local waterway. This has been going on in West Virginia for years, and still does. See, for example, "Raw sewage still impacting parts of Fayette County, leaders ask for answers," 13 WOWK News, December 5, 2024; "Reports show pre-flood sewage issues in Cannelton; 'Band-Aid' fix being considered," Charleston Gazette-Mail, March 20, 2025 (subscription might be required); and "West Virginia town’s residents concerned over raw sewage flooding homes," 13 WOWK News, July 10, 2024. Image above used for educational and non-commercial purposes.

The New Deal cleaned us up. Trickle-down economics has us walking through each other's poop (literally, read below). And yet, no one wants to talk about New Deal solutions. 

In 2022, an elderly resident of Huntington, West Virginia discussed raw sewage periodically ending up in her yard after storms: "I mean it is dangerous, it is nasty, it’s got poop, tampons, it’s got toilet paper in it. It is nasty... Sometimes I’ve got to walk through it and when I do I go straight to the bathroom and get in the shower, I don’t want that stuff on my feet" ("Decades of neglect of Huntington, West Virginia, sewer system leads to urgent need for action," 13 WOWK News, December 16, 2022).

In 2015, West Virginia Public Broadcasting reported that the "director of the West Virginia Water Research Institute, Paul Ziemkiewicz said the biggest threat in water supplies in southern West Virginia (and many areas in the state) by a long shot is raw sewage. 'Any contaminant you can think of pales in comparison to raw, untreated sewage,' Ziemkiewicz said. We’re talking about bacteria, parasites, and viruses that can cause short-term problems like diarrhea, eye infections, respiratory infection, and long-term problems like cancer, Dementia, and diabetes. And there are growing concerns about potential illnesses or effects from exposure to pharmaceuticals and synthetic hormones introduced through sewage" ("Is There Something in the Water, Southern W.Va.?" WVPB, January 15, 2015).

Recall that back in the day West Virginia's Health Department praised a "new era" of improved sanitation in West Virginia, thanks to federal funds, especially from WPA and PWA. Raw sewage was being prevented from entering streams (if not entirely, then at least at a much lower rate), and disease was being curtailed. But almost no one wants to discuss that today. Not reporters, not policymakers, not the American Society of Civil Engineers, not think tanks, not citizens, not academics... hardly anyone.

Isn't it ASTOUNDING that West Virginia told us what worked for them... and showed results... and still no one wants to talk about it?? Instead, we just keep fumbling along, cutting budgets and giving tax breaks to the rich (in the never-ending, and never-fulfilled, hope that their miraculous investments will lead us to the Promised Land). 

The Biden (or "Bipartisan") Infrastructure Plan started us on a better path, but Democrats did a horrible job of highlighting its accomplishments and most voters don't seem to even know what's going on with it (see, for example, "Why a Biden-Harris Win Barely Registers on the Campaign Trail," Governing, August 6, 2024).

Now that America has fully embraced oligarchy, you can forget about a modern New Deal, at least for the foreseeable future. During these next several years, the rich will buy more mega-yachts, the little people will walk in each other's poop, and America will scratch its collective head and ask, "Golly gee, why are things so messed up?"

The New Deal distributed food to West Virginians in need. Trump's USDA is stopping such distribution, to facilitate tax cuts for the rich.

Above: Here we see West Virginia benefiting from the New Deal's Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation (FSCC) in 1936. We also see the three primary benefits of the FSCC: the removal of surplus produce in order to increase income for farmers (large surpluses depress prices to an unsustainable degree); improved diets (more vitamins, minerals, fiber, etc.); and the reduction of waste. The image above is part of a longer newspaper article in The Independent-Herald (Hinton, West Virginia), June 23, 1937, and newspapers.com, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: In 1938, Maine potatoes were added to the diets of many West Virginians, courtesy of the New Deal's FSCC. Potatoes are packed full of nutrition. See, e.g., "All About Potatoes," Maine Potato Board. The above image is part of a longer newspaper article in The Independent-Herald (Hinton, West Virginia), May 18, 1938, and newspapers.com, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: Also in 1938, low-income residents of McDowell County, West Virginia, received Florida oranges. Image from The McDowell Times (Keystone, West Virginia), March 4, 1938, and newspapers.com, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: This article excerpt shows how surplus purchasing by the New Deal helped West Virginia apple growers. The above image is part of a longer newspaper article in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph (Bluefield, West Virginia), and newspapers.com, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: A chart from the fiscal year 1940 report of the FSCC, p. 8 (after it became part of USDA), showing pounds of food distributed, and number of people served, for West Virginia and other states and territories.

Above: This chart, also from the 1940 report, p. 8, shows pounds of food distributed to schools, and the number of schools and children served.

Above: This section of the 1940 report, from p. 2, gives some more information, e.g., volume and operation details, about the FSCC's contribution towards school lunches across the United States.

Above: This is from the FSCC's fiscal year 1936 report, p. 16, showing types of surplus foods distributed to West Virginians in need of assistance.

Trump's USDA is cutting off food assistance for West Virginia

The Parkersburg News and Sentinel is reporting that "The USDA recently announced $1 billion in cuts to two programs that enable schools and food banks to buy products from local farmers. One is the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) for states to buy local agricultural products to serve feeding programs, including food banks and organizations that reach underserved communities." ("USDA program cuts affect West Virginia farmers," March 19, 2025).

Trump's USDA told West Virginia farmers, and other American farmers, that the program "no longer effectuates agency priorities and that termination of the award is appropriate." ("How recent USDA cuts will affect West Virginia farmers," WBOY-TV News, March 13, 2025).

A West Virginia farmer responded to the cuts by saying, "DOGE was put in place to cut federal waste dollars. We don’t believe that the access to local, healthier food to kids or those facing hunger falls into that category. Anybody that does: This is morally wrong on many levels."

What the farmer may or may not realize is that, to the billionaire class, any governmental assistance to low-income Americans is wasteful. And since our federal government is now run by billionaires and billionaire donors, well, bye bye USDA funding. Billionaires prefer tax cuts. Tax cuts help purchase mega-yachts, private islands, and luxury doomsday bunkers. 

Many right-wingers would respond, of course, by saying: "Once we give more tax cuts to the rich they'll invest more, and then everyone will have a great job with great benefits, and then people won't need government assistance anymore."

This is the same trickle-down myth that has misled America for half-a-century. And the falsity of trickle-down economics is highlighted by the simple fact that economic desperation continues (indeed, is worse) for tens of millions of Americans, even after the gargantuan, dynastic, and supposedly utopia-creating tax cuts of Reagan, Bush Jr., and Trump.

Many working-class Americans don't seem to understand that investors don't give a crap about the robustness of working-class jobs. They'd just as soon send those jobs overseas, or engage in stock buybacks, or increase executive compensations packages, or simply fill their mansions with ever-increasing dividends. So why are we voting for politicians who want to give these people even more tax cuts? Additionally, the idea that the 1% don't already have enough money to invest to their heart's delight is ludicrous.

Obeisance to the rich = economic turmoil and unhealthy diets for the working-class. The New Deal did better for West Virginia... and the rest of America. Let's do another New Deal.