A Sad Case for Louisiana
Dear editor:
The headline on the front page of the American Press (Monday, July 6) tells a sad story, but one that only touches some of the problems faced by the state and long ignored by the governor and the legislature in their quest to “save” money even if it damages the population that they are supposed to serve. It read “28.9 percent of LA. Children overweight.” Sad, but not surprising.
Faced with a growing need for funds and a shortfall in income due to the recession that has affected the entire country, the leaders of our state chose to short change two areas of importance to every citizen of Louisiana rather than face reality and cut back on their favorite hometown projects. Health and education have taken dangerous cuts and threaten the future of our state and the possibility of attracting new industry, especially scientific and technical ones, to move here. Of course they found the money to help the Saints with improvements to the Superdome and renting an office building from their multi-millionaire owner who doesn’t even live in Louisiana.
The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” In the 2008 rankings by this esteemed organization, Louisiana is ranked 50th of all the states, down from 49th in the 2007 edition. It ranks in the bottom five states on 10 of the 22 measures. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation online the following facts on Louisiana are found:
Louisiana is 8th in the nation in a prevalence of diabetes, 7th in heart disease, over 60% of our adults are obese, the infant mortality rate per 1,000 is 9.8 as opposed to a nationwide 6.8, cancer deaths per 100,000 is 203.5 versus 180.7 in the nation overall and in 2006 firearms deaths per 100,000 was 19.3 against 10.2 in the rest of the country. Almost double. In 2007 we were 45th in math and science ranking, and in median family income Louisiana was 45th.
Scary statistics? Definitely. And this in a state that cut back on health spending, education spending, allowed guns on campus and a governor that turned down federal financial help in education.
Our politicians are always talking about attracting new industry. What they should be doing is questioning themselves about what these statistics do to hamper that effort. If they owned a company in another state would they move their people to Louisiana where health and education is below national average? Of course not.
There is so much greatness in this state if we only grabbed hold and changed how business is done in Baton Rouge. It’s always talked about but falls by the wayside when budget time comes up. Think of the advances Louisiana could make if only our legislators would worry about and serve the people of the state instead of protecting their local interests and re-election.
The headline on the front page of the American Press (Monday, July 6) tells a sad story, but one that only touches some of the problems faced by the state and long ignored by the governor and the legislature in their quest to “save” money even if it damages the population that they are supposed to serve. It read “28.9 percent of LA. Children overweight.” Sad, but not surprising.
Faced with a growing need for funds and a shortfall in income due to the recession that has affected the entire country, the leaders of our state chose to short change two areas of importance to every citizen of Louisiana rather than face reality and cut back on their favorite hometown projects. Health and education have taken dangerous cuts and threaten the future of our state and the possibility of attracting new industry, especially scientific and technical ones, to move here. Of course they found the money to help the Saints with improvements to the Superdome and renting an office building from their multi-millionaire owner who doesn’t even live in Louisiana.
The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” In the 2008 rankings by this esteemed organization, Louisiana is ranked 50th of all the states, down from 49th in the 2007 edition. It ranks in the bottom five states on 10 of the 22 measures. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation online the following facts on Louisiana are found:
Louisiana is 8th in the nation in a prevalence of diabetes, 7th in heart disease, over 60% of our adults are obese, the infant mortality rate per 1,000 is 9.8 as opposed to a nationwide 6.8, cancer deaths per 100,000 is 203.5 versus 180.7 in the nation overall and in 2006 firearms deaths per 100,000 was 19.3 against 10.2 in the rest of the country. Almost double. In 2007 we were 45th in math and science ranking, and in median family income Louisiana was 45th.
Scary statistics? Definitely. And this in a state that cut back on health spending, education spending, allowed guns on campus and a governor that turned down federal financial help in education.
Our politicians are always talking about attracting new industry. What they should be doing is questioning themselves about what these statistics do to hamper that effort. If they owned a company in another state would they move their people to Louisiana where health and education is below national average? Of course not.
There is so much greatness in this state if we only grabbed hold and changed how business is done in Baton Rouge. It’s always talked about but falls by the wayside when budget time comes up. Think of the advances Louisiana could make if only our legislators would worry about and serve the people of the state instead of protecting their local interests and re-election.
posted by Sam Schoolsky | 12:46 PM
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