Rallying Against Catastrophic Austerity in Kentucky

Protest rallies can seem futile to participants. Even with large turnout and good media coverage, the deafening silence from public officials discourages the most enthusiastic advocates.

But that government silence hides fear - fear of an aroused public suddenly aware of just how much they're getting screwed.

Beth Musgrave at the Herald:

Eighteen years ago, Sharon Yelton was living in public housing in Northern Kentucky with a new baby, few job prospects and no child care for her daughter.

Because Yelton was working part time and was going to college, she qualified for state child care assistance grants that paid for her daughter's child care for four years. She graduated with a degree in biology and later accepted a position at Harvard University's Natural History Museum.

"I don't know where my child and I would be without child care assistance," Yelton told a crowd of several hundred people Monday at a rally in the state Capitol. "It's not a hand out; it's a hand up."

Yelton, who has since moved back to Covington, recently graduated from law school. Stories like hers will become less common now that the state has slashed spending on its child care assistance program for poor working families, she said.

Kentucky isn't poor.  Kentucky's obscenely rich parasites and corporations are stealing from Kentucky's workers.

And Kentucky's governor and legislature are letting it happen and making it easier.

Don't enable the theft by refusing to add your voice to the resistance.