On the Democratic Side: A Look Ahead to 2026 Statewide Races for Governor, Lt. Governor

It's never too early to talk about the 2026 gubernatorial races which are pivotal for the Democrats here in Georgia. Some names to keep in mind or potential names to succeed term limited Republican Governor Brian Kemp

Governor

Former Dekalb County CEO Michael Thurmond

Thurmond, aged 72, recently completed two successful terms as CEO of Georgia's largest county. He previously served as Georgia's Labor Commissioner from 1998 to 2010 and was elected to the Georgia State House in 1986, representing Athens-Clarke County as the first black candidate elected there since Reconstruction. He also led the of Family and Children's Services and directed Georgia's transition welfare to. Thurmond is known as a centrist, capable of building coalitions across political spectrums. The only question is whether will be able to appeal to a younger, diverse Democratic base since his last run in 2010. He is as bridge from the old guard Democrats of Murphy to the new guard Democrats of Stacey Abrams.

Jason Carter 

Carter, who last ran governor in 2014, is seen as a potential candidate the position. Carter, 49 years old, is the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, who died last week at the age of 100. Currently, he is the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Carter Center It has been ten years since Carter last ran for statewide. If there is better time for Carter to return to politics, 2026 would be the year.

Lester Miller 

Miller, an attorney and small businessman, is his second term as mayor of Macon-Bibb County, a non-partisan seat. Miller's leadership, Macon-Bibb County has seen its property taxes cut in half, an increase in public safety, the removal of eyesores across city, and improved economic development. an eye on Miller for 2026.

Michael Russell 

If I had to name a dark horse candidate, Michael Russell would be. The highly successful CEO of HJ & Company would be an unconventional candidate if he were to. Although his political affiliation is, would be an intriguing prospect for governor. He also serves on the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Board of Directors. His pro-business credentials would be a welcome change to a party that is seen as unfair to the business community.

LT. GOVERNOR:

Jonathan McCollar

McCollar is entering his second and final term as mayor Statesboro, located in east central Georgia. Under his leadership, Statesboro has experienced in economic development, and he has made historic investments in public safety, a 70% reduction in crime over five. Additionally, poverty has decreased 30%. McCollar was also appointed of the National League Cities Universities Communities Council. He brings a Georgia perspective and represents the next of new Democratic leaders in Georgia.

Teresa Tomlinson  

Tomlinson last ran for the U.S. Senate seat the Democratic primary, coming up short against now Senator Jon Ossoff. However, Tomlinson is still regarded as a statewide contender for positions such as Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, etc. She previously served as Mayor of Columbus is now a partner with Hall, Booth and Smith. 2026 might be the year Tomlinson decides to make run for a statewide seat, or she could position herself as Sanford Bishop's replacement if and when decides to as the 2nd Congressional District Representative.

Michael Angelo James 

James is current mayor of Waycross. He is also a pastor and a professor at Coastal Pines Technical College. rural Georgia becoming more of a priority for State Democrats in the aftermath of the November elections, politicians like James would help rebuild rather thin Democratic bench. His strong connections in the church would appeal to social black conservatives and evangelicals as well.

James Lester "Jim" Gillis IV 

Gillis, IV is an Investment Advisor who hails from Athens. A native of Soperton, Ga, Jim Gillis IV certainly has an impressive lineage! His family has indeed played a significant role in Georgia's political landscape going back over 100 years. Jim L. Gillis Jr., his grandfather, was a notable figure who served as Co-Manager for Lyndon Johnson's 1964 campaign for Governor of Georgia. His brother, Hugh Gillis, was a longtime State Senator, Jim Gillis, Sr was the longtime Highway Commissioner and helped create present day Interstate I-16.  And Neil Gillis, the founder of present-day Treutlen County, was a prominent banker and politician. Quite the legacy!

Bryan Miller 

Miller, a former executive for the Zell Miller Foundation and the grandson of former Governor and U.S. Senator Zell Miller entered the race for Lt. Governor back in 2022 before dropping out early in the primary. Miller platform included preserving the Hope Scholarship that has made an impact on the lives of many Georgians graduating High School. He currently runs Brasstown Strategies, located in Atlanta.

A look at the races for Attorney General, Secretary of State coming Thursday

James E. "Jimmy" Carter Died Sunday at 100. (1924-2024)

Jimmy Carter passed away yesterday at 3:45 p.m. in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by his family. He was 100 years old. His impact on politics and human rights will endure forever. He was a man of the Georgia red clay. Born in 1924 in Plains, Georgia, which is  minutes from my hometown of Oglethorpe, Carter grew up during Great Depression, under the reign of Georgia's infamous Governor Eugene Talmadge and Jim Crow. He graduated from Plains High School and in 1941, enrolled Georgia Southwestern State University. He later Georgia Tech before embarking on a promising career in the U.S. Navy.

In1953, following the death of his father, James Earl Carter, Sr., Carter retired from the Navy and returned to Plains to take over the family farm. Two years later, he ran for his first office, the Sumter County Board of Education. As a graduate of Annapolis, and with the broadening experience of a naval career, Carter was among the more open-minded white rural Southerners of his generation. refused to join the Citizens’ Council of Sumter County during that time.

In 1962, Carter ran for the Georgia State Senate against Homer Moore from Stewart County. Carter explained in "Turning" that in 1962, under pressure from the federal courts, each of the state 54 senate districts was redrawn and apportioned more equally in terms of population by the General Assembly, and election outcomes would be decided exclusively by winning a.
majority of the popular vote. Carter said this made a senate run “attractive” to political newcomers like himself.

Another key reason he ran for senate was a graduation speech he gave (likely in 1964) at Union High School in.which it had to do with his first political in July 1961 when he was the chairman of the Sumter County school board. At the time, led the pro-consolidation campaign in the countywide referendum.

After bypassing a run for Congress, he ran for Governor instead. He finished behind eventual winner Democrat Lester Maddox, Republican Bo Callaway, and former Governor Ellis Arnall, who ran as an independent.

In 1970, he ran again, this time against former popular Governor Carl Sanders Although he was victorious against Sanders, the primary was remembered for what was perceived as a race-baiting campaign against Carl Sanders.

Then in 1974, Carter announced he would run for President, in which he defeated Gerald Ford in the General Election. Carter's first term was mixed, dominated by inflation and an spiraling economy that he inherited from Gerald Ford and in addition the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979. Some of successes were the creation the Department of Education and the 1978 Camp David Accords.

At the same that Carter to come to grips with international, he had to grapple with domestic ones passed on to him Ford. Unemployment, inflation, and the crisis the list. To the economy and supply more jobs, Carter in1978 proposed $23 billion to $30 billion program for the next eighteen. Although the program would increase spending on job-creating programs, it emphasized tax cuts to encourage businessmen to increase capital investments. Congress much of this economic stimulus package.

Before Congress acted and as economic growth accelerated and unemployment declined, Carter dropped a major feature of his economic program, tax rebate; shifted his attention to around 7 percent; strengthened his resistance to federal job programs and a higher level of spending on welfare spending price and wage controls, he several anti-inflation proposals and promised the budget by the end of term. Yet, when the economy slowed, about unemployment mounted, and he returned to plans for tax cuts.

He also pushed for alternative energy, installing solar panels atop of the White House, national healthcare, among other things. In 1980 he went on to lose to Ronald Reagan in the General Election.

Carter returned to Georgia in 1981 thus began one of the most successful post-presidencies in modern history, from Habitat for Humanity to promoting peace and human rights around the world. Carter was the first Southerner to win the White House since Zachary Taylor 1849. He bridged the old guard segregationist Democratic Party to the new Democratic Party during the 1970s. He was a man of deep religious faith, a true Southern gentleman, a statesman, and a perfect example of what a public servant should be. He loved rural America, hunting, fishing, watching Atlanta Braves baseball games, and he loved the Lord.

He was an everyman: a farmer, Navy veteran, graduate of Annapolis, and businessman. He cared for the poor and was ahead of his time. He related to Black voters and their plight. He lived in public housing after he and his wife Rosalynn returned to Plains following the death of his father, James E. Carter, Sr,

who was a State Representative in the Geo
rgia State House. He was close to Martin Luther King, Sr., but remarkably, he never met his son, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was very close to many veterans of the civil rights movement, including Andrew Young, former Atlanta mayor, Congressman and U.S. Ambassador, and Ralph Abernathy.

His rise to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was a remarkable feat. Although he and his Georgia team were treated horribly by D.C. insiders and the Northern press, did the best he could despite half the Democratic Party plotting to defeat him in 1980 before he could even warm his seat in the Oval Office.

We will never see another like Jimmy Carter in my lifetime. He left a lasting legacy that history will view more favorably. Job well done, Mr. President.

Finally, a Rural Democrat on a Presidential Ticket for the first time in nearly 50 years.

Kamala Harris and the Democrats did well to have Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on their national ticket as the vice-presidential nominee. He’s rural, for real. Walz has a broad appeal in the Upper Midwest battleground states, I expect that to trickle down to states like Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina and he is well-versed in the you-betcha vernacular. The blue brand can barely be peddled along the blacktops anymore, but somehow Walz figured out a way to win a congressional seat in a red district and ultimately the governorship.

Republicans will have a hard time defining the 24 Year Army National Guard Veteran as an out-of-control elite liberal. He is an expert marksman, claims he is a better pheasant shooter than his counterpart JD Vance, and suggests that vegetarians should eat turkey since it is not really meat. He hails from West Point, Nebraska and once got pulled over for drunk driving as a young schoolteacher and coach. (He pleaded down to reckless driving and gave up on drinking under his wife’s advice.)

Walz subscribes to the standard Democratic orthodoxy...... pro-choice, supports gay rights, believes in feeding children at school, champions a living wage and backs labor unions. He is no more liberal than the late Hubert Humphrey or Walter Mondale. Walz favors some gun controls, as Ronald Reagan did. He is, in fact, pretty much your White Midwestern dad dude who coached Mankato West High School to a state football title.

As governor, he made way for pipelines supported by union pipefitting members. 

He might even be able to get rural areas to sit up from its one-party stupor and listen. Walz’s politics of joy contrasts with his counterpart JD Vance politics of exclusion, snark and denial.

Trump has no clue what life is like in places like Swainsboro, Ga or Alamo, Ga or any small town in rural America. Unfortunately, his brand of politics of negativity, doom and gloom appeals to some voters in rural America. JD Vance got out of rural America at the first opportunity and only looked back to condemn his country cousins in a memoir. Rural America is more than resentful people in red caps. It’s Barnesville, Sandersville, Fort Gaines, Statenville, Nahunta, Irwinton,  and first-generation college students at Georgia Southwestern State University or Savannah State University.

Walz gets it. That could be a powerful antidote to the decline of political choice out here in the Lowcountry or Wiregrass regions of rural Georgia and throughout rural America. Rural communities struggling to survive needs an alternative, other than simply more tax cuts, bad roads and more grievance. Walz should use his voice while he can, because Humphrey or Mondale could have told him that nobody listens to the vice president much after November.

The Harris campaign will task Walz with campaigning in the Rustbelt States and Georgia, North Carolina, and maybe even Florida. Simply having a candidate on the national ticket who actually baled hay since (Jimmy Carter) under the Nebraska sun should buck us up. 

It's Charlie Bailey Time!

On Tuesday, voter will return to the polls to vote in a pair of runoff elections to determine who will go on to the General Election.

One such race is for Lt. Governor where Charlie Bailey who was a 2018 candidate for Attorney General will face off against Kwanza Hall, who is a former Atlanta City Councilman and Congressman.

Voters should vote for Charlie Bailey next Tuesday. He will be a strong fighter for Rural Georgia whether you live in Charlton County, Montgomery County, Polk County or Union County.

Charlie will first address the symptoms of a over regulated, over taxed economic base and it effect on the taxpayer. Second, he understands and respect that Rural Georgia is Georgia too! (He is a native of Harris County in Western Georgia). Third he will ensure no more rural hospitals will close and to finally spearheard much needed medicaid expansion to rural areas of our state that are in desperate need of healthcare services. And finally, he will address and try to come up with solutions to the three f's.... Fuel, Food, and Fertilizer. Our Farmers and Agriculture Industry rely tremendously on diesel a
nd fertilizer, and voters feel the pinch in their wallet and pocketbooks when go to the store or put gas in their vehicles.

Kwanza Hall, his opponent is a nice guy with many accomplishments and if he wins, I'd take a long look at supporting him, but right now Georgians need a Charlie Bailey as Lt. Governor to bring all parties together to continue to move Georgia forward.

Charlie has been endorsed by former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, former Governor Roy Barnes, Lt. Governor Mark Taylor, Congressman Hank Johnson.

Vote Charlie Bailey for Lt. Governor on Tuesday June 21.

Same 'ol, Same 'ol.....Rural Voters and their disdain for the Democrat Party

Rural voters here in Georgia and across the country are voting their economic interests and have abandoned Democrats because they feel the party overlooks, ignores, and disrespects them. Rural voters don’t think that Democrats understand the economic realities of rural and small town life and have not focused attention on them. Instead, rural voters see leading Democrats like Stacey Abrams and Jon Ossoff as coming from and supporting urban concerns. Rural folk also believe that Democrats ignore rural needs and that rural areas do not get their fair share of resources. For example, many rural areas like Eastman, Montezuma, Talbot

ton, Statenville, Homerville, Folkston,  have faced recession-like conditions for decades due to a decline in manufacturing and small farms struggling to compete with corporate farms.

Yet, national Democrats focus on the problems of minorities and rarely talk about the problems of rural voters.  This fact is why identity politics backfires on Democrats. Understandably, Democrats support Black Lives Matter to rectify the historic injustices done to African-Americans. However, rural voters hear Democrats excluding them from help. When working class whites claim that “all lives matter,” they are not opposing helping African-Americans per se. Instead, they are claiming that working class whites need and want the help also. If Democrats could broaden their appeal beyond race, spend time in rural areas, and create policies to deliver benefits to these rural areas, Democrats could win more elections.

The REAL Reason Rural Voters Continue to Vote Republican

Why do rural, working class whites vote Republican? Well based on conversations I've had throughout the last few years, many have told me that they are voting their economic interests and decided to leave the Democrats because they feel the party overlooks, ignores, and disrespects them.

Look, rural voters doesn't think that Democrats understand the economic realities of rural and small town life and have not focused attention on them. Instead, rural voters see Democrats as coming from and supporting urban concerns like Stacey Abrams for example who's probably going to run for Governor in 2022. Rural folks also believe that Democrats ignore rural needs and that rural areas do not get their fair share of resources. For example, many rural areas have faced recession-like conditions for decades due to a decline in manufacturing and small farms struggling to compete with corporate farms.

Here's a fact: National Democrats focus on the problems of minorities and rarely talk about the problems of rural voters.  This fact is why identity politics backfires on Democrats. Understandably, Democrats support Black Lives Matter to rectify the historic injustices done to Black folks. However, rural voters hear Democrats excluding them from help. When working class whites claim that “all lives matter,” they are not opposing helping Black Americans per se. Instead, they are claiming that working class whites need and want the help also. If Democrats could broaden their appeal beyond race, spend time in rural areas, and create policies to deliver benefits to these rural areas, Democrats could win more elections. Take a look at Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, Georgia's two newest Senators. They know this and have been spending alot of time in rural parts of Georgia pushing policies that will help address some of Rural America's needs.

Also you have to look at the continued support of Donald Trump by rural working class voters can also be explained through this prism. Trump’s trade policies were popular because even though it may hurt some rural workers, they see Trump working to restore manufacturing plants lost decades ago. Moreover, many rural voters see illegal immigrants as competitors for their jobs who work for less and depress their wages which makes “the wall” popular.

Finally, Republicans have misread rural support for Republicans as support for limited government. That is wrong. Rural voters are fine with higher taxes (some of you may disagree with this) and more spending if they think it helps them. Their (republicans) current anti-government views reflect a belief that most government aid goes to urban areas. The challenge is that more government aid to rural areas and the poor conflicts with conservative orthodoxy. However, a more proactive approach to help the poor could help an older, white GOP expand its support among minority voters. But they can't see that and Democrats have failed so far to capitalize on this opportunity by refusing to go in unfriendly territory

Donald Trump: A First Class Con Man

One of the reasons he was elected was because of the perception of his being a successful businessman. But one of the reasons that you know that America isn’t yet owned by Trump is that it’s still in business.

Yet as Trump continues to play the American people and the world, the question has to be asked: are we more willing now to be conned? Do we invite being played; even expect it?


Donald Trump spent his entire campaign railing against the establishment and promising to “drain the swamp.” But now that he has begun announcing his cabinet choices, many liberty-loving people are getting increasingly uncomfortable with the Wall-Street-studded, war-loving picks. Instead of draining the swamp, it seems like he may be repopulating the swamp with bigger predators than before.

I really hoped the President-Elect proves me wrong, but we have a responsibility to speak the truth, regardless of how unpleasant it is. The question has to be asked…did Donald Trump just run the biggest con game in history by telling us all what we wanted to hear?

Many people voted for a man who boasted of sexual assault, a man whose “university” defrauded thousands of people, a billionaire who thought the minimum wage was too high. You switched from Barack Obama in 2012 to Donald Trump in 2016 many were white working-class voters because you they thought he was on their side.

You don’t mind the lying. In fact, you’re all in with the biggest lies, the baseless claims that three million people voted illegally, that Obama ordered a wiretap of Trump Tower, and on, and on. The lying is disruptive. Yay for disruption!

You don’t mind the flip-flops. Last year, Trump said the unemployment rate was “one of the biggest hoaxes in American history.” This year, because he’s president, it’s very real. Last year, Wall Street was a puppeteer for the Democrats. Now your man has brought in Goldman Sachs puppeteers to run the economy. Last year, a golfing president was lazy. Now your guy has paid 14 presidential visits to a golf course.

You’re not bothered by the foreign policy incompetence, the siding up to gangster regimes and human rights violators, the snub of the rest of the world in the name of America First. You don’t mind unleashing polluters. If the job creators want filthy air and foul water, give it to them.

You shrug at all of this hypocrisy and craziness, because you still think he’s going to help you. But you’ve been played, sucker-punched, duped. You can continue to believe Trump has your back, but the evidence is already overwhelming that the people his presidency will hurt most are those at the bottom who gave him their trust.

Trump acknowledged as much when told that the health care plan he pushed would significantly harm his base.

Given that Trump’s approval rating, which is at a historic low, given that a majority of Americans believe that Trump is not honest and does not care about average people, it’s easy to think Democrats can abandon the voters who abandoned them last year.

White voters without a college degree, who went for Trump by almost 40 points, are never going to come around  no matter how much this president turns his back on them.

The condescension, like the opioids, may feel good as well, but it won’t do anything to help the forces of reason and progress. The way to bring around the forgotten men and women is to remind them, every day, that Trump has forgotten them. And to give them something  say, Medicare for all, being pushed by the energized Bernie Sanders base to back words with action.

Trump is banking on the ignorance of voters who took a chance with him. His budget proposal — a cruel, Dickensian document — offers nothing but pain for these people. An Appalachian economic partnership that helps workers in 420 of the nation’s poorest counties would be abolished. Seniors who need Meals on Wheels for food and social contact would lose the service. Cancer victims, waiting for something miraculous to come from the extraordinary work of the National Institutes of Health, will have to wait longer, as Trump cuts cancer research to fund his Mexican wall.

If you’re a poor kid in Georgia looking for that college break that will get you somewhere, his budget slashes tuition grants for you. If you’re a single mom living in Baxley trying to hold onto a job, he could force you onto welfare by eliminating the after-school program that enabled you to work full time.

He promised “insurance for everybody” and then supported the ill-fated Republican plan that would have added 24 million Americans to the uninsured. Those in their 50s and early 60s, and the working poor, would have been hit hardest. And Medicaid recipients, many of whom didn’t realize they had coverage for the first time in their lives thanks to Obamacare, would have been left out.

Oh, but Trump is bringing back jobs  that’s why many in the midwestern states such as Ohio, Michigan put him in office. About those jobs: The coal mining initiative is a hoax. Let's be real here.  This is because of the free market, turning to cheaper natural gas for power, and energy alternatives because they are the future.

The bottom line is that America elected a con man to the White House

Open Elections.....NOT!

The GOP’s need to game voting has spread like political cancer. Republican-controlled legislatures have gone to great lengths to complicate many aspects of the voting process, from registration to ballot-access rules. The goal is to suppress perceived Democratic voting blocks, particularly people of color, the poor and students. What’s especially pernicious about the best known of these tactics, stricter voter ID laws, is that it adds a nasty twist to the otherwise simple requirements to be a legal voter. Instead of satisfying age, residency and citizenship status and showing that one is mentally fit and has no felony record (as in most states) these new laws say you cannot get a ballot unless you also have a specific kind of state government photo ID. Not everybody has that ID, or the documents needed to obtain it. The right to vote has never been based on plastic.

This anti-democratic trend is larger than just photo ID laws. Florida passed laws imposing fines and filing deadlines on voter registration groups, which, despite being blocked by a court recently.

Today’s majority Caucasian dominated GOP knows it cannot hold onto power in an increasingly multicultural America unless it keeps communities of color, young people and women from voting.
You would think today’s Republicans would be more confident in their ideas, stand by them and trust the voters to decide. But that is not the case.

Farmers, Politics and Change: The Beginning of the End of Rural America?

I hope not!

While the plight of urban decay has been widely publicized,  we are confronting similar issues facing us: lack of well-paying jobs, rural brain drain, food deserts, poverty, and lack of access to quality health care have either been ignored or largely misunderstood by policy-makers and the press. Today, more rural Citizens are on food stamps and face bleaker economic prospects than their urban counterparts, despite the romantic image of small-town life often portrayed in the media.

For the past 50 years, rural America has seen its best, brightest, and most mobile flee the countryside in search of jobs as federal farm, economic, and trade policies have slowly bled family farmers off the land. Here's something I found.....Since 1960, when John F. Kennedy was elected, America has lost over 1.7 million family farms — the backbone of rural economies — with farmers in the U.S. today now outnumbered by prisoners which is ridiculous

Despite increases in farm productivity and improved planting and harvesting equipment, more insidious economic factors, like increased industry consolidation, poorly designed subsidy programs, and overspecialization in industrial livestock production, with poor contract protections, have hollowed out the countryside. Instead of prosperity, industrial agriculture has created vast profits for corporations at the top of the food chain, but left a growing number of rural America’s Main Streets to resemble ghost towns, and its residents poorly prepared to meet the nation’s important challenges of the 21st century.

While, despite a growing national awareness of food and agriculture issues, many people in urban areas have never met a farmer or someone who produced the food that appears on their plate each day, most Main Street businesses in rural America realize that their livelihood and very survival are tied to the economic well-being of the local farm economy.

And if you want to save rural America, you have to save the family farmer.

Rural America's Fiscal Challenge

This is from my friends over at the Daily Yonder. This is a must read for Rural Georgians.

Read: Rural America's Fiscal Challenge

$45 Million Investment in Rural Entrepreneurship

Back on June 3 the USDA announced the availability of $45 million for the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program. It's a new initiative, established in the 2008 Farm Bill, that will make grants to organizations that provide training, technical assistance or make small loans to new and existing rural small businesses with ten or fewer employees. Last week the USDA published the long-awaited rules for how the Rural Micro program will be administered and followed that today with a Notice of Funding Availability published in the Federal Register today.



"The Obama Administration and USDA understand that helping small, start-up businesses is fundamental in building a sustainable rural community," said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. "This new program will help provide access to capital, business-based training and technical assistance to the smallest of small businesses. We need to embrace new strategies to help create a thriving rural economy."

Applications will be accepted throughout the year and awarded on a quarterly basis. For fiscal year 2010, applications must be received by July 16, 2010. The total amount available in fiscal year 2010 is $45 million - $36.2 million for loans, $7.6 million for microlender technical assistance grants and $1.3 million available for technical assistance-only grants. Potential applicants can find out more in the June 3rd Federal Register, page 31413, (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-13380.pdf), and should obtain an application from the USDA Rural Development Office in their state. Additionally, applicants are encouraged to contact the Center for Rural Affairs's USDA/Farm Bill helpline at (402) 687-2100 (just ask for the helpline).

This is a good investment in rural America. And the program balances support for lending, training and technical assistance, improving access to all the resources that rural entrepreneurs need to get their business up and running," said Steph Larsen of the Center for Rural Affairs. "Rural America has much to contribute to our nation's economic recovery, and the Rural Micro program capitalizes on the fact that most new rural jobs are created in firms with fewer than ten employees by focusing resources on small business startups of that size."

Poverty in Rural America - 1965

In Rural America, many still struggle to accept Obama

Barack Obama on Rural and Working Class America back in 2004

Barack Obama on Rural and Working Class America back in 2004

Health Insurance Reform At a Glance: Rural America

PREPARED BY THE HOUSE COMMITTEES ON WAYS AND MEANS, ENERGY AND COMMERCE, AND EDUCATION AND LABOR
MARCH 20, 2010

Provides Coverage for Uninsured Rural Individuals: In rural areas, the uninsured rate reaches 23 percent, almost five percentage points higher than in urban areas, and the current recession means that more people may lose access to their employer-based health coverage. The legislation guarantees that individuals currently without access to affordable health insurance would have options for obtaining affordable, quality health care coverage.

More Affordable Choices and Competition. In many rural states, one insurance company dominates more than 80 percent of the market, meaning that there are often only one or two insurance companies offering health plans in the individual and small group markets. Health insurance reform will result in an additional 32 million people accessing health insurance creating greater participation and competition by health insurers.

Protects Rural Consumers from Discriminatory Practices that Make Coverage Unaffordable: Health reform includes insurance market reforms that prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, prohibit charging higher premiums based on gender or health status, and require insurers to include an essential set of health benefits in their plan. These provisions will all help make quality health insurance more accessible and affordable for rural residents.

Provides Bonuses to Reward Primary Care Doctors that Practice in Shortage Areas: Only 9 percent of physicians practice in rural America even though 20 percent of the population lives in these areas. The legislation provides a 10 percent incentive payment for primary care doctors practicing in underserved areas, which, combined with a current bonus for physicians in shortage areas, will help recruit and retain primary care physicians where they are needed the most.

Ensures that Rural Doctors Are Paid the Same Rate for Their Work as Urban Doctors: Prior to 2003, the Medicare reimbursement formula paid doctors practicing in rural areas relatively less for their work, even though they have the same training as their urban counterparts. The legislation helps rural physicians by extending an existing provision that addresses this payment inequity.

Helps Rural Doctors Cover Costs Related to Operating their Practice: Physicians practicing in rural areas are paid relatively less by Medicare than their urban counterparts for expenses such as rent and hiring office staff. The legislation will encourage doctors to practice in rural America by increasing Medicare reimbursement rates in many areas for these types of overhead costs.


Supports Community Health Centers in Rural Areas: Community health centers are an important source of care in rural areas. The legislation provides $11 billion in newfunds to support community health centers over the next five years, and maintains the current requirement that these rural areas receive special consideration for distribution of funds.


Trains Primary Care Providers for Rural Areas: There is a shortage of health providers in rural America,particularly primary care. The legislation emphasizes training for primary care providers by supporting training on rural health, investing in advanced nurse training, and providing $1.5 billion to expand the
National Health Service Corps to address work shortages in high-need area. Thelegislation also redistributes unused Medicare-funded graduate medical education positions to hospitals in rural and other communities and health professional shortage areas that commit to train primary care or general surgery residents.

Rewards Hospitals in Low Cost Areas: The legislation provides $400 million to reward hospitals located in areas of the country with the lowest per capita levelof Medicare spending.

Protects Payments for Rural Outpatient Hospitals: When Medicare moved to a new payment system for outpatient hospitals in 2000, rural hospitals were protected from potential losses. The legislation extends this current “hold harmless” policy for rural outpatient hospitals to ensure that rural residents will continue to have access to care.

Helps Certain Rural Hospitals Cover Their Lab Costs: Rural hospitals have lower patient volume than their urban counterparts, making it more difficult to sustain much needed services such as laboratory tests. The legislation helps to maintain access to routine lab tests for patients living in rural areas by paying small
rural hospitals their reasonable costs for performing clinical laboratory tests.

Boosts Payments for Rural Home Health Agencies: Home health providers in rural communities often must drive long distances to see their patients, incurring additional transportation costs. The legislation reinstates a 5 percent add-on payment for rural home health agencies that had previously expired.

Protects Ambulance Services in Rural America: The bill protects seniors’ access to ambulance services in rural areas by continuing an existing increase to Medicare reimbursement rates for rural ambulance services. These adjustments help compensate for the additional costs incurred for providing these services over great distances.

Ensures Access to Preventive Services in Rural Areas: The bill eliminates cost-sharing for preventive care (including well baby and well child care) in new health plans to underscore the importance of preventive health services in making America healthier and lowering the growth of health care costs over time. And the legislation caps annual out-of-pocket spending for individuals and families so that no one faces bankruptcy from health costs ever again.

Assistance for Rural Hospitals: The Medicare Modernization Act enabled certain hospitals, commonly referred to as “Section 508 Hospitals,” to be more appropriately reimbursed by Medicare for the services they provide to rural communities. The bill continues these critical payment improvements, enhancing the ability of these rural hospitals to recruit and retain essential staff to care for Medicare beneficiaries in their communities. Additional provisions assist hospitals with a low-volume of discharges and extend payment protections for Medicare Dependent Hospitals.

Now I'm not a supporter of the overall Healthcare bill that was just passed in congress, but these provisions will do rural america alot of good, where access to healthcare is at its worst.