Appalachia needs something akin to a Marshall Plan, not a pittance.
The people of Appalachia and Middle America feel excluded from the conversation about their destiny. A feeling of hopelessness persists. Regions that once hosted bustling steel mills, auto plants and coal mines now house desolation and shuttered main streets.
Families cannot stay together because the young people must leave to find work. This only adds to the pain — because family counts in Middle America.