Thread by @ellis4congress

THREAD

During the #SOTU2020, we thought we’d share some about the State of #MO08 (spoiler: it’s dire).

Join us at 8pm CT here.

Okay folks, we’re getting ready for our live tweet thread during the #SOTU2020. We’ll be talking about the economy, jobs, & health care situation in #MO08.

Ready? 💪🏼

Let’s start with health care:

In the last few years, five of the rural hospitals in #MO08 have closed. This means that for many folks, they travel to Arkansas for their nearest care.

People are dying because of this - and Missouri’s refusal to expand Medicaid makes it worse.

While we’re at it - #MO08 has one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the country.

In #MO08, you can expect (on avg) to live only 75.4 yrs. In other parts of our country, that goes up to 83.6 yrs.

That’s not right.

measureofamerica.org

Live in #MO08 and want to have a baby in a hospital with OB beds (a seemingly simple request)?

Good luck.

Live in the Bootheel in #MO08? Depending on where you live, it’s likely that 20% of your community doesn’t have access to some form of health insurance.

And the avg income for a family is just $20k. Definitely not enough to live on.

The opioid crisis is rampant in #MO08. In fact, there are 107 opioid prescriptions to every 100 people in the district.

Shocking, and one of the highest rates in the US.

hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magaz…

Have kids and looking to send them to public school? In many of our rural areas, school districts have cut back to four days a week as the public education budget is cut.

We must protect our public schools - and our kids.

Let’s talk about climate change. In the past few years, we’ve seen incredible flooding in #MO08. Our farms are *literally* underwater.

And by the way - my opponent wants to eliminate the EPA & believes climate change is a myth.

vice.com/en_us/article/…

Speaking of our farmers...

Farmers all across the country are suffering because of the tariffs, and we’ve seen farmer bankruptcies skyrocket. #MO08 has been hit hard by this, too.

We’re a largely rural District and this is the basis for our economy.
fb.org/market-intel/f…

I’m just going to leave this here - our friend Leslie did an incredible job explaining the gun violence problem in Missouri, and the work @MomsDemand is doing to protect survivors of domestic violence.

This is a problem in #MO08, and we need action.

stltoday.com/opinion/column…

So what does the current Rep. say about this?

Well, he seems to think everything is okay. In fact, he boasts that the “economy experiences record growth.”

But clearly this isn’t true in #MO08. Things are getting worse. I’ve lived here my whole life, & I’ve seen it first-hand.

Here’s the deal: #MO08 is in a dire situation. But it looks like many rural areas across our country. It’s been ignored by leaders and candidates, written off as “too far gone” or “too dire.”

It’s not true. People are suffering, and they’re tired of it. They’re eager for change.

I’m running to give my neighbors a fighting chance at survival, of change.

And we’re seeing hundreds of folks in every county show up and say enough is enough. Together, we can do this, but we need all hands on deck.

Donate here: secure.actblue.com/donate/ellisfo…

Can’t give? We’ll need volunteer support across the country, too.

Sign up here: ellisforcongress.com/join-us

One more thing - we’re not alone in this fight. There are great candidates all across MO running for change.

Follow them here: @JohnKiehneForMo , @LynzforCongress, @ForOglesby, @BigElad, @venglund, & others.

Together, we can change our country 💪🏼

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