EOC400.3008--Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) District 4 Profile--A RESUME INNOVATIVE PARADIGM MODEL

EOC400.3008
J. L'Angelle
Univ of Nevada, Reno
Fall 2019

Ethnicity, Income, Poverty and Opioids

     (Late Entry)--Emphasis has been placed lately not just on Congressional representatives'  particular ethnic backgrounds and countries of origin as fair play in political criticism, but also on their track records as members of Congress reflecting conditions in their districts. The former was recently in the spotlight for the new Congresswomen collectively known as the "Squad," the latter with reference to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and his Baltimore district.
     The President has selected another new face in the crowd from the halls of Congress to be the Director of National Intelligence, Rep. John Ratcliffe  (R-TX). Media has already begun to put the representative under the microscope as to his qualifications for the DNI post but for what appears to be reasons unrelated to his current job, which appear his former stints as mayor of a small Texas town, his experience in a US attorney's office and what little he has had as congressman.
     If the criticisms for the Squad and Elijah Cummings are valid, then a new paradigm can be established to further examine the qualifications of Rep. Ratcliffe with respect to the conditions in his Texas District (4).  For instance, are the arguments of ethnic distribution, poverty, crime and other social factors valid in determination for his qualification for the national intelligence directorship? The answer is affirmative as it reflects his ability to be in command, to take responsibility and make the necessary decisions to insure the welfare of those in his district.

     Ethnicity of TX District 4 clearly shows predominately White at nearly 75% with a median income of $56K yearly. (Wikipedia)  Validity however of Wikipedia data is always questionable and may or may not be accurate. That considered, poverty rates are based on FRAC;
"...interactive map provides data for every Congressional District on the percent of all people living in poverty, based on the 2017 American Community Survey (ACS). You can scroll over a Congressional District on the map to view its poverty rate, along with data for the state and nation as a whole. The margin of error for each estimate is shown in parentheses." (FRAC)
Clearly, the map shows that even though the ethnicity is predominately White with an impressive income, the number of children below the poverty line approaches 20%,  in line with the remaining 25% of Black-Asian-Hispanic in a total population of nearly 750K. Does the paradigm suggest that only the non-White children live in poverty? Possibly.
     Catherine Krantz, the Democrat who lost 3-1 to Ratcliffe in the 2018 campaign, indicates the state of the state of District 4 in 21st century technology;
     " 'Don’t even get me started on High Speed Internet,' Krantz says, 'It is more than just the digital divide, we are creating Technology Deserts that will have lasting effect for generations.  80% of homework requires internet and across the district, we have kids doing homework in the parking lot of the library.  Not to mention the effects poor connectively has on our businesses, our agriculture, even our national security.' " (Krantz)
Krantz mentions the stone age radio comm systems of the local first responders that are in dire need of upgrade, which are probably still in use even after the successful bid by Ratcliffe for reelection.
     One of the more striking stats was for opioid overprescriptions in District 4, as reported by Scott Morgan of KETR, Northeast Texas Public Radio;
     " But in Congressional Districts 4 and 1, which cover almost all of Northeast Texas, the rate of opioid overprescription was just shy of 90 percent – 89.67 percent and 89.35 percent, respective to Districts 4 and 1." (KETR)
The overprescription is the highest in Texas, which had a local average of 58% as opposed to the nation 2016 average of 65% For his part, Ratcliffe offered little in his tepid response concerning the epidemic;
     “this new information underscores the pressing need to continue the important work I’ve been doing in Congress" (KETR)
Obviously, his work isn't that important to him in the district to be chasing after the DNI job.
    Though incomplete even by the best analysis, the preceding reflects an innovative new paradigm model that might be used to define a candidate's resume. With respect to appointment to a higher position in the government; it is based not on typical bland resume details but with reference to critical newsworthy debates over issues involving ethnicity, poverty and current conditions in the applicant's district.


Works Cited
Ethnicity, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas%27s_4th_congressional_district
FRAC, http://www.frac.org/maps/acs-poverty/acs-poverty.html
Krantz, http://catherinekrantzforcongress.com/
Morgan, S., Opioids, https://www.ketr.org/post/4th-congressional-district-leads-texas-opioid-overprescriptions