Posted on 11/22/2008 7:53:40 PM PST by mathwhizz
“You just sit and you worry,” said Pat Weber, a construction administrator in Fennville who was laid off more than a year ago. “In the last year, I’ve put in for more than 100 jobs. I stopped counting after 110. It’s just so defeating.”
All around Fennville and its neighbors here in southwest Michigan, front lawns are peppered with for-sale signs and merchants complain about slow days. But while this remains a beautiful place with none of the obvious blight of Detroit on the other side of the state, residents say the hardship beneath the surface is very real.
It is the same story in other parts of Michigan, as the state’s already entrenched recession — in at least its fifth year, according to economic experts — digs deeper as a result of the recent global financial crisis.
New data show the state’s unemployment rate crept up to 9.3 percent, almost three times what it was in 2000, and, along with Rhode Island, the highest in the country. Just last week, Herman Miller Inc., an office furniture company based in Zeeland, Mich., announced that it would eliminate or lay off 400 to 650 workers, many of them in western Michigan. SKD Automotive, an auto parts manufacturer in Jonesville, Mich., where it is the largest employer, indicated it would eliminate 300 jobs.
As a result of the steady job losses that began in the summer of 2000, 1.82 million Michigan residents, or close to 20 percent of the population, are now on some form of public assistance, including food stamps and home heating credits, a record for the state.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Maybe after they arrive there’ll be talk about “that’s not the way we did it in my country.”
Ya, no kidding. And as if we conservatives voted for Jenny in the first place. We are just stuck here.
NO NO, that’s prolly what happened to have OHIO go for Hussein Slowbama. All the Liberal Nazi’s moved to Ohio!
How about the office staff for the first Gentleman? Waht a joke. The size of State Government has grown under ol’ Wart face.
As a Native Texan, I feel confident in saying that northern transplants to Texas would be more than welcomed so long as they are of the type that recognize the problems of their home states and don’t try to recreate them here. I am always bewildered to talk to northerners/ Californians that rave about our cost of living, wide open job markets and pro-business climate only to then advocate a vote for some leftist Dem like Obomber. sheesh.
What? My point is that the fear that you’ll be unwelcomed in Texas is no excuse not to look into it. Texans are rather friendly.
But, if you’re invested in wallowing in every possible remote reason why something can’t be done then feel free.
I did not vote for Obama, but I bear some responsibility for his election since I am a citizen and accept the rights and duties od citizenship, and did not succeed in preventing his election. The guilt of the electorate is a collective responsibility, applying to all of its members.
I keep hoping that people are not that stupid, but THEY ARE! I listen to them being interviewed on Hannity and even Howard Stearn did it. They do not have a clue what they are voting for. NONE! Some don’t even know who the vice president or secretary of state is.
You are absolutely correct. The ignorant and the lazy have sold us down the river.
The only way to defeat card check is for a majority of workers to openly say they won’t go union and reverse pressure the minority when goons threaten the majority when they don’t go along with the union plans. The non-union auto plants are also in gun rights friendly states...so the unionists really do need to tread rightly!
>>But, if you’re invested in wallowing in every possible remote reason why something can’t be done then feel free.<<
Invested in wallowing? Dude, harsh to the max.
Do you know any of us here? Have you read this thread? People with houses on the market for three years competing with forclosed sales at 80% of value. People who have their entire families in one spot, people who have built lives and are watching them come down to abandoning their homes?
At this point I’ll say it. Being flip is totally unbecoming.
>>But, if you’re invested in wallowing in every possible remote reason why something can’t be done then feel free.<<
Bull.
If only it were that simple...
You makea good point. Unfortunately, my wife is all about instant gratification. It may not work out for us.
I am going to lose any sleep over the prospect.
New data show the state's unemployment rate crept up to 9.3 percent, almost three times what it was in 2000, and, along with Rhode Island, the highest in the country. Just last week, Herman Miller Inc., an office furniture company based in Zeeland, Mich., announced that it would eliminate or lay off 400 to 650 workers, many of them in western Michigan. SKD Automotive, an auto parts manufacturer in Jonesville, Mich., where it is the largest employer, indicated it would eliminate 300 jobs. As a result of the steady job losses that began in the summer of 2000, 1.82 million Michigan residents, or close to 20 percent of the population, are now on some form of public assistance, including food stamps and home heating credits, a record for the state.thanks neverdem.
thanks grellis.
Total Federal control, coming soon to an industry near you (banks, auto manufacturers, oil companies):
Business group blames unions for carmakers’ woes
(Should ‘Card Check’ become law?)
The Hill | 112308 | Ian Swanson
Posted on 11/23/2008 10:09:35 AM PST by Fred
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2137017/posts
‘Card Check’ Best Hope for UAW?
(Hey! Let’s turn the whole country into Detroit!)
MSNBC | November 21, 2008 | Tom Curry
Posted on 11/21/2008 11:20:17 AM PST by St. Louis Conservative
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2136082/posts
DETROIT NEWS: Members of Congress, Not Auto Execs, Deserve Grilling:
instapundit | 11/23/2008 | Glenn Reynolds
Posted on 11/23/2008 7:48:05 AM PST by shove_it
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2136964/posts
GM Board doesn’t see bankruptcy as viable option
The Chicago Sun-Times | November 23, 2008 | The Associated Press
Posted on 11/23/2008 7:51:25 AM PST by re_tail2
Edited on 11/23/2008 9:40:05 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2136968/posts
Obama adviser issues warning to auto makers (Gov’t directives coming)
AP | November 23, 2008 at 9:44 AM EST
Posted on 11/23/2008 7:41:35 AM PST by egannacht
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2136959/posts
I’d like to see the republicans offer an amendment which would allow a majority of workers to DESELECT the union by public card-check.
Let’s here the democrats explain why making a public vote FOR a union is good for workers, but not the other way around.
I will likely be among the unemployed before Christmas.
Is it possible to hold on to your home (wife and family stay put) and husband go to states where jobs are available. How about the kids getting side jobs and throwing the paycheck onto the kitchen table to help out? Husband will have to rent a dump, but send most of the paycheck home to pay for the bills? It seems like MI does not have a diverse economy and heavily reliant on car industry, thus if it goes bust, everyone is broke and trapped. There are 47 other states within continental US that one can look for jobs. Some have a high demand for smoke stack type skills such as machinists, etc. Time will get tough before it gets better, and families that organize and are flexible will be the ones that will survive. My proposal is doable, because many families in Hong Kong (where no one can owns a house, but must pay exorbitant rents, plus pay for education) survive this way. All family members work (kids take on any part time paying jobs) and when all the paychecks are added together, the family will meet their basic needs.
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