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 ...
Unions, socialism, environmental regulations, Islam, ...
The future of the USA is Michigan!
Shall I be the first ...
BUSH’S FAULT!!!
I nominate Jenny Granholm for depression Czar of the Obamanation.
Her only claim to fame is sleeping with Bo from the Dukes of Hazzard.
How about looking for work in another state? Hm?
(Posted from a blue state)
Michigan voters drank the liberals’kool-aid when they voted for them and are now paying the price for their irresponsible decisions. Payback is a b*tch ain’t it?
9.3% unemployment rate would skyrocket to 20% if GM, F or Chrysler goes under. Then it could be called a depression.
Then again, doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.
5.56mm
Elections have consequences.
Sam really got a lot of people thinking the obvious. RIP.
A damn shame, as the folks in the western part of the state are relatively sane. I was shocked by the margins by which Macomb and Oakland Counties went for Obama. You would think they would have enough of socialism.
...and what money, pray tell,will these unemployed persons use to move and work in another state? For the most part FR is full of heartless jerks these days.
I wouldn't wish a layoff, pulling of benefits, foreclosure, or bankruptcy on my worst enemy...yet people do it here on a minute-by-minute basis. Be careful what you wish for.
Cutting government spending? Cutting the gold plated salaries, benefits and pensions of government employees? Laying off government employees? Reducing regulations?
Take note that the states in the worst financial shape are dominated by democrats in their government and are represented by democrats in the US congress.
Why do they keep getting a vote of confidence when the hole keeps getting deeper?
....we’ve been living in the twilight of the great post World War Two industrial America...people can’t believe it’s ending....there’s a mass denial going on....this week at the cafe I was eating lunch with a buddy....I said “are you worried about your Mom’s pension from GM?”....he said “hell no, that pension check is guaranteed!”...I didn’t say anything back to him....but I know with GM trading around $3.00/share nothing of theirs is ‘guaranteed’
What a shame. She is not even cute. But I have a crush on Sarah Palin since August.
***...and what money, pray tell,will these unemployed persons use to move and work in another state? ****
When I was a child my dad sold everything we had to get to a state where there were jobs. It worked!several times!
When I had a family I had to do the same thing, sell about everything I had to go to a state where jobs were plentiful.
All the libtard states have the highest unemployment rates. MI, RI, CA and soon NY. Socialism, illegals, regulation, unions, welfare and on and on.
the Western part of MI is like a different world. Grand Rapids is the only place i have ever been to and the people are great.
I’m not too far from being in the same situation. Lucky my wife has a good stable job. But my on/off work status is getting shaky with the peace at home
And the alternative is? The state is in its 5th year of recession. Should you stay where you are, getting more dejected and depressed each day that goes by, without any light at the end of the tunnel?
I’ve done it myself. Due to circumstances beyond our control, my husband and I worked in two different states for a while. It may not work for all, but for many where there’s a will, there’s a way.
I would but my parents are here and I need to be close to them.
And that’s very understandable. I don’t think it would work for everyone.
Oh madison10, think back to the dustbowl.
People loaded what they could into their jalopies, and headed west. They didn’t call moving vans, wait for gubmint handouts, or unemployment checks to arrive.
They did what they had to do to survive.
I join you in not wishing this on anyone. But, when it is a matter of survival, you do what you have to do, and you don’t whine about it. This is particularly important if you have children, for they need a good example of how to act in a crisis.
Dude! Fricking move for Pete's sake! If WI passes universal healthcare, I'm outta here. It's going to cost the state $15 billion and we already have a $5.4 billion-dollar deficit.
Take them with you. The ship is sinking.
One way to do it is the husband goes to another state where the job is at, and rents, and sends the check home to family. Once husband is settled in with his new job, sell his old home and moves family to new state. This process may take one to three years but atleast he will move out of MI. That is how some immigrants did it long long time ago.
No, no. It’s the unions fault. It’s always the unions fault don’t ya know! ;)
After Katrina completely destroyed my business in Biloxi, I loaded up my 1984 Mercedes and headed for D/FW with a tiny bit of assistance from the Feds. Been fine since then.
I live in a county in Illinois (DuPage County) that USED to be conservative. I was absolutely SHOCKED to learn 54% of this county voted for Obombination!
In my opinion our reaction should be one of the following, depending on how Pat typically votes:
1. If Pat votes Republican, we should offer condolences and gently submit that he should move south to a "red" state that is far more likely to offer job opportunities than Michigan can hope to offer for the foreseeable future.
2. If Pat votes Democrat, we should laugh our rear-ends off mercilessly and tell him to drop dead and to stay right in Michigan where he belongs, and please don't go to another state where you would bring along your suicidal voting habits.
It would be nice if articles like this one included pertinent information like how the quoted "victims" vote.
Thank you very much for the info.
Could you please tell me What sort of companies and What sort of jobs?
I work for Chrysler - Union Electronics Test Technician at the Chrysler Tech Center in Auburn Hills, Michigan. I am 53 and have been here for 25 years. Would be very interested in moving for work.
(I didn't vote Democrat and although I have 25 years seniority I do believe that if they are paying you then you should put in an honest day's work, so don't worry about me carrying any socialist attitudes or politics over there...)
Much of my father’s family left Michigan and went to Texas in the early 80’s at the tail end of the last recession. They never looked back....
I’ve heard that there are more Fortune 500 headquarters in D/FW than any other metroplex, as well as many medium and small businesses. Take a look on these sites to begin:
Monster
http://www.monster.com/
Indeed
http://websearch.about.com/od/enginesanddirectories/a/indeed.htm
Fed World (Federal jobs)
http://www.fedworld.gov/
Career Builder
http://www.careerpath.com/Default.aspx?cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=60ec530766044bab83a7957a3eadb34c-184685787-wn-2
Dice (High Tech Jobs)
http://www.dice.com/
America’s Job Bank
http://www.jobsearch.org/
Yahoo’s Hot Jobs
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/
Simply Hired
http://www.simplyhired.com/
Linked In
https://www.linkedin.com/
Craig’s List
http://dallas.craigslist.org/jjj/
Good luck, and FReepmail me if you have any questions...
UPS always hiring before Christmas...after sign on for unemployment benes
She actually is teh Depression Czar, along with David Bonior.
Can you imagine two worse people to head your economic policy development team to them?
It is very discouraging to be surrounded by such idiocy. Dems won big in most races, so things will only continue to get worse. Depending on what the Obamanation does to the military, we may have to leave. Lived here all my life, but you gotta feed your family.
My next-door neighbor (here in the Philly area) is from Biloxi. When Katrina wiped the place out, she loaded up her horse trailer with barrels of gasoline and stacks of food and other goods and drove them down to help her family (several related families, actually).
I have always been proud of the way real Americans handled the tremendous adversity brought on by Katrina in Mississippi. I never heard any whining, never heard any gimme gimme gimme free stuff, never heard it was a racist conspiracy. The people there just took responsibility for their own rebuilding or took responsibility for figuring out their own ‘Plan B’, like you did.
The contrast with the Democrat welfare-staters of New Orleans is as stark as can possibly be.
We are hiring in North Dakota. In the past two weeks we hired machinists from Michigan and Ohio. They got here somehow.
'Course if your resume says UAW - don't spend the gas money.
If they were smart, they’d move. Of course, if they were smart, they wouldn’t elect democrats. And I hope they don’t move, because they will probably still vote democrat, and ruin some other state.
I voted for McCain/Palin. Many other people in mIchigan did too. Just not enough to outnumber the major cities and other automatic Democrat voters.
Also some people who should have known better voted (in my opinion) against their common sense best interests. I talked to some of the people I knew who voted Democrat.
Something about they thought it was time for "Change".
Well, I think they're going to get "change" all right. Just not the kind they were expecting...
As for Michigan, plenty of us voted for McCain/Palin - I figured having Godly leaders and a President who was sure to be strong on National Defense was the most important thing.
Unfortunately too many Americans voted for "Change", and now we all get to suffer for it...
I don’t think people are wishing for ill for others, just pointing out that if you live in a state where your skills are not needed, and 10 percent of the workforce is competing with you for jobs, you would be better off to move to another state.
And since this is 2008, not 1800, I hardly think there is any real economic impediment to moving to a new state. You just hop in your car and drive. Or you scrape together $100 bucks and get on the train.
Of course, if you have unemployment insurance and you get government assistance in your current state, that would keep you from moving to a state that won’t give new residents stuff.
They would be better off voting for new government which would stop discouraging investment in the state.
I have an idea.
Let’s elect Democrats and see what happens.
Thank you very much my FRiend!
I was thinking that the poster said “how would they go to a different state to get a job”, but we know that millions of Mexicans actually cross the border illegally and move halfway across our country to get jobs. So we know it can be done.
I’d suggest finding a state that has a Toyota manufacturing plant — but the Democrats plan to pass card-check so they can force the Toyota and other plants into high union contracts and destroy them as well.
But when toilet paper is a luxury, you have achieved communism.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.