[Guidone]

I love the winter...we don't have real winter down here(except for this last winter, that was GREAT) usually it's freeze and thaw. And the summer is sooo humid here it just drains you. Once you get past Wausau, even the feel of the air is different, it's dry and smells fresh. The pine trees are so unbelievably(is that even a word?) beautiful. Maybe its the dry air that blows off the coldest lake in the nation, Lake Superior. Jack pines are hard to find down here, visit the rustic roads, see the native flower trillium in the spring blooming throughout the woods. The different varieties of moss and ferns etc, etc...there's nothing like the U.P.

[Guidone]

That might be believable if more republicans would speak out against the stupidity of the rush limbaugh jondra.

[Guidone]

The janesville gm plant just closed this week, our manufactures have fallen behind in switching to the hybrids and are paying the price. Wake up call for this nation get back in the game.

[Sparrow_temp]

WTH -- 6 posts back to back in the same thread by the same person and 2 of them bashing republicans? I like Rush Limbaugh and he has it right most of the time. I'm not a big fan of either George Bush administration but I don't blame them for the state of state. Look closer to home at the incompetence of the Granholm administration for that, or at poor business decisions by our auto execs. The nation as a whole has had pretty good economic times with the exception of his first year (911 and Internet bubble collapse) and his last year (housing bubble collapse). Michigan just wasn't part of the good times because of our own troubles. Don't expect a change in political parties in Washington to fix things here -- it won't. In fact I expect things to get worse.

[Yac]

As the discussion heats up, remember that we have a separate forum for discussing politics and the coming elections.
Yac.

[xlabel]

This is my second time in MI and it is not nearly as fun and fruitful as it was back in '98. I've had 2 interviews for my primary occupation in 5 months and was devasted to not be hired by either of them. One thing I've found about MI is you have to be patient, so for now it's pretty much hitting the temp services for me. Folks say the economy is real bad here, but it wasn't all that good in FL when I left either, (you see we were getting Bushwhacked x2 down there with Jeb as Gov.)

[Sparrow_temp]

Prepare to be "blown away" here in MI -- it's similar to what you are calling Bushwhacked.

Originally Posted by xlabel

(you see we were getting Bushwhacked x2 down there with Jeb as Gov.)

[burgler09]

All we can do is pray that DeVos runs again! I for one, cannot believe he wasn't elected in the first place!

In my opinion, Michigan is not going downhill. Michigan is in a transition state, and as soon as it has made the transition it will be a much different state. Michigan has always been an industrial state, which I'm sure everyone knows by now.. lol. But we are in the process of turning into the medical facility of the United States. We are getting some of the most advanced research labs and hospitals in probably the world. Sure people will find everything to complain about Michigan, but there are people who would find a way to complain even if they lived in a perfect paradise.

I personally don't think Michigan is that bad right now, the main people having trouble finding jobs are the unskilled workers with no degrees. It isn't Michigan being a bad place to live, its the residents being hit with a little thing called reality. There are not too many places in the US where a person who holds no degree is going to find a job making 35 dollars an hour.

[Driller1]

Originally Posted by burgler09

All we can do is pray that DeVos runs again! I for one, cannot believe he wasn't elected in the first place!

In my opinion, Michigan is not going downhill. Michigan is in a transition state, and as soon as it has made the transition it will be a much different state. Michigan has always been an industrial state, which I'm sure everyone knows by now.. lol. But we are in the process of turning into the medical facility of the United States. We are getting some of the most advanced research labs and hospitals in probably the world. Sure people will find everything to complain about Michigan, but there are people who would find a way to complain even if they lived in a perfect paradise.

I personally don't think Michigan is that bad right now, the main people having trouble finding jobs are the unskilled workers with no degrees. It isn't Michigan being a bad place to live, its the residents being hit with a little thing called reality. There are not too many places in the US where a person who holds no degree is going to find a job making 35 dollars an hour.

I agree, with the exception of owning your own business.

[gr8pyrz]

Originally Posted by burgler09

I personally don't think Michigan is that bad right now, the main people having trouble finding jobs are the unskilled workers with no degrees. It isn't Michigan being a bad place to live, its the residents being hit with a little thing called reality. There are not too many places in the US where a person who holds no degree is going to find a job making 35 dollars an hour.

I beg to differ. As discussed in this very forum, there are many people with multiple degrees that are applying for jobs that are far beneath them simply because there is no work.

This is all a domino effect. We can rag on the "unskilled" forever, but the fact remains that for every plant downsizing, there are other downsizings that follow because of it. That would include many white collar jobs in subsidiaries, suppliers, and other businesses effected.

The effects of the economy in MI are not always related to the auto industry. I was downsized myself with 12 others (all white collar jobs) from a dental manufacturer. If people all over the country, not just here, are losing jobs they are not getting their teeth fixed and sales of products go down.

Finger pointing to the unskilled line workers does no one any good. Yes, things have to change, but there are tens of thousands that are affected by the economy that are far from unskilled.