[northstar22]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

Heard today that southeastern Michigan is at 30% unemployment??

30% seems really high. I doubt is is that high, at least I hope it isn't that bad.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by Sparrow_temp

I can't really blame people for buying the cheaper foreign made products at this point. It's getting hard to find anything else and even if you could, the American worker has seen their wages go down in real terms for such a long time now that they would be hard to afford. The government is also letting the dollar fall in value relative to other currencies/gold so the little money we have is no longer worth as much.

Businesses that produced goods in America didn't all go out of business because of cheap imported products. They moved their plants out of the country in the name of greed before this could happen. Globalism and unlimited immigration have been a lethal combination for the American worker. Globalism pushing jobs out of the country; immigration making the remaining jobs more scarce and pushing down wages. I'm sure it's been a great win for the now super-rich but I'd rather pay double for most of my products in exchange for a thriving manufacturing sector and full employment.

People should have been smarter years ago back when NAFTA and GATT were signed and the problem coming over the borders began. People should have realized where "competing with the third world" would take us and that if nothing is made in the USA that this would be the result.

Now too many people want to keep electing the same idiots that are nothing but puppets of the globalist corporations and do their bidding only.

[Jwo85]

Originally Posted by kazoopilot

30% seems really high. I doubt is is that high, at least I hope it isn't that bad.

For the tri-county area alone

Macomb County is 18% rate
Wayne County is 18.2% rate
Oakland County 14.9% rate
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for Aug 2009

[fallingwater]

Originally Posted by malamute

Most of my family there is working and I didn't really see despair when I visited in the summer. I saw a lot of houses and land for sale, boats for sale.

Even when unemployment reaches 15% or 16% - that means 84% or 85% of people are working and with the high wages in Michigan compared to almost everywhere else, most are doing fine.

Long unemployment I think ultimately does people a disservice. Employers will still look for holes in the resume, long gaps where someone was doing nothing and people not working for so many months will be less employable.

No matter how bad things supposedly are - you still see people buying "made in China", "made in Mexico", they really don't care about anything except cheaper and cheaper products even if poor quality. People are still too stupid to realize that there is a big price to pay in all the cheap labor stuff. They still aren't waking up to what globalism and unlimited immigration is all about.

Im glad to hear most of your family is still employed. But I also think it depends of the line of work people are in. I have family members that were directly tied to the auto industry, whether it was skilled trades or office personnel. Unemployment can produce a certain way of thinking such as "I will look for a job when the money runs out." But my family members have taken on part time jobs which actually decreases their benefits and are attending school. Their former careers are dead. Property values are so low now that its sickening. My mother's neighborhood is full of 10k - 30k homes now when those same homes were valued between 80k-150k 6 years ago. That is despair.

[kcam213]

Originally Posted by malamute

No matter how bad things supposedly are - you still see people buying "made in China", "made in Mexico", they really don't care about anything except cheaper and cheaper products even if poor quality. People are still too stupid to realize that there is a big price to pay in all the cheap labor stuff. They still aren't waking up to what globalism and unlimited immigration is all about.

I think manufacturers area also learning a hard lesson as well. I read in the paper recently that Ford motor company was building its 3rd plant in China. Now the article was focusing on the fact that Ford was doing so much better that it was building another plant. I could only think a THIRD plant in CHINA???

And the big 3 wonder why they can't sell more cars. I wonder if their workers in China can afford to pay $30,000 for a Silverado or F150. We in America sure can't. We are unemployed... our jobs moved to Mexico without us.

[UpperPeninsulaRon]

Originally Posted by malamute

People should have been smarter years ago back when NAFTA and GATT were signed and the problem coming over the borders began. People should have realized where "competing with the third world" would take us and that if nothing is made in the USA that this would be the result.

Is anyone old enough to remember Ross Perot and "that sucking sound" campaign slogan?

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by kazoopilot

30% seems really high. I doubt is is that high, at least I hope it isn't that bad.

That is what Detroit has become...a vast waste land that drives the unemployed numbers--Detroit itself is probably close to 40%? that takes into account those who are OFF the roles...

March has official unemployment at 22%--

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=102326093

August 27 saw it at 30%

http://www.wwj.com/pages/5096323.php?

[junior 88 fan]

Washington Post exposes Granholm's green math - The Macomb Daily News: Breaking news coverage for Macomb County, Michigan

Great article today summing up the ridiculous direction MI and the rest of the country is being horn-swoggled into going .... Green. What a waste of time at the expense of the hard working folks who are stuck with this liberal whacko in Lansing. One million jobs expected to be lost under her watch!!!!!!!!!!!! I know, blame Engler. Stick a fork into the once great state of MI. Idiots with phony agendas, ruined it.

[malamute]

In some ways the situation is worse because the federal government, NBC news, Bernanke and so on have declared the recession is over. The means they no longer have to concern themselves with it, they don't have to report on it, they no longer have to bother with solutions for it.

All the politicians in Michigan have to do is extend unemployment handouts indefinitely, they'll keep winning elections. More and more people will just get used to getting unemployment checks and be very grateful to their government.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by junior 88 fan

Washington Post exposes Granholm's green math - The Macomb Daily News: Breaking news coverage for Macomb County, Michigan

Great article today summing up the ridiculous direction MI and the rest of the country is being horn-swoggled into going .... Green. What a waste of time at the expense of the hard working folks who are stuck with this liberal whacko in Lansing. One million jobs expected to be lost under her watch!!!!!!!!!!!! I know, blame Engler. Stick a fork into the once great state of MI. Idiots with phony agendas, ruined it.

Engler may have been the original cause, but as we know and you say, what devasation has occurred under Jenny's watch.. WHACKO is not limited to any one political party...but Jenny will top the list when history is written..