And no, I don't mean University of Michigan. I mean, that giant sucking sound that Ross Perot referred to in the 92 elections. That would be the sound of the big giant toilet that is the Michigan economy.
Michigan is so enslaved to unions and those who support them that the business environment is virtually nil. Union leaders complain that the 'middle class' worker that is their member doesn't have the job security that they used to and doesn't have the quality of life that they used to.
Welcome to the club, idiot. None of us have secure jobs. Even business owners, who are their own bosses have to respond to the market or go out of business. That's the way it works.
The Kalamazoo Gazette had an article a month or so ago about how the federal government wasn't moving quick enough to 'save the auto industry'. I didn't realize that it was the governments responsibility to 'save' any industry. Especially one that's so stuck in the past and non-competitive as the American auto industry is.
Understand, I am a "buy American" kinda guy. I've NEVER bought a foreign vehicle and damn near had a heart attack when my wife did (she no longer owns it, whew). But when the industry puts itself in a position to suck, and then looks to the government to save it, I have to say that's where the line is drawn. It's not the role of the government to save any industry (and that includes farms....maybe in another post I'll go into that).
The national economy has been expanding over the last year and a half, but yet, Michigan's unemployment is running about 7%. Michigan is the only state that wasn't hit by a hurricane that didn't gain jobs last year. Our biggest export is people.
Something has to be done. Soon, before Michigan becomes a ghost-town.
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