Rural Unemployment Soars During The Recession

Reuters:

What's going on in Baraga [Michigan] and the rest of the Upper Peninsula [Michigan], or UP, mirrors the slow burn that the recession has made through hundreds of small rural U.S. towns.

For such communities, the loss of a large local employer casts a long shadow. Tax revenue falls, hitting local services from schools and healthcare to police forces and firefighters.

Spiraling unemployment also spawns hopelessness.

Read the whole story: Reuters

Comments

[atexasdem]

We do need a "new deal" type of program. Only government has the power and the resources to do it. We need to rebuild our power grid, repair highways, build new energy plants of all kinds, ports, railroads. By having private contractors do it, it helps everyone. How about a new national high speed rail system like Europe and Japan? All ideas should be on the table. some we'll build, some we won't. We do need to put people back to work and rebuilding America strikes me as the best way. WW2 may have effectively been the end of the "great depression" but not being a big fan of international warfare I really think that rebuilding America is the way to go.

[stargazer13]

I don,t like the monetary system ANY MORE !!

it leave,s to many people behind to be poor !!

we know rich people did not get rich by being honest !!

I say now,s a good time to try some thing different !!

extremely different

[verycold]

Stargazer

The idea that all rich people did something criminal to get rich is a pretty disgusting generalization and shame on you for thinking like that. Rich people do get edgy about their money and how best to hide it and protect it from government gone wild. If you broke your back starting a company and finally got to see your dream realized, I don't think you would be happy to share all that wealth earned by hard work with every Tom, Dick and Harry. I never wanted what my neighbor has, but just wanted the freedom to get my own. If the deck is stacked to benefit the rich, you need only look at this administration to see that lobbyists and our elected officials often make backroom deals. This I agree needs to stop, but it only will if citizens hold their feet to the fire. Expose and go after those that are corrupt. Corrupt and rich are not necessarily paired together.

[NoMoreBail2]

We, the American people, dug ourselves into this hold for which there is no escape.a

hat tip to: http://financeopinionss.blogspot.com

[LHoney]

Spam

[mamacat]

The Economic Stimulus needs to be bigger. We need to have our people working fixing the infrastructure, and government is the only one who can prime the pump.

[TJCole]

We could be growing Hemp, Industrial Hemp for Cellulose Ethanol and also Bio Diesel from the Seeds....a­s well as so many other products, then we could stop burning food for fuel that being corn...whi­ch would lower food prices all around, and help prevent starvation in some places..!

It eats CO2 like crazy...an­d Renews every 4 months...r­enewable energy independence and we ban it...!

http://hemp4fuel.com/

See the Why Hemp Section...

Green Jobs...

Grow Here, Grow Now...

[Rosewren]

WE not only ban it here but industries that use it like the auto industry and others have to import it from Canada. Does that make sense? Canadians love our hemp policy. This stuff is even used to make baby formula.

[stargazer13]

save the seed that will save the planet

[atexasdem]

Growing hemp is a good idea but it's certainly not a "silver bullet" that's going to solve our problems. Hemp is just another product that can and should evolve into usable products in our daily lives.

[NoMoreBail2]

No more bailouts for too big to fail. NO more stupid tax cuts and other gimmicks. Need more jobs, affordable education & heath care.

good articles; http://financeopinionss.blogspot.com

[Qunamngdogs]

Much of the problem is that so many people have a hard time admitting to themselves that they were wrong in their beliefs. Denial. Republicans do it and Democrats are just as bad. Fortunately (& that's not a true "fortunately" in the real sense of the word), many, many people are having buyer's remorse from last year's elections.
Will we be smarter next time (if there is one)? Or will we stay home & take whatever we're saddled with or swing the other way into the same old traps?

[Gates trades]

Tired of boring news and stupid facebook widgets?

better news: http://financeopinions.blogspot.com

[LunaPark]

How can this be? TARP rescued the economy, so say Timothy Geithner and Ben Bernanke.

[zizyphus]

And what did I just predict yesterday? 30% or more.

Unless something changes, like repealing the prohibition against cannabis.

[sposton]

I don't think our type of capitalism will ever again provide sufficient number of decent number of jobs. The whole game is either to get rid of people and replace them with machinery or to move jobs to overseas location where they can pay a fraction of the American wage.

It is just a plain illusion that jump starting the phantom economy will somehow bring back these jobs. Our type of capitalism has moved our productive capacity elsewhere. Even when an American company comes up with a new product the chances it will be produced in China. Why would anyone think they will bring back jobs or start creating news ones here without, in some fashion, fundamentally changing the current system?

The whole foundation of Obama administration's economic policy is to pump enormous amounts of money into the black hole of financial capitalism in a misplaced hope this will eventually bring back the healthy economy. The only thing this will do is to revive the thieving system that has brought us here so that they can do it one more time.

[ibsteve2u]

Concur. The game of money dictates that capitalists who have no other values than the profit motive will always pursue the path of most profit.

The artificial inequities that exist nation to nation doom the American worker/consumer. We have a higher cost of living; thus, we require higher wages.

Our health care expenses are outrageous, throwing yet another burden upon us that requires hire wages.

We take care - to some extent - to control the amount of pollution we permit to ensure that our children inherit something other than shortened lifespans; not so in other countries, and that, too, increases the cost of the production of goods and the provision of services here.

And other countries manipulate their currency against the dollar to provide yet another benefit - and since that, too, benefits our capitalists, their Republican mouthpieces utter no protests.

Yes, without fundamental change, the American Dream is DEAD - flattened by Republican greed and whatever it is that motivates the neoliberals among the Democrats to betray the American people.

[The Meek]

"whatever it is that motivates the neoliberals among the Democrats to betray the American people."

They are motivated by being the big shot, 300 dollar wine, fancy lunches, 4 star hotels, attention, and etc.

They suffer from diminished functionality of their prefrontal cortex. They are sociopaths.

[JoeBlough]

Time to do like they did in "Grapes of Wrath". People need to go where the jobs are. People did it then and they can do it now.

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

And where exactly is that? Also most of the Okies found out that all those jobs in California simply weren't there. Which is the case in this country right now.

[FoonTheElder]

There is no real place with jobs. I'm in Nebraska where the unemployment rate is supposedly 5%. The job opportunities are few and far between. On top of that, the wages are low.

While it's better than Michigan, where I'm originally from and left 4 years ago, it still isn't good. It took me over six months to get a job in this area two years ago. I have a very qualified friend who has been out of work for over a year now.

[zizyphus]

Yes, we can all learn Mandarin and move to China now.

[ibsteve2u]

I think it would be wise to learn Chinese, anyway.

Since the Republican­s/corporat­ions/wealt­hy few in America gave away both our technology AND the means of mass production of that technology and everything else, and they resist steps like tariffs that would equalize the cost of production nation to nation because that would inhibit their profits, about the only path we have left is to let the dollar sink like a stone in a well.

That, in turn, will make it easier for America to be sold out from under us, and given the right's success over the last 30 years at diverting America's wealth to themselves and their demonstrated lack of values like ethics, morality, and patriotism, I do not doubt that they will eagerly sell what they own of America.

So learning Chinese in order to be prepared for the day when your neighbor, boss, and landlord is Chinese is hardly bad advice.

[Lori Bowles]

I really wonder why hp isn't talking about the fight going on right now between big business and Free Trade. This has a direct impact on our economy and if we let politicians cave that means they are voting not only for more unemployment but for more endeavored servitude
I copied this from the smirking chimp
"Business groups are worried by the potential effects of provisions banning the import of all goods made with convict labor, forced labor, or forced or indentured child labor that were included in a customs bill sponsored by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA)...
These groups are examining the ramifications of the bill's provisions, especially in light of the bill's requirements that a newly created office in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) annually report to Congress on the volume and value of goods made with child labor, forced labor or convict labor that have been stopped at the border.
Business sources say this reporting requirement could cause DHS to more actively seek out imported products made with child labor, forced labor or convict labor...
One source did expect a push from lobbyists closer to the Finance Committee markup of the bill, and speculated that U.S. industry groups and foreign governments could form ad hoc coalitions to help send a united message"
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/24915

[JoeBlough]

What's "endeavored servitude"?

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

I think he means indentured.

[sheilaofmiami]

I remember Regan dealing with this too, as the auto plants all closed down, many to never reopen again. He did it the GOP way, and so the cycle repeated itself early with Clinton, who followed suite to no avail, but things appeared to be ok, till the dot com bust and Eron, and Bush did the same thing, and now this and what does Obama do?

We hired him to change the way disaster is dealt with, we hired him to bring change and he does the same things over and over again.

The stock market is up, but employment is not just lagging, it is horrible. And we are supposed to wait for the BIG's to decide to hire and loan again.

I keep hearing the same news over and over, about every 7 years or so. Can we change, please, the way we do business?

[Viper]

Actually Clinton did OK.. he did inherit huge deficts ( eragan tripled it through massive government spending) Clinton created 22.5 million jobs... BUSH .. no private sector jobs. Bush was handed a budget surpluse unlike Clinton. Clinton Raised the taxes.. per repugs that would kill the economy... nope made it stronger.. Bush lowered the taxes saying it would make us stronger and it made us weaker.


Regards

[prettyinpink]

Lets not forget how Clinton balanced the budget-by chopping the military by 40%. Which brought us 9/11.

Great savings there.

[JoeBlough]

"disaster" implies "by accident". The current state of things is no accident. Bush Admin. planned the transfer of wealth.

[RandVictims]

The elephant in the room are these trade (no "trade", just dumping) deals that are literally killing Americans and the fact that no one with power cares to change it.

[atexasdem]

Don't just blame "big industry" blame the American people ( us). These are the same people that flock to Wal Mart. These are the same people that buy foreign cars then attempt to justify it by saying, "their all foreign made anymore" while ignoring the GM plant up the street. These are the same people who seldom buy "Made in America" while complaining about their own job going overseas.
We aren't going to become prosperous again by selling hamburgers to each other. We became a great nation through manufacturing and development. By developing an infrastructure that supported manufacturing. We also did it by "buying american". We didn't do it by making excuses, shuffling paperwork, selling each other hamburgers and whining.