Times Are Tough All Over - Especially in Michigan

I have been getting the newspaper for the past six months, which has kept me up to date in ways I had not been for the past three years. You see, when I became a stay at home mom, we gave up those little extras. Satellite dish, newspaper, magazines, cell phones. It was easy for me to shut out the world.

Who can hear the 6 o'clock news when the kids are all wound up? At best, I might be able to read some headlines. Internet time was for catching up on emails.
But now I get the newspaper, and it seems to be chock full of doom and gloom. My reasons for getting home delivery were quite selfish, I will admit. Sometimes leaving the house, with all that entails with two small children, was not worth getting the paper on Sundays. Our local paper doesn't do just weekend delivery. Then the price went up. I rationalized that a few dollars more a month was worth getting the paper every day, not having to leave the house for my coupon and Business fix, and the coupons nearly pay for the paper anyway.

It keeps me abreast of things I really had not thought about, or wanted to think about. The state of Michigan, my state, is doing pretty darn poorly. Our institutions seem to be crumbling. There is constant talk of losing teachers, firefighters, and policemen. I cannot remember the last time the state was actually hiring. I have had my degree in criminal justice for seven years, and I don't think the prisons have hired any new employees in that time (surely I would have heard, and the HR website hasn't been promising when I checked).

It goes without saying that a blue collar, manufacturing, pro-union state would be hit hard. Shops are closing up and moving to countries with cheaper labor. It is a fact of life these days. The state's recent attempt to raise business taxes to help balance the budget was a fiasco. We no longer have the automotive industry to keep us afloat.

Between articles of doom and gloom, you get the rays of light. THIS company is opening up, and will create 50 jobs. THAT new casino will offer 300 jobs. We get excited. We think, cool. People need jobs. Maybe things will turn around.