Let Freedom Ring!

Great point! Furthermore, instead of "good" and "evil" all to often we turn to "feel good" or "feel bad" in making decisions. feel good decisions don't make more sense, they are just more popular.

At the risk of sounding heartless here (but believe me, as a person who is disabled through no fault of my own, I do understand)... If freedom only means we are guarenteed a steady paycheck and financial security, then it means nothing at all. True, Michigan has been in a "one state recession" for a long time now. The "big three" spent a couple of decades making horrendous decisions about the automobile market. Decisions that have hurt most of your great state. However, they weren't the only ones who made investments that went wrong. You and your husband invested your time, skills and property too. We all put it all on the line when we choose a career, move to a new place, or any other major choice in our lives. My solution? I don't know what is available in your area, nor do I know your options. I can tell you what I did in a similar situation though. I got a job as a paramedic here in Wisconsin. My 4 kids, my wife and I moved from Idaho for that job. Through no fault of my own, I lost that job after only 6 weeks. What did I do? I went to the local day labor place every morning ready to do whatever job they had available. I went to the national guard recruiters (I was an NCO at the time) to find out if there was any funding available for me to work for them for a few weeks. I talked to my bishop about getting help for food and rent until I could find another permanent job. After a few weeks, while working with the recruiters, I landed another paramedic job, and things worked out pretty well for a few years. Then I went disabled and was unable to work. What did we do then? My wife was in college at the time, we decided that she needed to keep going, but she also had to get a job. My oldest son was working as a caddy at the time, most of his money had to be used to support the family. Again, we got help from our church. In other words... we all did what we could to make up the difference between making a decent income and me losing my health. I'm not saying that the government has no place in helping, I would be the last person to tell you not to go on food stamps, get grants for schooling or use whatever programs are available for you. What I am saying is, every time the government "bails out" an entire part of the economy, it leads to more problems than it helps. I hope things work out for you, and I hope you are able to rise above the situation you find yourselves in.

You dont sound heartless at all. I know that what you say comes from experience. My husband and I both work full time and have lived in Michigan for most of our lives. My husband works full time and I watch the kids during the day and do online schooling, then I go to work in the evenings. Daycare is out of the question as its extremely expensive and we would be working to pay daycare basically with three children. We dont use food stamps and there arent any grants in this state that we qualify for. Wouldnt that be a form of being bailed out anyway? It amazes me that there are a ton of people who abuse the welfare system and get away with being handed a ton of money and the people who are honest and only use it when its necessary cant get any help. Im not saying thats everyone who is on welfare, but I have seen quite a few. My curiousity here is Who is to blame in your opinion? Who is at fault for not just our one Sate recession, but the entire country falling to pieces? How can we consider ourselves as citizens responsible for our failing economy? We arent the ones that pass the bills. And we arent the ones that are supposed to be running our country and making decisions that wil benefit us not hurt us. I understand all that you have been through..This isnt an attack. I just found out yesterday that my Cancer is back so I get to fit in chemo into my schedule. And I cant choose to not work no matter what because every penny that is brought in to the household counts. I guess maybe I'm just looking at where you are pointing the finger. You say stop whining, well we arent whining. We just want answers as to why we are working hard and still everything is crumbling around us.

Well, not all programs are bail outs, and not all complaints are "whining". What I mean when I say "bail outs" are times when the government just throws money at the problem, when it just might be the money that causes the problem. If investors know that they will be protected from losses, they are more likely to take stupid risks. Investors (by definition) are supposed to be risk takers. When we invest anything we are willing to accept the consequences as well as the benefits. Freedom goes both ways. If the government is insuring against failure, then they are also insuring against success. ~~~~~~ Frustration: That feeling you get when you are forced to acknowledge the affect other people's decisions have on your life. ~ ParaTed2k's (Not So) Famous Sayings. I think that says it all, don't you? ;~D

True, Gewcew. In hard times we need to look back to our pioneering ancestors. They were willing to risk life and limb every time they picked up and moved, just hoping for something better, or just "different". We whine and cry just because we don't know where our next paycheck will come from... they didn't even know if they would be alive the next day.

Just to add a little to your comments Gewcew, in the summer of 2005 we saw some of the most prolific cuts in the prices of automobiles since I have been an automobile consumer. They came out with what they called the "employee discount"! I purchased a new truck that year for less than I could buy a used one! In fact, I paid a little over 22 thousand dollars for a truck which was stickered over 30!That's an 8 thousand dollar discount! My question is; do the automobile companies really expect me to believe they were losing money selling these vehicle at such a discount? Also, It is my FIRM belief that the labor unions have totally priced themselves out of the labor market when it comes to car manufacturing! I wonder how many of these laid off auto workers would come back to work today for say 5 or 6 dollars an hour less?

I don't wish bad on either of them. However, I also don't see any reason to bail people out when they took a financial risk and lost.