GM failing was no surprise, but it was a major break in the heart and soul of Michiganders. I have only lived in Michigan for 13 years, but the ambiance of the great automaker state embraced me years ago.

That ambiance has left and the people in Michigan are losing hard! Not only are over 12% of us unemployed, but the crime rate is staggering and house values….yeah right. Even if they wanted to, the middle class couldn’t move out of this state right now without taking a huge loss.

It’s not just the closing of iconic plants like Flint Powertrain North, but it’s also the closing of numerous dealerships and parts suppliers around the state. Unless you live here, you could not image the chaos of losing so many jobs so quickly.

This loss has helped Michiganders band together and help others, as we are all the same boat. Community support for our local Garber Buick Dealership is a great example of this. Garber Buick has been serving the people of Saginaw for 102 years starting in 1907 and received the dreaded letter from GM that in October of 2010 they will have to close the doors. The dealership has set up a website (Garber Buick) as a message to their customers and to rally support appealing to GM about the closing.

Dick Garber states: “Garber Buick is one of the top performing dealerships in America. We’re off the charts in sales, service and facilities.”

Michigan has lost its identity, stability and jobs, but we’re sticking it out, making the best of it. Many of us have planted gardens for the first time this year…helping with the money at the end of the summer when the cost of the kids going back to school always hits. There are garage sales on almost every corner, every weekend…people just trying to make an extra buck to get by.

I read an article this morning in which some morons (President Obama’s Advisers) said:

“The economy is gaining momentum and the Democrat-passed stimulus package is only just beginning to pay dividends to the American workforce”

Just beginning to pay…HMMM

• National Unemployment rate is 9.4% – Michigan 12.7%
• Obama’s advisers say it’s the smallest job loss since September of last year – Did they think maybe most of the people have already lost their jobs or their unemployment has already run out which means they are not counted?
• Joe Biden says the stimulus is funding 3,600 projects and that $11 billion has been spent to date on highway construction. – What jobs did that created? It just brought back the laid off highway workers which is good for them.

What about the people that have 20 to 30 years into these plants across America that are closing down? The Federal Government has “plans” in place to retrain these workers. Well, if I worked at a plant for even 15 years, I would not want to retrain into a new job I knew nothing about for lower wages and shitty benefits.

• The three car companies that employed a half-million Michigan residents three decades ago employs just 112,000 in 2009. In 2010 when more plants, suppliers and dealerships close due to the bankruptcy this number will drop significantly. 
• Michigan in 2000 had 105% of the national average per capita income, it’s now at 89 percent.
• Michigan also trails its neighbors, Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin in personal income growth this decade.         Michigan – 14.7 percent, Neighbor’s average – 25 percent.

Although Michigan is losing a sense of history, we still have the Red Wings and the appreciation of a sunny 80 degree summer day.

One more thing:

President Obama told America that taking over GM was the only way to save what’s left of the economy and that we, the taxpayers, will own 60% stock in the automaker.

Well, Mr. Obama I don’t feel comfortable owning 60% stock in a failing company…so can I cash out now? Just send it direct deposit…we don’t accept checks.

Believe it or not Little Tykes has beat out the US automakers to produce America’s top selling car in 2008! Yep, the Cozy Coupe, a toddler’s favorite plastic cherry-red sports car sold 457,000 units beating even the Toyota Camry.

On Saturday the Cozy Coupe earned it place in America’s history at the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum which will feature the first Cozy Coupes made in 1979. Selling over 10 million units in 30 years, it is the top 20 best selling models of all time.

So next time your in line for a micro cherry red sports car that gets great gas mileage with a lot of exercise, visit your local Toys R Us.

Kudos to Little Tykes for doing something great for the American childhood!

I have held my tongue about this long enough. Why is it that people in this country can’t accept others as themselves?

I am talking about the Gay Marriage debate. Everyday you can find some type of headline in the news about legalizing or not to legalizing gay marriage. Search “legalize gay marriage” in Google News for the past week, you will be faced with 23,099 entries.

It seems this country should spend it’s time and money on what is really important “The People”! Whether those people are straight, gay, black, white or alien….WHO CARES we are all PEOPLE!

What gets me is that the religious sector of the population appears to be the biggest supporters of not legalizing gay marriage. Aren’t they the ones that say we are all Gods children and Jesus loves us all regardless? I also thought that the Bible states “Thou Shall Not Judge”.

Yeah, you could throw some other interpretation at me about the Bible and God not allowing homosexuality, but that is just a bunch of BULL!

Did you frown on the gay person you were standing next to in line yesterday, you know the one don’t you? No you probably don’t because they are people just like you & I.

They deserve to be happy with the one they love not the one we as people tell them they should love. They deserve to get health benefits for each other just like straight married couples and they deserve to file Married Filing Jointly on their taxes if they choose. Not to mention retirement and death benefits. There are many things that “married” couples share and it is just plain not right to keep people form those benefits because you don’t agree with who they are marrying.

WHY would it bother you if two people that loved each other committed to spending their lives together?

Acceptance of people as a whole will help bring this peace to this country in more ways than one.

Personally I am insulted at this entire “Bailout” garbage. Does the government think we are that stupid? Do they think we do not realize these big financial companies got themselves into this mess and why should we pay for their mismanagement?

How many of us could use a “Bailout” right now? Maybe we should all get together, form a large corporation, say we are in trouble and line our pockets with HUGE bonuses. Then we can start spending as the government has requested to boost the economy…

Take this one personal financial example, from us:

We have an auto loan through Capital One and according to these figures it’s hard to see why they needed a $35 million dollar bailout in November.

• Original Loan Amount: $16,648
• Payment totals for 2.5 years: $10,778
• Loan Account Balance: $13,740

Can you see what is wrong with that picture…..A mere $2,098 went towards the actual principal on the auto loan. That means Capital One put $8,680 of our payments in their pocket.

We are one loan…imagine 10,000 (very low number) loans like ours….That would be $86,800,000 in their pockets! I say in their pockets because it is the interest on the loan, which is a fancy way of saying that’s what you pay to us for screwing you over.

So if companies like these are “getting one over” on the American people WHY should we “The Taxpayers” bail them out? I think we already paid our portion of Capital One’s Bailout money, so why more? OH yeah, it’s so they can employ rude people that don’t speak English to harass you when your a day late with the payment….

NY Times Article from October confirming Capital One Bailout Money – 16 Banks Plan to Seek U.S. Aid

Click Here to Track your financial institutions bailout money provided by the NY Times.

By the way, since our great government says the only way to get out of this economic crisis is to spend money …why not let the millionaires handle that. Us poor folk have already given way more than we have and they keep taking more!

As we were sitting at the table discussing current events my mom asked, “Why are there so many bad people in the world?” My response was not enough parents teaching respect and responsibility.

I know that it is hard to balance work and family, especially in today’s economy where many households need two incomes. Parents need to make it a mission to be there for their kids in any situation. It seems the more lax people are about teaching their kids the true values of life, the more the world goes to shit.

So many young people do not know what it means to respect your elders even if you disagree. They do not know how to take responsibility for their actions or to just do a kind thing for a person in need because it makes you feel good.

Why and when did parents stop teaching these important values? When did the kids become “the protected ones”?

There is so much garbage out there saying that you should not hurt your kids feelings, you should not discipline them, you need to sugar coat the world for them. Maybe if parents started being tougher on their kids we would not have 11 year olds shooting their pregnant stepmothers. Teach them to take responsibility for their action whether it is good or bad.

We have always taught our kids that respect is key and if you give it, you will receive it. We make sure that if there are stories out there about kids doing wrong, we discuss that with them. We tell them why that behavior is not acceptable and how many people it hurts in the process. We teach them to be kind to others and do nice things for people without expecting anything in return. The biggest value we push is responsibility.

Spend time talking with your kids. Make it known that they are our next generation.