The Elkhart Project

MSNBC, whether you love them or hate them, has a very interesting piece on what they call the Elkhart Project — a series of stories and videos from our fellow Hoosiers up north in Elkhart County:

ELKHART, Ind.— Coroner John White is presiding over a sad tally in this northern Indiana county, tracking rising numbers of suicides he believes are linked to the lingering recession.

Rumors of an economic recovery may be whispered elsewhere, but here, where the downturn remains entrenched, 22 people have killed themselves this year, and two more cases were likely suicides, outpacing the county’s annual average of 16 self-inflicted deaths.

In more than a quarter of the cases, White said, distress caused by job loss or financial failure was cited as the last straw.

“We have a real problem,” said White. “They left notes specifically stating that the reason they did this was because of the economy.”

Debra K. Gibbs, a 54-year-old homemaker in Goshen, in Elkhart County, didn’t leave a note. Instead, she simply sent her worried daughter out for soda pop on a summer morning — and then shot herself in the head.

The infographic as part of the story is very interesting, particularly when you look at Gov. Mitch Daniels’ claims that Indiana, for much of his first term, was “an island of growth”. It seems that claim was buoyed by the Indianapolis-Carmel metro area and left out the other 2/3 of the state.

Starting in June 1994, when the data starts, Indiana wasn’t in a recession. Nor were many other states. Then, in December 2000, Indiana slipped into a recession along with nine other states. Indiana was the only midwestern state to be in a recession. A few months later in March 2001, Indiana was still in a recession but was joined by Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee and Iowa (in the midwest). This was during the O’Bannon Administration.

Come August, 2001 Indiana was “an island of growth” — during the O’Bannon years.

Then, 9/11 hit and pretty much knocked the whole nation into a recession.

Fast-forward to November 2005 when Gov. Daniels took office, Indiana was “at risk”, likely from ballooning state debts. By December, we were expanding. A year later in 2006, we were in recession. During the 2008 campaign, Gov. Daniels was evidently twisting numbers because we most certainly were not “an island of growth”. We were more like a boat going down with the entire eastern seaboard.

Today, ironically, we are the “island of growth”. We’re one of the first states in the nation to be entering a recovery period.

Private Sector: No Job Growth in 10 Years

At first blush, I was inclined to call “Bullshit” on this piece from ritholtz.com that claims:

Over the past decade, the U.S. private-sector has lost 203,000 jobs.

That’s right: Zero job growth for 10 years.

In the 1940s, we created 10 million jobs. In the 1990s, we added 19 million new jobs. Even during the much-maligned 1970s, we added almost 16 million jobs.

The 2000s might be zero. Some economy, huh?

The government has created 2.1 million jobs over that period — primarily teachers. And, that’s the weakest government job growth in nearly two decades.

I can’t find information on how or why this happened. Over the past 10 years, George W. Bush was in the White House for 8 of the 10 years, so we can’t claim that tax cuts on the rich work. I’m inclined to believe this is the direct cause of heavy taxation on the low and middle classes. For my purposes, $250,000 doesn’t entitle you to be middle class. You’re middle class when you have an income of $60,000-$100,000 annually. And these are the people that think up the jobs that employ 2/3 of our workforce.

Sure hope Obama keeps his promise to not raise taxes on the middle class. If he does, we’re one step closer to becoming wards of the state.

Justin Fixes the Auto Industry

Justin’s Plan to Fix Ford, GM and Chrysler: The U.S. Government and any willing state government should immediately update their ENTIRE fleet of vehicles over the next three years. Purchase hybrid or electric GM, Ford and Chrysler vehicles.

Since the government will require the vehicles to be hybrid or electric, the government should offer to help re-tool plants to mass produce hybrid or electric vehicles by offering low-interest loans or grants.

The vehicles being replaced can be sold and donated to low or no-income citizens, organizations or qualifying small businesses.

The end result? The auto makers get a guaranteed contract over the next three years worth untold millions, capable of keeping people at work and keeping The Big Three in business with re-tooled plants to compete better in the future. Not to mention, more folks in America will be able to qualify for newer-model vehicles they wouldn’t ordinarily be able to afford, possibly reducing maintenance costs and getting more older vehicles off the road. That saves gas for the rest of us if older models aren’t guzzling up the gas supply.

You’re welcome.

Indiana is not California

Well. This sucks:

California may need a $7 billion emergency loan from the federal government to pay for “teachers’ salaries, nursing homes, law enforcement and every other state-funded service” this month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warns.

California is running short on cash, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warns in a letter.

…

California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer issued a statement a day earlier saying because of the national financial crisis, California “has been locked out of credit markets for the past 10 days.”

Thankfully, I live in Indiana where we figured out a few years back how smart it was not to spend more than you take in with taxes and other revenue:

Credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P), citing Indiana’s “continued strong management” and economic development efforts, has raised the state’s issuer credit rating to AAA, the highest rating it assigns. State officials say it is the first time in history that Indiana has attained S&P’s top credit rating.

You know, you Californians can just come to Indiana and get away from your broke crap hole. Heck, come soon and you might even get two free years of education:

The Hoosier College Promise would be available to Indiana students from families who earn about $60,000 or less annually. They would receive two years of free tuition at Ivy Tech Community College or an equivalent amount of $6,000 to use for their first two years at another college or university that is recognized by the State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana (SSACI).

Governor Mitch Daniels will ask the next Indiana General Assembly to approve the Hoosier College Promise, a program that would provide Indiana high school graduates with more affordable access to higher education.

Salem, Ind. Economy Takes Whallop

The Indianapolis Business Journal has this news for the down and out in my hometown of Salem:

The sluggish economy has prompted several companies to close plants or lay off workers in the state in recent days. They include:

-Jasper-based Kimball International Inc. said it will close its furniture factory in Salem and move the operation to its Borden plant, also in southern Indiana, according to the Evansville Courier & Press. Capacity at both plants had fallen below 50 percent of capacity. The 244 workers at the Salem plant were offered the opportunity to shift to Borden.

So, crap just got worse for Salem. How could I be so vain in thinking that good things might ever again come to Salem?

This effectively eliminates all of Salem’s (and Washington Co.’s) long-time employers. After Smith’s Cabinet closed a few years ago from a flood, all those folks went over to Kimball. Now that Kimball is waffling and gas prices may force some employees out of a commute that long, they could find themselves out of jobs again.

All that’s left in town is the Salem Lumber Co. which pays just a hair more than minimum wage.

Salem had better start marketing something and quick. If they’re smart, they’ll start fixing their brain drain by getting Ivy Tech to locate a campus there.