Elkharts unemployment rate would level off some if the jobs that were available were only held by true residents and not by many of the illegals. I have no problem with people coming to the country to start over but please do it legally and stop taking jobs from hard working American citizens.

Bud

Is MSNBC going to report how union obstinacy and weirdness has put several regional employers out of business?

Brandon, you are absolutely right. I am the adult daughter of a lawyer and a banker. All I ever heard my whole life was 'the unions are going to break the country'. Well, who broke the country?????

You both make me laugh. You are talking about a HIGH LUXURY industry town or area that is the first to get whacked when the economy has a down turn. What did you expect when you hitch the entire town to one horse? I feel for those hurt by this, but when this is over, perhaps the town should integrate a variety of industry into it's commerce profile.

As far as unions, they ARE breaking this country. You need not look too far to see that the worst economies are in union areas. Look at Detroit. Unions increase wages and benefits in good times and bad, because there is no free market involved in unionization. The wages NEVER go down, but demand for goods, quality, and a host of other factors can. When the economy contracts like this wages have to as well. Union workers have only one thing at stake, their jobs. Whereas employers have huge investments at stake. They take the lions share of the risk. In bad times they take it on the chin, sometimes loosing much more than their job, perhaps huge hard built fortunes. In good times, they should bear the friut of their risk taking.

You people supported Obama (the landslide election vote) so as he makes it easier for Unions to get their foot in the door, give blessings for Him.

Ok so when did a ceo of any large company in america risk his fortune during bad times. He, like the union employees, work for the shareholders of the company. Name a ceo who took it on the chin these past couple of years. Not including those in jail or under investigation. When times are booming perhaps these companies should think about a rainy day fund like most households attempt to establish. Salting some cash away is simply good buisness.

well! I hope this doesn't sound bad but here goes anyway!

Iwant some input on the subject of " Illegal Immigration" I use to work as an Automotive Painter but now with the economy like it is especially in this town I cant seem to find any work at all, not even in the fast food restaurants and I've filled out hundreds of apps. in the last 6 months!

I went to one local business here that advertised 3 times in about a 2 month period looking for Painters, and the second time I was sitting in the break room filling out an app. when break time started and the whole break room filled up with Spanish speaking people and only 1 white person in the room and even he was speaking Spanish, and he said to me " you wont get a job here you speak the wrong language " the name of the place CAREERA ! And he was right I never even got an interview!

I see in the headlines 5 million people are in the same boat as I am yet we still have 12 million Illegals in this country! It seems to me if we sent them back to where ever they came from that would free up probably at least 5 million jobs in this country and just like anyone else who breaks the laws in this country we should be enforcing the ones that would make a difference especially in this time of need!

Please don't think that I'm heartless, I do understand their plight, that things aren't so great were they come from, but that's like saying I'm gonna sell drugs or be a thief or in this case sneak across the border and get a fake ID and a fake social security number because things are tuff where I live! I just think that we need to help ourselves first and then we will be in a better position to help others and the whole world knows Americans give a helping hand to everyone every where! This isn't selfishness it's self preservation!!!

There are many reasons why the economy ( not just Elkhart but the world) is in such disarray, but in my humble opinion the one single factor that has caused this is greed! The greed runs from the CEO's of companys to the shareholders of those same companys all the way across the board to the union organizers and to those workers who are non union. In other words we all have a stake in this mess. We have become a greedy bunch not able to determine what we really need to survive as opposed to what we want to survive. We no longer are able to wait and save so that we can pay cash for our purchases. We feel that we are entitled to the biggest and the best. Entitlement is earned it is not a God given right.

The herd mentatlity is prolific these days thanks in large part to the media. We all know that negative news is much more glamorous to publish and attracts advertising dollars. We all blindly believe that everything that's broadcast on TV is true and accurate. What ever happened to the idea of broadcasting facts and data only. I don't want a reporters opinion. I want the facts & data so that I can form my own opinion intelligently.

Perhaps I ramble but there is a great deal of information that we've not been given to help us intelligently work through this mess and I am frustrated with the lack of direction and action that our so called leaders are going in. We need to NOT depend on them and work through this united.

America became great due to hard work and a good product. It is a simple fact that someone someplace has to make something. Service companies servicing service companies servicing service companies is a pyramid scheme that cannot perpetuate it's self. When there are no products being made, there is no need for service companies. AIG would not exist. The American quality of life will continue to erode until all Americans get back to the thing that made America great, hard work and a good product.