Sometimes, when a thing changes slowly, people living with it never notice just how much it has changed, but if you go away for a while and then return all the little changes add up to a major difference. This is what I noticed when I returned home to South Haven after my time in the Army.

When I left home for college in 1975 changes were already underway. The big ocean-going cargo ships no longer backed their way between the piers to unload their tons of coffee beans and the steel foundry was shutting down, or so rumor had it.

Changes were in the wind, but overall everyone still had decent jobs and a positive outlook for the future. One of my grandfathers worked in the foundry, my father in the piano factory and my mother at the aluminum factory. My uncle worked at the paper mill and everyone else was employed by one of the aluminum or rubber plants. These were all good jobs, with strong unions, and there was a sense of security and prosperity.

I did get “snapshots” of the way things were changing every time I returned on leave-my mother lost her manufacturing job and went to work at Big Wheel, my father went into construction. Another leave and I learned the paper mill closed, and Wal-Mart had opened, forcing Big Wheel and several other smaller stores to close. Still, it was not until I returned home for good that it really sunk in-NONE of the industry jobs remain, - some people work at “assembly” jobs but most everyone is now in the "service" industry- selling merchandise manufactured in China or flipping burgers. The sense of "security and prosperity" has been replaced with a gloomy resignation. THIS HAS TO BE THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY OF EVERY ELECTED OFFICIAL! We cannot solve our other problems until this one is solved.

I have been trying to find out why this happened, and to be very candid, our elected officials have completely failed us. Our local officials, from the county right up to state senators and representatives- have simply done nothing except repeat their party line word for useless word.

At the higher levels Governor Granholm has offered positive ideas but the Republican-controlled legislature has blocked every one- not out of malice towards workers but out of party politics. Only by making her fail can they hope to have a reason to have her replaced. At the same time these same legislators put forth bill after bill aimed at creating larger and larger profits for their corporate backers, all at the expense of the state's working folk.

Enough complaining- WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP SOLVE THIS PROBLEM? WE SHOULD SUPPORT BUSINESSES THAT KEEP JOBS AT HOME! To accomplish this, I support:

A Good-Paying Jobs Tax Credit: Employers who create good-paying jobs that pay workers above the industry standard (as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) and demonstrate a net increase in jobs over the previous year would be rewarded with a SBT tax credit;
The Exported and Displaced Jobs (EDD) Retraining Fund - Based on the federal Worker Assistance Reporting Network (WARN), businesses that outsource jobs would have to give the state 90 days notice and be required to pay into a retraining fund for displaced workers;
Preferred Contract Status for Businesses Creating New Jobs - Businesses who show a net increase in good-paying jobs over a year period would receive special consideration for state contracts.
Lastly we need Corporate Responsibility Legislation- CEO's should not get billion-dollar retirements when the workers they employ lose their retirement accounts.

Do a simple test- write your local representatives -State Senator Jelinek (SenRJelinek@senate.michigan.gov)
and Representative Schuitmaker: ( s@.gov) and ask them for definitive answers: Do they support the 21st Century Jobs Initiative? Should the tax loophole which made it cheaper to send jobs overseas be closed? Do they agree with corporate responsibility regulation? Do they support the EDD Retraining fund or measures which reward businesses for creating new jobs HERE? I say simply- "I DO".

Honest answers for Honest folk- this is my promise to you.