Getting personal

President Obama visited Elkhart Indiana this week. Elkhart's lifeblood was built around the RV industry. When Monaco Coach began shutting down plants last year, the town was devastated. 

It was the textbook example of the domino effect of the full impact of a recession. 

As the company went from lay offs to massive terminations, they entirely shut down operations, and eventually filed for bankruptcy. 

Not only did the jobs vanish, but the health care went with it too. Next the small businesses in the area began to have to downsize, or they too went out of business. Foreclosures followed. 

Here is a clip from Obama's visit:

I know this story too well. We were involved with the "other" plant in Oregon. 

2,200 workers were laid off, then, a few months later received termination notices in the mail. 

The plug was pulled on the Healthcare without notice. Our family just emerged form the main wage earner being out of work for 6 months. 

During that time, Monaco filed for bankruptcy, and was purchased by Navistar. It has now reopened it's doors, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Navistar.  They started out with a skeleton crew-- Monaco in Oregon had been cranking out approximately 35 Coaches a week, plus towables. For now they are making two coaches a week. They are slowly ramping up their production. Mr. Ramblings was fortunate enough to be called back to his job in June. 

It is very encouraging that the Obama administration is kicking in money for industries to get electric/hybrid vehicles & support structures up & running. It's good on the environmental front, and it is good on the employment front. 

Also- my fifteen year old vehicle that suddenly began to literally fall apart (yes not having a driver's side windshield wiper tends to be an issue in a downpour while driving on the freeway at higher speeds), really needed to be replaced. Just when it began to genuinely need repairs that exceeded the value of the vehicle itself, the Obama administration rolled out the Cash for Clunkers program. I know it is a narrow set of qualifying rules, but as luck would have it, ours was a bona fide Clunker. If that $ was not available, we would not have purchased a new car. 

Which is a scary endeavor, but will likely be an excellent investment in the long run. We went for the full 10 mpg (remember those new fuel numbers are not calibrated the same, so they are even getting better mileage than posted).  I have been driving the car for 2 weeks, and still have a 1/2 full tank of gas. 

These programs do not help everyone, and in the big picture, there is still so much more to resolve-- but my point is they are making a difference, and we have to start somewhere. 

The fact environmental issues are not just on the table, but actions are being taken to move forward, and give incentives to address & remedy long term problems. 

There are so many daunting issues, and problems in every direction that this administration inherited. It is easy to criticize and complain. 

These pilot programs ARE making a difference, and have personally had a positive impact on our lives. 

You might say I'm looking at the tank as *half full*.