In what is surely a sign of the times, 700 applicants applied for a school janitorial position [article link] in Canton, OH. The position pays approximately $16.00/hrly with benefits. Laid off factory workers, assembly line workers to...well, you name it. Times are tough in Ohio as they are everywhere. Maybe they are especially tough in that area of the country. The big new ThyssenKrupp steel mill that was due to open in Mobile County is being delayed about a year due to the economic turmoil. Just 18 months ago, employers were begging for people to work for them. They had job fairs, on site nursery for children just to get people to fill out an application. No more and this one job in Ohio for janitorial position is living proof how difficult the job situation is today. I don't believe you can say there are jobs Americans won't do any longer. I hope the Chamber of Commerce is paying attention since they have long advocated cheap, illegal labor for employers.

I don't know what the answer is going to be. It seems things have gotten worse since President Obama took office. I sure as hell hope this isn't what he meant by "change you can believe in." I know he has the built-in excuse of blaming everything on George Bush. But, how long is that supposed to last? This year? Or maybe throughout his entire term as President? I do believe creating jobs with taxpayer money isn't the answer. Maybe it is the short-term answer. But, we have yet to see any "stimulus" in the economy as yet. If anything, Wall St. continues to tank. That is something that needs to reverse. Soon. I keep worrying about the 1929 Stock Market Crash that preceded the Great Depression. It appears, if things don't change soon, we could be entering that arena.