Someone recently asked if Outsourcing is a bad thing….well, I have one word: Michigan Outsourcing has ruined our state. There is nothing left here but government jobs doing work for the defense department. The only non-govt jobs left here are retail like Wal-Mart and McDonald’s. Everything else has moved overseas or is being outsourced there. Businesses everywhere are squeaking along  and if we weren’t used to living on the cheap or  have a normal – non- subprime mortgage – we would be living in that proverbial cardboard box with our dogs too. Michigan is dying – all thanks to outsourcing. While the rest of the country tries to figure out if it’s a recession or not, here we KNOW it’s a DEPRESSION. We’re the canary in the mine due to the auto industry. Every 5th home was vacant on a recent drive we took to a store an hour north of here, the unemployment rate is double the national average (what they admit to and what it is are very far apart – when you run out of benefits you’re no longer counted and a LOT of people are out of benefits). The food banks are running out of food. Many people we know are losing their homes and are so in debt to credit cards they’ll never get out (and it’s not from frivious spending – it’s from eating).  That joke of a rebate will only go to paying bills and if someone is doing well enough, to buy something that is made offshore. If everyone makes minimum wage, who do you think is going to buy your (our) products? Our children will be indentured servants to their student loans because because they can’t find a decent paying jobs and end up at QuickMart? No, outsourcing is a BAD BAD thing…