Because michigansucks.com Was Already Taken

I actually wrote this post on Saturday when I was a little cranky. I was also kind of  angry. I didn’t hit the publish button right away.

Here’s some bloggy advice. If you write a post when you’re mad, refrigerate it over night before dishing it up. You might find once you’re chilled, that you really didn’t want to put that out there on the Word Wide Web forever.

I almost didn’t publish this at all. But while I’d like to hide behind my computer and pretend that I am always happy and at peace regardless of what life doles out, that wouldn’t be honest. I know we’re not the only ones this happened to this year. Maybe it will make somebody else feel better to know she’s not the only one who flipped out.

So here’s the edited, slightly less bitter version of my original post. But I had to keep the title, because, well, it’s just funny.

Warning: This post contains anger, sarcasm and even some political commentary you may not agree with.

Dave got laid off from his job at a Michigan auto parts supplier Friday. Surprised? No. It’s been touch and go for a while. GM filing for bankruptcy was the proverbial last nail in the coffin.

A big thank you goes out to the US Government, Financial Institutions, US Auto Makers and all the other morons who messed up our economy, and brought us to this point. And you know what? Republicans, Democrats — you’re all pretty much at fault.

This fiasco crosses party lines.

It wasn’t enough to make a disaster of the banking industry? You had to take an already messed up auto industry and screw it up even more?!

In Michigan we’re suffering the brunt of this. You can’t imagine the number of foreclosed homes and empty businesses. They say our unemployment rate will hit 20 percent before it’s all said and done. The population is shrinking because people are fleeing this black hole. We’ll be right behind them if any of the out-of-state job leads Dave has pan out.

To add insult to injury Michigan’s gas prices are the highest in the country right now.

I seriously looked to see if michigansucks.com was available, but someone else snapped it up already. And .net, and .org. Even michigansucks.wordpress.com is taken.

I guess I’m not the only one feeling that sentiment.

I listened to the press conference where the GM bigwigs tried to make it sound like everything was going to be fine. I got that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. The kind where you know things have irreparably changed for forever.

We’ve come to a crossroads in this country, and I’m really not sure we’ll ever be the same.

My generation will be the first to not do better than our parents. Even the depression era generation managed to pull it out in the end.

I also listened to Obama talk about how we all had to sacrifice. With what? Our jobs and financial well-being? So that the government can carry out it’s plan to fix the economy?

Government is not the answer. Letting them control every aspect of our economy, and relying on them to provide for us will not fix things. Only hardworking, individual Americans and good old-fashioned ingenuity will get us there. So how about the government stops tying the hands of business owners with ridiculous taxes and regulations?

Instead of “Take this job and shove it,” I say, “Take this government and shove it!” (O.K. I almost deleted that too, but again, just too funny.)

You want to talk about sacrifice? The owner of the company my husband worked for has done all he could for months to keep the doors open, and people working. I don’t know if you could find a better person to work for.

Which just makes this all the more sad.

We’re better off than a lot of people. We have a safety net to fall back on. Dave is back working full time for the family business. As long as it can survive in this lousy economy. Our biggest loss in all of this is our health insurance. Dave is self-employed again, and we can’t afford the hundreds of dollars a month private health insurance costs.

But that still doesn’t make me a proponent of nationalized health care.

Oh, Lord, please don’t let the government wreck that industry too!

Speaking of the Lord, I know he’ll take care of us and provide.

I’m just mad right now, and sometimes you just need to be mad for a while.

I’m pretty O.K. today.

But I still think Michigan sucks.

Just a little.