Colleges in Michigan need to work with the state government and corporations to retrain people. All college programs should be required to have a co-op program ... This along with a low-cost health coverage plan for major medical problems would make it a little easier for people.

Keeping workers in Michigan regardless of age demands jobs. It is delusional to believe that retraining and further education will create viable employment. ... There must first be a job that calls for the training. To behave otherwise merely increases the number of people who are overeducated for what is available and in the unemployment lines.

The idea of molding Michigan's mentality into a second-chance state is smart. However, we cannot forget that these same 45-year-olds will be retiring within 20 years. Where is the next generation supposed to go?

There was a man quoted in a recent Leonard Pitts column. He was in New Orleans, sweeping up four blocks of his neighborhood himself, instead of expecting the government to do it. ... Retraining -- the means to the goal of re-employing displaced workers -- is secondary in importance to meeting their immediate needs for health insurance.

I don't believe Michigan has the financial resources to handle all of the state's problems. Companies and unions in this state have contributed to the current problems with their outlandish salary, benefits and pension programs. The state can ill afford diverting scarce funds needed for education, Medicaid and other necessary social service programs.

It's too late to do anything for these folks. They will migrate to other states. I do not see the rank-and-file working person catching a break in this current political and economic climate. The politicians should admit that they lack the ability to create jobs. Michigan government should focus on building the infrastructure, such as an educated populace and good transportation and communication systems.

There is a brain drain from this area that has been going on for years with the downsizing of the Big Three ... There is a great deal of employment that can be had in the health care industry. During a recent hospital stay, I observed numerous white males who have chosen to become registered nurses and nurse practitioners. Perhaps that is the area where many people will gravitate.

Why is it necessary that Granholm or DeVos set up a taxpayer-supported program for people who simply must have peace of mind while pursuing another career? What happened to the large amounts of cash they received while working all that overtime in the past? When the pipeline subsides to a trickle and one has not had the foresight to accumulate adequate resources, those unfortunates will feel the anxiety, depression and hopelessness that come with such circumstances. Should we arbitrarily reach into the public trough to assuage them?

Michigan is like the dad, himself under duress, who has given his kids all he can afford. This state, more than any other, must assume more tax (revenue) risk and provide greater regulatory latitude to make business feel welcome, rather than attempting to eke more subsidies out of a shrinking tax base. Most displaced automotive workers receive far more in the way of severance pay, benefits and retraining than the working population at large.

Our problem is not just how to get people to live in Michigan but how to get productive people to live here. ... The major drag on Michigan's economy is the power of the unions and the policy of high taxation and income redistribution they support. It's not so much what government does but what it does not do -- e.g., take more money in taxes than is needed for basic services.

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