Ohio Sucks!
March 3, 2008
That is according to the mainstream media. Over the past week or so we have been bombarded by scores of news reports about how awful things are in Ohio. If you believe the reports Ohio is a nightmare. Last night 60 Minutes dedicated a full segment to the woes of the apocalyptic state of Ohio. The hard-hitting news program assembled a cross section of Ohio residents and asked them to describe the state of the state. To start these people are all unemployed or at the very least under employed making as little as a third of what they made in the 90s. All the high paying, manual labor jobs, have moved to China or Mexico over the years. It just isn’t fair. 100% of the assembled residents had not been on a vacation in the past five years! Some of them are driving used cars with more than 175,000 miles on them. Most didn’t have health insurance, and if they did, they couldn’t afford the deductibles. Based on the descriptions most Ohio residents are homeless, jobless, insuranceless ~ I suspect that most don’t have TIVO. What a nightmare!
As I watched the 60 Minutes segment I waited for the punchline, “The problems in Ohio started ten years ago when the governor erected a 20′ high wall around the state to keep the miserable people of Ohio from leaving.” Of course a wall was never built, surely things weren’t as bad as the mainstream media would suggest. Wouldn’t people leave if there were no jobs, no hope. Right?
I decided to take a look at immigration, unemployment and gross domestic product statistics comparing Ohio to the rest of the country and for fun the rest of the world. The first statistic were the immigration numbers. You would assume people would be fleeing the state in droves, but just the opposite is true. From 2000 to 2007 almost 100,000 foreign born immigrants moved to the state. By 2050 more than two million foreign born immigrants will reside in the state according to FAIR. Why are people moving TO Ohio?
Perhaps the immigrants were THE problem, taking jobs from salt of the earth Ohio residents so I looked at the unemployment numbers. Ohio has an unemployment rate of 5.5%, a rate considered in the range of full employment. Ohio’s unemployment rate is nearly twice as good as the entire European Union (Europe is a great place right?). Ohio has lower unemployment than countries like Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Germany, France and China. Maybe Ohio’s problem is their economy is too good? Lower unemployment increases labor costs for companies.
I decided to check out the size of Ohio’s GDP. Turns out Ohio’s GDP was $461 billion dollars in 2006 ranking it 7th in the nation. If Ohio was its own country the state would rank 17th in the world ahead of countries like Belgium, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Norway, Denmark and more than 100 other countries. I thought Belgium was a nice place, but with higher unemployment and lower GDP than Ohio we better send in the U.N.
UPDATE: This morning I just heard that Ohio placed FIRST among states for Corporate Moves (Texas is 5th). Why are companies moving to Ohio? Haven’t they heard? Ohio Sucks!
In this context I thought Michelle Obama’s statements while she was visiting Ohio were compelling. Byron York reported on the visit and I can’t help but simple reprint his article here without comment:
Michelle Obama: “Don’t Go Into Corporate America” [Byron York]
I have a new story today about Michelle Obama’s visit to Zanesville, Ohio, where she met with a group of women at a local day care center. According to the U.S. Census, Muskingum County, where Zanesville is located, had a median household income of $37,192 in 2004, below both the Ohio and national averages. Just 12.2 percent of adults in the county have a bachelor’s degree or higher, also well below the state and national averages. About 20 percent don’t have a high school degree. Nevertheless, Mrs. Obama urged them to foreswear lucrative professions like corporate law or hedge fund management and go into the helping industry, even if the sacrifice is great:
As she has many times in the past, Mrs. Obama complains about the lasting burden of student loans dating from her days at Princeton and Harvard Law School. She talks about people who end up taking years and years, until middle age, to pay off their debts. “The salaries don’t keep up with the cost of paying off the debt, so you’re in your 40s, still paying off your debt at a time when you have to save for your kids,” she says.
“Barack and I were in that position,” she continues. “The only reason we’re not in that position is that Barack wrote two best-selling books… It was like Jack and his magic beans. But up until a few years ago, we were struggling to figure out how we would save for our kids.” A former attorney with the white-shoe Chicago firm of Sidley & Austin, Obama explains that she and her husband made the choice to give up lucrative jobs in favor of community service. “We left corporate America, which is a lot of what we’re asking young people to do,” she tells the women. “Don’t go into corporate America. You know, become teachers. Work for the community. Be social workers. Be a nurse. Those are the careers that we need, and we’re encouraging our young people to do that. But if you make that choice, as we did, to move out of the money-making industry into the helping industry, then your salaries respond.” Faced with that reality, she adds, “many of our bright stars are going into corporate law or hedge-fund management.”
What she doesn’t mention is that the helping industry has treated her pretty well. In 2006, the Chicago Tribune reported that Mrs. Obama’s compensation at the University of Chicago Hospital, where she is a vice president for community affairs, jumped from $121,910 in 2004, just before her husband was elected to the Senate, to $316,962 in 2005, just after he took office. And that does not count the money Mrs. Obama receives from serving on corporate boards. She would have been O.K. even without Jack’s magic beans.
Mrs. Obama also bemoaned the amount of money she has to spend — nearly one-third of the median household income in Zanesville — on piano, dance, and other lessons for her two children. But she was grateful for the concern her husband’s supporters have shown for her. “Everywhere I go, no matter what, the women in the audience, their first question for me is, ‘How on earth are you managing it, how are you keeping it all together?’” she told the women.
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March 3rd, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Ohio does suck. Most of the Midwest sucks, and it’s because of high taxes and unions, not immigration. Texas, on the other hand, rules, for exactly the opposite reason, which is why the MSM doesn’t talk about it. See today’s article from the WSJ:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120450306595906431.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks
March 4th, 2008 at 11:55 am
I assure you that on most political subjects you and I disagree quite a bit, Alexander. But on this point, I must agree. Ohioans are victims of their own unwillingness to try. That’s why most of the good ones get out as soon as we can.
As to Hippy’s comments, it’d be nice if (s)he would find some other reason than the old standbys of taxes and unions to criticize Ohio and the whole Midwest. If you shift your perception and assumptions just a little bit, the same argument could be made for why Texas sucks — because of its LACK of unions and taxes. (i.e. Low taxes mean underfunded programs like healthcare for low income people who are left out of the for-profit healthcare system, and a lack of unions means less protection and training for skilled workers.)
California has high taxes and unions, and it competes pretty strongly with both Texas and Ohio based on the numbers the WSJ is using. I suspect there’s something else happening in the Midwest that’s causing this kind of economic impact (or perceived economic impact).
I think that thing is that they’re clinging to a dying industry and putting a large amount of political (and actual) capital into trying to keep it alive. In the Midwest’s case in general, and Ohio’s in particular, it’s manufacturing, which has been shown again and again can be done more cheaply overseas.
I would caution Texans not to be so smug regarding Ohio’s difficulties, however. Many experts are predicting a looming energy crash, which will certainly affect Texas pretty hard unless we start to look toward developing new technologies instead of pouring all of our money and energy into keeping old industries alive.
Regarding Michelle Obama — it’s certainly true that when you put her comments into perspective, she’s complaining about problems that most of us would be glad to have. Wanna bet that John McCain’s wife would share similar feelings if she were asked? Rich people are out of touch with the pain points of the average schlub. That’s true no matter which political philosophy you subscribe to. Sure, Mrs. Obama showed a slight lack of discretion sharing it like this in a public forum, but knowing not to do that will come with experience.
March 4th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Having been born and raised in Texas, and now living in Ohio for the past 10 years, I can say that, like Texas, not all parts of the state can be treated equally.
I did not see the 60 minutes story, but can guess that most of those profiled were residents of the areas of the state hit by the loss of manufacturing jobs. Those areas of the state, around Toledo, Cleveland, and Youngstown, are clearly suffering economically.
However, other areas of the state are vibrant and growing, such as central Ohio and specifically around Columbus. The influence of Ohio State University on economic development is strong, and I believe that the growth of population in central Ohio helps to offset the losses on more depressed areas.
I don’t believe that much of the economic trouble in Ohio can be blamed on NAFTA. The WSJ article posted by Hippy is pretty telling, and mostly accurate.
I initially found the political influence of the state surprising. However, Ohio has a diverse population that reflects many points of view, but is apparently balanced well to reflect that of the nation in general. Conservatism dominates the southwest portion of the state, with the spectrum swinging to Liberalism and union labor in the north / north east. Central Ohio is an equal mix of both party philosophies.
So while economically Ohio might not represent much of America due to its peculiarities such as a closed-shop labor environment, it does still seem to be the bellweather in general for the political environment.
Just speaking my mind…
March 4th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I grew up in a small town in Northwestern Ohio, where they are what I call “Lutheran Conservative.” Folks know each other and are generally pretty accepting of everyone’s peccadilloes, and nobody really gets all up in your business. What I mean by that is that folks might gossip and “tsk tsk” if someone is having an affair or had an abortion or teenage daughter is pregnant, but we don’t go out of our way to try to get the government to punish them or prevent their behavior. Aside from that, I don’t remember anyone specifically looking for the government to provide all the answers for anything, and most certainly not a handout, unless it’s really needed.
I find this in pretty stark contrast to the southern definition of “conservative,” which seems to favor getting government involved to injoin behavior deemed immoral. Isn’t this push for increased government involvement exactly the opposite of what conservatism used to stand for?
Ohio is all mixed up politically. My Republican uncle was also his union shop steward, and my girlfriend’s dad was a dyed-in-the-wool big-Labor Democrat, but probably more “conservative” and rednecky than many Republicans. Both worked for auto parts manufacturers, and both have sweated through rounds of plant closures.
I would generally agree with Andy that Ohio is a pretty good bellweather for the country politically.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Midwest Sucks! I am a city girl from Houston, desperately stuck in a tiny town in Southern Minnesota. I have these yankee snobs thinking that in Texas we are a bunch of beer -drinking-hicks! If anybody here is a hick, Its THEM! THEY have the corn, THEY have the John Deers. I pray to God that I can leave here… Soon!
March 26th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Having spent the last 39 years of my life in Ohio, I can assure you, Ohio does indeed suck. The weather sucks…the view sucks…no beaches, no mountains…..High taxes, diversity shoved down your throat. Yeah, if you have a choice, to drive through or around this armpit state, drive around it, trust me, you will be glad you did.
There are two “good” things about Ohio.
1. The Ohio State Buckeyes ROCK
2. The change of seasons is quite nice….but winter is far too long, spring is too wet, summer is too humid.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:42 am
I live in Ohio and I can say without a doubt that if you want to raise your children somewhere, avoid Ohio at all costs.
bigotry is rampant, carried on to the extremes, and criminals commit offenses against the innoccent WITH THE AID OF LOCAL, COUNTY, STATE AND FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. Not only does the police aid criminal activity, they engage in it.
The courts are just as corrupt. I’ve witnessed judges totally ignore the law, trample over constitutional rights, and even manipulate witnesses into pergery.
I know one person who was refused a lawyer for a criminal trial. The criminal charges were falsified by the state, he had witnesses to this fact, they were forbidden to testify, and when he requested a jury, the judge whould not allow it.
I’ve witnessed lawyers on opposite sides co-conspireing against either a defendent or plaintiff.
Sherrifs are making drug raids and distributing a small share among their buddies. I know one that has links to such activity. the feds say this is perfectly legal.
My vehical was stolen. All law enforcement claim that grand theft auto is perfectly legal.
I have been physically and sexually abused, and when I cried out for help, they told me that RAPE WAS LEGAL!
In the state of Ohio if you don’t have a huge bank account, you are treated as a sub-human. Never in my life have I seen so many PUNKS in charge of on large mass of land as I do now, so soon I will be leaving this punk-with-a-badge infested state without even a hesitation.
I heard people are leaving in record numbers. I hope it’s true, maybe if all decent people leave, that will leave the corrupt alone with the criminals, and they will inilhilate each other since they won’t have us to victimize any more.
Of course that will never happen.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I don’t have time to write a novel, but Ohio isnt bad for everyone. Sure I have my money problems and problems with some of the governments policies… But I’ve lived in texas as well and had the same problems there. As far as the seasons? Some of us enjoy the variety. The cold long winter and the hot summers. The wet springs and chilly wet autumn are great for mud football and other sports.
Ohio States Alma Mater:
Oh come,
Let’s sing Ohio’s praise,
And songs to Alma Mater raise,
While our hearts rebounding thrill,
With joy which death alone can still.
Summer’s heat or winter’s cold,
The seasons pass, the years will roll.
Time and change will surely show,
How firm they friendship,
O-HI-O
June 27th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Ohio is a state of corrupt, blue-collar, assholes. Have you ever been to Cleveland, Canton, Akron or any other god-forsaken town in the north-eastern part of the state? It is overcast 300+ days a year. White trash people that think that this area is the best place in the world.
Stark County has the highest teenage pregnancy rates IN THE COUNTRY! Along with that, they have the highest concentration of single-mothers. Canton, Ohio has THE HIGHEST murder rate in the country when based off population. Imagine that, Canton has more murders than New Orleans.
Poor white trash marrying poor black thugs is the norm in this part of the country. The part of the country is probably responsible for 75% of our tax dollars that support welfare.
The courts are another thing all together. Judges carry constant chips on their shoulders. I hear complaint after complaint about rogue judges in the family courts.
I wish the whole area would have burned when that river caught fire in the late 80’s in Cleveland. That’s right, a river caught on FIRE.
If any of you welfare claiming Afro-American’s are looking for a date, call Alison Shumar in Canton.
July 12th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
I was born and raised in ohio. I am 29. This place is horrible and when i leave (which will be in about 3-4 months) i’ll never look back.
while i may not agree with the racial tone of Charlie, he is correct about welfare. 1 in 10 people in Ohio are on welfare. Of course numerically, the majority of the people on welfare here are white. Meth is running rampant here. The population is aging, there has been a massive “age drain” with young people with any ability, moving out of the state at rapid pace. Wages are low, there have been massive layoffs. Old people having to go back to work, young people with no work available since the older people cant retire. People who are staying, are banking on mass retirements to allow them to move up (of course they dont think about who will be paying for those retirees).
Workplaces are horrible, very incompetent people running the show in a lot of companies here, especially government (University of Cincinnati is a mad house). I chalk it up to all the competent people having the courage (and ability) to move.
Do not come to Ohio unless you are coming with money in hand, and can take advantage of the poor situation here. Dont expect any opportunities for advancement unless its at Walmart (the largest private employer in Ohio..for those who didnt know), Kroger (the Second largest Private employer) or the State of Ohio itself (the LARGEST employer in Ohio PERIOD if you combine all public universities and state departments)
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:56 pm
This board is a joke. Ive lived in Ohio for 24 years of my life. And you can all sit and say how horrible Ohio is without having facts/figures to back your statements. The fact is I live in Youngstown, one of the most economically depressed areas of Ohio. None the less a majority of people in this area are hard god damn workers. People in Ohio have pride for what they have - be it a lot or a little. Ohio has the extremes of everything - the richest of the rich, the poorest of the poor, Democrats in cities (except cincy and Columbus which is a swing city) , Republicans in the rural areas. In ohio you are NEVER THAT far from an Urban center - no matter what side of the state you are on. You can live a completely secluded life or be completely absorbed into a bit city. Options you dont have in a great part of the country. Crime is indeed high - in the urban cities - overall Ohio has a TON of Urban Areas: (Akron, Canton, Youngstown, Cleveland, Toledo, Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati etc. ALL MAJOR CITIES have CRIME!) The economy in Ohio is rough! Its a manufacturing state - look at what we make here (in the US)?! But if your not lazy, and half a bit of motivation you CAN make it in Ohio. With a COST of living that is ROCK BOTTOM LOW. In Youngstown, you can live comfortably on 15 bucks an hour. Try that elsewhere.. Its not a bad place to raise a family…
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:41 pm
I moved from Columbus to the DC/MD area about a year ago, and I cannot wait to move away from here. You wanna talk about a messed up place! Politically, racially, economically…DC and MD take the cake. I would take Ohio any day! As for some of the previous comments, if you hate it so much there then MOVE. Antoin…you sound like a real winner. You seem to know a little too much about the criminal justice system, for your rant to be taken seriously. Charlie… Where did you get all this information? Canton is NOT even ranked in the top 50 cities for crime. New Orleans in the 8th most dangerous city… So if you hate it so much in Ohio, come live in Maryland for a little while! Then you would actually have something to complain about.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:41 pm
I moved from Columbus to the DC/MD area about a year ago, and I cannot wait to move away from here. You wanna talk about a messed up place! Politically, racially, economically…DC and MD take the cake. I would take Ohio any day! As for some of the previous comments, if you hate it so much there then MOVE. Antoin…you sound like a real winner. You seem to know a little too much about the criminal justice system, for your little rant to be taken seriously. Charlie… Where did you get all this information? Canton is NOT even ranked in the top 50 cities for crime. New Orleans in the 8th most dangerous city… So if you hate it so much in Ohio, come live in Maryland for a little while! Then you would actually have something to complain about.
October 11th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Thank you for the venue for discussions regarding Ohio. I’ve lived in a lot of places around this beautiful country and find that each state has something good about it, including Ohio. Ohio seems like “Iowa east” to me.
October 21st, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I say all of you people are full of crap and make ohio look bad. I dont care how long you stayed here in ohio your always going to come back. It doesnt matter were you go every state is a bad state. I say texas sucks and really a good place you would raise your kids at. Mentioning the texas chain saw massacare and tornados they have. So i think people should focus on other bad places were all of the killings do occur. Ohio is a good place.
November 6th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Having spent the last 35 years of my life in Ohio, I can assure you, Ohio does indeed suck. Ohio “sucks” because it’s not doing as well as it used to, & we’re gradually sliding into the rust belt. As we get poorer, our education, health, and social situation suffers.
Why don’t we move? To where, India & Indonesia to follow the chemical processing jobs? Are you kidding? Many people around here have never seen an ocean, let alone traveled across it.
What I will say for Ohio is this; we are just aware enough to recognize our own failures, instead of taking pride in our backwardness…unlike armpits like Texas, Kansas, and the rest of the South