need to add title here

Wilmington's Long Recession

December 20, 2009 5:15 PM

Scott Pelley returns to Wilmington, Ohio, to see how residents are coping a year after thousands of them lost their jobs when the town's largest employer shut down.

Wilmington, Ohio's Long Recession
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by socmom72 January 3, 2012 1:21 AM EST
Has there been any updates on Wilmington and how they are doing? It's been two years since this interview. Thanks
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by kmgscg December 27, 2009 4:33 PM EST
i saw the comments by IWANTMYCOUNTRYBACK and he didnt mention about the politics behind it... it was nixon who went to china normalise the relations to beat soviet union during the 60s and then they agreed a trade with china.. which sell chinease products in usa and send these jobs to china... now china become a super producer and america is a big consumer... again i am mention the quality of chinese products is questionable... most of the products made in china is inferior quality and its empty the pockets ...suppose you buy a tool or a nut and bolt made in china and the "tool eventually fail and nut and bolt will get rusted" because of poor quality.. the end effect is personel injury, lost time, or other kind of damages.........
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by kmgscg December 27, 2009 4:20 PM EST
what about 200 billion aid to israel every year to kill the palestinian children
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by randy_in_ca December 24, 2009 2:24 PM EST
By the way, folks: the USA produces the largest portion of what is known as the trade-weighted global share of exports. We just don't make much of the cheap stuff. What we do dominate is ultra high-end, high-value goods like software, avionics, control systems, exotic/precisely manufactured materials, medical devices, biochemical goods, agricultural technology, ...

Those things just don't take lots of labor to produce, like industrial steel, toys, or the random cheap, pointless, plastic doodads that fill the shelves of Wal-mart.
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by Iwantmycountryback December 23, 2009 10:57 AM EST
I have just read all 62 comments before putting in my two cents. I think everyone is missing the big picture here. That story wasn't about Wilmington, Oh (regardless of what county it's actually in), or about the greedy owners of DHL or who ever, or about Republicans or Democrats, or healthcare. It was a story produced to represent what is happening all over America today.

The USA used to produce nearly everything we manufactured or grew, and we were all employed. Today we hardly produce anything here. Do the math. I?m no Rhodes Scholar, but even I figured this out a long time ago. Everybody complains that we're all out of work, yet we're still going to the stores and buying products made in mostly China. DUH!

And the solution is so simple. BUY AMERICAN! Everybody is still waiting for our leaders in Washington to take the bull by the horns and save us. It?s not going to happen. Our leaders still have jobs; they still live in beautiful homes with three car garages, they are still eating well and taking vacations to the Caribbean.

Hoping that our government leaders will take charge and save us like they did years ago
(see Operation Boot Strap, or New Deal Programs from the Great Depression for references) is like waiving lanterns at runaway trains. So quit being a follower and start being a leader.

Today when I go shopping for groceries or other products, I spend half of my time searching the backs of boxes and bags for the country of origin on each product. If it's made in China (which is nearly 90% of the time) I don't buy it. I don't care how badly I need it. And I don?t stop there. I tell the manager why I?m not buying those particular products. I ask them to give me a list of products that they sell that are American made (and not just ?distributed? by American companies which is something entirely different). I won't buy the fruit cocktail grown in China that's selling for 99 cents, I'll spend just 49 cents more and buy the brand grown in the USA. 49 cents. I'm not asking everyone to go out and buy things they can't afford. Just a little bit here and there will all add up.

I would like to see every store in the USA stick small American flags next to their products that are produced in the USA, so that when we walk down each aisle we
can instantly spot those items. I can guarantee you that if we all think alike on this,
that those products will start flying off of the shelves. And then factories will start
opening in the Wilmingtons all over the USA.

No, the employees won?t be making the money that they made prior to this destruction of America, but they will be employed, and isn?t that what we all want to see? Put Americans back to work. I?m writing letters to all of the stores in my area (local, regional and national) encouraging them to promote and identify (both in their advertisements and their stores) which products they sell that are made in the USA) and I encourage you to do the same in your town. Together we can fix this problem. I?ve always been reminded that if you want to get something done, you have to do it yourself, and this is a perfect example.

And for all of your curmudgeons out there...for once in your life, be optimistic, get behind the wheel, and help put this runaway train back on its tracks.
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by lovinmom09 December 22, 2009 6:13 PM EST
Im an Employee of ABX and I got laid Off Augest 28th of 2009. This story put tears into my eyes. I live in wilmington and i see whats going on. Ive had to make decitions that i didn't really want to make but had to, to support my son and my husband. We are struggling with my unemployment. Also my husband lost his job from there but we got lucky he has found a job since. our son is 11 months old and its hard any more. Ive been down to CVG back in augest and the decition they made i think was a big mistake. You know There is jobs out there. but you got to be willing to drive to get one. Im going to school to get my degree and im plaining on traveling to get a job. cause you know. I don't want to move away from wilmington i love it here.. but you say why say something about wilmington why isn't the outter limits getting help also.. well wilmington is a big town that is where majority of the workers came from is wilmington.. you look all around wilmington and you see people all over from the airpark.. so you tell me why shouldn't wilmington get help when our town is almost a goast town.. our town is the heart ship of it all...
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by jennyjsnow December 22, 2009 5:12 PM EST
What happened to Wilmington is not just in the town limits. DHL effected several different counties. The rural areas are getting no attention or help. We don't need hand outs or food... We need Jobs plain and simple. We have the workers, the set up, and the ability to provide any business what they need. We need smart business developers to come in and see what can be done with our beautiful airpark. We need banks to work with people. Its not fair we can't sell our homes, we can pay for them, and banks and people with the means are coming in and buying them for a fraction of what they were once worth. Stop taking advantage.... its not fair. I don't want you unemployment, I want a job that pays something. The are encouraging people to go to school. For What?? Online colleges and other schools are getting students by the boatload, and they will pay all that money for school loans and guess what you still won't have a job..... Nothing in this town will be fixed until businesses come in and provide high paying jobs. We need help of that kind not unemployment, food, and other band aids that really are not helping. Please the right people need to save our community. We need business developers.
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by megawavez December 22, 2009 1:17 PM EST
Sigh.. the recession continues. As sad as it is, govt stimulus money will only prolong the issue and in the worse case scenario push us into hyperinflation which becomes more of a possibility as time goes on.

What needs to happen is all the bad debt needs to clear out and then Americans need to learn to manufacture once again. It's going to take some time....
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by Helpthekids December 22, 2009 12:27 PM EST
I work for CMH and its so sad to know all this is going on. Wilmington is not asking for sympathy, we are just giving you a insight into our lives. There are thousands of people living the same life we are right now. With the town loosing a Pediatrician we now have alot of children without a doctor. They can be seen at Family Health Drs, yeah, but those are not Pediatricians. If Medicaid reimbursement was alittle better, I believe the hospital may not be in the shape they are in. isee what is charged and what we get paid and its just not enough. Its not the peopels fault that Medicaid dont pay well, just with the Government could see that. Let just pray that all the folks down here get Drs for their Kids and hopefully all the chronically ill kids can get in with Pediatricians locally instead of having to drive an hour. Lets pray that the hospital can get some help from someone to allow it to stay here and keep serving the community the best we know how!
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by yehlingling December 22, 2009 12:20 PM EST
CBS 60 Minutes should be commended for showing viewers that there are many Americans (in Wilmington) are not yet living the American Dream. How about letting Americans and legal immigrants know that the United States cannot effectively address unemployment, healthcare costs, overcroweded schools, budget deficits or global warming if we continue to add 3 million people a year to this country? Newcomers, U.S. and foreign-born, need jobs, healthcare, education, and many other social services! Although all human beings are polluters, U.S. residents pollute far more than their counterparts abroad. Undoubtedly, some immigrants have made outstanding contributions to the U.S., most are low-skilled or semi-skilled and many are welfare-dependent. It is IMMORAL and IRRESPONSIBLE to keep borrowing from China, Mexico and other countries to finance our current and future needs. It is hight time that Congress enacted some sort of immigration moratorium and worked on reducing teen pregnancies totaling 750,000 a year.
My newest article entitled "Spineless & brainless nation" is posted on the website of Alliance for a Sustainable USA of which I am the Executive Director,
http://www.asustainableusa.org/articles/articles_by_asusa_and_supporters.html
Yeh Ling-Ling
Alliance for a Sustainable USA
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