CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Recession comes late but hits hard in Peoria «

January 31, 2009

Recession comes late but hits hard in Peoria

Posted: January 31st, 2009 12:45 PM ET

From CNN Chief National Correspondent John King

Chris Guynn says he's grateful that his wife has a full-time job while he studies for life after Caterpillar.

On CNN's "State of the Union," CNN host and chief national correspondent John King goes outside the Beltway to report on the issues affecting communities across the country. This week, King traveled to Peoria, Illinois, to explore how the recession is hitting the blue-collar town hard.

PEORIA, Illinois (CNN) - Suddenly, this city's motto rings hollow: "It's Better Here" doesn't match the mood in a place where the recession hit late but is now hitting hard.

"I just felt, I thought I couldn't lose with this company" is how Chris Guynn described his motivation for moving his wife and two children to Peoria from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Watch Economic pain in Peoria

There was a job waiting at Caterpillar, the 80-year-old heavy equipment giant, and "It was a company that you could just retire with, great pension, retirement, 401 and so on."

Full story

Filed under: State of the Union

7 Comments | Permalink


Barack wins and America collectively loses.		January 31st, 2009 3:58 pm ET You think the recession is hard now. Just wait till we have a couple of years of Social engineering by Liberals. You will find unemployment rates at 7.2 per cent low in comparison. Get used to 12 to 14 percent unemployment. The Fed jobs, however, will be growing enormously. Government big, Main street small, jobs small too, taxes high, misery index even higher..

Barack wins and America collectively loses.		January 31st, 2009 3:58 pm ET You think the recession is hard now. Just wait till we have a couple of years of Social engineering by Liberals. You will find unemployment rates at 7.2 per cent low in comparison. Get used to 12 to 14 percent unemployment. The Fed jobs, however, will be growing enormously. Government big, Main street small, jobs small too, taxes high, misery index even higher.

Dumas McGee		January 31st, 2009 2:50 pm ET welcome to the Obama depression!

Jeff Spangler, Arlington, VA		January 31st, 2009 2:12 pm ET Caterpillar used to have a big plant in York PA until the union tried to call management's bluff in a years-long strike, but the plant closed instead. Labor's profoundly undemocratic "card check" scam would help another city get trashed. I hope The One and His Congress resists the urge to pander to labor.

southerncousin		January 31st, 2009 2:07 pm ET I remember a lot of nasty strikes by the Caterpiller unions over the past few years, just like the auto, airline and steel industries, the union dragged them down and now we all are going to have to pay for their greed. Look at the Boeing strike and its aftermath and the refusal of UAW to cooperate even though Bush gave them the money. Perhaps if they hadn't given so much to ACORN to elect a liberal/socialist congress and president, we would all be better off.

fearful for my country		January 31st, 2009 1:42 pm ET Tell him to go to the mall that Obama wants to spend millions remodeling.

melony		January 31st, 2009 1:07 pm ET WHEN ARE THE REPUBLICANS GOING TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE DID NOT VOTE FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA BECAUSE HE IS BLACK. WE VOTED FOR HIM BECAUSE HE WAS THE BEST CANIDATE. THEIR NEW REPUBLICAN LEADER IS A TOKEN AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SEE WHAT THEY ARE DOING... THE PRESIDENT HAS THE PEOPLE AT HEART WE FEEL LIKE HE UNDERSTANDS US. THE REPUBLICANS HAVE NEVER CARED FOR ANYONE THAT DON'T LOOK LIKE THEM. I KEEP HEARING THEM SAY THAT THEY KNOW HOW TO DO THE STIMULUS PACKAGE, WELL IF THATS SO, WHY ARE YOU JUST NOW SPEAKING OUT? WHY DID IT TAKE THEM 8 YEARS TO TRY AND FIX IT? I SMELL A RAT.... MELONY IN THE ATL
Comments have been closed for this article

« Back to main

Previous article:
Obama's leftover cash

Next article:
Obama rescue plan pushed back a week

About The Ticker

The latest political news from CNN's Best Political Team, with campaign coverage, 24-7. Sign up for our twice daily Ticker emails. Got a news tip or feedback? For complete political coverage, bookmark CNNPolitics.com.

CNNPolitics.com Headlines

CNN=Politics Screensaver

Tap into the power of The Situation Room. Download this powerful new tool that keeps you posted on the latest political news from the campaign trail.
Download (4.1 MB, PC only)

New in the Ticker

@CNNPolitics: RT @AliVelshi: WOW - unemployment DOWN to 10%, and only 11,000 jobs lost in November! Have we turned a corner, or is this a blip?

Updated: Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:37:22 -0800

@CNNPolitics: Democrat: 'Ask Tiger, not me.' http://bit.ly/91yP9m

Updated: Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:23:42 -0800

@edhenrycnn: http://twitpic.com/s1eyz - Courage, Dan Rather

Updated: Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:34:04 -0800

@edhenrycnn: http://twitpic.com/s1ero - Pretty good likeness of King of Talk @kingstings

Updated: Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:32:37 -0800

@edhenrycnn: http://twitpic.com/s1eeq - Found Tiger Woods -- wax version at Madame Tussaud museum in DC.

Updated: Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:30:17 -0800