Topic: Rust Belt

Top galleries, list articles, quizzes

Unemployment rate giving you the blues? Try these top five cities for jobs.

Here are five large metro areas with the lowest unemployment rates and where unemployment is down at least half a percentage point over last year:
Ideas for a better world in 2011

To start the new year off right, the Monitor asked various thinkers around the world for one idea each to make the world a better place in 2011. We talked to poets and political figures, physicists and financiers. The results range from how to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world to ways to revamp Hollywood.

All Content

Mitt Romney's voucher-like education overhaul (+video)

Romney, who has been reluctant to stray far from the economic issues at the core of the presidential campaign, was outlining the proposal during a speech Wednesday at the US Chamber of Commerce.
On campaign trail, Biden paints Romney as corporate raider

The Vice President was in high-unemployment areas of Ohio, suggesting the GOP candidate doesn't care about workers.
If GOP's Sen. Dick Lugar loses, are Dems prepared to pounce?

If six-term Sen. Dick Lugar loses in Tuesday's GOP primary in Indiana, Democrats see much-improved chances of picking up that US Senate seat in November. But it would not be a shoo-in.
Change Agent
Cooperative businesses provide a new-old model for job growth

Co-ops worldwide represent much more than hippie grocery stores: They're a fast-growing way to do business better in fields from finance to agriculture to industry.
Why Obama is unleashing Joe Biden on 2012 campaign trail

Vice president Joe Biden spoke to auto industry workers in Ohio Thursday about the auto bailout. Biden speaks to working-class American voters, say analysts, in a race that could be between two Harvard-trained presidential candidates – Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
Super Tuesday: For some Ohio voters, Santorum's populist touch resonates

Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have striven to explain how each is distinguished from the other. Surveys taken ahead of Super Tuesday in Ohio show the two candidates are in a dead heat.
Can Mitt Romney carry his ‘Big Mo’ through Super Tuesday?

Mitt Romney is leading the GOP presidential pack in election wins, delegates, and nominations. But Super Tuesday and its ten contests – especially Ohio – could be the key to whether he keeps his momentum.
The Vote
Why Rick Santorum really needs Ohio on Super Tuesday (+video)

Ohio, the backyard to Rick Santorum’s home state of Pennsylvania and the only Super Tuesday primary race where the winner remains in doubt, may be the biggest day of Mr. Santorum's political life.
Why America can 'make stuff' again – just not the old stuff

Obama and GOP candidates like Romney and Santorum compete in Rust Belt states like Michigan by promising a return to the heyday of manufacturing. They must instead focus on America's unique receptivity to new ideas for business.
Rick Santorum slams JFK, Mitt Romney OK with being wealthy (+video)

Rick Santorum said that John F. Kennedy's 1960 speech on being a Catholic made Santorum want to "throw up." Mitt Romney defended his $250 million in assets.
Return: movie review

Linda Cardellini's nuanced take on a mother searching for her place is finely observed.
Indiana 'right to work' law: what it means for the pro-union Rust Belt

Indiana's new 'right to work' law is the first of its kind in the Midwest. But amid the region's disputed union issues, will the right-to-work law mean more jobs or lower wages for all workers?
Indiana becomes first Rust-Belt 'right to work' state. Will others follow?

Laws that curtail union clout have faced heated opposition in Wisconsin and Ohio, making passage of 'right to work' laws in other industrial states a difficult political proposition.
Right to work gets first foothold in Rust Belt

Right to work legislation finally passes House in Indiana. Governor is expected to sign law, which bans labor contracts that force workers to pay union fees.
Lessons from Detroit Three's surprise comeback

Car and truck sales surged in November for General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. The reasons for their rebound from the gloom of 2009 provides lessons for other American industries.
Cover Story
Leadership: The myth of the maverick

Does our love affair with mavericks – from Ronald Reagan to Steve Jobs – make sense?
Does Mitt Romney have the GOP presidential nomination wrapped up?

One by one, Mitt Romney's GOP rivals have taken runs at him, trumpeting his failures as a true conservative and his flip-flopping. But one by one, they’ve stumbled, and at the moment the race for the GOP nomination seems like Romney’s to lose.
Unemployment rate giving you the blues? Try these top five cities for jobs.

Here are five large metro areas with the lowest unemployment rates and where unemployment is down at least half a percentage point over last year:
The New Economy
With manufacturing plan, Obama misses the bigger picture

President Obama's manufacturing program ignores the import threat that's destroying US jobs and innovation.
Home deconstruction: Can an entire house be recycled?

Deconstruction of a home to reuse or resell its materials is gaining popularity as a more environment-friendly alternative to demolition. Sometimes it even saves money.
Downtown need a makeover? More cities are razing urban highways

Removal of aging highways is a strategy some cities are using to try to boost their downtown districts.
Robocop statue: A youthful lift for Detroit or a monument to blight?

Could a Robocop statue do for Detroit today what the sci-fi movie hero did for the dystopian Motor City of the future? Critics of the proposal dismiss its pop-culture pop as Rust Belt chic.
Super Bowl 2011 forecast: 60 minutes of chaos

Super Bowl 2011 features two defenses unrivaled at creating havoc and two quarterbacks uniquely equipped to handle it.
Ideas for a better world in 2011

To start the new year off right, the Monitor asked various thinkers around the world for one idea each to make the world a better place in 2011. We talked to poets and political figures, physicists and financiers. The results range from how to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world to ways to revamp Hollywood.
Democrats' last line of defense against GOP gerrymandering: the Voting Rights Act

Emboldened by new Census numbers, Republicans will use their redistricting power to squeeze Democrats out. President Obama can stop it, if has the guts to use the Voting Rights Act.