All these places are closing because we don't have a new ice arena : P

This is why we have to try and control our tax dollars anyway that we can. ANYTHING your tax dollars go towards, you should be standing up and questions why. Be informed. It's YOUR money.

It's time every penny be accounted for. Time to divide WANTS from NEEDS. Make our public dollars stretch and be used on NEEDS, not WANTS. Our City Council, School Boards, County Board, State Reps, and Federal Reps need to be questioned and told to STOP spending our money.

With more people losing their jobs, we have to fight to keep taxes down. Lower taxes for employees, means lower taxes for businesses. Businesses, we NEED to stay open and employing the tax payers. Let's stop the WANTS and get down to what we really NEED.

You have made some great comments and suggestions, but has anyone bothered to forward any of this to our state reps, or to congress. Something needs to be done about these supposed American Companies who are taking us down the toilet. I even have it first hand, a local company makes parts in China, they deliver to the local plant, where they un-box the parts, peal off made in China and put on made in the USA stickers and re-box the parts. This is what is going to bring the USA to extinction.

We do not make Toyota parts. No, we do not make $42,028 a year. Far,far from that.

Patch and Mooklet....May I ask where you got your info from?

Patch...you said you don't know the hourly wage,but yet you know how much Bourns made in profits in the last quarter?

At any rate,it is sad Bourns is moving out of the country. There are a lot of excellent workers there who are going to lose their jobs after years of loyal service and high quality workmanship.
It's sad about GM,Lear,Sanford,Gilman etc,etc.Sad........It just plain SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

Yah know... The ever increasing unemployed could use a good *soup-kitchen, or a place to hang out in. Use the property for such development (ATTN: Rock County 5.0). We could discuse local hockey stats, communicate new sidewalk necesities, armchair ref the issues with the school system, offer assistance to those whom come in for advice on what to do next to succede in the local economy.
Many such ideas do pass through ones mind when they relive their own state of being in this great county. This would also give the down-trodden unemployed/ yet eager to work folks an avenue to interact verbally, insted of talking to the walls, trees, or imaginary entities. Let alone negative replies from non-hireing business'. It is getting to the point if yah yell from the SouthSide of town? It echos all the way to the NorthernSide. <grin>.

Oldtimer: I don't know what the average hourly wage is at Bourns. I know very well what some of the workers make, but not all.
A quick search on the web showed that The average American worker grosses $42,028 (in costant 2005 international dollars). The average Mexican worker grosses $6,143. This is a differance of $35,885.
Bourns is going to "lay off" 148 American workers and replace them with Mexican and Hungarian workers. This means they have a savings of $35,885 for each American they fire and replace with a Mexican worker. The Bourn family can then put another $5,310,980 in thier pockets each year. (148 x $35,885)
Of course, not all American workers are being replaced by Mexican workers. Some of the jobs are going to Hungary. I didn't look up the average Hungarian wage, but these figures give you some idea of the incentive that American business owners have to stick it to their fellow citizens. Again, its all about greed.
SwissChick is right, more jobs will be lost simply because of the difference in wages between countries. We are destined to become a nation of service workers as our manufacturing base gets shipped off. Unfortunatly, its going to bite us someday. It was our manufacturing capacity that allowed us to win WWII.

Those that are not effected by a job lose yet! In time you could. Meanwhile taxes will slowly climb and climb. No end in site. Who'll pay the taxes?

(This comment was removed by the site staff because it was way above the comprehension level of those reading it)

The Golden rule: You have the gold, you rule.

SwissChick
Thought going green was going to create jobs? Sounds like thats a case of jobs "Gone with the wind". So much for technology.

I was watching the CBS national news the other night and a reporter was doing a story on a factory that produces wind turbines. The guy that owns it lives in California. The average worker there (China) makes $.81/hour while if he moved his business here, it would cost approximately $29.00/hour with benefits. Huh. More to come. . er, actually "go".

Can anyone tell me how much these Bourns employ ees make, I cant beleive they made so much that have to leave which leaves me to beleive its taxes taxes, local, state,

I agree with you patch but its kinda hard to pass a law like that when our government has been run by businesses like Bourns for many many years now. The US is not a government of the people for the people it is a government of the rich for the rich. GOD bless the United States of Greed!

Yay--more students for BTC (the only thriving business in the county!). I heard they would have stayed if only that two-sheeter ice rink had been completed. I wonder if anyone told them about...the "Janesville Mile"? That surely ought to have kept 'em here!

Bourns departure from Janesville had nothing to do with any local, state, or federal political activity. The company is owned by the Bourn family. It was the Bourn family that decided it would leave.
Bourns departure is not based on the slowdown in the automotive industry. There would be no need to move production to an overseas facility if there were no customers. They had profits of $1.4 million during the last quarter.
The departure of the Janesville facility is based on noting more than greed. The Bourn family knows they can put more money in their pockets if they pay less for labor. They get fat while the workers starve. Taxpayers end up footing the bill for their greed in the form of re-training benefits and other social costs due to job losses.
Its time that the government raises taxes on traitors like these. They enjoy all of the benefits of living in this country, yet turn thier backs on their fellow citizen. Any American business owner who runs a business outside of this county should be taxed to the point that it is not profitable to run the business outside of the borders. If they want to have a business in another country, they should move there.

My sister works there&she told me Dave Baum wanted to buy the building back from Bourns&bring all of the SSI facilities back together again. But Bourns told him no. Talk about wanting to keep work here in the United States!

4X4 have you been watching Glenn Beck? Not that I disagree with your first post. The second however, wow. Eric Levitt has barely been here long enough to break into our local politicans ranks, bunch of cronies. But as for electing Briarmoon, not agreeing so much. You are just as bad as them if you start using a comment section of a local paper to try to advance your own political agenda, and for a woman who has such a bad reputation in this city, she could be a good politican I don't know anything about her except all the press she likes to get for herself, however do you honestly think the general public would give her a second glance. Please dont use the change agenda platform, gives you an Obama-like appearance. Find something original and find a candidate who is electable and has our whole community truly at heart, then you might find some real support.

Beeferer, my husband put his idea for a bumper sticker into a contest and won. It say's "They got NAFTA, we got the SHAFTA!" It was long ago but stands true today.

Hank - Did you and Eric have another fight? Did you have to sleep on the couch again? You always seem a little cranky after one of your tiffs. Cheer up little buckaroo.

When do you get it? Politicians have their medical / dental, big pensions.
One even has so many houses he lost count, I have heard my parents and other middle / old age people talk about these things forever.
City planners, managers, superintendents and politicians are always first to jump ship, only to go and rape another community,

Sanford is down to a home office. I hear for about another year maybe.I am not sure if this time frame has been decided or not. they do go to a main building to get and drop off mail. I am not sure how many are they if anybody.

Maybe we should all move to mexico! At least we will have jobs there... It's such BS that all these companies are moving out of the country.

Anyone know when Sanford is done with operations?

Looks like the politicians running this country, just created some more new jobs for Mexico and Hungary. If all the jobs that they helped outsource in the last 10 to 15 years, were still here in this country, we would not be in the mess that they created. NAFTA has destroyed the economy of the U.S. by the loss of millions of good paying full time jobs with benefits.

Just as our union leaders warned us when NAFTA became a reality- "America will change from a nation of manufacturing to mostly service orientated jobs. Living standards will drop and soon we will be relying on imports for things we once made here. We must all now, more than ever, buy U.S.A. made products or soon there won't be any!" Boy, were they right!

Attaboy politicians....Keep making it tougher for a US company to operate and all of our jobs will be shipped overseas

Another company outsourcing wonderful.

No, they did not make anything for Toyota. I worked with many of those folks for 17 years and they are all a great group of people who loved their jobs. I wish them all the best.

Did they make sensors for Toyota?

Good luck to the firm's employees. I got to meet many of them late last year and was impressed by the work ethic they possessed despite their knowing the jobs were ending.

Hey forward Janesville, another great example of what you call a diverified economy, maybe these guys can apply with along with the other hundreds at Manpower and all of the other temp agencies,you are just doing a peachy job of keeping the local economy humming, ke3ep up the good work. just out of curiosity how is living out there on the far east side, you know far, far away from the unwashed, un-employed masses