President will announce stimulus grants during Elkhart County visitupdated 1 hour, 2 minutes ago
WAKARUSA, Ind.—
Venturing back to a region reeling in deep unemployment, President Barack Obama's latest mission to hard-hit Elkhart County aims to show that his stimulus plan is producing tangible help — $2.4 billion in taxpayer grants to create electric cars and tens of thousands of jobs.At a recreational-vehicle plant in northern Indiana, Obama on Wednesday will announce the grants and try to stabilize American confidence. His stop in Wakarusa, Ind., is part of a concerted economic campaign that also will see Vice President Joe Biden and four Cabinet secretaries holding events in five states.
As Congress breaks for the summer, the public message war is on. Obama wants to persuade Americans that his economic agenda is working but also that it will take time to produce the number that people really want: more jobs.
That matters immensely in Elkhart County, a capital of RV manufacturing. The industry has been crushed by the recession.
Indiana's Elkhart-Goshen area had an unemployment rate of 16.8 percent in June. That's up 10 percentage points from last year. It's also higher than it was when Obama visited in February, although the jobless rate has at least come down from 17.5 percent in May.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32283931/ns/us_news-the_elkhart_project/