As Obama Leaves MN, The Economy Takes Center Stage
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Faced with the worst approval ratings in his presidency, Barack Obama came to Minnesota to rally his supporters.
The crowd listened as the president talked about the economy and jobs.
"We should actually make more investments to put more people to work and get the economy moving," Obama said.
The president took his message to downtown Cannon Falls, the Old Time Deli, where he had lunch, and asked business owners how they were doing.
"We're growing," said Gary Tournier, a business owner. "Our catering business is growing, and our sales have grown every month, so were constantly hiring people."
While his business is growing, other business owners are having a hard time making ends meet.
"Our business is doing well, but we do run into some crunches," said Bob Rapp, who owns a plastics business.
He is keeping his head above water, but he is not able to bring aboard any new hires.
"We do as much as we can with as few people as we can," he said. "Growth is always an issue."
Scott Peer, who served two tours in Iraq, said he lost his job when he came home from his first tour and found that the business he worked for had relocated.
"Then I got deployed again, and when I came home, I applied for a few jobs," Peer said. "No luck, so I decided to go back to school."
Peer said the president knows the issues, but he wanted Obama to hear them first hand from people living with unemployment during tough economic times.
Many who live in Cannon Falls work in either the Twin Cities or Rochester. They said they'd like to see new businesses come to town and hire locals, but they don't see any movement from the Executive Branch to make that happen.
