During President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech Wednesday night, Mr. Obama stressed jobs, jobs, jobs.
Job creation is on the minds of many South Carolinians. Those NewsChannel 15 spoke with told us they didn't want to just hear that we need to create jobs from the president, they wanted specifics.
"This is the worst it's ever been in our lives," said Nora Baker of Myrtle Beach as she left the Employment Security Commission in Conway.
The numbers back it up, as folks packed the unemployment office, representing just some of the Palmetto State's record high nearly 13 percent unemployed.
As President Obama gave his State of the Union, some locals listened for signs of hope.
"I've been unemployed for over a year, and if they can do something, it doesn't have to be right now, but just something in the future that will give us something to look forward to," said Dennie Messinger, who was also at the unemployment office.
Most wanted simply wanted specifics; a plan; something concrete that outlined how jobs would be created.
"That's all you hear is that they're going to do something, but you never hear exactly what it is they're planning on doing or how they're going to go about doing it, and I think that's what's more frustrating to everybody is not getting a definite answer as just how do you plan to approach it," said Kevin Steffon of Horry County.
Nora Baker agreed. "More job openings, either the government start funding more factories because I've been a factory worker my whole life, and opportunities or more training for those who want to be retrained to get into another field for employment."
The president made several proposals during his speech, including taking $30 billion that Wall Street repaid the federal government after taxpayers bailed out big banks with stimulus dollars and invest it in small banks across the country to free up loans for small businesses.
President Obama also proposed, "A new small business tax credit that will go to one million small businesses that hire new workers or raise wages."
He continued, "Let's also eliminate all capital gains taxes on large and small business investments and provide a tax incentive for small and large businesses to invest in new plants and equipment."
Finally, President Obama proposed, "We can put Americans to work today by building our infrastructure of tomorrow."
Still, some preach patience.
"People want something right away, but it's going to take some time," said Tom Corrick of Horry County. "It didn't happen overnight, and we're not going to get out of it overnight."
To leave a comment, scroll down and click on "post a comment."
