Locals agree challenges abound

COEUR d'ALENE - Some want to sink Obama's health care plan. Others hope for fewer troops overseas, and more manufacturing back home.

And some just want the parties to quit antagonizing each other, already.

Before the president's State of the Union address on Tuesday, Kootenai County residents had thoughts of their own on how to polish up the country.

"Obviously, everyone needs more jobs," said Erin Lyke, a certified nursing assistant in Coeur d'Alene.

Knowing plenty of folks out of work, Lyke said she thinks the job market will face a sluggish recovery, no matter what the government tries.

"There's a lot of blame being thrown around, but whichever party was in office, it would still be in slow progress," the 25-year-old said.

Meanwhile, she is hoping to go to North Idaho College to further her career, she said. It has made her aware of how much more the government could be helping students, she said.

"I feel like when I was 17, there was a lot of financial aid for students," Lyke said. "It seems like there's nothing, now."

Scott McMurdie, himself an NIC student, said his chief concern is that the country has been too long in the throes of war.

"I think I'd like to see it over with," the 19-year-old said of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I have a lot of friends who are over there. I get why we're over there, but I'd like to see them come home."

The federal government passing the new health care plan was a much-needed step in the right direction, said Tom Awlward, stopping for a break during a Centennial Trail bike ride.

Attempts to repeal it will be futile, the 62-year-old predicted.

"The Republicans feel everyone needs to stand on their own feet, but that's not always the case," said Awlward, a Spirit Lake resident. "People need help."

He does worry about how manufacturing is diminishing in the U.S., he said. Maybe bringing that back could provide opportunities for victims of the economy.

"There's nothing you can buy in Macy's that isn't made in China or Vietnam, and it's discouraging," he said. "If we get back manufacturing, it could bring in jobs. I think people would be willing to take less, just to have jobs."

The sparse job market is a problem haunting Kathy Krupp, whose husband was laid off months ago and hasn't found a job since.

"I am a nursing student, and I'm afraid when I'm out of school I won't be able to find a job," said Krupp, 36.

The Athol resident would just like to see more options, she said.

"At 36, for my husband to be out of work and have to find a new career, that's really hard," she said.

Holly Handeen is most concerned about federal spending getting out of hand, she said.

"Especially with Obama's idea of health care spending," the Coeur d'Alene resident said, walking outside the Coeur d'Alene Public Library on Tuesday.

Her ideal improvement: Lots of cuts.

In particular, the federal government backing off its health care plan.

"He (the president) has no right to make federal mandates on states," said Handeen, who declined to give her age. "That's not constitutional."

But it's the constant party division that prevents anything from being done, said Jacob Jarmer.

"The biggest issue right now is how our parties can't agree on things for the better good," the 24-year-old said. "I think people need to be more accepting of other people's ideas."

The key right now, the NIC student added, is to give the president a chance.

"You can't expect the president to come in and look at the problems of the previous administration and make things better overnight," he said. "We just need to give him a little more time. If you look at the history of America, that's how it's always been. It all takes time."