From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

Janesville and the American Dream.

Hello again, I'm Arun Alney, and this is a Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point.

Nobody believed it would happen, but Janesville, Wisconsin lost its General Motors plant in the Great Recession, almost 100 years after it opened.

When suppliers also shut down a classic American middle class lifestyle for 65,000 people went out of existence.

We'll talk to the author of an intimate account of suddenly unemployed workers

and their families, how they reacted and what they've done since. Janesville, once a model

of civic unity and cooperation between labor and business, big and small, is now a divided

city. On our talking point later, fake news with a liberal perspective. First, here's the news.

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Hello again, Warren. I'll be back with To the Point.

Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan,

but he could not prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years.

We'll hear what's happened to what once was a

model of American middle-class unity. Later on today's talking point, conservatives aren't the only

ones who circulate false information with or without knowing whether it's true. Liberals do it, too,

especially in the aftermath of losing elections. We'll hear about that. First, this news update.

President Trump's proposed budget increases spending on defense and homeland security, but for veterans,

it's a mixed bag. The Department of Veterans Affairs would see added dollars, but some benefits

for older veterans would be taken away.

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