Buy American if you can...

[belchfire]

FN, only if you cut a figure like Ursala Andress did in her prime!

The Battle Hymn of the Republic is actually a rip off from an old Southern song. ("John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave...")

"Dixie" was written by a yankee that never visited the South.

I think that is a fine example of irony...

X type looms have no computer controls-at least they didn't. The few mills that are still operating in this country are (to my knowledge) running newer looms that are computer controlled.

 

[BenderGonzales]

Welcome to the global economy boys. American manufacturers are going to have to figure out a way to strip inefficiencies out of the manufacturing process if they want to be able to complete.

The world is simply not altruistic enough to "buy american" just because they think it's the right thing to do.

Money doesn't grow on trees. I agree with CSY Mon. When an American Company can provide a product that is equal to or of superior quality to imported brands, and at a competitive price, they will get my business.

Until then, i'll be at Target, Best-Buy, Wal-Mart, Kohls, Home Depot, etc... and i'll be looking for what I need at the lowest possible price.

Don't ask the consumer to change. Work for change at the supplier level. Strip costs from production! Be more efficient! Work smarter! It's time for the unions to work WITH management rather than both sides trying to fleece each other at every opportunity. Today, unfortunately, the "Union Pride" label means nothing more than "Overpriced".

Where's Rez at. He gets off on these arguments.

 

[CSY Mon]

Yep, if it says FOrd or CHevy, It *Must* be good old american, right? well, not necessarily. A lot of parts and sub assembelies are made overseas and in Mexico.

I keep hearing that from guys who try to justify their foreign cars. (My Honda is made in the US, your Taurus is made in Canada, etc,)

The Mercedes in yer driveway may be built in Alabama, but the money goes to Krautland.

 

[BenderGonzales]

I disagree respectfully CSY Mon,

It's just not that simple. Mercedes builds a plant in Alabama and hires Alabama workers to assemble the cars. They pay the Alabama workers a competitive wage. Those Alabama workers then take that income and spend it in their own communities. They buy appliances, clothes, houses, toys for the kids, etc.

Granted the Germans are profiting the most, but I would rather see jobs in an area where jobs are needed, then to simply dismiss jobs in order to prove a point.

From the stepping stone fast-food or retail jobs on up -- EVERY job is important to someone. And every job puts money back into the economy.

Would I like it if they all earned a bit more? Well sure, but at what expense? If the guy making my McNugget earns a "living wage" and has full health benefits provided for him, what will the price of the McNugget be?

And if the price of that McNugget is adjusted upwards to absorb this increased expense ... is that not the same as taxing ME in order to subsidize that worker?

Why should I pay more for a McNugget because this guy has not earned the skills or experience to move to a higher-paying job?

Folks, we can not artifically adjust supply and demand. As a country we have no choice but to build a better mousetrap. We have to become more efficient and build a quality product cheaper than our global neighbors. That is the ONLY way to rebuild the manufacturers and the US middle class.

Oh...and shifting some defense dollars over to improve public education wouldn't hurt either.

 

[belchfire]

Ah-in my example at least, the shirts-I have never seen a shirt made in the PRC that is anywhere as nice as the Landerwoods. Another point that you might consider is that the CEO's of the companies that have moved jobs and production to the far east-they get rewarded for throwing honest workers here out of a job. I haven't seen prices go down on things from the PRC-only conglomerates and their CEO's making more money at the expense of the workers here.

Think about the quality of things that were made here, then the quality of the cheap knockoffs that are imported from the PRC. So much of that stuff is just crap!

 

[PacoPollo]

My pilots shirts are made in Honduras.

 

[belchfire]

My pilots shirts are made in Honduras.

Yeah, I bet they are, but I'm not talking about K-mart pocket tees..

Boohahahahahaha!

 

[Guitar rocker]

My pilots shirts are made in Honduras.

Those are the ones with that big collars. Something cheap has to look good on you.

 

[A Squared]

I keep hearing that from guys who try to justify their foreign cars. (My Honda is made in the US, your Taurus is made in Canada, etc,)

The Mercedes in yer driveway may be built in Alabama, but the money goes to Krautland.

No, not really. I was just adding some info that adds some considerable grey to the folks that live in a black and white world where "american" is good and "foreign" is bad. You have to admit the issue becosmes much greyer when you consider where the cars are really made and who is paid to manufacture and assemble them and what proportion of the jobs created by the producion of that car are here vs. overseas.

At any rate, I don't *ever* feel the need to justify owning a Toyota Pickup truck vis an "american made" one. For whatever reasons, I perceive the Toyota to be a much better value for my vehicle dollar. If you don't like that (and I say *you* in a general sense, not you personally) then do something that will change my perception of what is a better value in my esitimation. Don't just tell me to "buy american" especially when "american" has a very tenuous claim to really being american.

Perhaps, instead of a Toyota P/U I should buy a Dodge Dakota? But wait, isn't Dodge owened by Germans now? (I ask because I haven't kept up with the ownership of Chrysler, but I seem to recall it was purchased by Daimler (sp?) )

So If I but an "american" dodge pickup that is mostly assembled overseas from mostly foreign manufactured parts, by a German company, am I really "buying American" And, how is that Dodge, more american that a honda built in the us, from a larger percentage of US manufactured parts, using a greater percentage of US labor?

I know that you understand the concept of best value for your money, as you mentioned it in your first post. That's what I beleive I'm getting from my Toyota, based on my valuse. You may beleive the same about your american cars, based on your values, and neither of us is wrong. But the idea of "buy American" just because you should buy american becomes less and less valid as manufacureing is sent overseas.

 

[McNugget]

If the guy making my McNugget earns a "living wage" and has full health benefits provided for him, what will the price of the McNugget be?

Oh, 'bout $50K for first-year FO but I'm hoping for a relatively fast upgrade.