Buy American!

[richinny]

i found a useful site:

How Americans Can Buy American

[willyd]

Thanks for the information.

[jerrypeterma]

nice site. Thanks

[brunoffrance]

Good idea and when there is a choice, i prefer buying the national products...but what to do when the foreign company is on the US territories and made american people work... I buy or not ( we are in the same situation in France... ) ?.

Bruno.

[Silvertwinkie]

Here is the crux of that site (and BTW, it is a very great site).

Take gasoline for example. Sure they are American owned and operated companies, but the end sale goes, in more cases than not, to a foreign entity, so yes you are buying gas from an American company, but the odds are that the oil it took to produce the gas came from the Middle East, South America, Africa, etc. Sure some oil is still extracted here in US soil, by American companies, but very little of it from what I understand makes it to our gas tanks....

[yakman]

Originally Posted by Silvertwinkie

Here is the crux of that site (and BTW, it is a very great site).

Take gasoline for example. Sure they are American owned and operated companies, but the end sale goes, in more cases than not, to a foreign entity, so yes you are buying gas from an American company, but the odds are that the oil it took to produce the gas came from the Middle East, South America, Africa, etc. Sure some oil is still extracted here in US soil, by American companies, but very little of it from what I understand makes it to our gas tanks....

I looked up the second most traded commodity in the world-coffee. The site has Starbucks listed as American. Yes, truly a homegrown corporation, however the product in your cup is not American. Coffee beans come from overseas to be roasted here.

Read between the lines on that website and when given the choice, it always feels better to buy the national product.

yakman

[love vintage]

I am North American (Canadian). I agree with concept of buying locally, but I believe we also need to produce locally. It's time to put a stop to major manufacturers moving the labour force overseas because it's cheaper. Apparently cheaper seems to equate to deadly. Totally shocked today...Cadbury is recalling products due to melamine. CADBURY! Most every child in North America loves and eats chocolate (me included as older child). Would rather pay more for product and be assured it is safe. We, in North America, have much higher production standards. Stock market has tanked, economy is in ruins, job layoffs are at an all time high. Bring it all back home!!

[purman]

I agree, but the big problem is>>>>>> Everyone wants everything and they want it cheap.....

I would rather have less stuff that was quality and pay more..

Thats why I try to avoid wal mart.. it's hard to in a small town when you need something...

Remember the days when all stores were closed on sunday...

Was it good or bad???????????

[Aage]

love vintage,

If the statement "Would rather pay more for product and be assured it is safe. We, in North America, have much higher production standards." were accurate, we would never had lost the jobs in the first place.

This has been proven by Wal-Mart every day of the year since they abandoned their "Buy American" program (or promotion) back in 1997.

[PizzaChop]

These can be interesting and somewhat thought provoking discussions for many reasons, but I am always somewhat surprised at what seems to be a general lack of understanding of how the free market works.

As I've heard stated in the past, capitalism sucks but nothing else comes close to it in producing the best quality products at the most competitive prices, while producing a profit for those bold enough to take the risk with their own money (or borrowed).

A rational buyer will take the time to become informed as to the quality of a product (as it fits his/her needs) and determine whether or not the price constitutes a good value, relative to other similar products on the market.

To purchase an inferior product at a higher price for any reason is irrational, and thereby tends to subsidize substandard production methods, protecting the weak until the ultimate day of reckoning comes. (And it will come.)

National, state, and local government taxes and regulations (labor laws as well) do have a significant impact on business decisions, and rational capitalists will naturally tend to gravitate toward regions where the cost of business operations are lower. (The Southeast has experienced quite a bit of growth over the last 15-20 years due to the lower costs of living associated with the region.)

While I am proud to own many American made products (4 Fords counting tractor and boat), a 35 year old Airstream and Snapper lawnmower, and a 54 year old Shopsmith, I did not purchase them because they were made in America but because they were the best products available to meet my needs. (I own many other American made products, too many to count.)

Our economy has has been the envy of the world for the last 50 years because of free market principles, not in spite of them.

And it is the competition of the market place which maintains that position, not government subsidies or nativist sentiments.

Given our current economic issues, I am appalled that many (perhaps most) of our elected officials do not understand these basic principles.

[Jim & Susan]

Well said, Ron.

Want to supercharge the American economy? Take a gander at this website for a while: Americans For Fair Taxation: Americans for Fair Taxation

Remember, ALL TAXES are paid by consumers in a capitalist society. Just a fact.

I wrote my Congressman earlier today concerning the current economic crises. Looks like their website has crashed. www.house.gov

Just another opinion.

Jim

[3 Dog Nite]

OK. I'm having a tough time trying to figure out which one is American. Is it the Chevy pick up made in Canada? Or how about the Toyota Camry made in Kentucky?

[richinny]

Originally Posted by 3 Dog Nite

OK. I'm having a tough time trying to figure out which one is American. Is it the Chevy pick up made in Canada? Or how about the Toyota Camry made in Kentucky?

tough choice.

GM - US company built in N. America
TOYOTA - foreign company but built with US workers

i consider Canadians to be family :-)

[85MH325]

I noticed that automobiles were conspicuously absent from the site's listings. I have a Toyota Tundra manufactured in Indiana and now a Nissan Titan manufactured in Canton, OH. The Titan has a Dana 44 differential. Dana, BTW is a Toledo OH company, but it's likely that the axle was manufactured at their plant in India. Ford Ranger Trucks are assembled in St. Paul MN, and use Mazda transmissions manufactured in Mexico (or at least they did at one time). Jeep is currently owned (at least in part) by Daimler, perhaps soon to be a GM marque. Dodge trucks may soon belong to Nissan.

Herein lies the problem... what exactly does "buying American" mean these days?

Roger

[Sixty3TW4US]

Buy American OUR future depends on it. I try as much as possible to support my local economy in all that I buy. At least my 04 Tundra (at the time) was 65% US made. I know we can do better. Is there anything in Wal-Mart not made in China??

[purman]

Doesn't seem like much these day's does it... People have said buy Ford, Chevy, and GM because the money stays here... Not always true.. These companies own lots of Foreign ones too... That money they make here goes there to help the failing companies which in turn make the US companies fail...

Buying Made in america or american from american companies doesn't mean the money stays here.. now buy from a small american business and it will help out the local economy, even though the products my not be made in american.

It's a tuff call.... But I try to support our local small business vs. Wally world, But I do shop there sometimes for convenance..

[jimmini]

I want to buy American. BUT!
My trailer needs new tires.I have two posting on this forums under TIRES,one is "HELP TIRES, TIRES,TIRES" and the other is "COOPER CUSTOM PLUS TRAILER tires".I am trying to find out from any Airstreamer using this tire how good this American made tire is.I have not got ONE reply from any Airstreamer using them.
Could it be that since this tire cost like $158 to $182 each that all the Airstreamer buy Maxxis and Tow Masters and other tires made overseas that cost $ 100 or less each?
Since I have not gotten any info from a Airstreamers about the Cooper CUSTOM TRAILER PLUS tire it looks like I will have to go with the Maxxis since the Airstreamers using them seem to like them.
SORRY AMERICA

[cameront120]

Are there other sources where you can find out about Cooper tires? Perhaps no one here has any experience with them and can't comment.

[jimmini]

Originally Posted by cameront120

Are there other sources where you can find out about Cooper tires? Perhaps no one here has any experience with them and can't comment.

I have not found much about this tire any where.
Perhaps no one here has experience with them because they cost to much compaired to tires made overseas.
So I hate it but it looks like I will be off to WAL MART like the rest of AMERICA and buy China made. AND THAT AIN'T JOHN DEER GREEN.

[Larry in MO]

Originally Posted by love vintage

Stock market has tanked, economy is in ruins, job layoffs are at an all time high.

The stock market has gone up and down and always back up since I've been making a buck, or two, in the markets since 1970. This down cycle is not as bad as others have been, i.e., 1987 or 2001. In the interest of fairness, the 2001 deal after the terrorist attack on New York was the worst. However, as the recession-driven media failed to point out, the Dow was back even in 59 days. No, there were no headlines to point that out. Good news does not sell newspapers. Check out the recovery rates on the other dips for more info.

No, the sky is not falling! The unemployment rate in the Carter administration peaked at about 12%. It is now about 5 or 6% and the media are screaming that the sky is, again, falling! If you are old enough you might remember in that same era that home mortgage loans peaked at about 21.5%? You think times are tough now? As they say:"You shoulda been there!"

The economy has slowed greatly--not a recession by definition nor, certainly, not a depression. That news will not sell newspapers either.
Zig Ziegler commented that the media has predicted 36 out of the last 2 recessions (Numbers from memory--you get the idea).

Yes, it sounds bad and jobs are being lost. Jobs are always being lost. Gas was astronomically high--gas came back down. Don't believe that any particular candidate or party fixed it. Someone is always invading the sovereign lands of someone else. The market corrected a bunch and will come back. Where is the bottom? Don't believe anyone that knows the answer. In January, tt will be cold in Kansas City and warm in Phoenix. It always works that way. Paris Hilton has not been in the news lately but, I'm betting, will be again sooner or later.

These things always correct--some sooner, some later. Don't buy into the media hype. I'm betting that GM will be here in 20 years. Anyone want to take me up on it?

If only my Flying Cloud floor would correct its failures. Maybe I should lay an Econ 101 book over the rotten spots...................