There's one thing that i've seen in the past through years-the people that have a lot of money and wealth are ruining this country.All the business dealings to move the manufacturing from this country to overseas are caused by these people. Just look around-our own president thinks it's ok to buy foreign made goods(look at the last deal he made with the presidential helicopter). This is the problem with GM-more and more people are buying foreign made products and are not looking at the financial harm they are doing to this country. If we lose GM,we can forget having a job in this country.
Carl - it goes alot deeper than what new car you buy. What type of computer are you typing on right now ?? where was it made ?? Better yet, I dare you to take a look at the labels for the clothes you are wearing.....see any Made in USA tags ?? This is going to be an even HUGER hit on the US economy - Very soon the Textile laws are going to change and just about evey US job making anything related to textiles will evaporate - along with the plants and mills and all the supporting infrastructure. .....and most of it will go to China. Time to buy stock in them - its going to be the only way to make money ou:
I agree with you Alan. Other than the computer being made overseas,I really try to buy things that are made here.Since you mentioned the textile industry-ever take a drive through Massachusetts and see the old textile factories that aren't there anymore? Sad isn't it? And what about the Fruit Of The Loom T-shirts that used to be made here? They're being made in the Dominican Republic.I can understand investing in these companies that have moved overseas,but what overall effect does it have on the U.S. economy? The only thing is,how long are things going to be until the bottom falls out? The "George Bush's" of the world aren't helping things out. Heaven help us because the U.S. is in real trouble. :Brow:
Don't get me started on manufacturing losses.... I've had a rough last year and a half with this. I just had the pleasure of visiting our old assembly lines in Mexico. That move cost us 120 or so jobs that I had the task of eliminating. Now, as far as the Chinese go, how many people here know that the Chinese own 43% or so of our treasury notes? Let's have a show of hand?
With the way the DOllar is sliding - that may be a good thing !! We'll bankrupt China with out worthless notes before they can take over production of everything ou:
That's like Wix filters. I think they used to be made in North or South Carolina. Guess where you see them made now when you look at the boxes? Made in Mexico. :af: What I don't understand, is if all the factories are moving overseas and to Mexico, why are all the Mexicans and South Americans coming to the U.S.? ou:
That is so true. And although I agree with your position, Carl, I can't begin to call these folks "elite intellectuals." More like rich, selfish, money-mongers.
It's because in Mexico workers are paid a little to do a lot. In the US, the traditional situation was the opposite - paid a lot to do a little. It's going to be a long and painful process to even things out. We can't afford to buy from ourselves because we want a lot for a little. I'll bet that the Wix filter you can buy at Wal Mart today costs less than the US made one from 5 or 10 years ago. And we all like things that cost less.
Half of the 100+ workers at our plant make $8.25 an hour. If you complain or get hurt badly enough to need a doctors visit, you're gone because you're only a "indefinate temp" and it takes less than 3 days to have you replaced by someone new.
I agree with everything you say on that note. I'd rather see it still "Made in U.S.A." I guess that's a thing of the past and don't even get me started on Walmart. :af: I think that company is going to survive the cockroaches after everything else is gone some day. uzzled:
Passed an 18-wheeler the other day, it had a huge sign on the back doors: "Say NO to Cheap Freight!" WTH........so I'm supposed to say: "YES, I want the EXPENSIVE freight! Matter of fact, go ahead and DOUBLE what you're charging me!" :spank: ou: As a business owner or manager, you'd be a fool (and out of work) if you didn't look for ways to cut costs, increase revenues, boost profits. My question: Why is it so danged expensive to actually produce anything in this country, that businesses are going across borders? :rant:
But I also believe that in a few years they'll be able to sell those notes...if they decide to, what's that going to do to us.... :jd:
My question: Why is it so danged expensive to actually produce anything in this country, that businesses are going across borders? :rant:[/QUOTE] That's easy. UNIONS
Dang Mark That's EXACTLY what I was going to say!! I see it every day in my line of work. Business is good ... union moves in ... workers are happier ... business goes out of business.... every one gripes about the economy.... Rinse, wash, and repeat.... It's sad that we as a country are allowing the mafia like attitude of unions to ruin our economy.
Rick and Mark-You guys are a JOKE! I've said it before and I'll say it again. Not all unions operate the way that you think. I am a UAW member and do I agree with everything that the union does, no I don't. But I'm not ready to blame the outsourcing of jobs and the poor economy on a union. I'm not going to get into an argument about pro and anti union views. I understand that we can agree to disagree on this. OK then, how much money do you guys think I deserve to make a year? $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 Guess what, even if it was $20,000 a year it would still be cheaper to make it in Mexico. So why blame a union. Our problems with outsourcing go a lot deeper than that. Do you think software companies are moving their R&D and programming over to India because of unions? I don't think so. My brother programs robots for auto companies and he always tells me that if there is a plant in the U.S. and a plant in Mexico that is going to build the same vehicle there are two different robots. One has pinch point areas that limit the robots range of motion and makes it slower, more time consuming to program and ultimately more expensive. Guess where the safer one goes and guess where the more dangerous one goes. I bet you can figure it out. That is just one facet of why things cost more to make here. Do you think they give a damn about worker safety in some of these other countries? Maybe if you guys hate unions so much you should go shop at the biggest antiunion company on the face of the earth. WALMART!! Yeah, you might get stuff pretty cheap there but guess what, you are paying for their workers health care out of your own pocket. That's right most of the employees at Walmart can't afford their health care coverage and it's been well documented that Walmart managers often tell their employees to "check with the state for coverage on your children" because they will qualify with their low hourly rate of pay. You know who pays for it then, it comes out of all of our pockets. :beer This is not a pro-union rant but our problems are deeper than unions. :TU:
Why are we so expensive? And why are they are so inexpensive? Too many to list. But the fact is they are and while thinking that Americans are worthless over-paid slackards, you have to look at yourself and wonder if you are a over-paid slackard, I say we aren't, in fact we are underpaid from what our fathers were paid, whatever father you talking about at this stage. The fact that we are under-paid is in a large part because we allowed ourselves to be so and bought into the cheaper consumer goods, the disposable good. I don't know about you, but other then the computer I'm typing on and a few third world country auto-parts. Consumer goods suck that you buy. What use to last ten years, last five, etc. Seems you get what you pay for
Todd69GS: I agree with you. I'm a USWA member myself. They aren't the cause of this country's problems...it really does run much deeper than that. I know it's easy to think that if you're not a union member, but if you worked in a plant like mine, you'd quickly see why they're needed. It's not just about wages....it's affordable health care, seniority recognition, a grievance procedure, a safety committee, civil rights and FMLA committee, worker's comp committee, etc. I try to buy American, but it's getting harder every day, which makes me sick. I've been seeing a day of reckoning coming for twenty years, and I'm afraid it's getting close. I thought I may not live long enough to see it, but now I'm not so sure. I'm not a big Ross Perot fan by any means, but he was right about NAFTA....it won't raise Mexicans' standard of living up to our level. It will lower ours to theirs. And that "great big sucking sound" of jobs going south? The man didn't get to be a billionaire by being an idiot (granted, he is a bit wacky).
Unions are part of it. Trial lawyers/ litigation is part of it. Excessive regulation is part of it. So are a bunch of other things. The notion of "Buy American" is a very romantic idea. Lots of us want to do it but when it comes time to buy that washing machine (or whatever else it is) we want the best bang for our buck. That is human nature. Rail at WalMart all you want (and I personally hate what they have done particularly to small towns) but most of us shop there. Fact is, the Chinese, Mexicans, and a bunch of others are willing to do the same jobs for less money. This is to their credit as they are just trying to make a living like the rest of us. That isn't George Bush's fault, or John Kerry's fault, or your fault, or my fault. It's just the way things are.
