An article by Buy American guy Roger Simmermaker. By his logic then, Ford and GM would have been charcoal toast. Floor mat troubles won't be swept under rug
Did you read the ads and other articles on this alarmist web site? The site is a joke but while you are there people order your crisis cooker and DVD on how to hide your guns.
I have absolutely nothing against GM, Ford or any (for me) domestic automanufacturer. I was very, very upset when GM dealerships were closing. I want robust competition and success for as many as the market can bare. But I hate it when people don't realize how "American" Toyota actually is. Yes, it's a foreign based company BUT Toyota is global. Toyota USA is the USA. Many of Toyota's cars have more North American content in them than a lot of supposedly US based cars. But Toyota has become such an easy target lately that the idiots are coming out of the woodwork. Also why do people gripe about the floormat recall? Is it so hard for people to realize it was a separate issue? Why is it impossible for people to believe that Toyota recognized a Potential problem with floormats, and did the recall in earnest? Would they be happier if Toyota never recalled the floormats? Then they could gripe that Toyota saw evidence that they had a problem with their floormats and never reacted! I'm just getting really tired of the BS.
I work for a foreign-owned company. My division is HQed in one country and the Corporate HQ is in another. Only American HQ is in this country. Trust me, when the "Buy American, punish foreign competition" mentally gets really worked up, us American citizens get nervous.
Tony I appreciate your plight, along with every other american working for a foreign company. The problem when it comes to trade we have been getting pummelled for 40 years and the results of this pummelling are now showing up in the US. Deficits everywhere, a dying middle class and economic well-being destroyed.
There are a couple of issues at play. The first is that it is almost impossible to idiot proof any consumer product. Murphy is alive and well and will make an appearance at the most inopportune moment. As our technology has become "smarter", our collective common sense and intelligent use of that technology has diminished. We no longer feel that we have the need to know how it works or does not work. We assume that it will work fine all the time and that is the end of it. When an item does not work, it could not be our fault. Something, somewhere along the line made it break and it is not our fault. The other factor in play is the media. If it bleeds it leads. The media has no particular need to get all the facts. The media or infotainment only has a need to present a program that people will watch and for which advertisers will pay. The media is also owned by very powerful interests that might have an interest in pushing consumer dollars towards the purchase of so-called American products rather than that so-called foreign product. Those Ford and Mercury recalls involving electronic braking systems barely got a mention. And who manufactures those systems for Ford and Mercury? Again, facts do not matter. PasPrius
Remember Ross Perot predicting , " That Loud Sucking Sound " when U.S. Employers were free to ship American Jobs overseas ? Free Trade isn't Free at all. All that's left of the sound Perot predicted so accurately is the dying echo, and the long lines at the unemployment office. More Tax Cuts for the Fat Cats will Solve Everything . . . and after you 'BUY' that . . . . I have some Brooklyn Bridge Stock you should invest in too.
The American people were duped economically. Save a few dollars at wal-mart and lose your job..... a great deal.
its the same all over the western world factory´s have already closed or going to move to china and similar. big company´s have better financial figure but the unimployment go´s up. the economic crisis wil never end unless that stops and if not it will get wurs. the major part of economic income is the spending of the majority and thats the workers force. if those lose there job over and over again it will endup failing to a big crash.
the better financial figures are for a generation at best, we have now arrived at the end of that period. If the US does not enact an industrial policy unemployment will never get to be less than 8% and even then many will be underemployed as they have been for the last 15-20 years.
We should definitely keep out all imported goods and require unionized labor with guaranteed full employment at full benefits with everyone being upper middle class. That's how this country grew, right?
Why would you be so sarcastic about the economic well-being of your country. A level playing field is all I ask for, no dumping, no artificial barriers, no subsidization of foreign industries, level environmental regulations, etc. You mock the idea of hard working americans building things, what do you think created the middle class? that is how the country grew.
My family has been working hard in this country since it was British. None of them that I know are well off. When you come up with the miracle pill that guarantees all Americans the same gravy you want for rust belt union labor, we can talk. Some have accepted the necessity of broadening the career search, rather than always begging to Washington. In my eyes you are asking for a little more than a level playing field, well into protectionism. As a nation, we cannot afford to build those walls. I support your goals of leveling the playing field. Between now and your total success in that effort, there is work to do.
Can't afford to build those walls? The US trade deficit is now over $3.7 trillion since 1982. We can't afford to be fleeced by foreign countries anymore. It is month after month, year fter year. Every government is broke whether it is federal, state, county city or school. There is a lot of work to do, and one of the first things that needs to be done is eductation. The importers along with wall street have done a fantastic job of 'educating' the public about the evils of protectionism and the benefits of free trade.
Imports and exports that roughly equalize out over time. Not a trade deficit of $2 trillion over 20 years(Japan).
Ha. I wouldn't blame all that stuff on foreigners. The blame rests right here in this country, when the pols decided to destroy the tax base and deregulate the government. The result has been a disaster for us--and those foreigners. Remember, we had a budget SURPLUS in 2000. But then, maybe you don't want to remember.