Posted on 03/30/2009 6:08:53 PM PDT by libh8er
Why didn’t Obama fire Gettlefinger? The UAW had a huge hand in bringing down GM, they struck GM probably more often than any of the other auto companies, if I recall correctly. GM was building cars the public wanted, but the government saw to it that the public wasn’t going to get what they wanted. The government’s CAFE standards and all the other “green” technology they forced upon the auto companies were more unnecessary burdens. The government’s decision to drastically reduce drilling/refining here put us at the mercy of the oil cartels, and kept Americans from getting affordable gas from the abundant oil supply we have as a natural resource. Wake up, (average) America! Never mind, go back to sleep. 0 will take care of everything.
No, Toyota’s profits don’t go to America, but their CARS go to America. We gain from trade with other countries, just like you gain from trading with people in other states or across town. The national boundary doesn’t change the underlying economic principles at work.
Don’t fall for what economists call the money illusion, i.e. the impression that money is wealth, and that if money is leaving a country (because that country buys imported goods more than domestic goods), then it is losing wealth. Not so. As Adam Smith laid out hundreds of years ago, the wealth of nations consists of its goods and services, not its money supply, which is merely a medium of exchange, it allows the trade of real wealth to occur.
Many countries don’t even produce enough food to feed themselves, such as England or Japan, yet they are far from starvation, and buying food from overseas, or “sending money out of the country” doesn’t make them any poorer. It makes them wealthier by the amount of food they buy. The same holds true for cars, stereos, etc.
If it’s cheaper to buy screws overseas versus ones made here, then America gains by buying screws overseas and not buying the ones made here. The temporary loss of a job for the American screw-makers is more than offset by the overall gain to the country as the previous amount of money we spent on a given amount of screws can now be spent on that same amount of screws AND whatever else the remaining money will buy. Thus we are richer in totals goods and services.
See Thomas Sowell’s Basic Economics, or any of the books on my recommended reading list.
Better not buy a Japanese car either. They prop up their automakers artificially as well.
Their government hasn’t done all that well either ;-)
But I agree with you in principle. I will only buy Fords in the future unless they get ‘bailed out’.
My father & his 8 brothers would all roll over in their graves if I did.
And "if" more Americans felt as I do, America wouldn't have to borrow money from CHICOMS to stay afloat.
Sooner or later, Americans are going to have to realize that without the return of the American manufacturing base, this country will NEVER return to her former greatness & glory.
And try supplying the ARMY, NAVY, AIR FORCE & MARINE CORPS with armament NOT MADE IN USA...
I know you asked that as a rhetorical question (re: firing Givethefinger) ;)
There actually is a recent precedent in the case of Smith/Wesson. British commies took that company over when Clinton was in charge and the people’s boycott killed the company. The Brits sold it at something like five cents on the dollar.
Ford took no tax dollars.
“...Slight problem there, Toyota employs Americans yes, but their profits don’t go to America....”
If only GM had profits!
I think that people have been doing that for some time now. They just haven't called it a boycott. I guess that means I've been boycotting GM for 18 years now.
I had a bad experience with Ford..
Agree with the death. I was actually going to bite on a new camaro ... not now.
Yep, I am really glad I got my Silverado already, pre-Obamanation. I hear Ford is still holding it’s own and not taking bail outs, so Ford is still on my OK list. Hang in there Ford. My next car will be from you.
“The general purpose sidearm for the US military is the M9 pistol. This 9mm handgun is made by Beretta and is identical to the Beretta 92F available at fine gun stores across the US.” Baretta is an Italian company, if I am not mistaken.
If you folks want to see where this will all lead, do some google searches on British Leyland and see how that turned out.
(Except for one boutique manufacturer that makes cars out of wood, there are NO British car makers any more.)
Yeah it was. Actually, I seem to have mispelled the name. Thanks for the correction! ;)
No it hasn’t. It has been “decimated” by loss of jobs to states that have right to work laws. (IE: non union factories)
Most “foreign” autos and components are built here in the U.S.
Just not in Detroit by UAW thugs.
Bought my first GM last year. Great car. I would buy it again. But UAW has made that unlikely, and Obama has made it very unlikely.
“Better not buy a Japanese car either. They prop up their automakers artificially as well.”
I understand this, but, I’d rather give money to a foreign company than give it to commies here at home.
Heck, I’d buy from just about anyone before I’d knowingly support American unions.
I was raised around unions (CAT, Keystone). My family loathed them—and so do I.
Oh, and by the way, that Mustang GT is built by Auto Alliance, a 50/50 project between Ford and Mazda. The Mazda 6 is built on the very same assembly line.
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