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Home Depot accused of violating Buy American Act
AP via finance.yahoo.com ^ | Sun June 26, 2011 | Paul Elias

Posted on 06/27/2011 11:45:30 AM PDT by posterchild

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The photograph on Home Depot's website shows a line of smiling soldiers unloading a truck stacked with power tools and other company wares.

The company says this shows "federal dollars go farther at The Home Depot." San Francisco Attorney Paul Scott says the photo also shows the company providing Chinese-made products in violation of the Buy American Act, and the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating.

A federal judge in April refused Home Depot Inc.'s bid to toss a whistleblower lawsuit Scott and other attorneys filed against the Atlanta-based company. Now the country's largest home improvement retailer is the latest company accused of running afoul of the Buy American Act, a 1933 law aimed at protecting U.S. jobs. The law requires that all materials used in construction of public projects originate in the United States or "designated countries."

Like most protectionist trade provisions, the Buy American Act has its supporters and detractors.

(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Government
KEYWORDS: buyamerican; doj; homedepot; paulscott; whistleblower
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1 posted on 06/27/2011 11:45:32 AM PDT by posterchild
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To: posterchild

I avoid Home Depot.


2 posted on 06/27/2011 11:49:34 AM PDT by ansel12 (America has close to India population of 1950s, India has 1,200,000,000 people now. Quality of Life?)
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To: ansel12

I’ve avoided Home Depot since they were found to be routinely infringing on American patents in order to secure look-alike products from China.


3 posted on 06/27/2011 11:52:26 AM PDT by MeganC (NO WAR FOR OIL! ........except when a Democrat's in charge.)
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To: ansel12

They are big time supporters of queers and queer marriages.


4 posted on 06/27/2011 11:53:28 AM PDT by Scotsman will be Free (11C - Indirect fire, infantry - High angle hell - We will bring you, FIRE)
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To: Scotsman will be Free

I’ve made the decision to avoid their stores also.


5 posted on 06/27/2011 11:58:02 AM PDT by Persevero (Homeschooling for Excellence since 1992)
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To: posterchild

Maybe the Sodomites will rush to Home Despot’s aid and support...


6 posted on 06/27/2011 11:58:02 AM PDT by WKUHilltopper (And yet...we continue to tolerate this crap...)
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To: Persevero

Ditto.


7 posted on 06/27/2011 12:06:50 PM PDT by Scotsman will be Free (11C - Indirect fire, infantry - High angle hell - We will bring you, FIRE)
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To: posterchild
At issue in the Home Depot case are GSA "schedule" contracts. Those contracts authorize any government agency to purchase tens of thousands of products from the company's website

Maybe I misunderstand, but why is it Home Depot's responsibility to prevent government employees from violating the law?

Shouldn't the government employees doing the purchasing be responsible for determining that the products they order comply with regulations?
8 posted on 06/27/2011 12:07:37 PM PDT by chrisser (Starve the Monkeys!)
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To: visualops

this sucks!


9 posted on 06/27/2011 12:07:48 PM PDT by TheStickman
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To: Scotsman will be Free; MeganC

A couple of things about Home Depot are, they forced lower quality products onto America, and as a contractor I have often asked the employees questions, and every single time the employee confidently gives me thorough detailed answers, the problem is that very often those answers are complete nonsense, and occasionally destructive.

In the 1990s, Moen faucets ran full page ads apologizing to the loyal plumbing contractors, because Home Depot was forcing them to introduce a cheaper line of faucets, they admitted that they just could not refuse such a massive retailer, all the other manufacturers complied also.

I buy my materials at plumbing wholesalers, and every couple of years when I have to dash into a Home Depot, I see them selling junk versions of plumbing goods, that I didn’t even know existed and that I wished would never be installed, but it does explain why we are replacing faucets and fixtures that are only 2 and 5 years old.

The faucets that I used to replace, were 35 and 50 years old.


10 posted on 06/27/2011 12:13:14 PM PDT by ansel12 (America has close to India population of 1950s, India has 1,200,000,000 people now. Quality of Life?)
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To: ansel12
I avoid Home Depot.

Smart move. We made the mistake of buying rebar from them. We had 15 year old rebar laying around. The old rebar took 3x as long to cut with the grinder. The rebar from HD cut like butter. Found out later from a knowledgeable friend on such matters that it is most likely Chinese rebar -- poorly made. He stated the rebar from India is much better quality.

He stated we should be able to ask the store for the COO (Country Of Origin) of the steel. I am disgusted at all the Chinese junk flooding into America.

11 posted on 06/27/2011 12:13:37 PM PDT by sand88 (Sarah Palin announces her run: August 12, 2011 11:10am ET)
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To: chrisser

The seller should know the origin and legality of his products, not the consumer.


12 posted on 06/27/2011 12:16:04 PM PDT by ansel12 (America has close to India population of 1950s, India has 1,200,000,000 people now. Quality of Life?)
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To: sand88

I have a General Contractor friend that remodels expensive Southern Cal. homes and when I was telling him about the plumbing materials, he was telling me that Home Depot even sold inferior basic building materials, I was skeptical at the time but the friend went into great detail, and even described the inferior finishing nails, etc.


13 posted on 06/27/2011 12:20:42 PM PDT by ansel12 (America has close to India population of 1950s, India has 1,200,000,000 people now. Quality of Life?)
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To: posterchild

I was in a Homo Depot this weekend but only because I needed to use their restroom, I shop at Lowes. On my way towards the restroom I passed the employee breakroom. On the wall outside the breakroom was a large sign that said “Celebrate Diversity.” A gay pride display was below the sign followed by black history and on the very bottom a small sign about Flag Day.

They got my piss but not my money.


14 posted on 06/27/2011 12:21:36 PM PDT by TSgt ("Some folks just need killin'" - Karl Childers (Sling Blade 1996))
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To: ansel12

I’m not a contractor, but do most of my own home repairs. In addition to faucets, door knobs, light switches and doors are also short lived.


15 posted on 06/27/2011 12:37:32 PM PDT by Scotsman will be Free (11C - Indirect fire, infantry - High angle hell - We will bring you, FIRE)
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To: ansel12
The seller should know the origin and legality of his products, not the consumer

Really?

How is "legality" determined?

What's a "public project" and how does Home Depot know when a government purchasing agent orders something what the ultimate destination of that item will be?

There are obviously exceptions - there aren't any U.S. made TV's anymore, as just one example, yet I see televisions all over the place in government offices.

Shouldn't it be the job of the government to enforce it's own regulations against itself or does a GSA contract shift the liability onto the retailer to police agents of the government?
16 posted on 06/27/2011 12:42:50 PM PDT by chrisser (Starve the Monkeys!)
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To: All

We stopped shopping HomoDepot too but it seems like somebody must make a contribution to Barry’s re-selection campaign..


17 posted on 06/27/2011 12:49:58 PM PDT by newnhdad
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To: ansel12
They (Home Depot) also apparently build defective buildings. At least according to some engineers that have examined the collapsed facility in Joplin. "Tilt-up walls." Deemed unsafe. Not sure what this will lead to...

Oh, I know! Lawsuits!

18 posted on 06/27/2011 12:50:49 PM PDT by donozark (Not all heroes wear tights and a cape.)
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To: posterchild

Stupids at Home Depot probably also drink Budweiser, Starbucks and shop at Walmart too.


19 posted on 06/27/2011 12:55:53 PM PDT by steveo (PETO-VT-IN-MARI-SVB-CRVCE-AVSTRALI-SEPELIAR)
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To: chrisser

We can see the retailer doing due diligence to verify that his suppliers and foreign suppliers all meet the legal standards of the products they are making and selling if so required, but how is the end user supposed to do that?

I can hand you a box full 100 different products, and when I demand that you verify that they were all manufactured and imported according to law, where do you even start? Home Depot starts at the beginning, before they even write the contract with that supplier.


20 posted on 06/27/2011 12:57:18 PM PDT by ansel12 (America has close to India population of 1950s, India has 1,200,000,000 people now. Quality of Life?)
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