I do what I can.
Won’t stop the federal government from regulating business out of this country still. I remember the days when “Made In U.S.A.” was all over the place (and when Made In Japan caught up), and you would turn up your nose at “Made In Hong Kong” . . .
Forgot to mention that the president does not say “Made in USA” in his speeches, preferring the vague term “Made in America” (which does not have to mean the USA).
“We should start supporting American companies”
Like GM?
I live on a tight budget and have found that the less expensive items are usually US made. Two birds, one stone.
Thanks for the post. I’ll start looking a little bit harder for Made in the USA along with the other stuff I already watch for.
The one issue we had with the company was when their domestic vendor who supplied mug blanks just couldn't keep up with demand. Worst possible timing, it was right before the Christmas rush - so the company turned to China to produce the mugs, and quality went crushing through the floor.
They've been rather open on the issue, and it was rather frustrating to be forced to drop the line, as their mug display was the single largest profit center in the store per square foot, but not only did the company take back all the inventory we had on hand, they also made good on any we had sold.
For a time, they ceased even offering the mugs, but retail demand for them never abated, and they've gone back to selling the made in China product. But they've made no secret of their desire to return this production to the US. Oh, and note: their domestic suppliers were effectively forced out of business by regulations - inane chemical tests for California regulations, strict emissions guidelines, etc. While imported goods don't require the tests so long as the vendor places a warning label on the product.
Aside from this black mark, they are probably my favorite company to deal with, and I go out of my way to find stores that carry their cards.
The WTO is opposed to country of origin labeling and is pushing to supersede national laws. The day may soon come when there are no country of origin labels. Link to what is happening in agriculture appears below:
Hard to find “Made in the USA” but we can still support American companies. I am buying another laptop. I was going to get a Lenovo ThinkPad, a Chinese company, when I found the Vizio CT14. Vizio is an American company. Makes my choice easier.
I’m not trying to hi-jack the thread, because I agree with you. Buy USA if at all possible.
But here is a warning — happening in Oregon.
Is this happening in your city? This is a copy of an email from AFP — Americans for Prosperity:
Danger! Danger!
Below is a copy of a proposed Amendment being pushed by an organization called “Move To Amend”. It is an attempt to strip the rights of select organizations in order to limit or stop their spending. Note that unions, non-governmental organizations (NGO) nor environmental groups are mentioned.
This is being pushed across the U.S. at the city and county level and has now come to Salem. Below the amendment is the motion Salem City Councilor Laura Tesler has put on the City Council agenda for Monday July 9th.
This needs to be stopped dead in its tracks!!!
Contact your elected representative now and tell them not to let this travesty move forward. Come to the City Council meeting Monday night and support us in stopping this. You don’t need to give testimony, just be there to back us up.
Help us stop the destruction of our Constitution and the decay of our rights and freedoms.
The time to take a stand and say NO MORE!!!! is now.
Move to Amend 28th Amendment
[from http://movetoamend.org/amendment]
Section 1 [A corporation is not a person and can be regulated]
The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only.
Artificial entities, such as corporations, limited liability companies, and other entities, established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under this Constitution and are subject to regulation by the People, through Federal, State, or local law.
The privileges of artificial entities shall be determined by the People, through Federal, State, or local law, and shall not be construed to be inherent or inalienable.
Section 2 [Money is not speech and can be regulated]
Federal, State and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own contributions and expenditures, for the purpose of influencing in any way the election of any candidate for public office or any ballot measure.
Federal, State and local government shall require that any permissible contributions and expenditures be publicly disclosed.
The judiciary shall not construe the spending of money to influence elections to be speech under the First Amendment.
Section 3
Nothing contained in this amendment shall be construed to abridge the freedom of the press
There is a letter from Laura Tesler to the Mayor and City Council for a motion to put this on the November ballot.
So we can all vote it down.
Kitchen Aid blenders are crap. I hate to say it. I really wanted to like them because they are solid, beautiful and American made. but they are just garbage --and $100 a pop. I went through three of them and each one failed the same. The blades broke. Unfortunately, the blade unit is integral to the pitcher and a replacement pitcher costs $40.
I replaced it with a $20 chicom Oster from Walmart. Ugly, cheap and plastic but still working fine.
Like I said, I really wanted to like this blender. Incidentally, the Kitchen Aid was a replacement for a Waring (another American-made blender) that crapped out on me in less than three years.
Anyways, my beautiful American-made Kitchen Aid Artisan mixer is still going strong. If they could just redesign their blender to accept replacement blades I'd buy another one in a heartbeat.
I do what I can.
WD-40 = Made in America
What set me off? Trying to find just ONE umbrella that wasn't made in China. It wasn't easy...of course; I was in commie territory at the time (Vermont), which didn't help. Finally found one 'Made in Malaysia'...
best blender is viatmix, refurbished is a better value.
American born, American made, and a 5 year warrenty.
Ruger, S & W, Colt, Savage, and many others!
Let’s not get too carried away with this “Buy American” BS. In many cases it is union propaganda to get consumers to buy products made here by union labor to support their lifestyle. They do not want you to purchase cheaper, foreign made goods because it hurts their cause. In many cases, the American product is more expensive than the one made in China for this very reason.
We live in a consumer based free market (in theory). My job as a consumer is to get the best product for the best price, period. Thinking like this is what allows failed and anti-competitive business models to survive and it allows unions to justify their negotiation practices. This is how the “too big to fail” thinking takes hold. “We just can’t lose all of those American (union) jobs to foreign competition!” Use patriotism to get people to buy the overpriced product due to union labor costs.
By the way, what exactly is an American company? Is it where it is based? Where the profits end up? How do we decide? What about all of those auto companies who employ THOUSANDS of non-union auto workers? What about Honda, Nissan, BMW, Hyundai, etc? They employ thousands in the U.S. Should we no longer support them because they do not use union labor? What about all of those jobs? I just read recently that Airbus is opening a huge plant here in the U.S. More jobs for us, but they are not an “American” company. Do we not support them if they offer the best product for the price?
We have allowed unions and other factors to make it too expensive to manufacture many products in the U.S. I do not blame companies for moving. Many here believe a company should be loyal to the U.S. and its workers. Meanwhile, those same workers continue to elect Democrats and vote for politicians who continue to strangle them with regulations, unions, and the highest corporate tax rates in the world.
New Balance shoes are made in the US, priced competitively, and last forever.