[jonno]

Does it make sense to pay a guy $15 or $20/hr to turn a screw?

Over-come and adapt - thats what living "free" is all about.

When you live "free" there are no guarantees.

[nmh]

"Does it make sense to pay a guy $15 or $20/hr to turn a screw? "

For our entitlement folks, that makes perfect sense. Ideally the group of over priced labor needs to be head by a union so as to extort as much over priced labor as possible. Oh, and God forbid if they should be asked to do something else for a living!

In answer to your question - heck no! I don't care where it is made. If I like it and it's what I want to spend for an item, then I'll buy it. Nothing personal. Strictly a business decision just as moving products with over priced labor etc. elsewhere to be made.

[looscnnn]

I am not advocating that kind of money, never have. I am very anti-union, I don't think anyone should be forced to join a union to work somewhere. Unions started out as a good thing, but have abused their "power".

I also do not agree that you just ship jobs out of the country. You can just hire people that are willing to work for less, there are plenty of people out of work that are willing to work for a lot less than $15/hr just to get food on the table.

[Orbiting_Rosie's_Head]

Does it make sense to pay a guy $15 or $20/hr to turn a screw?

If he uses it to feed, house & cloth himself and his family, well, yes. You can either pay a little more for your vacuum, or have the money to provide for the displaced worker's family deducted from your paycheck (or have it piled onto the shoulders of your children and grandchildren as debt).

Personally, I vote for paying the high wage for screw-turning, as it cuts the gubmint out of the money loop and likely creates a family of Republican voters.

And one final point: There is a lot more going on in a modern factory besides "screw-turning". The loss of these skilled manufacturing jobs is one more chink in America's armor.