Posted on 10/28/2006 3:11:03 PM PDT by Alter Kaker
EUFAULA, Alabama — Here in this courtly, antebellum town, Alabama’s condom production has survived an onslaught of Asian competition, thanks to the patronage of straitlaced congressmen from this Bible Belt state.
Behind the scenes, the politicians have ensured that companies in Alabama won federal contracts to make billions of condoms over the years for AIDS prevention and family planning programs overseas, though Asian factories could do the job at less than half the cost.
In recent years, the state’s condom manufacturers fell hundreds of millions of condoms behind on orders, and the federal aid agency began buying them from Asia. The use of Asian-made condoms has contributed to layoffs that are coming next month.
But Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, has quietly pressed to maintain the unqualified priority for American-made condoms and is likely to prevail if the past is any guide.
“What’s wrong with helping the American worker at the same time we are helping people around the world?” asked the senator’s spokesman, Michael Brumas.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
this should be stopped immediately.
The reason domestic condoms sell better than foreign is advertising. Foreign condoms are sized small, medium, and large. Ours are Large, super big, and el macho grande.
Au contraire, expanded.
No wonder aids spreads in Africa, they are using Chinese condoms. I don't mean to suggest quality is the problem either. Those african men probably slip them on broomsticks like the instructor shows them, but the women get pregnant and disease spreads anyway.
If they were sized better, they'd realize they were meant for something else, not broomsticks.
They sent finger cots.....labeled large
Regardless of wether Sessions is running...It's an article that fits nicely into the media's continuing campaign to discourage the christian republican voting block. I could give a damn, maybe in a few weeks.
As Reagan said, "Send them the extra extra large ones,
mark them, Made In the the USA, Size SMALL.
Abstinence is the only reliable method of AIDS prevention. Providing condoms just helps to spread the disease. It's distressing that the US government is complicit in this.
As I was saying.........
The list goes on and on and on and on to be sure but the end is "justified".
Sorry Lou. I promise I won't ping you out of thin air again.
I see America is at the cutting edge again!The rest of the world makes automobiles,steel and heavy equipment,we make toothpicks,toilet paper and now,rubbers.
Yes, but rubbers that can't compete on the global market without preferential taxpayer-funded subsidies.
And who says there's no American manufacturing left?
Do they come with a pair of tweezers?
I read once in the "Reader's Digest" that during WWII, we sent condums as part of our "aid" to Russia. The workers in the plant marked all of the large condums as "Texas Medium" size.
I often wondered if that contributed to the cold war, with the Russians being envious. Semper Fi.
Read the article. Great that we still have these things made here.
Thanks for making that good point. Also, the recent stats on pregnancy prevention are (in America where supposedly people are educated about these things) only 75% effective.
Why would anyone use a method of preventing pregnancy, or advocate it to children (teens), that gives a 25% chance of getting pregnant? So, if condoms are big business in USA, who in the NEA is profiting by shoving these things on students?
The culture of death has very deep pockets with lots of different hands in them.
I just hate when instructions are outsourced as well. Can get dicey.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.