Posted on 01/08/2009 4:25:05 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
The U.S. is being infiltrated by illegals, sold to foreign powers, and abandoned by its government. But are Americans enabling the dissolution of our economy and country as well by continuing to buy foreign goods?
America literally is being sold out from underneath Americans. According to the 2008 Economic Report of the President: "The United States is both the single leading recipient and leading source of foreign direct investment in the world. In 2006, total cumulative FDI in the United States was almost $1.8 trillion, 15 percent of the world total." In 2006, foreign-owned assets in the U.S. totaled roughly $16 trillion.
And where does all that foreign investment go?
As Paul Craig Roberts, who once was the assistant secretary of treasury under President Ronald Reagan and associate editor of The Wall Street Journal, wrote seven years ago: "Very little of the foreign money flowing into the United States is for the purpose of building Toyota and BMW plants. Eighty percent to 85 percent of direct investment by foreigners in the U.S. economy goes into mergers and acquisitions. In 2000, 97 percent of direct investment by foreigners went for the purchase of existing U.S. assets." And those assets include U.S. government securities and liabilities, including our national debt, which is mounting into the teens of trillions.
We all know China serves as an example of this vicious cycle. American companies, from agribusinesses to Wal-Mart, have proliferated markets with so many "Made in China" labels that our nation has one big tag dangling from the toe of Florida -- "Sold to China." And do the Chinese mind their material and monetary dominance over America? Of course not. In turn, they take the money that we pay them for their goods and invest (lend) it back to us via our government as one of the groups of "foreign investors" in our national debt. And why? Lately, the reason has been so Congress can bail out more American industries and deepen our bondage (and ownership) to countries such as China.
In the same 2002 column, Roberts eerily predicted: "The United States is on its way to becoming a country whose corporations are foreign-owned and foreign-based. The United States will decline as a consumer market, as there will be no high-productivity jobs to support consumer demand. The United States is importing a new population that will help it on its way to Third World-ism. Every year, millions of poor and uneducated immigrants, both legal and illegal, pour into the United States from alien lands. … Today, 20 percent of the U.S. population is foreign-born or children of foreign born. This massive influx drives up the demand for income-support programs, while driving down the taxable wages in retail- and service-sector jobs, where Americans are forced to seek employment as higher-paying automotive, electronic, textile and manufacturing jobs leave the country. The United States is still a superpower, but it is a country with very little, if any, control over its future and its destiny, a country whose time is running out."
It's time to realize that we're all together in this boat called America, that the boat is sinking, and that government is not our salvation. Our hope is not in Congress or even a political-messianic deliverance through the presidency. The only economic stimulus plan they should be preparing is the one that rewards manufacturers and consumers who promote and purchase American-made products and services. Our government doesn't need to dole out more bailouts and drown us deeper in debt. We don't need more bad trade agreements, such as NAFTA, or to provide tax relief incentives for corporations that are outsourcing. We need fair trade, not free trade. And we need a fair tax, not a flowering system of taxes.
Let's be honest. Justifications abound for purchasing foreign goods, and many of them make perfect sense. Reasons range from price to quality, but, as we have with gas prices, maybe we will continue to enable foreign dominance in commerce and beyond by paying the prices and not coming up with alternatives. We say we can't afford to buy American, but maybe it's time to say we can't afford not to. By supporting our homeland, we not only are investing in America and boosting the economy but also are helping to reverse staggering unemployment rates and keeping companies from going under. We all can do our part to bail the water out of our sinking ship by buying American goods and services.
But be careful with labels, as there's an obvious difference between "Made in USA" and "Assembled in USA." And some labels lie, so do your homework. Take some time to understand what it means for a business to comply with the "Made in USA" standards (www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/adv/bus03.shtm). And check reputable consumer Web sites, such as MadeInUSAForever.com and StillMadeInUSA.com, to search for domestically manufactured goods and services.
The good news is that, according to a Gallup Poll, 72 percent of Americans today are more concerned with the geographical origins of products they purchase, and 50 percent even are willing to pay more for American-made products. For many, "Made in USA" labels represent an increased concern for work and environmental conditions, quality and consumer safety. Buying American is also a way to rekindle patriotism.
If you're old enough, you'll remember when "Made in USA" was a badge of honor. Well, I'm proposing a buyers' revolution in which we all economically win that medal of valor. If the government isn't going to help us by securing our borders, reducing outsourcing, or ceasing debt caused by bogus bailouts and out-of-control spending, then we the people have got to take back the financial future of our country. The buck stops here -- in America. One resolution we all should make in 2009: Buy "Made in USA." Don't just go green; spend green -- in homemade products and services. If just half the country followed suit, our downturned economy would turn around in half the time.
I'll concede that. Unfortunately, all we ever seem to hear about are the extremes.
You've got that for sure. We hear about a plane that crashes but nobody talks about the 100,000 planes that didn't. No problem; we live in an age were we can ditch the news-biz and find this stuff out on our own.
Export of American goods is a good thing. Export of American jobs is a bad thing. Import of foreign goods is a bad thing. Import of foreign workers when millions of Americans cannot find jobs is a bad thing.
No American jobs have been exported except in the minds of those who lack the understanding of what business do.
The function of a business is to make a profit for the owners. The function of a business is not to provide jobs. Companies employ workers to perform tasks necessary to develop sales and earn a profit. If the manufacturing process is unable to produce at a price where the product can be sold at a consistant profit the business or manufacturing process will close. The workers will be laid off. The jobs will cease to exist.
The company can create new manufacturing in a different location where costs, includung labor cost, are less. The jobs are created elsewhere but they are not exported. By this process, the textile industry deserted the river mill towns of the north and reestablished its self and grew tremendously in the south. That process repeated except the southern plants closed because they could not compete.
America has imported goods since day one. There is nothing bad about importing. If the imported goods are less expensive and of adequate quality, there will be a market and sales. Imports are good and support the economy by
supplementing it with goods it is unable to competitively produce.
Americans love imports because they are good and they are cheap.
Finally, until now, we are a capitalist nation, not a socialist state. We employ capital to create businesses and we employ labor as required to make the businesses run. You will may get your wish as we become socialist as per your desires.
My, my, my. Or in the minds of those who have seen their manufacturing plant moved to Mexico. Or in the minds of those who have seen their service center moved to India. Or in the minds of those who understand that Keynesian economics is fatally flawed.
The function of a business is to make a profit for the owners.
Of course.
the textile industry deserted the river mill towns of the north and reestablished its self and grew tremendously in the south.
To the obvious detriment to the economies of the river mill towns of the North, and to the obvious advantage to the South.
America has imported goods since day one.
True.
There is nothing bad about importing.
False.
Finally, until now, we are a capitalist nation, not a socialist state.
Until now? Actually, I think of the US as a decreasingly free market nation. The erosian has been picking up steam for a century.
The Republican party has been controlled by Rockefeller Republicans for at least 20 years. In collusion with liberal Democrats, it has become profitable for American companies to export jobs. This is a bad thing. A return to a sensible free market would make it unprofitable for American companies to export jobs. This would be a good thing. But it will only happen if conservatives gain control of the Republican party.
You will may get your wish as we become socialist as per your desires.
My, my, my. Your presumptions about me are ludicrous.
As we have pointed out over and over again the damage done to the patent office under Clinton with an assist from Republicans in Congress became worse under Bush and a Republican Congress.
We have done everything to drive inventors from our shores as far as giving formation capital to their inventions and allowing them the great profits they deserve.
Unless that is reversed no such ideas as advanced by Chuck can succeed. Since we have been banned from World Net Daily no one is pointing this out, in energy or any other vital area. Markets, no matter how much you “bail them out” do not create wealth. They only trade it around.
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