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Automotive News & Views Buying American Cars What Does It Mean?
7263 messages, Last post on May 27, 2009 at 4:31 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
With parts coming from everywhere, does "Buying American" have much meaning anymore? Is quality and price the bottom line?
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If I go to a Wal-mart and buy a foreign made tee shirt, there is a good chance it was made by a child working under unconscionable conditions (14 hour days, no breaks, no going to the bathroom, work faster or get beaten, then get marched to a "dormitory" with the other captives). Besides that, the people at the Wal-mart look miserable and don't get health insurance except for what they get from the state. I would rather pay more someplace else and be able to sleep at night. On the other hand, if I buy a car that was made in Europe or Japan, the people who made it are better off (including things like health insurance, pension and disposable income) then the people who make cars in the US. So why shouldn't I buy the foreign made car?
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Replying to: bif (Jan 04, 2006 2:14 pm)
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Replying to: reddogs (Jan 04, 2006 2:24 pm)  duh me  reddogs, I can see WHY he made that suggestion. I however gotta strongly agree with you.  Rocky |
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Replying to: rockylee (Jan 04, 2006 2:00 pm) |
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Replying to: ontop (Jan 04, 2006 2:34 pm) A few trade laws repealed and tariffs enforced would stop the bleeding of american manufactoring  Rocky |
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Replying to: rockylee (Jan 04, 2006 2:43 pm) 
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Replying to: rockylee (Jan 04, 2006 2:00 pm) And what exactly is your definition of 'fair wage'? Some kids go to school, struggle to get into a good college , take loans to pay steep tutions, get into a financial services firm, work for whatever hours are required, pay $160+ a month for healthcare (with deductibles), no pensions but only 401(k) and can potentially get fired at the drop of a hat. Some kids chill out at school, grind through high school, get a job as a UAW worker, free healthcare for the entire clan for life, iron clad pensions, no firing, get paid for not working yada yada yada. You can maybe find 100,000 people to do the first job. You can find 2 billion people to so the second job. So how on earth is that fair wage / fair compensation. Wake up brother. Communism is dead. America led the free world into globalization and that is the future of the world. If there are a billion people who can do an autoworkers job for less, they will do it till such time their wages come up and match those of the others, which will of course go down. If building a car requires skills which a person in Mexico can provide at a quarter the wages and benefits of an American, power be with him. If the American car worker believes that he is worth more than the low worker wages, he can do something else. This is a free country end everyone has the freedom to do whatever he wants to do. Cross-class mobility is way better here than anywhere else in the world. People will have to live with what they deserve in the new world, not with what they have come to expect. Coming back to cars, all I care about is how good a car is. If you are so concerned about foreigners not making any money, turn in the entire mortgage you took out. A foreigner is making money out of it. Sell you car (American/Korean whatever) coz some foreigner has loaned you that money and is making a profit out of it. The world is too mixed up to be able to figure out the origin of money. Cars need to be purchased of how good you feel about it. If American brands make you feel better, go ahead. There is nothing called and America / Japanese or whatever car. Most probably most of the money GM raises is from a market where inverstors are from all over the world. Ultimately any money made flows up to them. A car is not just about where a part was made or assembled. It starts way far behind. But if assembling is what makes you happy, be happy.
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Replying to: rockylee (Jan 04, 2006 2:43 pm) Absolutely. Our forefathers would roll over in their graves to see that descendants of entreprenurial, hard working, spirited, risk - taking, focussed, creative ancestors are lazy bums who want to put no effort into building their lives but expect everything to come to them at no cost.
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Replying to: reddogs (Jan 04, 2006 2:55 pm) I'd say so. Bill Clinton signed it (NAFTA) into law unchanged which left the unions feeling back stabbed for supporting him, after their canidate former Gov. of California Jerry Brown bit the dust. The next great Union canidate is none other than John Edwards whom wants to repeal trade treaties and NAFTA & CAFTA since he believes it's doing grave danger to the American Worker and american buisness that has to compete with cheap foreign made goods. I think GM and Bill Ford will support him.(Edwards) Even if it's done secretly. They also feel betrayed by Dubya because he did nothing to the oil company's and their high gas gouging prices that killed the american automobile industry into losses. Bill Ford went to President Bush and asked for help. He recieved a cold shoulder from our President. But yes Slick Willy's biggest blunder outside of his sex scandel is NAFTA. I like Bill Clinton, but the NAFTA blunder makes me hate him at the same time. Rocky |
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