Not me.  I just drove through New Mexico and Arizona and stopped a few times at those   "AUTHENTIC  Indian trading posts".  Every single thing I picked up was made in China.   

A bridge (or anything else, for that matter) should be built wherever the person or company building it feels as though they are getting the best value for their dollar.

Why should a contractor be required to adhere to "Made in the USA" if the quality is the same or better going overseas and it's your tax dollars that are paying for it?

I would love to buy everything stamped *made in america*, but unfortunately, I can't afford it.

Oh dont get me started.

and our 39% corporate tax rate.  Soon to be highest in the world.

Brew wrote on Dec 17^th, 2010 at 3:44pm:

this is true however the things that were made here in the states that are now made in china cost the same if not more than they did when they were made here. should we send our industry to the biggest communist nation in the world  in the name of extreme american capitalism?

how long will it be before there are starving children in the united states and not in china?

eat your veggies

Racer1_NC wrote on Dec 18^th, 2010 at 7:27pm:

i still do. give you an example. i set out to buy a stud extractor to take take some studs out of engine head i was working on. spartan tool which is known for carrying high quality tools had one made by lyse tools. it was made in Taiwan and it was $29. checked at sears and they didnt carry it. then i went to an old machinist tool supplier called edco tools. they guy that owns the place was right there on the floor stocking his shelves. among the  thousands of tools he had he took me right over to the tool i needed. there it was made by proto tool in the usa for $19.95. those infamous chippawa boots of mine that jen painted a picture of. texas made. a place in columbus carried a georgia boot for $225 made in china. chippewa boots only available in southern ohio ohio   made in texas $159.  100+ miles from my house and i regret not making the trip down there cause my georgia boots dont keep my feet warm for shit.
i put allot effort into buying tools and things i use and rely on to make a living. its hard to do but its doable and in some cases cheaper. just inconvenient.

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Mike NZ wrote on Dec 18^th, 2010 at 2:10pm:

When they're allowed to keep more of their own money, they invest it, buy more raw materials, create more jobs, and the economy thrives. It happens when individuals are allowed to keep more of their own money, too.

Say I have $100 more in my pocket every month. Maybe I'm going to take my family out to dinner, buy a new light fixture, and paint the shed. Without the extra $100, those things may not occur. But instead I spend it - and help keep a cook, waitress, assembly person, and paint factory worker employed. That's how, in the words of our teleprompter in chief, the wealth gets spread around.

I'm with BB - don't get me started.

Mike NZ wrote on Dec 18^th, 2010 at 10:25pm:



Coincidentally,

fine for Google, meanwhile, the shortcomings will be borrowed.




Irish lawmakers approve EU-IMF bailout loans

Published: Wednesday, December 15, 2010, 10:27 AM

DUBLIN   -- Despite bluster from opposition parties, Irish lawmakers voted Wednesday to back the euro67.5 billion ($90 billion) international rescue for Ireland ...    

Ireland's day-to-day finances are in terrible shape, with euro50 billion ($67 billion) in spending this year being covered by just euro31 billion ($41 billion) in taxes.


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Charlie wrote on Dec 19^th, 2010 at 3:24pm:

Nobody - and I mean nobody - paid those exorbitant rates back then. There were shelters galore, and everybody used them.

Quote:

Why should they? They're in business to make money - which is the number one concern of stockholders spanning the globe.

Charlie, I agree with you to an extent.  Sam Walton is a prime example of that.  The *Wal Mart* of today is nowhere near what Sam Walton envisioned.  He's probably rolling over in his grave.

However, sometimes I find it tough to swallow when a janitor at the local GM plant (closed now) started out at $18.00 an hour.

Callico wrote on Dec 19^th, 2010 at 9:22pm:

i currently work for con-way freight. con-way was started back in the 80s by consolidated freight. (CF) CF was by far the largest LTL ( less than truckload) carrier in the country. this is the company that developed the freightliner. CF was a teamsters company. con-way is the non union company. same investors. in 2005 CF closed its doors with out warning. the teamsters union did nothing. when CF closed its doors yellow freight became the biggest LTL carrier. another teamster company. yellow freight was nearly bankrupt and could still buy out 2 more union LTL freight companies, holland and roadway a few years ago. now known as YRC. if you follow the stock market YRC stock was at $0.05 a share last spring. long about this time con-way started to accumulate alot of small infractions on their senior drivers and began firing many of them. maybe something inside trailer they pulled back got punctured. or something a driver really doesnt have any control over.  with YRC going bankrupt theres really no threat of the teamsters union. currently con-way has a driver such as myself come in and drive and work the dock 16 hours on monday and 14 hours an night the rest of the week. its not safe for a person steering #80,000 down the interstate to work that many hours and drive. since i have been at con-way 50 out of 200 drivers have quit or gotten fired. these were very good drivers with squeaky clean driving records. con-way is aiming to keep a fresh driving force at the bottom of the pay scale and not collecting 3 weeks paid vacation every year.

now. you could say the teamsters union drove YRC into bankruptcy and you would be correct. a teamster LTL truck driver earns 80,000 to 100,00 a year. i feel this is a justified wage. however YRC drivers dont replace burned out lights or hook their trailers together or many other things that are not unreasonable for a driver to do.

its not the drivers in the teamsters union so much as its leadership that is to blame. hoffa jr has been the president of the teamsters for many years now and nobody runs against him.

the teamsters union doesnt try to unionize trucking companies anymore. instead they go after city garbage truck drivers, flight attendants, the NYPD and things that have nothing to do with freight which is where the teamsters union got started.

large trucking fleets like swift, schneider, werner, and many other big companies are all members of the ATA. (the american trucking association) the ATA is a big lobbying group that pushes for laws and subsidies to keep them on top. drivers for these companies come right out of school, earn about $600 a week and are kicked out in a year or less before raises and vacation time is earned. the teamsters union never ever goes after these companies and they would be an easy target because drivers are new to the business and are completely treated like shit.

its my theory that the teamsters union is receiving a vast amount of money from the ATA to steer its members into bankrupting teamster companies and drive down the labor cost and inflate profits. i have no proof but its obvious.

unions are necessary to protect workers rights and insure that blue collar workers can have a descent livelihood   with benefits and some kind of retirement but i'll be damned if the majority of unions truely have the workers best interest in mind. i've never been a teamster but i have been a member of 2 other unions and neither one was worth a shit to me