Buying American, is it important?

[Builder]

I said previously,

That statement pretty much indicates that I don't place the fault w/the public educators. Public educators = public teachers.....
I AM placing the fault at the National Teachers Union (NEA). They are supposed to represent teachers but instead are nothing but a self perpetuating lobby bent on maintaining it's own status quo. Most teachers I know personally won't join it as long as it's not mandatory. Thank goodness TN is a right to work state......

re. unions, well, they definitely share in the blame of American manufacturing moving to other country's. Those $20 an hr broom operators and the ridgid rules where only certain people can only do certain jobs (high paying jobs I might add) most definitely add's to the bottom line cost of a product.
Course I would be remiss if I didn't include senior managements golden parachutes, stock options, insider trading and out of site salaries as another MAJOR contributor to the products price.....
It ain't just one thing folks...

Hope I made myself clear here too.....

Bush is the one who mandated "no child left behind", not the teachers union. That program is a complete and utter failure. Go to a classroom. See the brilliant kids being impeeded by the slow kids that cannot be "left behind" and you'll know what I mean. Unions have little to do with setting policy about what educators teach in school.

I think your anger is misdirected. School administration hires the bad teachers and refuses to take the simple steps set in place to replace the bad ones. My wife is an award winning teacher and cirriculum writer for our school district. I hear the stories first hand. Her union has very little power here in PA. Only enough to defend her agianst medelsome (frankly psycho) parents who interfere with classrooms and clog up the system with absurd lawsuits against teachers looking for an easy buck.

 

[crabjoe]

Deere & Company, the world's largest manufacturer of agricultural equipment, said today that it plans to expand small tractor manufacturing in China by acquiring the Ningbo Benye Tractor & Automobile Manufacture Co. Ltd. business, located in Ningbo in southern China.

About time we buy out a company overseas. Not that I want our manufacturing jobs shipped overseas, but I like the idea of owning a piece of China.

When a foreign entity buys up something here, we get into an uproar. Now that we're buying up something there, it seems we're in a uproar.

We can't have it both ways folks...

 

[Ductape]

I would be willing to bet that buying a company in China does not include the soil its on, unlike here.

 

[crabjoe]

Our next war will be with China. Even an idiot knows that. Might not be an actual battle, but more of a cold war/trade war thing. In fact, I believe it's already started.

Agreed, and they're winning. China out there producing and buying as much energy resources as possible. While we, on the other hand, have our politicians arguing over what to do about energy and playing the blame game.

We need cheap energy NOW. Cheap energy makes for lower cost manufacturing possible, it makes the consumer economy go around and around.

I hate it when I hear politicians talk about not drilling or mining because it won't help till 5 or 10 years down the road. I hate it when they say an alternative is the answer. Well, if we invest in alternatives and are not prepared, in case the alternative isn't found, we're in a bigger mess. Right now, cost effective alternative energy is a dream.

A dream won't heat or cool your home. A dream won't get your to work or run a robot to build whatever.

Start drilling NOW, but keep working on alternatives. When a viable alternative is found, we can then make the switch. But for now... We need to drill, instead of wishing and blaming others.

 

[Builder]

Agreed, and they're winning. China out there producing and buying as much energy resources as possible. While we, on the other hand, have our politicians arguing over what to do about energy and playing the blame game.

We need cheap energy NOW. Cheap energy makes for lower cost manufacturing possible, it makes the consumer economy go around and around.

I hate it when I hear politicians talk about not drilling or mining because it won't help till 5 or 10 years down the road. I hate it when they say an alternative is the answer. Well, if we invest in alternatives and are not prepared, in case the alternative isn't found, we're in a bigger mess. Right now, cost effective alternative energy is a dream.

A dream won't heat or cool your home. A dream won't get your to work or run a robot to build whatever.

Start drilling NOW, but keep working on alternatives. When a viable alternative is found, we can then make the switch. But for now... We need to drill, instead of wishing and blaming others.

Yup. It's almost as if these sleazeballs don't think cheaper energy down the road wouldn't help us. 5-10 years down the road???? Shoot, that's the blink of an eye!!!

I say mine & drill the batsnot out of the US! Build NUKES!!!

NOW! Before it's too late! Heck, just the threat of us drilling here could lower lower commodity prices!

 

[Silver_Knight]

For me I always try to buy american.

My JD i know isn't totally american but it's still an american company that was started in america to me thats something to be proud of. and I know the frame and a lot of my tractor was put together down south. I talked to the trucker who dropped it off at the dealer and asked where it came from.

As for cars I'll only buy them from american companies. GM mostly for me. I've been through the GM plants out in MI i know people who have worked for them they where started in america and i would like to see them still around in the years to come.

Also you buy japanese a lot of that goes back to japan to line their pockets and they are able to get out of a lot of taxes this way that GM has to pay.

to each there own but I'll try a little harder when I can to buy american.

My 2003 and 2008 CHEVY Suburban were both made in Mexico.

 

[Timber]

Hey Timber, I live in America first! Planet earth second.

That was brilliant

 

[Volfandt]

Bush is the one who mandated "no child left behind", not the teachers union. That program is a complete and utter failure. Go to a classroom. See the brilliant kids being impeeded by the slow kids that cannot be "left behind" and you'll know what I mean. Unions have little to do with setting policy about what educators teach in school.

Oh it started well before even Bush 1. It was Lyndon Johnsons "better society" that started it.
It was happening back when I was in Jr high. (60's). My classrooms were filled with kids that did nothing but disrupt and the teachers couldn't kick them out because it was mandated that these troubled teens be "mainstreamed". I guess the idea was that they would learn from the brighter kids via osmosis...... No sir, it was a democratic president that started this mess over 40 yrs ago..... And his subsequent Supreme Court justice appointments that decided they should re-write law instead of interprit it.

5 of my daughters best friends all through school are now in their 1st yr of teaching school. As part of their qualifying for their masters and teaching degrees they had to spend a yr as interns and the stories they've told is unreal, but not surprising. There are just too many people that believes the schools should raise their kids. The good news is that these are fine upstanding young women and part of what gives me hope for our future. Those and the great young men & women that serve us in our military.

As for the NEA, all they got to do to get me off their case is to endorse school vouchers, thats all. They are the main opposition to vouchers. Once enough of us tax paying citizens can take our children & $$$'s and place them in schools of our choice, there would be immence changes then done to the existing public schools for the better, as they would then have to compete for the brightest. It's a win / win to me.

To tell you the truth, the baby boomer generation of which I am apart, is the most spoiled & self centered generation this country has ever seen and our parents handed us over a much better world than what we're going to leave our children. Oh sure we had our flower children and Hari-Chrishna's but now most of these free lovers are starting to load down the social security system. They feel they are entitled because of the luck of their birth and not because the yhelped contribute to the system.
It's reallly a a shame.....

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

Thats part of the problem. IF your values are not Judeo/Christian, then your's ARE being forced upon me and my children.....

The solution to send my children to a private school is great but, how's about getting the NEA to allow my tax money (vouchers) to follow.

Amen. I don't think that people realize that the lack of a Christian/Religous value system is a value system unto itself. I don't think anyone here would say that the moral fabric of our society is better off than it was 50 years ago, and this is part of the reason why.

 

[NEFirewood]

I don't buy what was said about profits comming back to the USA and being taxed. The few % points of profit thats made from selling equipment is peanutes compared to the investmets made in facilities, employee's, materials, etc. Again, we should be crediting companies who make their investments here, and hold those who are not to the fire. I'd rather see a company invest a billion dollars in USA operations, than bring 150 million of profits back to this country.

I had an opportunity recently to speak to a former Mahindra employee from India (a Mechnical Engineer). When I said I bought one of thier tractors and said I sent my money off to India, he looked at me and laughed. He commented back that whatever was spent on a US purchase ends up staying in the US, not a single penny ends up in India.

I find it curious that in this day and age, I own one of the few vehicles built in the US (a Hummer), and if you ask an environmentalist I am the greediest and most despicable person on earth. Most people who see my truck actually think it's pretty cool, but, I know there are a lot of stories out there of Hummer owners who find thier cars keyed in thier own driveways. I want to buy the new Hummer truck when it comes out in the fall. This doesn't mean I'm some kind of flag waving super patriot (actually far far from it). I just think that American cars still have it over foreign ones.

Now tractors, that's a different story to me anyways.