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Lipinski wants "buy American" wording in job legislation

danarhea said:
I have been reading the arguments made in this thread, and at this point, find them very intelligent. However, I would argue against extremes in either direction.

One extreme is to cut off China completely. We did this at one time, referring to China as "The Yellow Peril". A lot of good that did us. One good thing Nixon did was to open the door to China, and as a result, it's Communism has been moderated to a degree. That is a good thing.

However, there is another extreme, which is allowing Communist China (Yes, China is still a Communist nation) to beat us, gaming our own Capitalist system by manipulating its currency, paying below poverty wages, and even using slave labor to unfairly unbalance the playing field. China has unfairly manipulated the market, successfully, with these and other shady methods, and as a result, we could eventually become dependent on, and even economically subservient, to China. The last words I ever want to hear would be from a Communist nation, saying "Uncle Sam, your banker will see you now". If China is going to game the system, and cheat, in order to gain an economic advantage, then tariffs are just what we need to stop it. And if China chooses to retaliate, then let the trade war begin. I will more than support our side in a trade war. After all, we are not the ones who started it by cheating. And we could win this war in seconds, by renouncing our debt, and refusing to pay it.

Finally, our own forefathers warned us about foreign entanglements, and this also included economic entanglements. What a web we weave when we decide that comfort is more important than avoiding economic servitude. Once completely entangled in that web, all that remains is to wait for the spider to come down and suck our economic prosperity from us, thus turning us into a third world nation. We ignore our forefathers' advise at our own economic peril.

IMHO, it is much better, and patriotic, for us to live a little less comfortably, at this time, than to become a client-state of a Communist nation, and losing a portion, however small, of our own economic freedom in the process. We should not give in. We should fight instead.
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You can't "game" the economy. If you could then everyone would be doing it.

Catz Part Deux said:
As a consumer, I make an effort to buy products made in the U.S. Walmart used to make a big deal about buying American products. I would like products to be clearly labeled so I can choose between buying something made in China, and buying something made by American workers.
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Good for you. Just don't think you can impose your buying habits on me.
 
Catz Part Deux said:
How would clearly designating American-made products impose on you?
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This thread is about people trying to restrict consumer accessibility to all but American-made goods.
 
Dav said:
This thread is about people trying to restrict consumer accessibility to all but American-made goods.
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No it's not. It's about our government purchasing products only made in America, but if you would like to expand the thread to include the right of everyone to give aid and comfort to the enemy, then be my guest.
 
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danarhea said:
No it's not. It's about our government purchasing products only made in America
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What were you just saying about tariffs and a trade war then?


but if you would like to expand the thread to include the right of everyone to give aid and comfort to the enemy, then be my guest.
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China hasn't been "the enemy" for decades, and some impoverished Chinese sweatshop worker has never been the enemy.
 
Catz Part Deux said:
How would clearly designating American-made products impose on you?
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That's not really accurate anyway. The other day my friend and I were talking about this. (As an aside, I love how DP sometimes synchronizes with my real life.) I was looking at a container of shea butter that she bought for her skin, and it said "Made in Canada" even though shea butter comes from Africa.

I'm not sure what the U.S. rules are, but in Canada only 40% of the manufacturing process has to be done in Canada for it to receive the "Made in Canada" label. So in the case of the shea butter, they probably manufactured the jar it was put in, in Canada, even though the contents all came from somewhere else.

That means even if products are labeled more clearly as "Made in America" and you choose to buy it, it might not be as significant of a consumer choice as you think.
 
Dav said:
What were you just saying about tariffs and a trade war then?


China hasn't been "the enemy" for decades, and some impoverished Chinese sweatshop worker has never been the enemy.
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As long as you allow him to be enslaved by Communism, then he will regard you as HIS enemy, as long as he has not been brainwashed and tortured by the Chinese government, in one of their reeducation camps, into accepting his fate.
 
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danarhea said:
One extreme is to cut off China completely. We did this at one time, referring to China as "The Yellow Peril". A lot of good that did us. One good thing Nixon did was to open the door to China, and as a result, it's Communism has been moderated to a degree. That is a good thing.
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Although that might have had an influence on it, internal political pressures had much more to do with the Deng reforms.

However, there is another extreme, which is allowing Communist China (Yes, China is still a Communist nation)
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No it isn't.

Catz part deux said:
As a consumer, I make an effort to buy products made in the U.S. Walmart used to make a big deal about buying American products. I would like products to be clearly labeled so I can choose between buying something made in China, and buying something made by American workers.
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How do you define "made by American workers"? To what extent must it be "made" in the US? If all parts of a product are made in China and shipped to the US for assembly, is that "Made in the US"?

danarhea said:
No it's not.
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Actually, it partially is. That is why the question of tariffs came up.

Danarhea said:
As long as you allow him to be enslaved by Communism, then he will regard you as HIS enemy, as long as he has not been brainwashed and tortured by the Chinese government, in one of their reeducation camps, into accepting his fate.
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I take it you haven't talked to anyone living in China for the past 40 years?
 
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