DR-CAFTA Passes House

[gonfishn]

Re: DR-CAFTA Passes House

Being in the retail world the bottom line dictates whether i am here today or gone tommorrow...<br /><br />Its sad to say that a company can ship its raw materials overseas, make it,ship it back and still be less then if was made here..<br /><br />The quality is still there believe it or not on the furniture side.. Even though its just hardwood..I also have beautiful Amish made furniture which is Oak,Cherry,Hickory and the prices are double for the real stuff..those folks arent worried about tommorrows and only want the best<br /><br />Heck Bill Dances sunglaases are made in China..To survive i have to offer both or I wouldnt be here today..God Bless the USA but you cant blame the manufactures from going overseas..I must adapt or go extinct..

 

[SoulWinner]

Re: DR-CAFTA Passes House

When a union labor hourly wage equals the daily wages of three or four workers in a foreign country, labor cost are too high for the American worker to be competitive in the global market. This is simple economics folks, not rocket science.<br /><br />Another problem I hear is that American consumers are done getting screwed by American manufacturing companies. The reason Honda, Nissan and Toyota have done so well in the US market, while selling their cars at a premium price, is what the Big Three offered the American consumer during the 70's and 80's. What they produced in those years was criminal.<br /><br />On the subject of textiles, I know a local man named Mr. Peacher. He worked for several textile companies in the US, like Solutia, Sterling, Monsanto, etc. He was an engineer that designed and built their manufacturing plants in the 1950's. Now, while they were using older technology in their plants, and dumping TONS of toxic chemicals on their properties, and the quality of their textiles was plummeting, Mr. Peacher was employed by the Chinese to designed and build several textile plants in China in the 70's and 80's. He designed and oversaw the construction of several plants that are state of the art and employ the latest technology. What happened next was that China was able to produce higher quality textiles than the US, and therefore began to refuse shipments of American textiles because they failed quality inspections. End result, the American synthetic extruded textile industry is in the toilet, and to a good degree it is their own fault. Overpaid labor and apathetic management. There is a lesson here, a lesson that GM, FORD and Chrysler have learned, and are working hard to compete. But they have help, in the form tariffs and regulations that have forced their competition to move their operations into North America. Which in my humble opinion has caused the quality of Toyota to suffer.<br /><br />Does this mean that the American standard of living can't survive? I sure hope not.

 

[DJ]

Re: DR-CAFTA Passes House

But they have help, in the form tariffs and regulations that have forced their competition to move their operations into North America.

US tariffs? On autos? That's news to me.<br /><br />Most buying is done on emotion and facts not always enter into the decision.

 

[CJY]

Re: DR-CAFTA Passes House

We all have to do what we have to do to survive gonfishin. I do not blame you or the companies. Afterall, the bottom line for them is also money. I think that everytime the Gov. gives a company incentive to leave, it is bad for us. Whether it is Clinton and NAFTA, or Bush and CAFTA, it is bad news for the American worker. Bush should have learned from NAFTA. What positive has come out of NAFTA for the US?<br /><br />John

 

[kenimpzoom]

Re: DR-CAFTA Passes House

Ya know, the funny thing is that with all these trade deficits, we still have a very strong economy.<br /><br /><br />Be patient guys, this "sucking sound" wont last long.<br /><br />The chinese are great at copying everything that is American, and they will also copy the bad things too.<br /><br />Unions and lawyers will overrun china in the very near future. A peoples revolt will come if the government tries to stop it. The chinese are begining to taste freedom and they wont take a heavy handed government much longer.<br /><br />Also shipping costs will skyrocket as demand increases.<br /><br />Soon it will be cheaper to make things in the USA again.<br /><br />Ken

 

[PW2]

Re: DR-CAFTA Passes House

That's why I don't follow any particular political idealogy, be it right or left. Because neither one has any idea what they are talking about.<br /><br />What kinds of things can't American manufacturing be competitive in? Anything that is a high volume/low margin. I recently bought a 27" flat screen RCA TV for $273. Had it been made here, it probably would have been $600 or more. I'll gladly pocket the extra $300 and buy something else--it keeps the economy moving, and creates more jobs, and all I care about is that it works well, and it does.<br /><br />What kind of things can Americans be competitive in? Highly complex, highly engineered technical products, like sophisticated pollution control equipment, for example.<br /><br />So why hasn't some political philosophy enbraced something like Kyoto, or perhaps something better? And not because it is the right thing to do, which it is, but because it is good for the American economy. Who do you think is going to manufacture all the compliance equipment needed worldwide? It's the Americans. There is a myriad of similar examples.<br /><br />there is a company in Wisconsin struggling to get a market for their fuel cell technology, and are currently exporting products to Europe. To get their prices down, they need more volume, and the Americans are desperately trying to keep oil prices down making their fuel cell product not yet competitive, so we can rely on foreign oil in order to fund our enemies. It makes no sense, especially when we are giving with the new energy bill huge tax incentives for exploration that can't possibly have a significant impact on oil imports.<br /><br />And why do so many on the right turn being "plain spoken" and disengaged into some sort of Zen-like thing? I don't know, but you can bet they are the same ones trying to get their kids into MIT and Yale.<br /><br />And the giant sucking sound that we have heard about since the days of Ross Perot is a complete myth. Sure there is always anecdotal evidence of someone losing their job thru trade, but there always seem to be two more jobs created somehow. That's why the unemployment rate was the lowest ever in our history after NAFTA was passed.<br /><br />It is a concept called "creative destruction" and the sooner we accept it as inevitable, the better off everyone will be.

 

[SoulWinner]

Re: DR-CAFTA Passes House

Kyoto is a load of garbage. Even setting aside the fact that there are serious problems at the heart of AAGW, the treaty is political garbage (political garbage? a bit of a tautology since politics is garbage). <br /><br />It will have no effect on any alleged climate change and will probably make things worse by causing companies to move to the developing world as well as India and China, which are exempt. Hence, they can emit to their heart's desire with even less restrictions than before.