[bullheimer]

you should all find a copy of August HRM buy it or just read it at the newstand before you get kicked out. page 20 a letter to the editor of Hot Rod re their editorial on buying american made not chinese. it's pretty amazing. that we all thought, myself included, that mfg. is going overseas mainly just to make money with cheap labor. the owner of SCAT, tom lieb, makes it pretty clear that they made every effort to stay in the US, but that "Political climate leading to anti bushiness regulations started to have a direct impact on key suppliers, many of whom went out of business" and goes on to blame govt regulations, esp. in california, stupid laws, the market and environmental regs that give them no choice if they want to stay in business at all. it's pretty sad. one more thing to blame on republicans he says by 1989 all steel mills that produced alloy steel in the US except one, had shut down and that it too closed later.

i think everybody here ought to read and think about this letter. i was gonna type in the whole thing but it's two pages long.

[Beenaway2long]

Uh Sam?


<EDIT WHOLE POST> I started "Going Political"....

[Rob Keller]

when you make a phone call to the "service dept" of where ever you might have a problem with ask whom your talking too and where they are
1st they give you a assigned name so you cant track them down
and they are most likely in India or some other 3 rd world nation because the bottom line is the bottom line $$$ and uncle sam is gonna have a % of everyone who is dealing with the USA only the elite who own these big $$ companies can afford to buy only us and then they goto Europe and buy the good s**t
you know GM could build a car that would last 20 years get 100 miles to the gallon and would cost less than a 3rd world country but they wont
this is now a disposable world EVERYTHING is disposable trillion dollar deficit billions spent on stealth technologies(well where is it we cant show it to you you payed for it but it top secret) meanwhile we foot the bill and people are starving with poor heath care right around the block from all of us hell it might be you next
get rid of the fat cat politicians 6 figure incomes plus all they can steal
put a average Jo in office and turn this thing around

un politically correctly yours

sr66

[crazygutgut]

I have said this before "think globally, act locally". You say you want American products, then you have to buy American! You wanna hurt the fat cats, but your sitting at a cafe' sipping starbucks, and eating a noah's bagel. typing from your computer you bought at Walmart or Target.

You wanna hurt the fats cats? start buying locally! yeah you gotta pay more. but your money stays put, it may even go to someone else locally. Yeah its nice theres a starbucks coffee every 20 feet, but buying their coffee isnt helping. buying Mcdonalds over a local burger joint isnt helping either.

Americans are fickle. Over the 20 years we have become so focused on "low prices" and "a good deal" that we have destroyed the meaning of "customer service" and forced the same places we shop at to go over seas for inferior products to satisfy us.

WE as consumers caused this, WE as consumers can stop this. Yeah you have to driver farther, and pay more. I suppose the other alternative, is to let our country get so bad it turns into a 3rd world country and then we can have our 13 year old kids make crappy consumer goods for our Chinese over lords....

[machine shop tom]

It really hurts to say this, but if it wasn't for the foreign Scat, Eagle, and other cheaper lines of engine kits and parts, I wouldn't be seeing the amount of younger guys building engines. They can't afford the 800 buck crank, the 800 buck rods, etc.

There is a lot to be said about the g'ment hurting local industries. There can also be a lot said about the environmental and labor considerations as well. The foreign companies who don't have to or don't care about their environment and laborers will pay in the future for their lack of learning from our mistakes. We protect our environment and workers far better than the foreigners. That is where the biggest differences are. That gap will get bigger before it gets smaller.....

tom

[killerformula]

Originally Posted by crazygutgut

I have said this before "think globally, act locally". You say you want American products, then you have to buy American! You wanna hurt the fat cats, but your sitting at a cafe' sipping starbucks, and eating a noah's bagel. typing from your computer you bought at Walmart or Target.

You wanna hurt the fats cats? start buying locally! yeah you gotta pay more. but your money stays put, it may even go to someone else locally. Yeah its nice theres a starbucks coffee every 20 feet, but buying their coffee isnt helping. buying Mcdonalds over a local burger joint isnt helping either.

Americans are fickle. Over the 20 years we have become so focused on "low prices" and "a good deal" that we have destroyed the meaning of "customer service" and forced the same places we shop at to go over seas for inferior products to satisfy us.

WE as consumers caused this, WE as consumers can stop this. Yeah you have to driver farther, and pay more. I suppose the other alternative, is to let our country get so bad it turns into a 3rd world country and then we can have our 13 year old kids make crappy consumer goods for our Chinese over lords....

Yep, you hit the nail on the head, as usual.

The problem is people will gripe all day long about buying american, but never stop to think about what that means. I had a friend of mine get chased down by a pack of rednecks in an F350, and they broke his window and punched him in the face, aparently they didn't like the fact that he was driving a mazda. Maybe the rednecks should have done some research and realized that ford OWNS mazda.

Or the folks who hold their fists up in the air preaching "support our troops!" But pull them aside and ask them what they do other than shake their fists and put a yellow sticker on the back of their truck, and they couldn't tell you.

Talk is cheap, and its always somebody elses fault. All my parts were bought on this side of the pond, not a foreign part in my motor, and I even got my machine work done by local shops. If you're willing to spend the time, you can get your work done for a reasonable price, but you have to be willing to BE a capitalist, not just act like one. Search for deals and dicker with people. Ebay is easy, but when you can shake somebody's hand and look them in the eye, you've built a bridge, and that's the kind of business this country was built on.

.02

K

[cboy]

Originally Posted by bullheimer

...it's pretty sad. one more thing to blame on republicans

This is a huge and difficult issue...but hardly something we can simply blame on one political party or the other. This trend has been developing for a long long time and has many contributing factors...including a number of local and federal laws. But pointing the finger at Republicans does little to shed light on the true root causes of the problem or to formulate effective solutions. We get out fill of finger pointing on the nightly news. It just seems to me that if thorny issues like this are ever to be resolved, we need to rise above the temptation to play the "blame game" and get on with tough and dirty job of formulating workable solutions.

Dewey

[crazygutgut]

Originally Posted by killerformula

Maybe the rednecks should have done some research and realized that ford OWNS mazda.

Its quite confusing these days to figure out what comes from where. Toyota, Honda, and Hyndai are all making cars in the US with an american work force. but the money goes to a Japanese or Korean company. Then you got Big American Companys like GM and Ford making cars in Mexico, with mexican Labor. Who Do you support? the american company? or the American Labor?
oh yeah, I own a toyota and a honda...

Originally Posted by killerformula

Or the folks who hold their fists up in the air preaching "support our troops!" But pull them aside and ask them what they do other than shake their fists and put a yellow sticker on the back of their truck, and they couldn't tell you.

Not to mention that our "precious" american flag is made overseas by chinese prison labor, and all of those "I support our troops" stickers? Yup Chinese. You know who made the real profit of 9/11? the Chinese. all those flags and ribbions! What a big joke the USA must be to them.. whats funny is the drug store by my house was selling mis spelled ones that say "Supprot our Troop" and people are buying them....

I do agree with CBOY, that is a bi-partisian mess. There are just as many bad dems, as reps. There are plenty of people on BOTH sides of the isle with there hands DEEP in the corporate cookie jar. its time to start electing Average Joe Citizens, in stead of Career Politicians...

[Beenaway2long]

I've said it for years....

Elect Beenaway for '08

Cut governmental funding at the SOURCE!!!!

Any an all items up for vote will now be electronically voted on by taxpayers via computer. Don't have one? Your public library does!
This eliminates the need for quite a few politicians,huh?
Can't use one? If you can't figure it out, you probaly don't ned to vote. The average 4 years is capable of "mastering" it.

All political contributions would be NON DEDUCTIBLE. AAMOF, each party would receive equal time on the media. Only allowed so many minutes.

Media Restrictions:
ALL MEDIA COVERAGE would have point/counterpoint information. NON BIASED MEDIA!

Social Programs:
Welfare: 10 year phase out. 10% reduction each year. After that, 2 years max.

Disability: (I don't have this worked out 100% yet, but people physically able to do SOMETHING, would have to look for work. Granted, thy may not be able to go back to their old line of work, but they can do something.

Unemployment: Cap the earnings before paying. If a construction worker makes 40 g a year, and only works 30 weeks for it, he doesn't need to be paid $400 a week for the other 22. He could have saved some of it!
Too much abuse in this area.

And theres more.....

[johnsongrass1]

I even got my machine work done by local shops.

Those machines wouldn't be made with chinese metal would it? Hmmmm, German maybe?

[killerformula]

maybe, but the machines aren't in my motor!

[Rob Keller]

if those machines were made of Chinese metal its prob stuff we left over there !!
as far as electronic voting who to say they dont hack in and changes the numbers the whole system is critically flawed it needs a ground up resto
and ya'll are right years ago every thing was done with a promise and a handshake was worth more than gold
now... you need lawyers for your lawyers lawyer but we have more complex situations now 911 global warming flesh eating disease diabetes on and on where the hell is the middle of the road??

it seems to me the more corrupt some one is the further they go in this society
and just for the record those red neck that beat that guy would have suffered a extreme case of lead poisoning

im not prejudice i hate everyone equally

sr66

[crazygutgut]

Hopefully jeff will overhaul the system. As it is the elctronic "voting" system is flawed. There are only 2 companies. One is diebold, I forget the other ones name. However they are owned by 2 brothers (1 owns diebold, 1 owns the other one) Both companies contribute HEAVILY to the republicans... Maybe in Jeffs America corporations wont be able to contribute, and individual contributions must be proven to come from an individual? (ie walmart giving some shmuck 100 grand to give to a party wont work) I also think contributions should only be made to a party, NOT an individual. If you want to donate 100$, you send it to the party and say for "senator shcmuck" or "mayor mc cheese".. Theres alot of simple ways to stop the gravy train for some of these politicians... the truth is, none of these politicans want it to stop. Oh sure they'll act all surprised when some politcian gets caught with his pants down, but they all do it, and they're just glad it wasnt them... remember kids. Linda tripps first "lets expose the president with an intern" game was with George Bush Senior!! Linda didnt tape record it that time, but she learned her lesson the next time she did it...


jees.. I took that in the wrong direction didnt i??

[cboy]

Originally Posted by Beenaway2long

Any an all items up for vote will now be electronically voted on by taxpayers via computer.

While there are still serious security issues to be worked out, the computer and internet have raised the real possibility of "one human/one vote" to a new level of meaning. But I would take it one step further. Eliminate congress altogether and allow individuals to not only vote on, but submit, each piece of legislation. Yes, a lot of details would need to be worked out, but this sort of governance is rapidly approaching as a realistic possibility...at least in theory. Would congress ever allow it to happen? Highly unlikely.

The more likely scenario is that this sort of system would have to begin at the state level, particularly a state with laws allowing referendum style voting (like CA's proposition 13). If it was ever shown to be viable in real life, look out U.S. legislators, lobbyists, and fat cats.

Well, a guy can dream can't he?

[bullheimer]

i knew as soon as i put in the word "republican" this thread would take a poop. i just blame republicans for everything that's all. american people are stupid, face it. that's the whole cause of all our woes. i mean really: we re-elected Clinton after it was common knowledge he screwed monica, then the a-hole republican party wastes millions of dollars and time on an impeachment EVERYBODY knew would never pass a democratic senate. then look who we get in the last two elections. jeezuschristalready! so we get Bush stealing the first election just to get elected in a landslide last time. i just want to know why detroit doesnt build cars that get 30mpg after we all had to wait in gas lines back in 1973...
well, back to offshore parts/govt regulation...