The Theft Of The American Dream

[Madeline]

Republicans and Democrats, he said, both fail to recognize that global competition is no longer between companies. Rather, U.S. companies compete against countries that align their trade policies to capture markets.

"The United States faces the lack of a national and international trading strategy, or economic policy ... we as a nation don't have an entity that competes with other nations, and I think this harkens back to a reluctance to get into national economic policy or strategies because of the concern that it has the taint of some kind of government control and government assistance," he said.

The free-trade debate gets bogged down in political labels, which O'Shaughnessy thinks misses the broader point.

"So you have got 'socialists' fighting the 'capitalists,' and neither side realizes the mercantilists are kicking their ass. Both of them, it doesn't matter whether you are on this side or that side, if you are dealing with a mercantilist society, and that's what we're fighting in China," he said.

Mercantilism was practiced by the great European powers centuries ago, and involved protecting domestic industry while trying to dominate global trade to secure wealth and power. Critics of U.S. policy toward China, and before that policy toward Japan, argue that the U.S. should take steps to favor its own industries more.

As lawmakers squabble over how to create jobs and what to do about China's undervalued currency, Rome is burning.

Rome, New York, that is.

Here, a legendary copper rolling mill's fight for survival underscores what's at stake in the battle over China policy and a free-trade philosophy that's been championed by both political parties.

A weathered copper bell made by the famed midnight rider Paul Revere sits in front of the offices of Revere Copper Products Inc., a company whose origins date back to 1801. Paul Revere supplied the copper sheets used to protect the USS Constitution.

Today, Revere employs about 350 workers, who for three shifts a day in a cavernous plant make architectural copper products and huge rolls of copper that are purchased by other manufacturers for a wide range of electrical and industrial uses.

Chairman Brian O'Shaughnessy bought the company in a leveraged buyout in 1989, and at the time it had 800 workers in two plants. Shifts in global trading patterns and soaring energy costs forced him to close a sister plant in New Bedford, Mass., in 2007. Today, he watches incredulously as lawmakers seek to threaten China with "tough" legislation that stands little chance of passage in Congress.

Meanwhile, his customers keep moving abroad, primarily to China.

"Since the year 2000, we have seen more than 30 percent of the facilities we ship product to in the United States shut down, or move offshore. Most of them initially moved to Mexico, but they have since moved to China," he said in an interview that began in front of a giant mural of Paul Revere in the town of Rome. "When that happens, we have fewer manufacturing companies to ship product to in this country, so the competition for that smaller industrial base that we ship to is pretty fierce."

http://http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/11/how_china_policy_squeezes_comp.html

Your thoughts?

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

see this movie: Inside Job http://www.usmessageboard.com/revie...vie-devastating-indictment-on-our-system.html

 

[Sallow]

And conservatives were against campaign finance reform?

The very people corporate cash buys..are the same people instituting policy that creates the exact global economic climate we find ourselves in.

 

[uscitizen]

Truths will be ignored / ridiculed by those who do not wish to see.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

And yet you guys help make this happen by only seeking to blame one side.
Are you aware that the "too big to fail" structure of our financial system that this administration swore they would address - are bigger and more concentrated now than before this all happened?
Are you aware that Jeffrey Imelt - CEO of G.E., the company that was one of the first to mass move production out of America, the company that did business with Iran after sanctions were placed - their CEO is on Obama's advisory committee?
Are you aware that foreign ownership of American debt has increased by 4 fold in the last two years?

It is not a matter of Democrats or Republicans...get a freakin clue. It is the entire system. Not just Republicans.
As long as you concentrate only on blaming them, and they concentrate on blaming Democrats - we will continue to lose the dream.

 

[Madeline]

Possible solutions, anyone?

How about a total ban on the import into the US of any product made by children or slave labor....and the onus is on the exporting nation to prove the product is cruelty-free?

Far from a solution, I know....mebbe a possible step in the right direction?

 

[loosecannon]

http://http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/11/how_china_policy_squeezes_comp.html

Your thoughts?

You stole my OP?

 

[loosecannon]

Possible solutions, anyone?

How about a total ban on the import into the US of any product made by children or slave labor....and the onus is on the exporting nation to prove the product is cruelty-free?

Far from a solution, I know....mebbe a possible step in the right direction?

I am not endorsing this but somebody sent me this yesterday:

The Solution
Create a legit 3rd party. Destroy the Democrat Republican Crime Family that takes bribes from the privileged class.

1) Burn the entire income tax code.
2) Use the fair tax. There are no loopholes for anyone.
3) Implement the 13th Amendment. Prevent all slave made goods from being unloaded at the dock. That would force the multinationals to finance suppliers here.

You're the 1st one to ask for the solution.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

And yet you guys help make this happen by only seeking to blame one side.
Are you aware that the "too big to fail" structure of our financial system that this administration swore they would address - are bigger and more concentrated now than before this all happened?
Are you aware that Jeffrey Imelt - CEO of G.E., the company that was one of the first to mass move production out of America, the company that did business with Iran after sanctions were placed - their CEO is on Obama's advisory committee?
Are you aware that foreign ownership of American debt has increased by 4 fold in the last two years?

It is not a matter of Democrats or Republicans...get a freakin clue. It is the entire system. Not just Republicans.
As long as you concentrate only on blaming them, and they concentrate on blaming Democrats - we will continue to lose the dream.

We all are not blaming one side.

why are you running defense for one side?

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Possible solutions, anyone?

How about a total ban on the import into the US of any product made by children or slave labor....and the onus is on the exporting nation to prove the product is cruelty-free?

Far from a solution, I know....mebbe a possible step in the right direction?

Well that is not going to happen.
Not because of the evul Republicans, but because Americans would revolt if they had to pay a price for a product that ensures all those involved make enough wages/benefits to produce that product.
No...we will buy bags and bags and bags of "farm raised" shrimp in Thailand produced in the worse imaginable conditions than pay a few dollars more for our own product right here.

Dream on. Americans are drunk on cheap prices. Screw the consequences.

 

[Madeline]

http://http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/11/how_china_policy_squeezes_comp.html

Your thoughts?

You stole my OP?

I am so sorry, loosecannon....I had not seen yours till after, I swear.

 

[loosecannon]

no biggee, not even a thing, really

 

[loosecannon]

Well that is not going to happen.
Not because of the evul Republicans, but because Americans would revolt if they had to pay a price for a product that ensures all those involved make enough wages/benefits to produce that product.
No...we will buy bags and bags and bags of "farm raised" shrimp in Thailand produced in the worse imaginable conditions than pay a few dollars more for our own product right here.

Dream on. Americans are drunk on cheap prices. Screw the consequences.

I wouldn't be so sure or quick to lose faith in us.

But face it, we not only suffer from paralysis due to two party gridlock, but we suffer from weak leadership, but even on top of that we suffer from leadership that still supports the very policies that are crushing our economy.

Those are our "enemies". Not China so much or ourselves.

We could rally a movement to cut back on purchasing Chinese imports by 20%, and that would send a message to Beijing.

But we seem to only be capable of rallying ourselves above partisanship when galvanizing events like 9/11 or Pearl Harbor occur.

Maybe the loss of our dream and living standards will be such a galvanizing event. We are still a "sleeping giant".

 

[Madeline]

How about elimination of tax deductions for labor costs if associated with child or slave labor?

(US-based companies pay income tax on their US share of their world-wide income, subject to bazillion treaties and various treatises on tax sheltering; but it would send a message.)

 

[Sallow]

Possible solutions, anyone?

How about a total ban on the import into the US of any product made by children or slave labor....and the onus is on the exporting nation to prove the product is cruelty-free?

Far from a solution, I know....mebbe a possible step in the right direction?

Solutions?

-Any company that employs over 50% of it's workforce overseas will be considered foreign with all the rights and restrictions that implies.

-Place a tariff on the products of any nation that devalues it's currency for the sole purpose of getting an advantage in trade.

-Charge companies that eliminate a job in the United States and move it overseas the lost tax revenue.

-Initiate an infrastructure overhaul of mass transit including trains, urban rapid transit and telecommunications. (You know..doing what Americans were famous for..building stuff)

 

[loosecannon]

Possible solutions, anyone?

How about a total ban on the import into the US of any product made by children or slave labor....and the onus is on the exporting nation to prove the product is cruelty-free?

Far from a solution, I know....mebbe a possible step in the right direction?

Solutions?

-Any company that employs over 50% of it's workforce overseas will be considered foreign with all the rights and restrictions that implies.

-Place a tariff on the products of any nation that devalues it's currency for the sole purpose of getting an advantage in trade.

-Charge companies that eliminate a job in the United States and move it overseas the lost tax revenue.

-Initiate an infrastructure overhaul of mass transit including trains, urban rapid transit and telecommunications. (You know..doing what Americans were famous for..building stuff)

The first three were outstanding.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Well that is not going to happen.
Not because of the evul Republicans, but because Americans would revolt if they had to pay a price for a product that ensures all those involved make enough wages/benefits to produce that product.
No...we will buy bags and bags and bags of "farm raised" shrimp in Thailand produced in the worse imaginable conditions than pay a few dollars more for our own product right here.

Dream on. Americans are drunk on cheap prices. Screw the consequences.

I wouldn't be so sure or quick to lose faith in us.

But face it, we not only suffer from paralysis due to two party gridlock, but we suffer from weak leadership, but even on top of that we suffer from leadership that still supports the very policies that are crushing our economy.

Those are our "enemies". Not China so much or ourselves.

We could rally a movement to cut back on purchasing Chinese imports by 20%, and that would send a message to Beijing.

But we seem to only be capable of rallying ourselves above partisanship when galvanizing events like 9/11 or Pearl Harbor occur.

Maybe the loss of our dream and living standards will be such a galvanizing event. We are still a "sleeping giant".

I do my part.
I purchase six figures of paper every month.
I buy as much as I can from Domestic sheets, domestic in my mind is American and Canadian paper mills.
I also buy a fair amount of European sheets.

I do not buy 1 sheet of Chinese or Korean paper. Not one sheet.
I have all German Heidelberg Presses, no Komori or Mitsubishi for us.

 

[loosecannon]

which supports the idea that we can.

We only have to reduce our imports of Chinese goods by 20% to completely fuck up the chinese economy and erase our trade deficit. And we could do it in 3 months, beginning with the Xmas season.

Think how much fun it would be to watch the Chinese freak the F out! It would be a riot imo.

Maybe they would think twice about the peg.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

which supports the idea that we can.

We only have to reduce our imports of Chinese goods by 20% to completely fuck up the chinese economy and erase our trade deficit. And we could do it in 3 months, beginning with the Xmas season.

Think how much fun it would be to watch the Chinese freak the F out! It would be a riot imo.

Maybe they would think twice about the peg.

Damn straight.
I avoid Chinese products like the plague.
When our dishwasher's main pump went out a couple weeks ago the first thing I did was see if there are even any American made DW's left.
And there is...Bosch. And our Lowes store sells them...and that is what I bought. Not to pat myself on the back - but if people only did this...your right...we could change our economy in just a matter of months.

 

[loosecannon]

Amen, let's spark a movement!