USA losing it...lost it !

[Kosh]

I grew up going to Macy's with my mother to buy school clothes--she would not step into the cheaper stores. My Dad was a construction worker making and average living and providing very well for me my sister and my mom.
What the fuck happened--today kids are lucky if there mother buys clothes for school any were but Wall Mart.
The dumbing down of America starts at home stop putting the blame on you boss he is just riding the wave the government makes him ride.
The spread the wealth ideas just muddies the waters...Prosperity for all is the only thing that helps and thinking taking from one and giving to the other is a fools game.

The bulk of the textiles have moved to China. While there are some textiles still made in the states, you have to be careful when you see "made" or "assembled" in the US.

Many cars are assembled in the US, but many of those parts are made overseas.

You do know what happened to the textile industry in NYC don't you(was the largest # of jobs in NYC at the time)---might have been the start of the downfall of the USA.

To many union demands and the textile industry picked up and left.

Has happened a lot in recent history.

If the unions want to be competitive then they need to make themselves more appealing, instead of the usual union bully tactics.

 

[Peterf]

Well most of what we buy in the US (and most of the world) is made in China, what would one expect?

Ah more far right propaganda and bullshit.

Most of what a household "buys" is food. Every week, week in and week out we buy FOOD. And most of our food is grown in the good ole USA. Most I said, not all. But hardly any from China.

But is idiots like you Kosh, that continue to buy that Chinese made junk from Walmart.
Stop doing that. Let the Chinese keep their junk.

Of course you probably think you are helping the American economy buying Chinese junk.
More far right propaganda. Gotta make the Walton family richer. Right? Cause you WORSHIP you some real rich people.

Pointing out facts is not propaganda - 'far right', far left or far centre.

The relevant facts are: China is the biggest trading nation, running a large trade SURPLUS. The USA is the second biggest trading nation, running a large trade DEFICIT. China lives within its means, the US does not. There are major policy implications which are unaddressed by Mr Obama's government and wilfully ignored by the American public.

If Walmart ceased to exist these facts would remain unaltered.

 

[Dragonlady]

I grew up going to Macy's with my mother to buy school clothes--she would not step into the cheaper stores. My Dad was a construction worker making and average living and providing very well for me my sister and my mom.
What the fuck happened--today kids are lucky if there mother buys clothes for school any were but Wall Mart.
The dumbing down of America starts at home stop putting the blame on your boss he is just riding the wave the government makes him ride.
The spread the wealth ideas just muddies the waters...Prosperity for all is the only thing that helps and thinking taking from one and giving to the other is a fools game.

Americans have sold their fellow citizens down the river for cheap goods from China. It is no longer possible to buy clothing made in North America in stores. Many people, myself included, are making their own clothing to get a quality garment that doesn't fall apart within 6 months of purchase.

Then they complain that all of the factory workers whose jobs were shipped overseas are lazy sloths who should retrain so they can get find jobs, or they should work at MacDonalds for minimum wage. There are only so many minimum wage jobs out there and a ton of people lining up to take them. And minimum wage jobs are not something that will support your family. Not everyone is cut out to work in an office or capable of holding those "better jobs". Manufacturering is the root source of goods to move the economy and the US has given all of their manufacturing to the third world.

One of my sergers broke down last year. I paid more to have it repaired, than I would to buy a new one. I did that because the new ones are made in China and they're crap. My old serger is 15 years old and was made in the USA and it sews beautifully. I did this because the newer sergers are horrible and not worth the money.

 

[Peterf]

Ah more far right propaganda and bullshit.

Most of what a household "buys" is food. Every week, week in and week out we buy FOOD. And most of our food is grown in the good ole USA. Most I said, not all. But hardly any from China.

But is idiots like you Kosh, that continue to buy that Chinese made junk from Walmart.
Stop doing that. Let the Chinese keep their junk.

Of course you probably think you are helping the American economy buying Chinese junk.
More far right propaganda. Gotta make the Walton family richer. Right? Cause you WORSHIP you some real rich people.

Kosh the Stupid. Above is my first post. Feel free to point out my lies. Or propaganda.

Do you shop at Walmart or not? Does your household buy food? These are not tough questions. Well maybe for you they are. Being Kosh the Stupid.

Where do you shop that does not sell Chinese junk?

Not everything made in China is 'junk' by any means. Only a type of small sailing vessel really qualifies.

Btw when I was in Quebec in November I bought a pair of Chinese-made boots, with which I am well satisfied, in Walmart for $ Canadian 29.99. Good value for money

 

[racewright]

Kosh the Stupid. Above is my first post. Feel free to point out my lies. Or propaganda.

Do you shop at Walmart or not? Does your household buy food? These are not tough questions. Well maybe for you they are. Being Kosh the Stupid.

Where do you shop that does not sell Chinese junk?

Not everything made in China is 'junk' by any means. Only a type of small sailing vessel really qualifies.

Btw when I was in Quebec in November I bought a pair of Chinese-made boots, with which I am well satisfied, in Walmart for $ Canadian 29.99. Good value for money

That's true friends of mine who work at Pratt Whitney(united Technologies) 20 years ago when parts were shipped to china would come back and have to be machined over--not anymore as my friends tell me all they do is check them and then install.
But guess what my friends had to go to china to teach there workers how to be a quality machinist.
Phillips Lighting did the same thing...So rather than blame the companies we should be asking WHY IS IT MORE TO THERE LIKING TO MOVE THERE OPERATIONS TO CHINA.
But now the hard part rather than fix the problem and make it more viable to have these companies use the USA's people we point blame and call names..Such foolishness.

You would think educated personnel would be able to solve this but no Blame blame blame.

 

[RoadVirus]

China leaves US behind as world’s top trader
January 10, 2014

For the first time in centuries China has overtaken the US as the world’s biggest trading nation, with total trade standing at $4.16 trillion in 2013.

The world's second-largest economy has raised its exports by 7.9 percent to $2.21 trillion, while imports increased by 7.3 percent to $1.95 trillion, bringing the total trade to $4.16 trillion, up 7.6 percent from 2012, according to the Financial Times.

The US is scheduled to release its full-year figures in February, but its trade for the first 11months from January to November totaled just $3.57 trillion, making China potentially the world’s biggest trader.

In December 2013, Chinese trade soared to a record monthly high of $390 billion, with $208 billion in exports, a 4.3 percent increase from 2012, and $182 billion in imports, up 8.3 percent year on year.

“This is a landmark milestone for our nation’s foreign trade development,” the Financial Times quotes Zheng Yuesheng, chief statistician of the Customs Administration.

Mr Zheng added that thanks to an improving world economy, the impact of structural reforms in China and a lowered outlook for commodity prices, an even stronger trade performance by China is possible in 2014.

Analysts say the strong import numbers indicate the economy is making progress in achieving its goal of turning around from an export oriented economy to the one driven by domestic consumption.

"The pickup in imports reflects that domestic demand is stronger than people expected. We think China is still capable of growing 7-7.5 percent in 2014," Geoff Lewis, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, told CNBC.

The first time China became the world’s biggest goods exporter was in 2009, and now its total exports and imports make up for more than 1/10th of the total world trade, up from 3 percent in 2000.

Obama's response: Mission Accomplished!

 

[Rampage]

Support for Assad will continue: Russia to US
Jan 11, 2014


Russia has told the United States that it will continue to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's campaign against foreign-backed militants.

The remarks were made during a meeting between high-ranking Russian diplomats and a US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman in Moscow on Friday.

Sherman did not address reporters after her meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Ministers Mikhail Bogdanov and Gennady Gatilov, but the Russian Foreign Ministry said the two diplomats told Sherman that foreign-backed militants are a threat to both Syria's future and regional stability.


“The Russian representatives stressed the importance of uniting efforts by the Syrian government and the patriotically-inclined opposition to fight terrorist groups whose activities are threatening not only the future of Syria, but also regional stability,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Sherman's visit to Moscow comes just days before a crucial meeting in Paris between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the upcoming Syria crisis conference.

According to Russian officials, Lavrov and Kerry would also hold a joint meeting in the French capital on Monday with UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi.

The Geneva II conference, which is aimed at finding a political solution to the Syria crisis, is scheduled to be held in Switzerland in two parts. On January 22, the opening session of the event will be in the Swiss city of Montreux and then it will be moved to the UN office in Geneva on January 24.

Over 100,000 people have been killed and 8 million others driven from their homes, 2 million of them seeking refuge in neighboring countries, since conflict in Syria erupted in March 2011.

 

[racewright]

China leaves US behind as world’s top trader
January 10, 2014

For the first time in centuries China has overtaken the US as the world’s biggest trading nation, with total trade standing at $4.16 trillion in 2013.

The world's second-largest economy has raised its exports by 7.9 percent to $2.21 trillion, while imports increased by 7.3 percent to $1.95 trillion, bringing the total trade to $4.16 trillion, up 7.6 percent from 2012, according to the Financial Times.

The US is scheduled to release its full-year figures in February, but its trade for the first 11months from January to November totaled just $3.57 trillion, making China potentially the world’s biggest trader.

In December 2013, Chinese trade soared to a record monthly high of $390 billion, with $208 billion in exports, a 4.3 percent increase from 2012, and $182 billion in imports, up 8.3 percent year on year.

“This is a landmark milestone for our nation’s foreign trade development,” the Financial Times quotes Zheng Yuesheng, chief statistician of the Customs Administration.

Mr Zheng added that thanks to an improving world economy, the impact of structural reforms in China and a lowered outlook for commodity prices, an even stronger trade performance by China is possible in 2014.

Analysts say the strong import numbers indicate the economy is making progress in achieving its goal of turning around from an export oriented economy to the one driven by domestic consumption.

"The pickup in imports reflects that domestic demand is stronger than people expected. We think China is still capable of growing 7-7.5 percent in 2014," Geoff Lewis, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, told CNBC.

The first time China became the world’s biggest goods exporter was in 2009, and now its total exports and imports make up for more than 1/10th of the total world trade, up from 3 percent in 2000.

Obama's response: Mission Accomplished!

Agree but is it because he cannot see the forest because the trees are in the way or is he just a believer in taking from the republicans to give to the democrats is all you have to do to fix our economy...Either one is not what we should hear from a Harvard Graduate if so we should close Harvard down.

 

[zeke]

Where do you shop that does not sell Chinese junk?

Not everything made in China is 'junk' by any means. Only a type of small sailing vessel really qualifies.

Btw when I was in Quebec in November I bought a pair of Chinese-made boots, with which I am well satisfied, in Walmart for $ Canadian 29.99. Good value for money

That's true friends of mine who work at Pratt Whitney(united Technologies) 20 years ago when parts were shipped to china would come back and have to be machined over--not anymore as my friends tell me all they do is check them and then install.
But guess what my friends had to go to china to teach there workers how to be a quality machinist.
Phillips Lighting did the same thing...So rather than blame the companies we should be asking WHY IS IT MORE TO THERE LIKING TO MOVE THERE OPERATIONS TO CHINA.
But now the hard part rather than fix the problem and make it more viable to have these companies use the USA's people we point blame and call names..Such foolishness.

You would think educated personnel would be able to solve this but no Blame blame blame.

????? You really had to ask the question above?

Say this very slowly. L A B O R C O S T S.

Well that and the Chinese don't seem to give a shit how their country is polluted.
SO no EPA controls may have been a factor in moving those job.

Greedy corporations. Avoid paying Americans and go pollute another country.

But you notice these companies have no problem bringing this Chinese made shit back here to sell.

If companies don't think American workers should have a job, I don't think I need to buy Chinese made American shit.

Called voting with your pocketbook.

 

[Dragonlady]

For years, US MBA students have been taught that the bottom line is everything. Profits are all that matters. The result is that American companies are the most profitable in the world.

It is more profitable to manufacture in Third World Countries than it is to pay first world wages and employer taxes. And Americans love low prices. It's why Walmart is the biggest retailer in the US and one of the most profitable.

But cheap prices for US consumers have come at the expense of US jobs and artificially low wages. The US has the lowest food prices, as a percentage of income, in the first world. Those low prices are maintained by employing illegal migrant workers in the fields, and paying them less than minimum wage.

The retail sector, lead by Walmart, keeps prices low by employing part time workers (no benefit costs) and helping them apply for SNAP and Medicaid, and any other government assistance programs they qualify for. Retailers encourage suppliers to manufacture offshore to reduce wholesale prices.

Entire segments of the economy have been lost to third world manufacturing, displacing millions of workers. These people can't just "get a job" because there are no jobs in that field any more. Except for military manufacturing which cannot be outsourced by law, the US has lost the ability to manufacture it's own hard goods.

But profits for US Corporations hVe never been higher. And yes, that is what they teach at Harvard.

 

[SteadyMercury]

Well most of what we buy in the US (and most of the world) is made in China, what would one expect?

I'm looking at our household budget, and this surely isn't the case for me.

A big chunk is just services. Cable TV, internet, cell phone service, Netflix, newspaper, car insurance, home insurance, etc.

As another poster mentioned food is always part of the average budget, for us the overwhelming majority is from US and although some is imported from Asia the majority of that appears to be from Vietnam and Thailand, not China.

Entertainment is almost all local be it throwing back beers at a bar, seeing a movie, etc.

Cars? Both from Japanese companies but possibly made domestically or in Mexico not sure. Not China though.

Housing? Some materials might be from China but most is domestic and the labor is definitely local or illegals from Mexico, not China.

I'd guess for many other families education and healthcare could be fairly significant, those also not imported from China.

I do shop at Walmart sometimes, but still I'd say most crap we have from China is clothes (although I'm sure much of that is from Indonesia, Bangladesh, etc.) and other small things fishing rig stuff, mp3 player, etc. I can't imagine it is anywhere close to being "most of what we buy" like you claim.

 

[racewright]

Not everything made in China is 'junk' by any means. Only a type of small sailing vessel really qualifies.

Btw when I was in Quebec in November I bought a pair of Chinese-made boots, with which I am well satisfied, in Walmart for $ Canadian 29.99. Good value for money

That's true friends of mine who work at Pratt Whitney(united Technologies) 20 years ago when parts were shipped to china would come back and have to be machined over--not anymore as my friends tell me all they do is check them and then install.
But guess what my friends had to go to china to teach there workers how to be a quality machinist.
Phillips Lighting did the same thing...So rather than blame the companies we should be asking WHY IS IT MORE TO THERE LIKING TO MOVE THERE OPERATIONS TO CHINA.
But now the hard part rather than fix the problem and make it more viable to have these companies use the USA's people we point blame and call names..Such foolishness.

You would think educated personnel would be able to solve this but no Blame blame blame.

????? You really had to ask the question above?

Say this very slowly. L A B O R C O S T S.

Well that and the Chinese don't seem to give a shit how their country is polluted.
SO no EPA controls may have been a factor in moving those job.

Greedy corporations. Avoid paying Americans and go pollute another country.

But you notice these companies have no problem bringing this Chinese made shit back here to sell.

If companies don't think American workers should have a job, I don't think I need to buy Chinese made American shit.

Called voting with your pocketbook.

You mean Americans cost so much more that it is cheaper to move all your manufacturing equipment on a boat , build or buy a new facilities, train people, make deals with foreign government's create up goods, ship half way around the world, truck to stores all over the USA and still make a profit, like you say a real big profit.

Wow Americans sure are expensive---why is that?

And the pollution is so bad but what the heck those other countries do not care.

Read this slowly please.

Between the lines
Unemployment insurance,pentions,social security matching,workerscompensation insurance,auto insurance, liability insurance,union dues,apprentice training costs,health insurance,medicare,and high corporate taxes naaaaa this has nothing to do with it
oh and labor board,OSHA training&regulations,not to mention invoriment regulations that you have to hire a New York Lawyer at several hundred an hour to figure out if all your employees are legal ,and make sure you are in compliant with state and federal tax regulations.
And the biggest bunch of bullshit there is--you have to pay there child support for them as they won't do it for themselves and have the cost of your office staff to do so.

Na these are not good enough reasons to move your business to china what a bunch of greedy business men

 

[racewright]

not everything made in china is 'junk' by any means. Only a type of small sailing vessel really qualifies.

Btw when i was in quebec in november i bought a pair of chinese-made boots, with which i am well satisfied, in walmart for $ canadian 29.99. Good value for money

that's true friends of mine who work at pratt whitney(united technologies) 20 years ago when parts were shipped to china would come back and have to be machined over--not anymore as my friends tell me all they do is check them and then install.
But guess what my friends had to go to china to teach there workers how to be a quality machinist.
Phillips lighting did the same thing...so rather than blame the companies we should be asking why is it more to there liking to move there operations to china.
but now the hard part rather than fix the problem and make it more viable to have these companies use the usa's people we point blame and call names..such foolishness.

You would think educated personnel would be able to solve this but no blame blame blame.

????? You really had to ask the question above?

Say this very slowly. L a b o r c o s t s.

Well that and the chinese don't seem to give a shit how their country is polluted.
So no epa controls may have been a factor in moving those job.

Greedy corporations. Avoid paying americans and go pollute another country.

But you notice these companies have no problem bringing this chinese made shit back here to sell.

If companies don't think american workers should have a job, i don't think i need to buy chinese made american shit.

Called voting with your pocketbook.

just want to see if you are awake--or still in dream land

 

[Kimura]

This really isn't a big deal, seriously.