One of the most profound quotes about outsourcing that I've read in a long time

[Duer 157099]

"It's on the factory floor that we innovate and we come up with new products and new processes," Honig-hausen said. "If we lose the factory, not only are we losing today's skills, but we lose the skills of tomorrow and the day after, and that's really hard to get back."

From this article:

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120623/ARTICLES/206231009/1350?Title=Windsor-man-s-ceramics-business-crafting-U-S-made-products-once-again

Made in the USA
Windsor man brings some manufacturing for his ceramics back from overseas

After years of importing ceramic tableware from abroad, Ulrich Honighausen is on a redemptive mission to reclaim a shard of America's manufacturing past.

The Windsor businessman owns a tableware company with a list of clients that has included Starbucks, Fred Meyer, Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn. Like so many other U.S. manufacturers, for the better part of two decades he's obtained his products from places such as China.

[SoutherDem]

1. Outsourcing and shipping jobs overseas hurts the American people

But, are we at fault too?

We have demanded the lowest price. We have flocked to Walmart passing the locally owned shop to save a few dollars (usually a few cents). Now that the local store is gone some don't have a realistic choice other than Walmart.

We accepted Made in China to save money.
We accepted call centers in India to save money.

I do blame Romney and those like him. But, I feel the American consumer deserves some of the blame too. Myself included.

[hollysmom]

2. I can't identify with that,

I was raised in a union family and looked for made in America items as long as I could even if they cost more - I am no longer given that opportunity. There are very few shoe makers and virtually no electronics manufacturers for TVs computers etc. (note in our house we did not have a picture of Jesus or Kennedy, we had a picture of Walter Reuther on the wall)

I have friends who shop at walmart (not a place for a union mindset) and have asked them to stop. Only successful with a few, but honestly it is hard to have a boycott of such places because there are almost no choices. all the small hardware stores have closed near me, just big boxes left. Ditto with electronic stores. With Clothing the use of the made in America label is a lie half the time, they are made in sweatshops in territories and price is no real guide line. I used to be IT for a South Carolina dress company, but we had to close because our biggest Client, Sears, wanted more profit and did not renew the contract.

Corporations have taken the choice away from us. But, yes, there are others that do buy the cheapest junk, i.e. cut off their noses to spite their face.

I also worked for GE when they bought RCA and the first thing they did was close research. Jack Welch thought it was a money waster. I really hated Jack Welch. The man is scum and a thief. Will never forgive him for making all employees take ethics courses because his leadership included bribes for government contracts and ethics courses for others was his peace offering. .

[prole_for_peace]

3. We try our best not to buy items from American companies that are "made in china"

And I also try avoid clothes made in the Marianas Islands and other US territories. I consider those workers as slave labor.

That is one of a long list of reasons why I stopped shopping at Walmart and Sam's Club 10 years ago.

[SoutherDem]

7. For years I refused to shop at Walmart

and still hate going there, and I can honestly say it is not the cost but the convenience. I grew up with two grocery stores in the community I live two more in the next and still 5 more within a 5 mile drive. Today, to purchase meat, vegetables/fruit or anything beyond "junk food" I have to drive twenty miles. Except of course for the local Walmart, the same is true for many other products.

If I go to "town" I do stop by various stores to keep from going to Walmart, but do I make a special trip to buy one item, no.

My sister is in a worst situation than me, "town" for her is 50 miles away.

[bhikkhu]

20. I still refuse, but its still always the busiest store in town

I avoid chain stores in general, as they siphon money out of local economies - off to the top-tier who knows where. The economy where I live has needed help since the 60's, so its an easy choice to buy local from stores and people I know.

I think of it as voting with my wallet, which could be a more influential vote than anything we do politically, as far as how it shapes our economic environment and our lives. Unfortunately, most people vote for the big chains, giving their money to the Waltons and the fat-cats, rather than their neighbors. Ah well, I'll still do what I know to be right.

[SoutherDem]

22. Oh if I excluded big chains all together

I might starve. I really can't think of one "locally owned store" which sell groceries in my area even if I drive 30-40 miles. Sadly, I am not exaggerating.

Also, they are not good jobs but these chain stores do employ a lot of people in the area. I like your idea of purchasing local, and do when the seldom occasion arrises, I bought 4 new tires from the local tire store in March, but there really are not many left.

[bhikkhu]

23. I guess I'm fortunate

...the best prices in my town are at a locally owned store, which is one of the bigger employers here. My favorite checker worked her way through college there and just got a degree and a good job elsewhere. I still like a store you can go in and its busy with people shopping and people working, stocking shelves and so forth - there's always someone to ask or help out. I went to a Raley's in Sacramento that was like that too - just lots of people around, lots of employees.

[hollysmom]

26. not sure if this qualifies

but shoprite may be a chain but it is individually owned - it is really a franchise. I love the way the local store is run. They work with a soup kitchen for any food near expiration date and they take even the slightest fruit and vegetable that don't look perfect and add it to the donations. They don't dump good food. They hire workers with disabilities and seniors. It is a large store with a family feel.

[dixiegrrrrl]

60. Town for us is 90 miles away

AND there is ONE remaining grocery store besides the Wal-Mart...and that one store is hellishly expensive.
Fortunatly there is a curbside produce market and several dollar stores for non-grocery type needs.
Right after Wal Mart announced it was building a super center in our town, which is the county seat,
the 2nd of the 2 grocery stores here closed down.

[SoutherDem]

63. You are in a worst situation than me

I do have the option of driving 20 miles, you don't have that. Dollar stores are everywhere so I do use those instead of Walmart but they don't carry "real" food.

[dixiegrrrrl]

68. they don't carry "real" food.

'zactly.

On top of everything else, our local sales tax is 9.5% on everything except prescriptions.
Even if I drove 90 miles to shop in tax free Fla. the cost of a round trip of gas would be 20.00 at a min.
So we pay higher food prices here than in the cities and higher tax.
fortunatley, housing prices are quite low for a "normal" house and I don't have to pay property taxes anymore.
And ordering some stuff online in bulk saves gas and taxes.

[Little Star]

4. I knew it was bad right from the start of this crap of outsourcing.....

I don't blame us. They outsourced our jobs, left us with no money to do any thing but buy cheap crap in most places. Nope, It's not our fault they put us in this no win box and left us with few other options.

[Zalatix]

28. Did you used to get mobbed by people who thought you were wrong whenever you spoke out?

Notice how that's not happening anymore?

[Little Star]

34. Yes, they thought I was WRONG! Joke was on them, I guess.

[Demit]

6. What exactly were we supposed to do about call centers in India?

Leaving aside that silly assertion, we didn't demand any of that. Our buying power shrank, because of flat salaries and wages, and so we were left to seek out cheaper and cheaper goods. Which the corporations, and those in government who abetted them, were only too happy to provide.

Blame yourself for record corporate profits, if you like. I don't take any blame for it. It was out of my power.

[limpyhobbler]

8. Since the Walton family has over $100 billion, more than the bottom 30% of American families

combined, it seems like all the money they are saving by using cheap Chinese labor, they are pocketing it as excess personal profits. Walmart could afford to pay higher wages, either in the US or China, if it didn't have to support a royal family like the Waltons. Same goes for any other high ranking corporate people at the company who make milllions. They take too much. More than their fair share.

I don't want to blame American consumers too much. Most people are struggling and don't have much of a choice. A lot of people are just glad to have a pair of shoes and can't afford to question how much the person got paid at the shoe factory, or which side of the border it was on.

I would rather blame an economic system that pits American workers against foreign workers in a race to the bottom. Fix the system.

That's not to disagree with what was said in the OP, but just to add another angle. I would rather buy American over Chinese too, but find it almost impossible.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walton_family

[SoutherDem]

9. I do understand having to save money

and for that I don't blame anyone for going to Walmart.

When they first moved into the community I saw them sell some product below what the local shop owner could buy them from the manufacture.

Now that they are the only game within 20 miles I find there savings to be 1 or 2 cents.

I by pass Walmart when I can, but I fully admit if I need just a few items I do not make the 40 mile round trip. I do make each trip to town count and will visit several stores once I have made the trip.

I have left out the customer service issues with Walmart and their labor practices but I will leave that for another OP.

[Curmudgeoness]

15. I remember when Walmart first came to the Houston area

when I was living there. At that time, Sam Walton was still alive. And their sales pitch was "whenever possible, we will sell American made products". And they did. They had "USA made" signs all over the store. That was their their sales strategy. I don't know what happened. But remembering that time, I know that the consumers WERE looking for USA products, even at that time.

[SoutherDem]

16. They also promised if 3 or more are in line we open a new register

By the way Walmart did have a lot of USA products while that ad ran but not as many as all the signs would make you think. I can't remember who did the study but a study was done to see which retail company had the most USA products. This was when Walmart advertised that. SO one would think Walmart should have been on top or at least 2 or 3. They weren't. JCPenney was #1, I think Macy was #2 and Sears #3 followed by another big box store, Walmart was #5.

What happened? Greed.

[jeff47]

44. What happened? Sam died.

Sam's kids really don't care about "Made in the USA".

[OrwellwasRight]

47. Well, they also had buyers' codes that pushed wages down and down in the US.

Then they started telling US producers to move overseas as it would be easier for them to hit the price point Wal-Mart demanded. I know that Allen Industries in Texas told Wal-Mart no, and kept the ILGWU contract. Eventually, the only Wal-Mart contracts they would get were when Wal-Mart was in a pinch and could not get required quantities of particular items from its overseas suppliers. Well, eventually Allen went out of business and ILGWU became a defunct union. Not necessarily 100% Wal-Mart's fault, but Wal-Mart had a choice to to stick with Made in America as a real commitment or do what it did to make lowest price humanly possible its commitment. I wonder how things would be different today if it would have gone in the other direction.

[Flatulo]

55. I have more wealth than the bottom 30%, because

they have a negative net worth.

Wish I was LOL-ing, but it's probably true.

[Curmudgeoness]

11. I do not blame the US consumer for so many reasons.

The products made in China are often not cheap. But they are readily available. Products made in the USA cost no more than things made overseas, but it is very difficult to find them. I was out shopping for some garden decor the other day, and in a garden store full of products, I only found two items that made in the USA of all the things I looked at. That is not my fault! It is the fault of all the companies that moved production away. It is the fault of these same companies that are charging the same amount of money that they were charging when they produced here, and pocketing the profits. And the government is no help, since these other countries are subsidizing their industries to get prices so low on some products (like steel) that the raw materials would cost a company here more that the final product shipped in. And our government is not aggressive at stopping that.

But blaming the people who are stuggling with stagnant wages, if they even have a job, is counterproductive. And it is the meme of the right wing. Anyone but business is at fault.

[SoutherDem]

14. I did not say Business was not at fault.

I know today it is all but impossible to buy American. But, if when the outsourcing began if we stood up and demanded no China products things may be different today.

If we would have said no, instead of giving tax breaks to get a Walmart in the town things may be different.


What I said was;

I do blame Romney and those like him. But, I feel the American consumer deserves some of the blame too. Myself included.

I am saying if we would have bypassed Walmart and continued to purchase from the local stores things may be different today.

I am saying if we would have demanded call centers be on American soil or we don't deal with the company things may be different today.

I am saying if we would have not been willing to give up customer service for price things may be different today.

I DO blame business. But the same way small businesses went out of business because customers were not buying from them but going to Walmart instead, Walmart would not have become what is is today or many not be around at all, if we didn't flock to them like they were the consumer mecca.

Once again, I said the consumer deserves SOME of the blame, not ALL. I did not dismiss business from ALL blame but SOME.

By the way I blame politicians who have made outsourcing so easy. We should be protecting our products the same way other countries do.

I am saying it is a multi-faceted issue and there is a lot of blame to go around.

[jeff47]

45. Minor flaw in your theory

When not shopping at Wal-Mart would have helped, they still sold mostly Made-in-the-USA products.

It was only after they rose to dominance that they switched to almost all Made-in-China.

So we can't blame consumers for that outsourcing - it happened after Wal-Mart became many town's only option.

However, we consumers could have spent more at small businesses instead of flocking to Wal-Mart for "one-stop convenience".

[bhikkhu]

21. I wouldn't blame, but I would hope to educate

Every day that goes by, the sum of the choices made by the majority determines the shape of the world on the next day. If we spent our money differently, it seriously wouldn't take much more than a day to change the world. Of course, people are averse to changing behavior, but obviously nothing changes if nobody changes - one must try.

ed - sp.

[jeff47]

46. Education doesn't help when there's no other option

Using home electronics as an example, I have two options: Wal-Mart and Best Buy. That's it. No mom-n-pop, no locally-owned.

My other option is to buy them online, but that's even worse for the town - at least the massively-underpaid big-box employees are here, and there's a lot more of them than at a mail-order business.

[quakerboy]

66. And no matter which of the three options you choose

The product was all made by foxcon in China and shipped to that store.

Even if you did have a local option, he manufacturing would still have been done overseas.

adding another layer to the problem.

[w4rma]

12. Don't blame the victim of a con. (nt)

[JDPriestly]

39. Yes. It's a con worthy of the Mafia.

And when you combine outsourcing with the banking fraud and theft, then maybe we are being run by a Mafia-like organization of criminals. They might not admit to it, but what is this with a Federal Reserve run by the banks that is bailing out the banks again (indirectly by claiming they are bailing out the Europeans).

[laundry_queen]

25. The reason people wanted the lowest prices

is because their money wage was not keeping up with inflation. Pay people less and they will try to find cheaper items in order to keep up their same standard of living.

Not only that, but the standard macroeconomic theory taught in business school is that free trade is always for the best. While you might lose jobs in the short term, eventually you will have a comparative advantage in something that produces tons of jobs, which will be a win-win for you and the country you are trading with.

I happen to disagree with that premise - there are far too many variables in place for that to be a 'rule' - but I'm guessing that most business people who lobby the government believe in it wholeheartedly.

I do think that if wages had kept up, then people would be very willing to buy higher prices items - especially if they are better quality. People are not stupid - they won't buy the same frying pan for $5 year after year if they can get one for $25 that lasts 40 years - IF THEY CAN AFFORD IT. If they cannot, they have NO choice but to buy the $5 one. And that is the crux of the problem, imo.

[KakistocracyHater]

49. "free trade" has been a laboratory success I dont think

it's ever been a real world success

[laundry_queen]

72. Free trade only works in a vacuum. nt

[KakistocracyHater]

74. like a lab, yes

[LiberalAndProud]

27. It isn't usually just a few cents.

Local shops often find their product cheaper at the big box stores than they can buy direct from their wholesaler. That was my experience as a retailer. Add to that, wages have been depressed for at least two decades. Finding the cheapest product is a survival technique. Many, if not most, don't have the luxury to be able to spend the extra dollars to support local shops. Our system is designed for a downward spiral by accident or by foresight.

[Egalitarian Thug]

29. I don't recall ever having a choice in th e matter & this is true for far more

than the cheap Chinese crap that Walmart brought in. Certainly one of the largest & most visible elements of this sell off/out, this is a real epidemic throughout American industries from manufacturing to services to the professions. The loss of knowledge, entire sectors are effectively gone and will have to be rebuilt from the ground up.

So-called free trade has always been about maximizing profits by organizing and converting entire nations into single sectors. Plantation Earth.

[hobbit709]

33. I remember when Walmart advertised "American made"

But that was when Sam Walton was still alive, his heirs made Walmart what they are today.

[JDPriestly]

35. +1000

And if we want to know why we have done that, we have only to look at the difference between the increase in CEO pay and the increase in worker pay over the past 40 -50 years. American workers don't just want to buy cheap products. They have to buy the cheap stuff. And it's not just the price that is cheap on this imports. It's also the quality.

[treestar]

40. Exactly Every time a mom and pop closes due to big box stores

It is the same thing.

Or the jobs go to different parts of the United States - but in that case we can move to where the jobs are and didn't complain.

This like many things is in our hands but we try to blame our behavior on somebody else. When we had the chance to keep buying from Mom and Pop or keep buying American, but chose to save a buck or two on each purchase.

[watchdogg]

5. Insourcing TV show

my mom works for History Channel and they're thinking about a new show about US factories that are starting up again.

[SoutherDem]

10. That would be great.

I hope they do. I watch the History Channel quite a bit.

[Phlem]

13. For some of us,

We saw this turning into a fail right when it started. I being in the 3d games industry. We had a diverse economy, manufacturing base, employable talent pool.

Now what?

Are we all going to be fancy paper pushers, finance geniuses, high level programmers, millionaires, just to have what used to be called the american dream?

The vehicles for upward mobility, have been decimated, and even the few who can finance that endeavor, are finding the investment a "0" return on their dollars.

We are fucked, yet people can't comprehend this reality. No, let's all be the good guys who don't stoop to their dirty tricks,(by the way republican's have no problem with that). While our numbers slowly diminish 1 by 1.

Oh yea, and I don't want the "that's not a positive outlook" reply. I'm tired of it.

We all want the same thing, and the time to be serious is now! If you can't lead please get out of the way. We need to be actively aggressive, not complacent. No more complacency please!!



-p

[KakistocracyHater]

50. I agree, since when did fighting back or defending your

core values become non-Democratic?

[bhikkhu]

17. 4 out of 5 manufacturing jobs lost was to automation, rather than imports

Or, in other words, of the manufacturing jobs lost in the last decade or so, the great majority were lost due to modernization, technology that replaces workers with machines, or that allows workers to work more efficiently. This is more or less effectively measured by productivity rates, and represents jobs that would have been lost anyway, even in a "closed" marketplace.

Jobs lost due to buying imported goods rather than domestic production were significant, but small in comparison. Which makes sense, as trade is a small part of the US GDP - only around 15%.

This is a good article looking at the 2000's: http://www.policyarchive.org/handle/10207/bitstreams/8039.pdf

Its conclusion is that the best approach is to increase exports, which is one of the more successful items on the Obama agenda - http://www.hdma.org/Main-Menu/HDMA-Publications/Diesel-Download/May-14-2012/US-Hits-Record-Exports-Industrial-Supplies-and-Capital-Goods-Lead-the-Way.html

[Curmudgeoness]

18. I don't believe that statistic.

Or I should be more clear, I think that this is another example of using statistics to say what you want them to say. This study examines the period between 2000 and 2003.....a time when so many of the manufacturing jobs were already gone from this country. Look at the 70's and 80's for statistics that are still affecting us today.

I will agree that technology has taken over many jobs, but not as many as exporting our jobs has cost us. I know that because I use computer programs in my job, there are fewer people needed to do what I do than if we were still doing it in ledgers on paper. But many of our jobs were gone before we had the opportunity to lose them to automation.

[bhikkhu]

19. "the main driver for job loss is increased productivity" - since 1979

from http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/tax-reform-may-not-bring-us-jobs-back

where they point out that US manufacturing employment peaked in 1979, at 21 million jobs. Its down to about 12 million jobs now, but manufacturing output is twice what it was in 1979. We produce twice as much with about half the workers - automation and modernization.

Without outsourcing and imports there would be more jobs and we would have to produce more domestically, but again trade is only 15% of our economy - what we import is so much less than we produce, its just not a very big factor.

It is a very interesting problem, as it has been going on for centuries now as a historical phenomenon, even well before the industrial revolution. I wouldn't say that I believe one way or another, but the data seems to point strongly to automation as the biggest factor.
Then, ignoring the biggest factor in favor of a much lesser factor, is a way of huffing and puffing, changing nothing, but getting people to direct their attention somewhere other than at the real problem.

The best response to the trade deficit is encouraging exports through well-regulated trade, which is moving along ok. Obama's goal is to have doubled exports by 2015, and barring global recession we may well meet the goal. In any case, I still avoid w-marts and chain stores like the plague myself anyway. Buying local might not be the biggest thing, but it does feel good.

[treestar]

41. Yes, it is far more complex than simply blaming

somebody. Though Rmoney deserves it anyway.

[Curmudgeoness]

51. It may be true that only 15% of our "economy" is trade,

but I would like to know what the other 85% of our "economy" is. When I go into stores, when I shop for a car, when I buy groceries, I do not see only 15% of the products I have available to me from other countries. I do not doubt that percentage, but I guess I do not know what is included in the term "our economy". My ignorance is showing. I just know that what I see does not seem to substantiate this---although all I see is products I can buy.

And you are so right, buying local does feel good, although I am not sure it isn't a big thing.

[Zalatix]

62. But trade adds $400 to $600 billion to our deficit every year, depending on the year.

That's foreign-held debt, by the way. How many other countries are bleeding out like that?

[quakerboy]

73. By that measure

playing fast and loose with the numbers, a factory can make 4 times as much as they formerly could with the same employees.

I think one could make an argument that we need a shorter work week with a significantly higher wage to help even things out.

[Zalatix]

32. Ayup, +100!

[Zalatix]

31. Increase exports? Are you kidding me? Exports are nothing compared to imports. Always will be.

[bhikkhu]

54. A fair export vs import graphic:

It does show imports increasing faster than exports lately, but you can see that one is not so much greater than the other. The whole "we can't compete" and "we don't make anything here" is primarily a non-factual RW meme, which they use to beat people down with, though I know you don't mean it that way.

[Romulox]

56. Talk about telling half the story!

Do you type with a straight face?

[Zalatix]

61. A trade deficit of $600 billion A YEAR. And this is what trade deficits do? Ask Greece.

Greece is so heavily dependent upon imports that now people are threatened with death because imported medicines are being pinched off.

But things don't have to get THAT drastic to screw up a country.

The trade deficit increases America's national (foreign held) debt:
http://industryweek.com/articles/u-s-_free_trade_policy_causes_trade_deficits_federal_debt_25366.aspx?ShowAll=1

Plus it also naturally devalues the Dollar. Cite:
http://www.frbsf.org/education/activities/drecon/1999/9910.html

[Romulox]

36. Just to be clear: Your data covers the years 2000-2003 (Dot.com crash to post 9/11 crash.)

Massively dishonest to present this as some sort of representative data set.

[Zalatix]

64. *crickets*

[mrmpa]

24. I was in Newell, West Virginia today...........

because Homer Laughlin Pottery Company (makers of Fiesta Ware) all proudly made in the USA since the early 1900's had their semi-annual tent sale. Proudly inscribed on the bottom of the pottery, USA.

[Romulox]

38. I have a deep blue glazed Fiesta coffee cup in front of me. Just a fantastic line of products. nt

[mrmpa]

70. Yes they are............

Yesterday I bought 2 dinner plates, 4 bowls, 4 coffee mugs and a medium size tray for all of $31.14. I went with 2 sisters-in-law, one bought a disc pitcher for $4.75. They both spent about $15 each.

They also have a small tent with Hall pottery. I bought a tray (inscribed Homer Laughlin) about 18" long for $1.50. One sister-in-law bought a small baking dish for $1.00 and the other bought a small tray and 2 baking dishes for $4.00.

Everything on sale is seconds, but you have to really look hard to see the errors, most times it's an over application of color somewhere on the piece or an area that was not covered by color, or small chips.

They have these sales in October also.

[TBF]

30. This is a global labor issue as well -

I'd like to see a law pass that indicates factories have to pay US minimum wage no matter where they put their factories. Maybe then we'd see an improvement in living conditions for folks in other countries.

We have the list of billionaires worldwide that live in extreme luxury - and then we have workers worldwide who are scrambling just to get jobs (and wages that vary widely), and often have trouble even affording housing. Instead of equalizing workers to a very low common denominator, which is what they are doing now with out-sourcing, I'd like to see worldwide minimum wages so all labor can feed their families.

[treestar]

57. That could work

Long term the only solution is for the Chinese and others to demand as much in wages as we do - and for them to have purchasing power too.

[Zalatix]

65. US minimum wages, plus workplace safety and pollution controls.

America is doing little more thane exporting its pollution elsewhere.

[TBF]

71. Excellent points. nt

[Romulox]

37. Americans just want a job that pays enough for them to make their Hyundai payment.

And they can't for the life of them figure out what is wrong with the above sentiment.

[treestar]

42. +1

The consumer chooses the lowest price for other things. But for his job, or what his job produces, it's unfair for other people to do the same!

[SoutherDem]

43. Maybe it is the Hyundai/Honda/Mercedes Plant

is in Alabama hiring US workers?

[treestar]

58. There's that too

It is not so simple as people make it out to be.

And there are jobs here from other countries, yet we don't seem to feel so bad about that.

Labor is "ahead" here - that makes us more expensive. It's others that should have the same rights we do, not that they should just be forced back into an agrarian life.

[Romulox]

59. Right. But "Support My Scab Plant in a Right-to-Work State!" makes a lousy bumpersticker.

You don't understand how undercutting union labor is ultimately self-defeating?

[bvar22]

48. It is also a matter of National Security.

In 1941, the USA was able to enter and WIN a World War on two major fronts, several different minor fronts,
AND supply other countries with the manufactured tools to defeat the threat.
We were able to do this because of our Home Based Manufacturing capabilities.
It took less than a year to "retool" our existing factories to produce the materials necessary to win the war.
We are no longer able to do this.

What is WORSE is that we have not simply moved manufacturing overseas,
we have also sold our Tool & Die industry to Overseas concerns.
Without the Tool & Die Industry, we no longer have the ability to make the machines that make the machines.
We would need to rebuild the Tool & Die Industry BEFORE we could begin to rebuild the factories.

[Blanks]

69. What machines do you believe we need?

That we are not capable of making? We were able to re-tool factories in a year; we're bound to have the stuff to re-tool.

Dont get me wrong; you may have a valid point, but it seems like we still make quite a few defense 'machines'.

I mean we have robots and 3d printers and still make planes and cars (and lots and lots of guns); do you really believe we lack the tools to conduct war?

[Citizen Worker]

52. As the victim of a plant closure I've been saying much the same thing since 1990.

[KakistocracyHater]

53. yup, it almost seems like W was purposely knee-capping us

or?

[Huey P. Long]

67. Outsourcing is Bipartisan Corruption

Obama Campaign Attacks Romney’s Bain Outsourcing, But Support for Outsourcing is Bipartisan Corruption
Sunday, 24 June 2012 13:34
By Zaid Jilani, Republic Report | News Analysis

The Obama campaign just released a campaign commercial talking about how Mitt Romney, while working at Bain Capital, oversaw the outsourcing of Americans jobs to China and Mexico. The ad calls Romney a "corporate raider" for his role at Bain (watch it to the left). The media has picked up the Obama campaign's attack on Romney, amplifying its message. The overall narrative being created by the Obama campaign is clear: Romney has through his business practices support outsourcing in the past, and is likely to in the future — unlike President Obama. Unfortunately, the story is not that simple. "We should not oppose offshoring or outsourcing," said one high-ranking presidential economic adviser at a conference of companies interesting in outsourcing last summer. The adviser then went on to compare opponents of outsourcing to "luddites who took axes to machinery early in England's industrial revolution."

Those quotes do not come from a Romney adviser. They come from Larry Summers, who was President Obama's director of the White House National Economic Council. And Summers — who gave the speech after he left the White House — is not a lone voice among Obama officials. Obama once promised to re-negotiate the outsourcing-friendly North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he criticized on the campaign trail. Here's a copy of a mailer that Obama used during the 2008 election to talk about his opposition to NAFTA:
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So, as the record stands, President Obama, too, is also supportive of outsourcing. But Obama did not pass these trade deals alone. He had strong backing from many Senate Democrats and from most of the Republican party. This support materialized despite the fact that there is strong public opposition to "free trade" policies that privilege investor rights and do not protect worker and environmental rights.
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But the pro-outsourcing lobbyists are not through hollowing out America's manufacturing base. The Huffington Post reported earlier this month that the Obama administration is secretly working with lobbyists to pass a new trade agreement that could have devastating effects on labor and environmental rights, and open up a whole new avenue for outsourcing. This agreement could be stopped or altered to promote fair trade, but it depends in part on whether the media is prepared to accurately report on the issue.
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http://truth-out.org/news/item/9956-obama-campaign-attacks-romneys-bain-outsourcing-but-support-for-outsourcing-is-bipartisan-corruption