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[Frenchfry]

VOTE FOR AMERICA WITH YOUR CONSUMER DOLLARS
Thursday, November 29, 2007
by Jim Hightower

Hey, it’s the holiday season – time to go out there and do your part for our American economy by buying tons of cheap stuff made in China!

Wait – that doesn’t make sense, does it? First, you’ll notice that most of those “cheap” goods from China aren’t really cheap by the time they’re on the shelves of Wal-Mart, Nieman Marcus, and other U.S. retailers. Yes, they’re produced by cheap labor, but this savings is pocketed by the brand-name marketers who get their stuff made there.

Second, how does it help our economy to shift America’s manufacturing to China? Notice that our middle-class jobs are disappearing and our country is falling deeper into debt, while China has the fastest-growing economy in the world and now owns a big chunk of our debt. Then there’s the little matter of toxic products imported from China, including everything from food to toys.

Isn't there a better way to spend our consumer dollars? Yes. Buy Made-in-the-USA products this holiday season… and throughout the year! Do such products exist? Yes, again – though you wont find many at your local MegaMart. Your best bet is to try local stores and internet shops, where you can find a cornucopia of U.S.-made goods.

For example, a web site called toysmadeinamerica.com lists dozens of internet locations for all sorts of gifts you can buy for the tykes on your list – dolls, doll houses, wooden trains, space-age action toys, playscapes, puppets, puzzles, banjos, books, board games, tutus, marbles, pogo sticks, skateboards, wiffle balls, play kitchens, and so much more, made right here by Americans. Also check out usmadetoys.com, shopforamerica.com and madeinusa.org to point you in the right direction.

We are not powerless consumers. We’re sovereign citizens who can send a potent message to corporate profiteers by voting with our dollars. So… do it!



“Buy Made in the USA Products This Christmas,” Email from Donald H. from Crosby Texas, November 8, 2007

[utility slug]

HEAR HEAR FRY !

[Chips]

VOTE FOR AMERICA WITH YOUR CONSUMER DOLLARS
Thursday, November 29, 2007
by Jim Hightower

Hey, it’s the holiday season – time to go out there and do your part for our American economy by buying tons of cheap stuff made in China!

Wait – that doesn’t make sense, does it? First, you’ll notice that most of those “cheap” goods from China aren’t really cheap by the time they’re on the shelves of Wal-Mart, Nieman Marcus, and other U.S. retailers. Yes, they’re produced by cheap labor, but this savings is pocketed by the brand-name marketers who get their stuff made there.

Second, how does it help our economy to shift America’s manufacturing to China? Notice that our middle-class jobs are disappearing and our country is falling deeper into debt, while China has the fastest-growing economy in the world and now owns a big chunk of our debt. Then there’s the little matter of toxic products imported from China, including everything from food to toys.

Isn't there a better way to spend our consumer dollars? Yes. Buy Made-in-the-USA products this holiday season… and throughout the year! Do such products exist? Yes, again – though you wont find many at your local MegaMart. Your best bet is to try local stores and internet shops, where you can find a cornucopia of U.S.-made goods.

For example, a web site called toysmadeinamerica.com lists dozens of internet locations for all sorts of gifts you can buy for the tykes on your list – dolls, doll houses, wooden trains, space-age action toys, playscapes, puppets, puzzles, banjos, books, board games, tutus, marbles, pogo sticks, skateboards, wiffle balls, play kitchens, and so much more, made right here by Americans. Also check out usmadetoys.com, shopforamerica.com and madeinusa.org to point you in the right direction.

We are not powerless consumers. We’re sovereign citizens who can send a potent message to corporate profiteers by voting with our dollars. So… do it!



“Buy Made in the USA Products This Christmas,” Email from Donald H. from Crosby Texas, November 8, 2007

Merry Christmas Jim Hightower.

[Frenchfry]

WHY NOT "DRINK LOCAL?"
Friday, November 30, 2007
by Jim Hightower


In a triumph of marketing over reasoning, the bottled water industry has turned us into conspicuously silly consumers.

Controlled by a handful of global conglomerates (such as Coca Cola and Nestle), the water industry has created the fantasy that if it's in a bottle, it's purer than what comes out of the tap. But wait – the EPA stringently regulates the public water systems, requiring tests several times a day for bacteria and other contaminants, and these test results are public information. The corporate bottlers, on the other hand, are overseen by the more lackadaisical FDA, which requires them to test their water sources only once a week – and the results are kept secret by the corporations.

One group that is beginning to rebel is one you might not expect: upscale restaurants. Such places profit handsomely from offering Perrier, San Pellegrino, Fiji, or other designer waters, paying a dollar or two for each bottle and selling them for eight or ten bucks. Yet, Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, and Del Posto in New York City are among the pioneers who are foregoing this profit center, substituting free filtered tap water or house-made sparkling water that's also drawn from the tap.

Why would they do this? Because they are part of a growing sustainable food movement that prides itself in using local, seasonal ingredients for their menu items. Think about it: In terms of energy, environment, and sustainability, it makes no sense to load cargo ships with millions of bottles of water, haul them thousands of miles to our shores, truck them hundreds of miles to our restaurants, then chuck the bottles into our overloaded landfills – when the local, public water system supplies perfectly good water available at the turn of a faucet.

Just as it makes economic and environmental sense to "eat local," it also makes sense to "drink local."



"Fighting The Tide, A Few Restaurants Tilt To Tap Water," The New York Times, May 30, 2007.

[SidecarFlip]

Is toilet paper still made in this country?

[zard0z]

Good luck finding them...!

[TheShepherd]

Check out www.stillmadeinusa.com

[Frenchfry]

[Lady Arbella]

I'm am just so relieved that I do not have to deal with this anymore. I am just so disgusted with how this entire situation has been handled. Mattel and the other companies who have been selling "lead" toys have not suffered any consequences for their negligence. They know full well when you child wants the newest Barbie, us as parents are going to go and buy it, no matter where it comes from.

Yes I do know that there are companies out there who sell toys "Made in the USA". But from what I am seeing they sell toys like marbles and jump ropes. Children do not want marbles for Christmas .....they want Elmos and Dora Dolls.

I really would love to see EVERYONE stick together and not buy any of their "made in China" lead crap, but sadly I do not see that happening.

[zard0z]

LMAO...!

Sad, but true...

[no one gets my name right anyway]

While you're out buying American-only products, make sure to use American-made bags to carry them in, wrapping paper to wrap them in, tape to tape them with, etc.

Oh, and drive to the store in an American car with American tires AND American gas, will ya?

[Lady Arbella]

While you're out buying American-only products, make sure to use American-made bags to carry them in, wrapping paper to wrap them in, tape to tape them with, etc.

Oh, and drive to the store in an American car with American tires AND American gas, will ya?

God forbid any of us try and show a little American pride...  *

[no one gets my name right anyway]

God forbid any of us try and show a little American pride...  *

Nothing wrong with pride - just pointing out how entwined our society is with its dependence upon other countries. It's difficult to unravel.

[utility slug]

Have a look around at the empty buildings that use to house factories made by workers we lived near !

I buy American as much as I possibly can.

[BigRedDog]

Have a look around at the empty buildings that use to house factories made by workers we lived near !

I buy American as much as I possibly can.

Just yesterday my wife remarked about a roll of duct tape...    wow, something actually still made in the USA....