We Have the Power to Fix Our Economy

As Americans, we sit on our sofas every evening and watch the news broadcasts that tell us how bad our economy is. Over 600,000 jobs lost today. Unemployement levels at 7%. We are told that our economy is in the worst shape it's ever been in since the Great Depression. Bush is responsible, Clinton is responsible. But who is really responsible? We are!

We go to the local Wal-Mart and purchase everything from groceries to clothing, housewares to electronics, etc. But how many of you actually pay attention to where the items you buy are actually made? Try this... walk around your home and pick up any 3 items. Look on the bottom and see where it is made. China? Taiwan? Korea? Mexico? Hmmm.... if you are purchasing goods made in foreign countries, who's economy are you supporting?

Remember when Wal-Mart's slogan was Made In America? Most everything they sold was made in America. Not anymore. Even the furniture stores, specialty electronic stores like Radio Shack, most everything is made in a foreign country. No wonder our unemployement rate is so high.

Do you drive a Nissan, Hyundai,Toyota or Subaru? Well, even though the car you drive might have been built in an America plant, the parts came from China, Taiwan and Japan. You can verify where these parts come from by visiting http://www.tradekey.com/ks-nissan-parts/ .

Pick up your coffee cup. Where was it made? What is the point of exporting our raw materials to foriegn countries so they can manufacture a product then only to export it from that country (taxed) and we import it (taxed) to sell it here. Why not keep the raw materials here in the U.S.A. , manufacture products from these materials and sell them here at home. If other countries want these products we can send them to the other countries.

When NAFTA was implemented in 1994, this was the beginning of the downward spiral of our economy and we as people of the United States, let it happen.

-NAFTA displaced into lower-paying jobs 523,305 workers with a high school degree or less.
-Men, who make up 55.2% of the labor force, lost 649,048 job opportunities, or 63.9% of total jobs displaced due to NAFTA deficits.
-Women, who make up 47.8% of the labor force, were especially hard hit by rising imports in apparel: they lost 34,855 job opportunities, 67% of all positions displaced in the apparel sector.
-The 1 million job opportunities lost nationwide are distributed among all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with the biggest losers, in numeric terms: California (-123,995), Texas (-72,257), Michigan (-63,148), New York (-51,582), Ohio (-49,886), Illinois (-47,701), Pennsylvania (-44,173), Florida (-39,987), Indiana (-35,157), North Carolina (-34,150), and Georgia (-30,464) (see Table 1-2).
-The 10 hardest-hit states, as a share of total state employment, are: Michigan (-63,148, or -1.4%), Indiana (-35,157, -1.2%), Mississippi (-11,630, -1.0%), Tennessee (-25,588, -0.9%), Ohio (-49,886, -0.9%), Rhode Island (-4,482, -0.9%), Wisconsin (-25,403, -0.9%), Arkansas (-10,321, -0.9%), North Carolina (-34,150, -0.9%), and New Hampshire (-5,502, -0.9%) This information was taken from a report by Jeff FauxCarlos SalasRobert E. Scott at http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/bp173/ .
-What do you think about this?

We as American citizens need to start thinking past our current wallet situations. Stop believeing all of the gloom and doom we hear on the nightly news and in our newspapers. It is all designed to make you believe that government is the only solution to the current situation. We would all like to have an extra $400 in our wallets right now but that is not going to fix anything. We must begin to look at the real issue....foriegn trade.

Trucks are still moving across our highways delivering goods nationwide, someone must be buying these goods. Someone must be manufacturing them and selling them. I know that many, many people have lost jobs and if we would stop sending our jobs to Mexico and other foriegn countries, that would stop as well.

Did you go to the grocerie store this week? Did you purchase school pictures of your children? Are the kids still playing football, basketball, soccer, wrestling, playing in the school band, taking field trips? You are still paying for these things aren't you? We all are.

One other reason for the great loss in jobs is personal greed. Workers in the automotive manufacturing sector that are union, in many cases, are making in excess of $30 per hour. I personally know of a gentleman who makes $45 per hour just for flipping a switch at an automobile factory here in the mid-west. How rediculous is that? Because we allow the unions to set such high wage standards in this industry, we are paying too much for our cars, the employees who are making this discussting amount of money are living in $200,000.00 homes and are crying because now that things are tight they might have to lower their standards of living. Well, waaa!

Come back down to earth people. We all want and deserve nice homes, cars, etc. But at who's expense? Basically, all of America suffers so you can have the lifestyle you want. How right is that?

I don't begrudge anyone anything, I would merely like to point out that we as Americans, can by simply tightening our belts alittle, work for a reasonable wage, stop buying products made in foriegn countries, turn our economy around.

Next time your in Wal-Mart, ask the manager what ever happened to all of the American made products they used to sell. Request them. Stop buying things that are made in China, Taiwan, Japan and Mexico. You have a voice...use it.

Tell your congressman, Senator, Governor and all the legislature that we are sick and tired of the bull. Get rid of NAFTA, get rid of unions that have outlived their usefulness. Let's take America back!