Obama's 'Buy American' Plan -- and why it's stupid

In order to buy American every single store would have to drop 30% of thier margins. Some even more.

The margins on imported products is incredible. If you pay $19.95 for something at Walmart that product ws most likely made in China for $1-2.

The only store that can exist on American manufacturing is a small mom and pop store. They can exist on 20% profit and they did before.

Walmart due to its large size and immense overhead requires 70% margin. Think about that for a second. Walmart gets to make $7 on a $10 product and the company selling the product to them only gets to make $3. The cost to Walmart to place that product on the shelf really does not cost much at all. They lie and say that the store space is worth a lot of money. If the space was truly worth that much there wouldn't be any wasted space at all.

So say an American company wants to sell an American made product to Walmart. Really the only option left to make a good profit and sell to the majority of Americans. If your product has a $10 msrp you have to be able to make it with profit for under $3. A prospect that is almost impossible. If you can't give Walmart thier price they will tell you to find somewhere else to make the product to meet the price.

This is what happenned to Rubbermaid. The were killed off by Walmart. There was no way to produce product in the US and make the margins requested by Walmart.

Then you have the quality problem. The US manufacturing sector is 30 years behind China. Chinese factories have better equipment and more experience making modern products. The American made New Balance athletic shoes are junk compared to chinese made footwear. They may be made in America but is buying an inferior product just to buy a product made by American workers really a good idea.

Unless we get rid off all Big Box retailers we will never be able to have a strong manufacturing base in this country. It is simply a factor of margin.

Those of you who reference FDR approvingly should do a little homework yourself. FDR's policies of throwing money willy-nilly at anything and everything achieved exactly ... NOTHING. As some of FDR's own most sycophantic advisors later admitted, toward the end of those years of "investment", the economy hadn't budged at all. In fact, by some measures it was worse. And compared to what would have happened had market forces been allowed to allocate resources where they were needed, FDR's policies were a total disaster.

To be fair, FDR's efforts had one, admittedly large, benefit: in an environment of panic and fear, FDR appeared to be a confident leader in charge - a man with a plan. And that's worth something, to be sure.

But let's not continue this indefensible championing of the man as the guy who got us out of the depression. We got out of the depression because of the war, in spite of FDR's economic misdeeds.

Why are you people reading anti-American garbage from this idiot!!!

Do the right thing and don't read any of his BS.

I agree with "Laura" 100%:
"Obama's buy american theme is not only a step in the right direction, but essential to gettng our own economy back in order. We need to be independent with energy, and everything else. So do our country a favor and buy American, build American and save America.
"

Larry88 nailed it spot on. If people want manufacturing back we had better call off the enviromental "dogs".

Well I agree we should buy American products and try to keep American jobs in America. As well as only create American jobs with the stimulus. I'd rather buy 2 items that were completely made in America (all labor and parts), then 10 cheap things made overseas and imported by America. If we did this we could bring the depression to China as we recover. Also, I thnk rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and investing in alternate energy is the first smart thing I've heard from a President in decades. I think Obama has a well thought out plan and is surrounded by smart financial advisers. Whether he can reverse all the damage that's been done in the last 8 years is still to be seen, but atleast he is heading us in the right direction. Obama brings back hope something many have lost.

Why are we as a nation bent on shooting our selves in the foot? We live in America, why not "Buy America"! We had better wake up. If for example we loose the ability to design and manufacture autos, the most complex consumer item sold, it won't be long we will lose the ability to manufacture much of anything of importance! Look at Germany, they protect and incourage manufacturing. Their wage is as high if not higher than in the US. We are ready to let US Auto manufacturing go down the tube while praising what a great job Toyota is doing. How many know they have more people in their "jobs Bank" than the Big 3 combined! Only they don't call it a jobs bank ( as reported in USA Today by Dave Cole of the Center for Automotive Research ) Toyota has up to 40% of it's labor as temp. workers, who are also illegible for food stamps. Then States spend billions of dollars to get them to locate plants. So we as tax payers subsidize Toyota and other Japanese maufacturing, while failing to do the same for US car companies. When many US autos are now better quality and get better MPG than their Japanese counter parts! Wake up American, turn off the TV and the 20 second sound bites and do alittle reading!

I've taken a slightly different spin on this and stopped buying the "Made in China" label where I can. From Christmas cards to cashmere.

Also, Obama's government is just going to be big and bloated and going to create jobs for his Illinois cronies. The new Secretary of Transportation who will oversee the billions of dollars in infrastructure improvements allegedly has a kingmaker who is the head of the Asphalt Association. You know what that means, welcome to Illinois politics on a national scale.

Moonie -moonie- moonie. So lets just say that for the sake of argument, our economy does end up in worse shape after Obama is done with it . . Why overlook the obvious . . . why is the economy in this shape to begin with . . . as Mr. Williams (-: says, He (Bush) was allowed to drive lost for eight years and now you have the audacity to complain about someone who theoretically cant possibly do any worse than whats already been perpetrated. . . Before you complain about how bad Obama's ideals appear to be, Thank your soon to be ex-president for even giving a need to compile the above article. . if it wasnt for him (Bush), the above article wouldnt even exist.

For all your opinions about what wont work to save our economy, you don't give any that WILL save the economy! What is so bad with Buying American? We need to be smart consumers and shop with an purpose. Maybe we need a buzz word like the "Green" shoppers. If you go to this blog and read some related posts on http://americanboom.com/blog/ you can educate yourself and BUY American!

The Anointed One is not for "Buying America", he just "sold" it down the river.