Am I A Sinophobe?

            In 1968, while I was stationed at Mactan AB, Republic of the Philippines with the Air Force, I travelled to Hong Kong for a week’s vacation.  I was not allowed to purchase or bring home ANYTHING from Communist China.  I wanted a Chairman Mao lapel button as a souvenir, but I could have been brought up on charges if I had one in my stuff.  Now, 42 years later, I have to be diligent to avoid buying things from China here at home.  I wish it was 1968 again.

            Communist China put a man in space two years ago using technology gleaned from the USA (and Russia) and paid for with US dollars.  Yes, Wal-Mart indirectly paid for their space program.  A month ago China announced that it has the fastest computer in the world.  Ever notice all the Chinese grad students at our engineering colleges?  Now, it appears that a Chinese nuclear ballistic missile submarine fired a missile in international waters off Los Angeles Nov. 8 in a show of military strength (http://www.infowars.com/wayne-madsen-china-fired-missile-seen-in-southern-california/).  The sub apparently took a southern course to evade our Navy.  Japan took a northern course sixty-nine years ago to do the same.

Thank Congress, all recent Presidents, and the naivety of Americans for building up and enriching our greatest enemy in the world today.  Why do I consider Communist China our greatest enemy?  Because they consider us their greatest enemy! 

            Corporate America repeatedly said Communist China is a huge emerging market for American products, and a fast-growing economy that will overtake us.  They said the Communist Chinese want to be our friends, and we should embrace the global economy.  Just think of a billion Chinese buying our products.  Well, the top 20% of Chinese workers have an average annual income of $3,600.  The lowest 20% have an average income of $890, and the overall average income is $2,025.  What can they afford to buy that says, “Made in the USA”?  (Several sources, including USDA: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err32/err32b.pdf)

            Communist China has had “Most Favored Nation” trading status with us since 1979, when President Carter opened the door to, essentially, carte blanche trade.  The balance of trade shifted, and grew tremendously during the Reagan years.  In 1985 our trade deficit with Red China was $6.0 million.  By 1989 it increased a thousand-fold to $6,234.3 million, and is now $226,877 million (http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5700.html).  Red China now refuses to buy our treasury bonds, holding enough of them already to collapse our economy.  Hence Quantitative Easing 2, the $600 billion purchase of our own bonds with our own newly-printed money.  Is Mr. Bernanke a genius, or what? Now we are passing the debt to our great-grandchildren!  Massive inflation is here.

            It’s time to stop the hemorrhage.  No matter what pull Wal-Mart lobbyists have with Congress, we need to pull MFN trade status from Communist China.  They have consistently violated rules of trade, from allowing copyright and patent infringement to outright theft of proprietary manufacturing secrets.  To the government of Communist China, the end justifies ANY means, and they are using every means available to propel their country to world hegemony.  Their greatest national accomplishment will be bringing the USA to its knees.  We need a kick-ass president, not an eloquent apologist.  When we refer to “China,” make sure we call it “Communist China,” so that we never again delude ourselves into thinking they are colleagues in this great, big world.

end

The New Law of Diminishing Returns

            Economists throughout the world are still clinging to the flawed theory of John Maynard Keynes regarding “stimulating the economy” with huge infusions of money (our money) by the government.  It is flawed in that it never took into account human nature to save and preserve whatever money people have in savings, rather than spend it to induce production.  People aren’t going to blow every penny they have tucked away when times are bad unless they are absolutely sure the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t a train heading their way.

            But I digress, somewhat.  This is about a new law of diminishing returns.

            During the past two decades China has been touted as a huge new “emerging” economy, one which will grow incredibly in the near future.  China also offered extremely low labor costs, which would increase the profit margins of just about any manufacturing company you can name.  In the infinite wisdom of previous presidents and Congresses, the doors to American commerce were thrown open to China, allowing US companies to build factories there.  “Most Favored Nation” status was given to China, allowing virtually unchecked importation of Chinese goods to this country.  Wal-Mart was ecstatic.  CEOs were rubbing their palms with dreams of huge bonuses and returns to stockholders.

            But, wait, something is happening.  Americans are discovering that much of what we’ve been buying with the gold “Made in China” sticker just isn’t holding up like the products we used to have.  Here are two cases in point:

            From 1980, when I bought my first Hathaway shirts (Maine, USA) on sale, until the factory closed down because of uncompetitiveness, I was truly pleased with their product.  Never lost a button (trademark 3-hole), never had a flaw, and wore them until they were truly “worn out.”  Shopping for a replacement, the men’s-wear salesman said, “I’m sure you will like Eagle® shirts, they are really good quality.”  So, I bought three, then several months later, four more, and four more, etc.  Now, three years later, I’m finding that the buttons are disintegrating, the collar buttonhole is tearing, and the button-down collar buttons are actually coming off with a piece of the fabric it’s sewn to.  The fabric is also yellowing.  I’m unhappy with this Chinese product and will not buy any more.

            I’m a veterinarian, and I operate on pets nearly every day.  The first instrument I usually use is a scalpel blade.  For decades I bought blades made in England and Germany.  Now, supply houses offer a much “less expensive” blade under a variety of names, made in China.  I’ve gone through a few hundred of them, and today decided not to buy them anymore.  The one today cut like a dull hacksaw blade, roughly dividing the skin and requiring a second and third pass.  I ignored this problem many times before with these blades.  They have a high percentage of poor quality sharpening jobs.  I’ll pay more for a good product, and ordered my staff to find better quality.  Same goes for gut suture material on reels, skin staples, catheters and needles.  No more.  I’ll gladly pay triple for German Braun® suture that I can trust wasn’t actually made from cat gut.

            I’m sure mechanics across our country are experiencing the same problem with tools, as are carpenters and others who work with their hands and tools.  The tools are less expensive, but in the long run, need to be replaced much more often.  Heritage tools that are passed down from generation to generation will soon become a thing of the past, because now we are buying throw-away tools, since that’s just about all you can find in the stores.  Unless you become very selective.  I had six or seven different brands of hammer to choose from at my local big box supply store.  I picked Estwing®, made in my hometown of Rockford, IL.

            So, for all you CEOs out there, please take notice.  Your decision to put all your eggs in a Chinese basket were short-sighted.  You have reaped the benefits of cheap labor at the cost of millions of jobs lost here at home.  Our manufacturing base has been pared down to bare bones.  You have experienced increased profit margins from low-cost labor, but will see sales begin to decline due to unemployment and experience with inferior products.  Let’s call this the “Human Factor of Diminishing Returns.”  This applies to a wide range of products, from canned fruit to frozen seafood, electric toothbrush heads to jewelry, and hand tools to automobiles.  Time to rethink your decisions, and that goes for Congress, too.

            Throughout my lifetime we Americans have enjoyed being able to buy the finest products in the world, and we produced most of those things right here at home.  Great timepieces, like Hamilton®, Elgin®, and Waltham® were respected around the world, but died when equal and superior accuracy was achieved for less money in other countries.  High quality for fewer dollars won the marketplace.  American clothing prospered, like those Hathaway® shirts, and we could trust all the food produced in the USA.  Poor quality and marginal quality products were soon rejected by American buyers because we had dozens of other choices, and the nature of free market enterprise eventually weeded out the junk.  That will continue to be our ace in the hole, as long as we have alternative choices and are knowledgeable about what we are buying.

            So, American consumers, be aware of what you are spending your money on.  Do you want it to last, or pay less and have to replace it later?  What would be the end cost of this buying habit?  It will usually be more expensive in the long run.  We have been  fooled into believing that we are getting the same thing for less money.  Sometimes that’s true, but today it’s usually false.

Two Sides, Same Coin

            Now that we have begun swinging the other way with the political pendulum, we must wait to see what our newly-elected members of Congress will do for our country.  I’m not holding my breath to see if we secure our border(s), initiate nuclear power plant construction, begin drilling in ANWR, or pass The Fair Tax bill.  I really don’t expect any substantive change.

            So, here’s a thought for 2012.  If the Republicans and Democrats continue to avoid making important decisions for the betterment of our country, then why don’t the many tea party organizations across the land unite to promote their own candidate for president?  No, not necessarily Sarah Palin.  Along with this would be a requirement for the candidate to sign a legally-binding contract with the American people to ACT, without delay, on a list of issues critical to our future.  Here is an example:

Under A Legally-Binding Contract With Voters, the Tea Party Candidate for President Will, Without Delay:

Secure our border(s).

Order the Navy Seabees and Army Corps of Engineers to work from the coasts inland to erect a secure fence with secure crossing points, establish Coast Guard patrols, guard border with National Guard.

Revoke Most Favored Nation trading status from China.

            China has not complied with rules governing trade

Remove punitive powers from OSHA and EPA.

            Make OSHA and EPA advisory agencies; only states should prosecute.  Revoke

            their ability to impose monetary fines.

Close the Departments of Energy and Education.

            They have never achieved their purposes, but have become bloated

bureaucracies full of patronage workers.

Sign into law The Fair Tax, with repeal of the 16^th Amendment.

            Congress should never have taken the power to tax our incomes.

Abandon Federal Minimum Wage law.

            Allow states to set their own minimum wage if they choose to do so.  Let a job

            pay what it is worth.

Revoke one-term pension from Congress.

Nobody else in this country gets a pension for working two years (except some executives by contract).

Will NOT convey executive pardon on any prior administration workers or presidents for

            illegalities.

Make “Loser Pays” the national standard for tort reform.

Order that Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States

            that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives, and

            Congress shall make no law that apples to the Senators and/or Representatives

            that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States.

Drill for oil now in the USA in ANWR, offshore, etc.  Increase domestic production to

            eliminate need for foreign oil.  Initiate construction of nuclear power plants.

Expand existing petroleum refineries and build at least three more, with one specializing

            in diesel fuel.

Stop all government subsidy of corn ethanol production.

            The corn ethanol industry has increased cost of food in the US.  We can buy

            ethanol from other countries for far less than it costs us to make it.

Invoke 12-year, cumulative term limits for Congress. 

            If you’ve been in Congress longer than 10 years, you are no longer working for

            the people you represent, but for yourself.  If it takes longer than 6 months to

            learn your job, you are not competent to hold that job.  For some, common sense

            is too hard.

Declare English our national language.

            Now, of course, this list must be agreed upon by the tea parties, and can be extensive.  It would legally require that, if elected, the President would do what his/her contract requires, all within the four-year term, and some ASAP.  Yes, I’m aware that he/she needs Congressional cooperation to do many of these things (except ordering the military construction of the border fence), but without the parties’ conflicting actions, perhaps an independent could get more done?

            Time to begin planning is now, unless you’re still “hoping” for “change.”

Heritage Tools? Not Any More

           I remember when I was growing up that my best friend’s dad was a machinist who worked in middle management of a big machine tool company.  He had a beautiful wooden chest on his workbench in the basement at home with fine measuring instruments in it – calipers, gauges, and fascinating special tools.  These were tools that would last several lifetimes and became family heirlooms, of sorts.  They were made of the finest metals and were relatively expensive.

            Most boys eventually put together a set of tools, and later build on that to sometimes fill a toolbox that they use as adults.  I’ve got a Craftsman® multi-drawer tool chest on rollers that holds a collection of various tools I accumulated over the years.  I always tried to get tools in the mid-price range that would last and serve me well.  Sears was always the place to go, but local hardware stores also carried a variety of well-known American tools like Stanley®, Estwing®, Channellock®, Vise-Grip®, and others.

            One day in the 1980s I broke a metric socket while working on a car.  I was in a hurry to get the job done, so I went to a new store that carried all kinds of tools.  Many carried the brand name Buffalo®, and that sounded like a good American company, and the price for a whole set of metric sockets was really cheap, so I bought it.  The original socket held up for decades before it succumbed to my overpowering abuse.  The new one lasted a month, and then I looked more closely to discover the “Made in China” imprint.  This was a new wave of throw-away tools that truly aren’t made to last, but will get the job done.  And if it breaks, it won’t cost much to buy another.  Of course, this keeps production going on the other end of the chain, too.

            Once these tools became entrenched in our retail landscape, the superior-quality American tool sales slipped and slid downward.  These great companies, like Black & Decker®, Skil®, Briggs & Stratton®, began looking for ways to lower their costs to become more competitive.  No way, said the unions.  Our state and federal governments also made more rules, regulations, restrictions, fees, taxes, etc. that simply increased the cost of production, which must be passed on to the consumer.  Their only recourse was to build factories where these problems don’t exist.  So now, when you look for those American brands that you grew up with, be sure to look at the packaging to see where the product is made now.  You shouldn’t be surprised.  Here’s a list:

            Channellock®                      USA

            Crescent®                            USA

            Wiss®                                   USA

            Nicholson®                           USA

            Estwing®                              USA (Rockford, IL, my hometown)

            Johnson®                             USA & China

            Vise-Grip®                           China

            Weller®                                 Mexico

            Irwin®                                    China

            Plumb®                                 China

            Porter-Cable®                      China & Mexico

            Great Neck®                         China

            DeWalt®                                Mexico

            Milwaukee®                          China

            Ridgid®                                 China

            Vermont American®            China !!

           

            So, if you want to buy someone a gift of a tool this Christmas, birthday, or for whatever reason, get them something that’s still made in this country, regardless of how nice the packaging and tool itself looks.  Check the back of the package and see where it is made. 

A Campaign of Deception

            Throughout his campaign for Congress, Bill Johnson has been deceptive.  All of 2009 he campaigned and raised money in the 17^th District, where he lives.  Then in January 2010 he decided that the challenge to beat Tim Ryan was too great, so he became a carpetbagger and jumped down to the 6^th, angering a lot of his campaign donors and county chairmen.  Didn’t matter to him, he wants to win.

            Before the primary ballot, he told all of the 6^th’s Republican chairmen that he had raised over $106.000.00, making him the only “qualified” candidate.  His Federal Election Commission report states that he raised $96,000.00.  He stretches the truth for his benefit.

            He doesn’t say who he works for.  His campaign literature and website states, “a global manufacturer of highly electronic components for the transportation industry.”  What’s the reason for not saying who he works for?  What’s the deception there?  (He works for Stonebridge http://www.stonebridge.com/)

            According to Vote Smart, “Bill Johnson refused to tell citizens where he stands on any of the issues addressed in the 2010 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart, national media, and prominent political leaders.”

            Hard to tell what his political affiliation is.  He doesn’t like to use the word “Republican” in any of his campaign material.  Who’s he trying to fool?  He told the editorial board of the Youngstown Vindicator that it would take $2 million to defeat Charlie Wilson and that he could raise it.  Really?

            If you want to vote for the candidate who most agrees with your beliefs, try going to www.votesmart.org and click on their “vote easy” button.  It’s a great interactive questionnaire that shows who you should support, if what you believe in is truly important to you.  If not, just vote D or R like you’ve always done and expect different results (see Albert Einstein’s quote on insanity).

Biggest Friend of Chinese Workers

            What American company is responsible for more jobs shipped to China than any other?  Wal-Mart!  Yes, this corporation has grown so huge, and has become so greedy that it has dictated the prices it will pay for products for many years.  If an American manufacturer wouldn’t reduce its wholesale prices to meet Wal-Mart’s demands, Wal-Mart would tell them to start manufacturing in China, so that production costs would come down and they could meet their prices.  Or, sell their products through someone else.

            Needless to say, as the biggest retail chain in the world, nearly everyone did as Wal-Mart told them to do.  American factories shut down and production moved to the sweat shops over there.  No more EPA or OSHA to worry about, no more restrictions, rules, unions, fees, permits, fines, inspections, worker’s compensation, Social Security, retirement plans, paid vacations, sick days, insurance, and other perks and benefits paid to American workers.

            So, yes, you are able to buy things cheaply at Wal-Mart.  But what is the real cost to all of us and our country?  Spread your purchasing to other companies, like Target, K-Mart, Sears, Penney’s, and others.  Don’t do all your shopping at a store that has become un-American.

More Berries In Your Cereal!

Berries In Your Cereal – From Where?

By Donald K. Allen, MS, DVM

            I’m a raspberry-aholic.  I admit it.  There is nothing finer in life to eat than raspberries, unless it is raspberries with dark chocolate.  So, imagine my delight when I saw breakfast cereals with “more berries” and more varieties, like blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.  But, wait, with today’s food crises occurring more often, I wondered where these freeze-dried berries were coming from.  Are they from the USA, Mexico, or South America?  Guess again.

            My first call was to Kellogg’s, and I asked if they were buying their freeze-dried strawberries from China.  The answer was, “We do not buy any finished product from China.”  Hmmm.  What does “finished product” mean?  Is it not “finished” until it is in the box, ready to be sold?  A follow-up e-mail stated, “Kellogg sources vitamins from a number of countries, including a small amount from China. Because of the Quality Assurance programs we have in place, we are confident of the safety of these ingredients.”  Did you know that the PRC forbids foreign inspection of farms?

I contacted Post also and got a denial that they were buying ingredients from China.  “Please be assured that none of the ingredients used in the manufacturing of Post General are from China.”

            Next I contacted the biggest strawberry producer in Florida and asked about freeze-dried strawberries.  The CEO answered, saying that no freeze-drying was performed in Florida, but that he believed freeze-drying was being done in California.  Finally I e-mailed the California Strawberry Commission and here’s their answer:  “Thank you for contacting the California Strawberry Commission with your question.  The origin of the freeze-dried strawberries used as ingredients in many cereals is difficult to determine.  There is no public source of information regarding origin, imports, exports and usage of freeze-dried strawberries as an ingredient. Our industry does not directly manufacture freeze-dried strawberries, but frozen strawberries from California are often used to manufacture freeze-dried strawberries.  Much of the world’s freeze-drying production capacity is in China and in some cases frozen strawberries produced in California are shipped to China, dried, and then returned to the US for ingredient use.  However, production of strawberries in China has increased over the last few years and may now exceed US strawberry production, so it is likely that much of their domestic production is used to manufacture frozen and freeze-dried strawberry ingredients.”

            Thank you, Congress, for first allowing more and more food products and ingredients from China and other “developing” countries, and secondly for allowing US companies to hide that fact from the public.  This is just one more negative effect of moving toward a “one world” or “global economy.”  I guess I’ll just have to buy my fruits and vegetables locally, or raise them myself.

End

Donald K. Allen, MS, DVM

4501 Market St.

Youngstown, OH 44512

330 727-4240 cell

330 782-7333 off