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Hey, I just slapped one of those bad boys on my car! I like it! They were handing them out last night!

I don't know what I'll do when I have to go to WalMart....

Damn, I am a hypocrite....

i seem to remember that when walmart first opened , one of their claims to fame was thAT ALL THE STUFF THEY SOLD WAS AMERICAN MADE BY AMERICAN WORKERS .  NO MORE .

just remember that when you buy stuff that was not built by an American worker , you are positivly reinforcing a negative behavior ,  which any teacher will tell you leads to disaster in the future .          and when multiplied by all the consumers that purchase in walmart = lots of Americans that did not work to build the products you are buying .       which may not concern you until it comes time for those Americans to buy what you sell ......  then when you cant sell   your [ wiget , time , idea , service , etc ]  your economic health is threatened ...    by then the damage is done .

        it is not about union busting or corperate profits , it is about your / my personal source of income .

now the dollar is low [ compred to other currencies ] because interest rates are low [ and other things]    that will change ,but who knows when .    when it does change American made goods will be cheaper internationaly and therfore more desireable to foreign markets , but we will be screwed , because WE DONT HAVE MANY FACTORIES or workers LEFT TO BUILD THINGS TO SELL !    and    FOREIGN STUFF WILL BE TOO EXPENSIVE FOR US TO BUY !  

            i am looking to buy a old type percolator coffee pot for some time now , i wont buy one untill i find an American made one , when i go into a store looking for one and find only chinese made versions , i bitch about it to who ever will listen , not loud nasty bitching , but i make it known i wont buy a non american made coffee pot .      who cares , i am one poor white boy , my buying patterns dont mean squat . ..... but if only a few percent of americans did the same thing ,      someone would notice .

when i sell tires ,fuel pumps , o2 sensors , water pumps , etc ,  i sell American , some applications dont have [quality] American parts availible but as many as do , i sell American. never chinese , never .     

All the anti-Walmert documentaries like to use Rubbermaid's closure of a few American plants and its ultimate corporate shrinkage as a showcase of what Wal-Mart can do to a manufacturer. The tale is nothing more than spin.

Rubbermaid got what it deserved, because what goes around comes around. For decades Rubbermaid used the same tactics on all if it's suppliers and job shops, well before Wal-Mart ever though of using the practices. Rubbermaid would not budge on its purchase price (even knowing their suppliers could not eat the rising plastic costs), demanded control of supplier's manufacturing capacity (putting many in the eggs all in one basket mess), and in complete ignorance of inflation required annual reductions in price (even if efficiency was maxed out). This put countless suppliers out of business while Rubbermaid lived well.

Unfortunately, that's the way giant corporations operate. Those entities are greedy and nothing more. In their quest for the bottomline they ignore the four other items every business should focus on: employees, customers, suppliers, and the community. Big players like the auto industry, Wal-Mart, and the former Rubbermaid empire, believe they can get away with it. They can only for so long. It comes back to haunt them (see Rubbermaid's health and that of the auto world).

Wal-Mart is not guilty of "Wal-Mart tactics". They are guilty of acting like any other gigantic corporation and using the same methods they have used for years.

mike of the mountain wrote:

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.........i am looking to buy a old type percolator coffee pot for some time now , i wont buy one untill i find an American made one , when i go into a store looking for one and find only chinese made versions....i make it known i wont buy a non american made coffee pot

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And you were gonna put only American coffee in that pot, right?

mike of the mountain wrote:

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 it is not about union busting or corperate profits , yeah it is, it's a big part.

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The 'American Made' argument is really weak and doesn't even apply to USA directly. If Wal-Mart blinked out of existence tomorrow, and you had to shop at Target, or K-mart, or the even the mall, where there are 50-60 stores, how many deal with primarily US made merchandise? not too many I'd wager. Hmm, is wal-mart just being singled out, I wonder?

GM Closing 9 North American Plants, Tonawanda Not Affected.

Posted by:  Sally Durwald, Producer  
Created: 11/21/2005 8:43:41 AM
Updated: 11/21/2005 9:01:13 AM

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors is outlining plans to cut 30-thousand jobs in North America by 2008. Nine assembly, stamping and powertrain facilities are to be shut down as the world's
largest automaker looks to achieve (b) billions of dollars in cost savings by the end of next year.
Chairman and C-E-O Rick Wagoner says it is hoped that the cuts can be made through attrition and early retirement. G-M has been crippled by high labor, pension, health care and materials costs as well as by falling demand for sport utility vehicles and by excess plant capacity.

G-M says plants that will close are in Oklahoma City, Lansing, Michigan, Spring Hill, Tennessee, Doraville, Georgia, and Ontario, Canada

G-M's market share has been eroded by competition from Asian automakers led by Toyota. G-M lost nearly four (b) billion dollars in the first nine months of this year.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1334579

     You are all so right!Now I know what my child can take in collage.

     We do not need factory's,just shop.It's almost black friday get shopping.Wal-mart has the best deals.Thank you so much!

american made coffee ?

the chinese are not our peers , look at the trade deficit with china .    

 that toyota corrola was probobly made in usa , look at the vin , unless it starts with a J it is made in USA .

 honda civic wins "best car " award ? as per Motor Trend , ok , but cars use "engines" for propulsion they have "motors" in the heating system and wipers and starter and ....

the honda civics are ok but certainly not #1 and for whatever reason the civics are very high priced new and used , imho you would be better off buying a 5 year old taurus with the 3.0 dohc engine that has been well maintained , you will pay 1500 to 2500 and have a much better car . for the same money you would loose the first year on a new civic . i cannot imagine why the tauri are so cheap , they have a lot of technology in them . and they get over 30mpg on the highway , if you treat them right , they dont break . if you dont treat a civic right it will break .

 those guys getting laid off from GM are not going to be buying what ever you sell , your tax funds will be used to pay some of their medicaid bills when they get sick and walmart doesnt pay their health insurance , they wont be able to afford the car payments on their civics either . right now , today ,

 the fed has seen reason to not raise the interest rates next quarter ... bad sign .

how much of the stuff that we buy in walmart or k mart or the mall do we really need anyway ? i have not been to our mall to buy stuff since last Christmas . dont ask about my wife . the chinese have more cell phones than we have people . they also have cheapo cars they want to sell in the USA , when they do - remember those guys that used to work at GM . i am one of those guys although i was laid off years ago , for me it was good thing. but , one guy in my car pool killed himself , of the four of us , he was the only one who would have kept his job , he did not know , he did not wait for the list .....UAW local 668 is gone now . the north tarrytown assembly plant is a parking lot .

Walmart is honoring all other stores ads on Black Friday. Pretty smart....keep 'em in your store!

speaking from the trenches not from behind a desk ...

umm ok thats great but how about this , a new 2006 lx civic costs about $17.5k weighs about 2800 lbs and 5 year old ford taurus with 3.0  or gm midsize with 3.8 weigh about 3200lbs costs about $1500 to $5k depending on whatever

both or all above cars will last over 200k miles with proper service with no major expence .

the honda gets around 35 mpg on the highway the American iron 32 mpg .  

with that extra 12 grand you can buy a lot of gas now cant you  .   

do the same thing with a five year old jetta with 5sp and base 4 cylinder engine about 8 to 10k , the 5 year old jetta is a better car than a new civic , imho and in my experience .

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So you don't believe MotorTrend? OK.

Here are some other opinions:

MSN Autos - Nissan

CarSmart - Honda

Car.com-Mitsubishi

Consumer Reports - Mostly Asian Cars

Edmunds - Sedans, Wagons, Coupes, Convertibles, Trucks, SUV's

Autobytel - Top 10 SUV's - Japan Wins Again

BankRate - Most Fuel Efficient - Honda

Guardian - Most Green Cars - Honda

Face it, American cars are nice & all, but when compared to outside competition, Japan kicks our collective asses. I'll buy the best car for my money. If it's an 'American' car, fine. Chances are, it's not. Don't blame someone for not wasting their money on domestic products for the sake of patriotism or whatever.

I had a 1990 Bonneville & now have A 1995 Bonneville. The ’90 had 275k on it when I donated it & it still ran. It received its second transmission at 225k or around there.

The ’95 has a little over 300k on it. It is on its second engine & transmission. Again those were replaced at around 225k, but the body is still fairly solid (plastic doesn’t rust) & I’ve had minimal problems with it compared to the wife’s 1996 ford Taurus with barely 100k on it. The car is a POS. I hate driving it. It is anything but a pleasure to be behind the wheel of. It’s loud & clunky. To work on it is a pain even for the mechanic. The rear spring actually broke on it. I have never had a spring break on a car. Ever. All the brake lines & gas lines had to be replaced & now the oil pan gasket is actually sliding out between the pan & the engine. All things multiple mechanics have told me are common problems with this model car. Also, ford puts their ball joints in upside down. It takes twice as long to press the stupid things in. Look on any automotive forum. Ford Taurus is the bane of the do it yourself mechanic. These are all problems I have experienced with other cars, except they usually didn’t crop up until around 150k & it was spaced out. All the problems with the Taurus happened within the last yr & half.

I will never own a Taurus again & I’m leaning away from other ford products also because most of them share the same platform & parts.