SmallGovTimes.com

By: Bonnie Alba | Published on 06/05/08    

I don’t know why it took so long, but I finally bought Roger Simmermaker's book, "How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism." Did you know we make "patriotic" decisions everyday when we spend our hard-earned money?

Consumers are confronted daily with products “Made in (fill in the blank).” How can consumers support America? Simmermaker provides us with a strategy to support American companies versus buying whatever is available on store shelves.

Using his definitions, we become Patriotic Consumers when we buy:

** “Made in America” which means “an American-owned company making their product in the United States.” Add, American workers.

** “Buying American” which means “we would buy an American-made product, made by an American-owned company, with as high a domestic parts content within that product as possible.”

Of course the best choice purchase would be a “Made in America” product. When was the last time you came across a “Made in America” product? Rare, isn’t it? Pure “Made in America” products have been pushed to the sidelines.

Note, “Buying American” doesn’t mean the company retains manufacturing plants here in the United States. Their plants may be overseas while their headquarters are based stateside. That means that an American company retains its headquarters in America and at least 50 percent of the company is owned by Americans.

What this means for the consumer is to try to “Buy American” as much as possible. Simmermaker gives us the “why” this is good for consumers and also good for America. Though government is the culprit in over regulating and overtaxing American companies --- the tax revenues paid to the government treasury are higher for our American-owned companies versus the foreign-owned companies who receive incentives and tax breaks.

Is the company a foreign-owned company with a plant in America? If so, then what’s the tax base structure for the foreign-owned versus American-owned company? Simmermaker, who has done the homework for all of us, notes that the foreign-owned company pays less taxes to the U.S. for that privilege and sends all their profits back to their own country.

We are bombarded by thousands of Chinese products. China has integrated into our markets so widely, it’s difficult to find any product made in the U.S.

Example: My sister recently purchased a small backyard water fall at one of the large home improvement box-stores. Not until the box was placed in her car did she realize it was “Made in China” and sent to this store through a distribution center. Of course, where else?

After all the import problems associated with loose safety standards, etc., for Chinese and other foreign products, Americans are more aware of the fact that we have lost much of our manufacturing base and hundreds of thousands of American-worker jobs.

We can no longer expect quality products from mega-companies who use cheap labor and lax safety standards in foreign nations. Did Mattel (toys) suffer losses because of their acceptance of lower standard toys from China? What quality products can we depend on anymore?

Simmermaker brings up an interesting patriotic shopping experience. He says we vote everyday with our spending at the local grocery store. Most food products are “American-owned” companies but there are some tricky ones like Grey Poupon and French’s mustards. French Mustard is United Kingdom-owned and Grey Poupon is American-owned.

Why does it matter? Because by voting with our hard-earned money, spending it on American-owned products, we send a message to the global elitists, corporations and our government who have consistently voted against patriotism and the spirit of American know-how and sovereignty.

Simmermaker also offers a large section devoted to the vehicle industry. GM just announced they are closing two American plants (due to maket forces and oil prices), indirectly losing more American worker jobs, should spur you to purchase this book.

Like a small encyclopedia, all Americans should have this book at their fingertips. If you want to know whether a company is American-owned or foreign-owned, it’s in his listing. He offers listings of “Made in America” web sites and “American-Owned” companies.

His web site is www.howtobuyamerican.com where he offers tips, suggestions and links to online “Made in America” and “Buying American” web sites. He also writes articles for World Net Daily at www.worldnetdaily.com.

It takes a little more time to seek out and “buy American” but it’s one way to say you are a patriot, one who thinks we should support our country first. Otherwise, we decrease our strength as a nation.

Remember, as Simmermaker noted, “A nation that cannot supply its own needs is not an independent nation.”

Buy American!

Original URL:
http://www.smallgovtimes.com/story/08jun05.american.vote.shop/index.html