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[rganz]

I tend to agree with you Taz
In Canada the same could be said about the large American companies buying up Canadian companies in the oil industry. People on the street here say the same thing. They want protectionist laws put in place, ownership rules tightened and anything else that they can think of but the bottom line is that in business the strong survive. Good old WalMart (Which I will not set foot in) taught us that many years ago.  The American companies provide us with many jobs and profits go south,,,, That is just a fact of the global economy......... I pay more to  purchase North American products  and for that matter right down to the local level I will support the businesses where I live. As a business owner I believe that it has to be that way, but as a business owner  if I can't supply the goods or service to my customers I totally understand them going to a outside competitor.  Sux but there is no loyalty in retail anymore and people want Walmart price  and A$$ kissing service.


Rob

[tazmun]

Bullchit!!!!!!!- They didn't want to pay the import taxes, so they built plants here to get around paying the fees.

Let me get this straight.... spend billions building plants in the USA to save "how much"!!
Gee, I see thousands of people working for these companies, along with all the
other companies that make all the seats, plastic parts, batteries, etc. My brother-in-law
VP of Sales, works for a very large company making parts for the Big 3, who by the way
told him what they were going to pay for those parts, and then STIFFED them, when they went
Bankrupt. Along the way, he made parts for ALL those companies that MOVED here.
He said they are the easiest people to work with, will work TOGETHER when problems
come up, etc. HIS company had to file for Bankruptcy, because of our good old Big 2.
Sorry I'm venting, but your statement seems 100 miles north of any truths.

[arcticdude]

Prior to them building ANY factories here, how many vehicles per year were they importing???  A couple million, give or take a few.  Now tax that number by $300-400 per vehicle.  And that's just in ONE year.  It doesn't take long before a 10 Billion investment in factories has MORE than paid off.  Even the outrageous fees of the unions are tiny compared to what the imports would have been paying by continuing to import their vehicles.


Just how many parts do you think are truly made here???


As far as the American manufacturers go, they've been chitting on their buyers for years.  Why do I buy American? It's certainly not because they build a superior vehicle, they just happen to build the only one that fits my needs.  Ten years from now, that will probably change.

[CVOJOE]

The maintenance [costs] of the 2005 to 2008 [Harley Davidson] motors were higher than expected and the reliability was less than expected

,

Have they been reading our complaints here or something?  :  Maybe this year will bring a new attitude and emphasis on quality and reliability from the MOCO. Yah right!!

 

[tazmun]

"As far as the American manufacturers go, they've been chitting on their buyers for years.  Why do I buy American? It's certainly not because they build a superior vehicle, they just happen to build the only one that fits my needs.  Ten years from now, that will probably change."

  Good statement..... Sure hope it's a Ford!   No, they have ALL been chitting on their suppliers
too! Like I said, my brother-in-laws company lost millions in the "goverment bailout" Come to think
of it, so did us tax payers!
 Again, we all have our opinions, and I respect yours, but again I say look at all those employed
by those so called "import duty" skipping companies. You know those duties, never seem to
come back to the tax payer, now do they? 

[arcticdude]

The only "extra" people they are employing are the one specifically in the factories.  No extra dealers or any other personnel.  AND they've taken work AWAY from the dock workers who would have off loaded their incoming ships.

And the duties allowed the POS building American companies to remain in business for a whole lot longer than they should have, given the crap they were building in the 70's and 80's.  The duties were SPECIFICALLY put there to raise the cost of an import, so it would cost as much as what the American cars did.  Or did your bil forget to tell you about all the money his company made back then???  They were making TONS of cash back then.  You're only looking at a very small section of what occurred back then.  I was selling imports during that time, so I have a pretty good handle on what was occurring.

[tazmun]

" AND they've taken work AWAY from the dock workers who would have off loaded their incoming ships".

I guess we just don't import anything anymore?

[grandpadoc]

" AND they've taken work AWAY from the dock workers who would have off loaded their incoming ships".

I guess we just don't import anything anymore?

My brother is a crane operator in Long Beach and he says the Chinese, who pretty much ran the port, have pulled out because of the new environmental restrictions. Now Canada has their business and our dock workers, freight haulers, rail workers and support folks are out of work. I guess the lesson is we need learn is to make our own chit instead of importing it. I had a economics professor in college defined the deficit as simply "the difference between them making it and us making it ...someone has to pay" and its going to be us, our kids and grandkids. For years we were on the winning side of that equation but now because of the US abandonment of manufacturing we are dependent on unstable foreign governments. With our manufacturing industry drying up, especially heavy industry, who is going to make our ships, tanks, artillery when it hits the fan again...GM,Ford,Chrysler,Harley ...China

Doc

[spydglide]

With our manufacturing industry drying up, especially heavy industry, who is going to make our ships, tanks, artillery when it hits the fan again...GM,Ford,Chrysler,Harley ...China

Doc

'Low-bidder', as always.    spyder

[tazmun]

'Low-bidder', as always.    spyder

 That's the real problem. Just like the bankers, Wall Street, their only in it for the buck.
 The "American" way is how can I chit on someone to make that extra buck?
All you have to do is look at our HD company. They run overseas to get all the P&A,
clothing, and anything else. It's sad, but that's the way we are.

[grc]

My brother is a crane operator in Long Beach and he says the Chinese, who pretty much ran the port, have pulled out because of the new environmental restrictions. Now Canada has their business and our dock workers, freight haulers, rail workers and support folks are out of work. I guess the lesson is we need learn is to make our own chit instead of importing it. I had a economics professor in college defined the deficit as simply "the difference between them making it and us making it ...someone has to pay" and its going to be us, our kids and grandkids. For years we were on the winning side of that equation but now because of the US abandonment of manufacturing we are dependent on unstable foreign governments. With our manufacturing industry drying up, especially heavy industry, who is going to make our ships, tanks, artillery when it hits the fan again...GM,Ford,Chrysler,Harley ...China

Doc

It has been obvious, especially over the past 10 years or so, that both the political class and the wealthy class in this country have decided that manufacturing is a dirty profession that involves too much effort and risk to make the big bucks.  They would much rather just sit behind desks and shuffle other people's money around while taking a big chunk for themselves.  And so far they have been proved right; just look at how much the leeches on Wall Street are taking home this year, after using OUR money to survive THEIR failures.

As for who will build the heavy equipment for the next war, I sure hope it isn't Harley.  I'd hate to be a tank driver and have to rely on H-D quality and reliability to keep me alive. 

Jerry

[sadunbar]

It has been obvious, especially over the past 10 years or so, that both the political class and the wealthy class in this country have decided that manufacturing is a dirty profession that involves too much effort and risk to make the big bucks.  They would much rather just sit behind desks and shuffle other people's money around while taking a big chunk for themselves.   And so far they have been proved right; just look at how much the leeches on Wall Street are taking home this year, after using OUR money to survive THEIR failures.

As for who will build the heavy equipment for the next war, I sure hope it isn't Harley.  I'd hate to be a tank driver and have to rely on H-D quality and reliability to keep me alive. 

Jerry

Could not have said it better myself...

[spydglide]

As for who will build the heavy equipment for the next war, I sure hope it isn't Harley.  I'd hate to be a tank driver and have to rely on H-D quality and reliability to keep me alive. 

Jerry

Probably wouldn't be too different than in the past.....but, never fear, Jerry, the G.I.s will figure how to make it work (field-expediency).  har.  spyder

[grandpadoc]

Probably wouldn't be too different than in the past.....but, never fear, Jerry, the G.I.s will figure how to make it work (field-expediency).  har.  spyder

I think your right spyder. All this high tech stuff will be real cute for a few months and then it will be down to the grunts to win the war. I was in the Marine Corps as a artillery spotter and I think Harley made the shell casings and they worked pretty good most of the time...good enough. The high tech chit is cute but doesn't last as long as a grunt with a rifle and attitude.  Doc

[Ironhorse]

I'd hate to be a tank driver and have to rely on H-D quality and reliability to keep me alive. 

Or a motorcop for that matter.