Nice " I hate America" attitude:(. Just because something is made here doesn't mean it's made by a Union. How about helping out some of your fellow countrymen?

This whole "I'm looking out for myself and everyone else be damned" attitude is what is killing this country.

I will buy American if it is the best product for the best price. I don't care where it is made nowadays

But yeah, I do not really care about my neighbor if he is making more money per hour with his highschool diploma while being overpaid to watch an automated machine run at a UAW plant vs what I got paid to design the d@mn machine. I you think this makes me an "I hate America" guy .... well it is your right to think of me any way you want.

I design equipment as well. Sounds like it's time for you to up your game, and come up with better designs if a line worker is making more than you:).

Just because he makes more is not his fault. Take some responsibility for what you do yourself and be the better person because of it.

If someone makes 100k /w some OT by simply pushing a button or loading a part, then they are overpaid IMO, the company they work for will have to charge way more for their products than if the guy and his fellow thousands of UAW co-workers were paid what the job was worth.

I take full responsibility for my lot in life and am doing just fine, but I refuse to take pity or feel sorry for someone who is doing a job easier than working at McDonalds yet expects $20+ per hour with full benefits and pension. On top of that, they drive their "American" cars built with plenty of foreign parts in them then take potshots at Americans who buy other brands made with both foreign and US made parts.

I don't want to rant for various reasons but this thread was about the awareness that a home could still be built mostly using US products. Yes, inside of me peeves and dread walking into the big box retailers while my local lumberyards are gone. I used to love Hines Lumber and usually paid 15 to 20 percent more for better quality and US made products. But no more.

I love my ridiculous to have and over priced set of titanium hammers from Stilleto... but its US made and so cool. I pay more on many things made in the US but admit to the same from other countries. Do I need a Porsche from Germany or should I be like that other guy here on Pelican who brags about Mustangs and thinks this is a 'stang BBS?!!

The bottom line is to support your country if possible and buy US made products, vote and demand fair trade between others. Beneath it all, your 401k's, shareholders, investors want the maximum yield and the board of directors are in the hot seat to make it for you. So what do most do? Go where its the lowest cost, material and labor is. We are all the part of the cause.

There was a time when the US consisted of every thing from ditch diggers to skilled craftsmen to CEO's. Now everyone expects to get to go to college and feels entitled to a couple flat screen tv's, computers and a fairly new car in the driveway. Some call this progress.... I call it the end phase of America as a manufacturer. While there are lots of factors that have contributed to this, I place the largest portion of blame on unions raising payscales to levels that are unprofitable in the long run and govt regulations (OSHA/EPA). It has resulted in a snowball effect that cannot be stopped IMO.

Unlike Union follows Gary, I do think for myself and I come from a Union family (my father was with the NMU from right after W.W.II until retired late 70s, early 80s, as Agent for the SE. As a kid we vacationed with the Man who started the NMU(cover of Time Magazine 1946) I have always asked questions and did then as well, but it wasn't until later years that I really understood what those answers really meant..
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and while working at the ship yard, I was approached about quitting college a going full time, and was assured that it wouldn't be long before I was in a office(I also had an Uncle who worked in the offices as well) but I chose not to go that direction.. So growing up in that world (mind you the top tear) I learned a lot about how unions really work and the need for blind followers who are truly a servant class who blindly follow

What is really sad is the FACT that it is the union leaders not the PR BS you think exist who are the ones dividing America, they are the ones refusing to bend or take cuts while the rest of working America is, they are the ones who are on the local TV news unwilling to be reasonable, locally instead of taking a 2% pay cut, the local union sacrificed 48 officers..... City, police union saga 2 years and counting; new and old leaders at the forefront | jacksonville.com

So to a thinking person who owns or run a business, it is very clear, and as I have pointed out over & over, Detroit is a prime example of what you get from union controlled cities..
Another American Made Product, hire a Band for your party..

My Craftsman wrenches are made in Japan and my Dodge truck is made in Mexico.
The plywood I imported to Canada from the USA to fix my house is manufactured in Canada. Oddly it was cheaper at Lowes in the US than Home Depot in Canada.
The Henkl knife set I purchased for my neice as a gift are made in China. Looking around my house the only thing I have is the cheap mailbox (which is assembled in the US using offshore parts).
The call center servicing my Allstate insurance agent is in India.
America probably invented outsourcing .

For the Cyclist, there are a few members here who work for companies that build parts right here in the USA..

Interesting...I just purchased a Moen showerhead online, installed it yesterday and noticed that it was made in China.

Guess not all their stuff is made here.

Byron, since you began your reply with the "unlike union fellows, I think for myself" insult, I will return the favor and say it is very loyal and respectful of you to condemn the institution that fought for and helped your family provide what appears to have been a very comfortable upbringing for you. SmileWavy

Now we have that out if the way... you chose to go a different direction, that's fine, but why must you declare war on those that chose differently? I am very aware of how Unions operate. It's a lot like democracy. Do you oppose that also?

Furthermore, your numbers just don't add up. In your post #76 you say....

85% of 235,000 is about 200,000. There were more than 9,400,000 votes cast in Cali in 2010. I fail to see how the 200,000 gov workers voted anybody in.

Also you say.....
With only roughly 12% of all workers being unionized and public unions making up 37% of that 12%, that comes too between 4-5% of all workers being public union. I'm sorry, but there is no possible way such a small minority of rank and file workers can influence, much less control anything.

Yes, it does say a lot. It says that you, and unfortunately too many other people have an irrational view of Unions.

Hats off to the original "REDNECKS" -
West Virginia coal miners who banded together to press for decent wages, who then traveled south to help other coal miners do the same. They wore red kerchiefs so they could tell who the "good guys" were when confrontations came to pass.
Organized labor is what helped build this country. Along with astute businessmen. There is no room in the equation for abusing people. We need to work together. And oh yes..."Redneck" is a label to be proud of. Were I one, I would wear it proudly.
Forget what you were told in high school, which was mostly Bull*****. Read some real history books and learn the truth.
This is no saying modern unions have not stepped over the line - they have often gone too far. And weak limp wrist-ed management people have allowed unbelievable concessions.
We need to achieve, sooner or later, a balance.

Neutral here but can't resist a word or two. Until some of you have been on the front lines, you don't know what unions can do. I was in residential and some commercial construction in Chicago. It's absurd the heat a non-union crew would get on a worksite if found out they weren't. It's almost impossible to get a bid if non-union. If you ran a job with low profile non-union crew, recruiters would come in and take a guy away from his hourly time and first chit-chat why they should join. Ignore them and then it would get worse... to the point of harrasement and worksite shut down. Fact: Thats flat out zero progress in both social issues and productivity. That is the major problem in America. Good luck getting support from the popo too. Union or not, I'm done commenting further but to stay with the original topic, at least do your best and buy American made products.

For the past several years more and more Craftsman tools have been made in China. Just recently, the iconic raised panel ratchets they are known for, have switched to China. Also the tap/die sets, impact sockets, hex keys, ratcheting wrenches, full polish wrenches, all the new gimmicky crap, and lots of other things I forgot about are outsourced. I stopped buying Craftsman a few years ago when a set of Craftsman Professional pliers was made in China (they went back for a refund). Basically you can expect that even if you get a US made tool now, in a few years if you warranty it, you'll get a Chinese one. Craftsman of years ago is not the same, they are just living off that famous name. The "Grandpa's tools" idea most people have of Craftsman is what is keeping them from buying Harbor Freight. What happens when they see made in China on the Craftsman line?

So now I support US tool makers like Wright, SK, and Snap-on, and ask everyone else to do the same. Not to mention the tools are better.