Concerned about goods made overseas? Check out StillMadeInUSA.com (plus: DU mentioned in NYT)

[Skinner]

In case you missed it, Democratic Underground got a brief mention in the New York Times today, in an article entitled, Love It? Check the Label.

DU mention is on page 2...

Stephanie Sanzone, a graduate student in environmental policy at George Mason University, says she has seen ample evidence that a “buy American” attitude is expanding.

Ms. Sanzone, 47, who lives in Alexandria, Va., started the Web site www.stillmadeinusa.com three years ago to list and promote American-made products, for environmental and economic reasons, she said.

Unlike many “Buy American” Web sites, which feature images of weeping bald eagles or quotations from Pat Buchanan, Ms. Sanzone, a Democrat, keeps her site nonpartisan. In the last month, she said, traffic has jumped fourfold, with new visitors including vegans, green shoppers, “Free Tibet” activists and visitors from the Web site democraticunderground.com. Many said the recall of Chinese-made toys inspired them to act, but many also told her that they were starting to expand their focus beyond toys.

“I’m getting all these impassioned e-mails saying, ‘I’m never going to buy anything made in China again,’ and it really is from a different crowd,” she said.

If you're looking for information about American-made products, please check out Stephanie's website: http://www.stillmadeinusa.com

And bookmark it for future reference!

Skinner
DU Admin

[AspenRose]

1. Bookmarked!

:thumbsup:

[NMDemDist2]

2. K&N&bookmarked

:woohoo:

[EFerrari]

3. We're in the fashion and style section?

:woohoo:

[Gormy Cuss]

9. I think I'd choose a different smiley for that.

We're in the fashion and style section?
:wow:


But hey, I got a cool bookmark from Skinner's post.

[presspeal]

4. Thanks

:toast:

[lpbk2713]

5. I bought a set of Chinese-made pans before all this came to light.

Now I'm afraid to use them not knowing what kind of metal they were made with or what they were painted with. And I know my own government won't do any testing to protect me. We have a Consumer Product Safety Commission but like everything else the corrupt BushCo regime has gutted it. I think the Chinese are about to learn a valuable and costly lesson about the delicate balance between Capitalism and Consumerism.

[Cha]

6. A link right to our site!

How Cool is that?! :D

It helps our economy for thing..whereas the buSHITS are trying their damnest to destroy it!

[madrchsod]

12. does this mean we will have to watch our p`s and q`s???

nah.....:rofl:

[Cha]

33. Brahawahawahawaha....

is Right! :rofl: It means more people will get tuned into our outstanding political message board!!

[shireen]

7. we're totally cool hip trendsetters!

haven't been called that in a long long time. Actually never .... :P

[rosesaylavee]

8. Woohoo!

Good for her and good exposure for DU!

Will check out her site.

[snappyturtle]

10. K&R & thanks!

I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that people are waking up! If you haven't (not you personally Skinner!) but others, read the entire article...quite interesting.

I designed small gift items and ornaments for almost thirty years....displayed at Atlanta and LA gift shows. When the Chinese imports entered the scene I was selling wholesale so low that I had to work 13 hours a days seven days a week to earn a living. PLUS, we got so we couldn't show in LA because designs were stolen by the Chinese.....at first the quality was very low but once they figured out the system their copies were good.....killing my market unless I wanted to sell at dirt wages...which I ultimately did. So this is GREAT news!

[madrchsod]

11. bookmarked-great reference source

all i can say is i`ve lost two great union jobs to the overseas industries.

[bellasgrams]

13. I didn't see computers on list

I believe Gateway now makes their desktops in the US, and the support staff is in North America. The last I checked laptops were still made elsewhere.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

15. Wasn't Gateway just bought out by Acer?

I don't know if this will have any effect on where they're manufactured, but I am pretty sure the deal went through. It will, however, warrant watching to see if they change the way things are currently done.

[KoKo]

14. Thanks....!

[5fingersurfer]

16. Bookmarked

The made in america site is now a bookmark and the word will be spread.

[Pithlet]

17. Thanks! I've bookmarked it.

:thumbsup:

[flvegan]

18. The clothing section is a real find. Thanks!

Congrats on DU getting named in the NYT.

[drmeow]

19. American brand does not equal made in America

I think there have been plenty of lefties who have been trying to buy American for plenty of years but, unlike the xenophobic Buy American types, we make a distinction between American brands and products made in America. For example, this comment in the article: "will ditch their beloved Saabs for an American-made Chevrolet Cobalt." Just because Chevy is an American brand does not mean they are made here. My "Japanese" Honda was assembled (and many of the parts were made) in the US. I care more about who is getting/losing a job than about where the corporate office is.

Many years ago my sister got a job in Flint, MI and needed a new car. She bought a Saturn because it was an American brand made in the US. Once she got to MI she realized that, unlike the xenophobic Buy American types who hadn’t been directly affect by globalization where she had been living, people in MI knew exactly where the so-called American cars were being made and weren’t buying the rhetoric.

I found the NYT article patronizing and misleading – many of us lefties who believe in human rights, a living wage, and environmental causes have been trying (sometimes with limited success) for years to make fair and local trade choices rather the free trade choices. The good thing about the current climate is that maybe it will start getting easier to do so

[Romulox]

43. I think you are confused...

"Made in the USA" and "Assembled in the USA" are defined by Federal law. A product must have 60% or more US content (by dollar value) to claim to be "Made in the USA". If it has less than this,it can only claim "assembled".

So by definition your Honda has less US content than a Saturn or a Chevrolet Cobalt.

[drmeow]

49. Actually, I'm not

Although I should have said made in the "USA" rather than made in "America" - last time I checked, Canada was not part of the US. I don't count parts made in Canada as made in the US. And I don't think US cars should be assembled in Mexico when there are plenty of people in the US who are perfectly capable of assembling said cars but the CEOs/shareholders are greedy and want more profits.

[madinmaryland]

20. The New York Times artical on-line has a link to DU!

:thumbsup:

[uberllama42]

21. What we really need to do is to find businesses which try to bring

equitable working conditions to China and other countries which do our manufacturing. Jobs being outsourced hurts our economy, but the sweatshop workers in other countries literally have no other opportunities. That's why there are sometimes counterprotests in favor of globalization during meetings of the World Bank and IMF (who seem to make off like bandits no matter who gets screwed).

[treestar]

22. It would be interesting to see

Most people complain but then won't pay higher prices for something they could get cheaper from another source.

So let's see if people can put their $$ where their mouths are.

[BeHereNow]

23. Damn you Skinner! I just bought 2 Pendleton jackets online!!!

Great site.
Pendleton RULES!
BHN

[Lars39]

24. Not just mentioned...Linked !!!!

:bounce:

[Richard Steele]

25. Great site! An actual "buy USA" site that isn't Freepaganda- what a refreshing change. rec'd.

[Liberal In Texas]

26. Bookmarked. But it was sobering to see the small number of companies and products

that are available. Absolutely no electronics.

[Baby Snooks]

27. American traditions no longer made in America

I was shocked to find out that Levis and Wranglers are no longer made in America. What is more American than Levis and Wranglers?

[debbierlus]

28. Great link, but I will definitely support some of the companies, the short list was a bit depressing

We use to make EVERYTHING.

And, we made it so well.

I couldn't believe what a short list it was...

I will support all that I can, though.

[chaplainM]

29. mmmm....telecasters

[Romulox]

47. I heard that!

ftp://upload.comcast.net/pics/tele/headstock.jpg

ftp://upload.comcast.net/pics/hr/tele-sunshine.jpg

:thumbsup:

[BlueJac]

30. Thank you......I like that site

[lonestarnot]

31. Woooodamnwhoooo!

:patriot:

[fujiyama]

32. The good thing is

this time the website is mentioned in a relatively neutral fashion, without the spin that this is a place for "crazy conspiracy theorists" like after the tsunami - when a few crack pots claimed they were man made...

[Lifelong Protester]

34. I bookmarked and made a couple of add-on suggestions

there are two private makers of active wear for the cold weather and they are located in Ely, MN. Both are offshoots of the Will Steger North Pole sled dog expedtion. One place is Wintergreen. They make fleece EVERYthing, a little pricey but HIGH quality. I have several items and attest to the fact that they are well made and will last a lifetime. Wintergreen is owned by Paul and Sue Schurke, and employs local Ely folks to sew.
Steger Mukluks are also made in Ely. They have the mukluks (tall boots) and moccasins. Tough moosehide, they do NOT wear out, and are practically skid-proof on ice.

I live near Red Wing too, where some of the finest boots are still made!

[southerncrone]

35. Thanks! A'shopping I will go!

[SeattleGirl]

36. Cool!

:thumbsup:

[nam78_two]

37. K&R.nt

[orleans]

38. in the article

"It is hard to imagine, say, that people who tote reusable cotton bags to Whole Foods will ditch their beloved Saabs for an American-made Chevrolet Cobalt."

well, i tote reusable cotton bags to whole foods and drive a toyota--and wouldn't give up the toyota for a chevy because the chevy mpg suck. (and toyota has several manufacturing plants here anyway.)

thanks for the link
nice website. (btw, yours too, skinner!)
:)

[comtec]

40. Here in holland those bags are manditory

as stores don't GIVE out bags! They charge even for the crappy cheap plastic ones (not much but it's the principle).
The ones we use we either got a home and garden show, or we did buy a few (NICE thick spandex "bag" that has cold packs) and a cold "box" that is handy for shopping longer than 5 minutes. Many stores also make "used" boxes available for the same purpose. The problem here is that paper recycling is not as well organized as it is in the US. Soda bottles all have a 25c refund on them, so they are always returned, beer bottles (heroic amounts consumed of course) have case refunds, in addition to normal bottles, and there is two color glass recycling in every major parking lot. Some places even have habitat clothing for 3rd world. (heh heh a nice place to dump your CLEAN, USABLE old cloths that some how don't fit anymore...)

As far as buying locally, I do my best to buy Hollandse food when I can, or at the very least make sure as LITTLE as possible that I buy comes from OUTSIDE THE EU! I REFUSE to buy Chinese garlic, or anything eatable that comes from china with one exception, a certain kind of garlic that I can't seem to be able to get from any other country. I generally get Spanish garlic on braid.

When I'm back home in California it's the same policy, Either California, or at the least, US made, not just labeled.

[Romulox]

46. Sorry, but it's tough not to snicker

When somebody wants to tell you to "Buy American" while driving a Toyota.

It's all about just whose ox is being gored in this country.

[orleans]

48. some people should either grow up or wake up

you sound so naive--harley davidson imports parts, gm has parts made in mexico, the pontiac vibe and the toyota matrix were the same fuking car, manufactured in the same plant (their difference was the interior). my toyota was manufactured in the U.S.

Intro: The first Toyota assembly plant in North America was established with the help of GM back in 1983. Five years later a newly erected plant in Kentucky started local production of the Camry and since then the American Toyota operations grew rapidly. In 2001 a new engine plant was established in Huntsville, Alabama which now produces V8 engines for the Tundra pick-up.
In September, 2003 first Lexus ever produced outside Japan rolled off the line at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Inc
Other North manufacturing plants include Toyota Canada and NUMMI. Also Toyota is adding capacity at a very fast pace: in 2006 a new plant was opened in Texas to produce the new-generation Tundra; Toyota will utilize surplus capacity at the Subaru of Indiana plant from Spring, 2007 to make even more Camry models; it Baja plant in California is expanded to accomodate increased production of the Tacoma pickup truck. A new transmission plant will be opened in 2007
Altogether Toyota produced over 1,5 million complete vehicles and 1,428 million engines in 2006 in North America. By selling over 2,54 million vehicles it surpassed Ford to become No2 on the American new car sales chart.

http://www.globalautoindex.com/maker.plt?no=99

Toyota has large presence in the United States with five major assembly plants in Huntsville, Alabama; Georgetown, Kentucky; Princeton, Indiana; San Antonio, Texas; Buffalo, West Virginia; and the new one being built in Blue Springs, Mississippi. Toyota also has a joint-venture operation with General Motors at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI), in Fremont, CA, which began in 1984, and with Subaru at Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. (SIA), in Lafayette, IN, which started in 2006. Production on a new manufacturing plant in Tupelo, Mississippi is schedule for completion in 2010; it will be producing the Toyota Highlander. North America is a major automobile market for Toyota. In these assembly plants, the Toyota Camry and the 2007 Toyota Tundra are manufactured, among others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota

Q: How many people does Toyota employ in the United States?
A: More than 38,000 people are directly employed by Toyota and more than 386,000* through our dealer and supplier networks.
http://www.toyota.com/about/community/education/tapestry.html


1st Character: The 1st character of your car's vehicle identification number identifies the country where it was manufactured.
1 or 4: USA
2: CANADA
3: MEXICO
J: JAPAN
K: KOREA
S:ENGLAND
W: GERMANY
Z: ITALY
http://www.autohausaz.com/html/vehicle_identification_numbers.html

my "foreign" car toyota was made in the USA (my vin number begins with "1")

maybe you can explain to me why i should sacrifice a cleaner environment by driving a car with crappy-ass gas mileage in case SOME PEOPLE are simply too ignorant to understand that not every car with a "foreign" brand name doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't manufactured in this country?

(what ox are YOU trying to gore?)

[NastyDiaper]

39. Buy Local! Buy Union!

and gogo DU link-outs!

(link-outs are like shout-outs but better :))

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

41. Better get some traffic lights installed

at DU.
:tinfoilhat:

[in_cog_ni_to]

42. AWESOME! Her web site is TERRIFIC too! It's bookmarked

and will be visited often!

[Blue Fire]

44. K&R'd and Bookmarked. Thanks!

As a machinist - non-union, unfortunately, and it shows in how the production crew is treated. But the owners of the company vow to close the shops and move them overseas should we choose to organize - we are in constant conflict with cheap Chinese, Indian, and lately even Vietnamese shops. And as far as the hand tools in my toolbox goes, no Chinese please. Gimme my Craftsmans! You know, if you bring a broken 'Made in the U.S.A.' Craftsman hand tool into a Sears retail store (don't know about K-marts, but I would hope they have the same policy), they will hand you a new replacement no questions asked. I've only had to do it once. I wonder how many Chinese-made tool vendors would do that?
Sorry - didn't mean to turn this into a commercial!

[frazzled]

45. Munro American shoes ...

I started buying these years ago, after having one of the owners of the company talk me into trying some on in Nordstrom's shoe department. Ladies, you will never find shoes this comfortable at this price (not cheap, but far more affordable than comparable European "comfort" brands). And they come in many widths. Highly recommended.