Replying to a message of Ross Cassell to Bob Ackley:

 RC> Hello Bob!

 RC> 25 Apr 10 06:44, you wrote to me:

 BA>> A couple of years ago I bought a brand new Sears Craftsman
 BA>> snow blower.  Had occasion recently to look at it a bit
 BA>> more closely. "Made in China."  I'm not particularly
 BA>> surprised but I am disappointed - I have a Sears Craftsman
 BA>> riding mower that has "Made in USA" on it.

 RC> About 60 miles southwest of me in Anderson SC, there used to
 RC> be a factory that made Ryobi and Craftsman hand power tool
 RC> products, they closed, guess where they went?

No guess required.  I *know* where they went.  BTW, I thought Ryobi was
a Japanese brand; manufacture of them was outsourced to *this* country?

I fault the American comsumer (aided and abetted by Wal-Mart - and, to
a lesser extent, other discounters).  The American consumer simply will not
pay the prices required by those "good jobs at good wages" in this country.
Those "good jobs at good wages" require a (relatively) premium price tag on
whatever is being produced, and Americans simply refuse to pay it.  And, of
course, Wal-Mart (and others) just don't stock US made goods other than
expendables like detergents.  "Good jobs at good wages" doesn't match up
well with "Always low prices."

I worked in the DoIt Center store (home improvement/lumber yard, basically a very
small scale Home Depot) in Red Oak for a year and a half (2007-8) and one thing I 
noticed was that d*mn near everything in the place was imported from someplace.
Lumber is imported from Canada (and Malaysia); fer chrissake even the d*mn
*nails* are imported (from, among other places, Bulgaria).  Even the stuff that
isn't labor-intensive (nails, pipe/conduit, fence posts, etc.) is imported.

Near as I can tell, the preassembled vinyl frame insulated windows
(Andersen Silverline)
I bought were made in this country, though (over $2.5K worth - that's for
13 window assemblies - and all are stock sizes, the tab would have been
twice that for custom
fit special orders, so I made the hole fit the window rather than vice
versa ).

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