Buyers for the U.S. Capital visitors center are in a bit of hot water today. They were warned not to buy goods made outside the US, but did it anyway. Now $100,000 worth of souvenirs are sitting in storage, blocked from being sold, and will probably have to be returned to the manufacturer in China.
Will the Chinese manufacturer take the goods back or will the government be out $100,00? Your guess is as good as mine. I'm all for US made products being sold, but in these finacial times is it really a good idea for the government to waste $100,000 worth of goods, that it is probably already stuck with, because of ideals?
Washington souvenirs worth $100,000 -- including images of the Capitol dome and printings of the U.S. Constitution -- are locked in storage, blocked from sale in the new U.S. Capitol Visitors Center because the items are made in China.
From the Upcoming Queue, submitted by Tiffany.
Let that stuff sit in storage, or recycle it. $100,000 is chicken feed when you consider the scope of the mess we're in.
If the Capitol Visitors Center is supposed to represent America, let it also represent American industry (such as it is).
I'm just sayin'.
So, we're selling cheap tat that's only going to end up slowly rotting in a landfill (or decomposing on the shelf of a thrift shop) and we're being picky over who made it? If you want to get something meaningful to remind you of your trip to a particular place - check out what local artisans are making.
Frankly people - I can't believe you are all being so imperialistic about this. Buy American because Americans need the jobs - so, people in other countries don't need jobs? You don't mind the fact that slave labor produces pretty much everything else in your lives - but a bit of nasty meaningless trash is a matter of national pride?
If an American company can profit more by making their products outside the USA, then what's wrong with that? Would people rather the American company go out of business because their workforce here is too expensive, thereby making the product too expensive that no one would be willing to buy it? If an American company ultimately made the profit from the sales of these products, then what's wrong with that? Would a Japanese person not buy a Toyota because it was manufactured in their plant in the USA? It's a global economy. Politicians are just doing what they do best: play politics. Aren't these the same people who renamed french fries to "Freedom Fries". Come on, they're obviously pandering to their ignorant, nationalistic, protectionist constituents and veiling it under the banner of patriotism.
Economy comes down to supply and demand, and America's role in supplying was cut out from under our feet decades ago. Now we're looking at another great depression and asking "What happened? Why are there no jobs?" #2 in Austin powers said it best - there is no "World" anymore, only corporations. The Global Economy wouldn't be bad if there were some balance, but there is none. The "Global Economy" means cheap junk is made in other countries and America's middle class buys it. What's the point of having a minimum wages, unions, and labor laws if everyone can just contract out slave labor in other countries?
WTF?? Communist in the White House? Not in my country there isn't. I am proud and tremendously hopeful now that President Obama is in the White House. For the first time in as long as I can remember (and I am old enough to have a fairly long memory) I truly feel that our President is a representative of the diversity of the United States. Calling the President a Communist is ignorant and malicious. Having a political opinion is not the same thing as irresponsible misrepresentation.
While I think that America needs to produce much more of what we consume right here at home, I am by no means suggesting that we build physical (or ideological) walls around the country and pull out of the world economy.
I was only saying the the Capitol Visitor's Center represents the U.S. Capitol, and that it seems reasonable to me that the cheesy trinkets that they foist off on the souvenir-buying public represent the best American-made cheesy trinkets that we can offer.
My typing got in the way of my brain...
Carry on.
^_^