Unfortunately these days the things that we are left to spend our "extra" cash on are things we really have no control over. Necessities. Thinks like -

Fuel
Electric
Home heating gas / oil
Taxes
Insurance - home - auto - health ect ...
Food

ect ect ect ...

While I agree that back in the day when you had some extra cash you also had the opportunity to boost the economy or at least keep it going, however since I currently work in a feild where excess money is usually spent and I have noticed a decline in business, it's obvious that somethings wrong. It's not just my business either, it's ALL businesses. I was just at a motorcycle show last weekend. People were everywhere, but nobody was carrying bags - meaning - nobody was buying anything. I had the opportunity to talk to a major custom motorcycle builder and was told that everyones business in his filed is down anywhere from 60-70% from just last year.

Your thoughs / theories are nice and you WANT to feel all warm and fuzzy inside, however every time I speak to someone it seems like more and more lately the topic of " how expensive it is to live these days " comes up, and I'm notthe one bringing it up. I've spoken from everyone from your coal miner guy's to the barber shop owner and the conversations are the same. People are worried ....

 

its soo true!

 

Joel, Mayfair, I agree with both of you. But there is another aspect of it all that isn't being considered.
Having a strong manufacturing base has always been America's strength. While we may profit temporarily for the cheaper goods recieved from other countries, in the long run it will be our demise.For now, people in the other countries are willing to work for cheaper wages and produce cheaper products, so slowly the manufacturing goes from US to overseas. Yes, we replace those jobs with more educated jobs involved with innovation like aerospace etc. We pay these countries with dollars that they invest in their own countries and in return their countries economies are booming as never before. Soon the other country becomes the sole supplier of the product we need. What happens when their economy is doing so well they don't need our business anymore? We can't produce it ourselves, we've lost the resources to do it. Since we have become a country dependent on imports, we have nothing left to barter with. We don't produce anything. We try to offer our technology, but they already have the previous version and its good enough for what they need. We as a country can't become too dependent on anyone else, because if they ever change their minds about how much they like us, we would be in trouble.

Yes, we have seen a major increase in our quality of life over the last 15 years as a result of importing cheaper goods: a tv in every room, everyone has a CD player, nintendo, cell phone and so on. But how have we sacrificed? We have slowly given up our wealth. Sure we still have CASH, but it isn't our true wealth. The products we produce are our true wealth, whether it be cars, food, oil. If we produce it, we can use it to trade for something else. We are slowly losing things to barter with. In the end the only thing we will have left to export is cash.

 

I agree with everything that you wrote pakee, but there is one teeny tiny little aspect that was missed.

Replacing jobs with educated jobs SOUNDS good, but to be perfectly honest with you, not everyone is capable of or is good with an education.

Take me for example. I sat next to 30 other kids all learning algebra. Same teacher, same lesson, I just didn't get it. I got a tutor, stayed after class, studied my azz off, and BARELY squeeked by with a D, and to be honest with you I still guessed with most of the answers.

My point is this ... not everyone is created equal. Not everyone can learn the same as others.

There are people right now who earn a decent living at toll bridges. They can feed their families, and they contribute to the economy. Here comes EZ Pass. You say " educate the people to learn the EZ Pass, but not everyone can grip it and as a result they fall through the cracks and are now at best earning minumum wage and struggling to survive. It's a shame, and it's the reason I still don't and won't have EZ Pass - to help protect those few jobs left.


I don't know how I got off on that spin, but my point is that not everyone is capable of a higher education no matter how hard you try and pound it into them.

 

Amen Mayfair. I have two sons that just didn't make it in college. Were they a failure, no. Book learning wasn't their thing. They have done just fine, albeit they aren't rolling in money but they are happy and that's what counts. If they have anything it's common sense. I'll take common sense over well educated everytime.

I don't know how to fix all this outsourcing crap to third world countries, but there is only so much that any of us can do. Yes it pains me that every blinking thing I buy is make somewhere else. America has gotten a little lazy and other countries are making money on it. Unfortunately there is no quick easy fix. I'll get down off my soapbox now.

 

o great more talk about education. thanks for reminding me that I have 8 more years before i'll be Ben D. M.D. has a nice ring don't it. but sadly Ben D. M.D. is gonna be up **** creek in debt from med school lol Johns Hopkins wants like 50k in tuition alone I think. or something in that ballpark I dunno exact figures and franklin and Marshall is costing me 34k a year in undergrad studies so let's see here carry the one and we have a total cost of education at....336k I think?education is good but expensive i must add lol. well now taht i've ruined my day me and my buddies are gonna go drink some 151 and cry ourselves to sleep.

 

Ain't it funny. We take the cheapest avenue to make things, yet college tuition has spun out of control price wise. I hate to sound my age, but it is an investment in your future, don't get discouraged. I did my time and am glad I did.

 

Wait till these "third world nations" workers start to organize... think back to when America and Canada were the Colonies. New world peoples of north america finally realized they were cheap labour for Kings/Queens of the "old world" and started on the road to freedom and self government. Now the old world was going to pay more (or dearly) for raw and manufactured goods. Sooner or later Mexico, China and the many other cheap labour countries are going to get their $hit together, and they will be the next to enjoy what we have been taking for granted for so long. Who or what will be the next peoples or country to get the $1.00 per hr or day, jobs in manufacturing cheap goods so the large "first world" corporations can continue to get fatter?

Talk about good paying jobs, around my parts even the 7-11 stores are offeringcash signing bonuses! Minimum wage is just a number here, highly educated or not if the desire is there one can earn a fairly decent living... for now!

 

In the middle of actions on Defense next week, the open-borders Senators are going to attempt to attach three proposals that would give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens and dramatically increase the importation of additional foreign labor for American jobs.

Many of the Senators who helped us kill the Comprehensive Amnesty in June are indicating they are in favor of these preferences for illegal foreign workers and new foreign workers over American workers.

We must keep them from attaching the Dream Act Amnesty to the Department of Defense authorization bill.

And we also must keep them from taking hundreds of thousands of our high tech jobs from American students and middle-age American workers and giving them to foreign workers.

Our NumbersUSA legislative department outlines these three threats in sections below.


THE QUICK MESSAGE YOU CAN GIVE TO SENATE OFFICE FRIDAY


1. Call the Senate switchboard at:
202-224-3121

2. Ask for your Senator. (You can find the names of your Senators and all their contact info at: numbersusa.com/myMembers)

3. Tell the person who answers that you are calling to ask the Senator to vote NO next week on three measures that are being considered for the Defense Authorization bill.

a. Vote NO on Amendment 2237 that would attach the Dream Act Amnesty.

b. Vote NO on any measure to increase H-1B visas and permanent greencards for foreign workers to take jobs from skilled American workers and students.

c. Vote NO on any attempt to increase H-2B visas for seasonal foreign workers to take jobs from America's most vulnerable workers.

All summer since the media gave you credit for moving the Senate with your faxes and phone calls to kill the Comprehensive Amnesty bill, we have seen open borders groups telling their members that they would beat NumbersUSA at our own game this fall.

Some open borders groups said that they would be studying our NumbersUSA grassroots mobilization system carefully and would imitate it to generate more faxes and more phone calls FOR amnesty than we can AGAINST amnesty.

There have been reports of open-border billionaires so angry at the NumbersUSA success in June that they have pledged to provide enough money to the open-borders groups for them to generate more faxes and phone calls than our side.

Just one problem with all the bravura of the open-borders crowd: There are a whole lot more of us than them.

Thanks to the generosity of about 10% of you, we have the funds to pay for an avalanche of faxes over the next several days.

Please take the actions and forward this email to as many Americans as you know.

The opposition hopes that these three measures will seem so much smaller than the Comprehensive Amnesty that the American people will largely sit this one out.

The DREAM Act (Amendment 2237 to the Defense Authorization bill) is a nightmare. It is a massive amnesty that extends to the millions of illegal aliens who entered the United States before the age of 16.


There is no upper age limit. Any illegal alien can walk into a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office and declare that he is eligible. For example, a 45 year old can claim that he illegally entered the United States 30 years ago at the age of 15. There is no requirement that the alien prove that he entered the United States at the claimed time by providing particular documents. The DREAM Act's Section 4(a) merely requires him to "demonstrate" that he is eligible-which in practice could mean simply making a sworn statement to that effect. Thus, it is an invitation for just about every illegal alien to fraudulently claim the amnesty.


The alien then has six years to adjust his status from a conditional green card holder to a non-conditional one. To do so, he need only complete two years of study at an institution of higher education, including any vocational school. If the alien has already completed two years of study, he can convert to non-conditional status immediately (and use his green card as a platform to sponsor parents and other family members). As an alternative to two years of study, he can enlist in the U.S. military for two years. This provision allows Senator Durbin to claim that the DREAM Act is somehow germane to the defense authorization bill.


An illegal alien who applies for the DREAM Act amnesty gets to count his years under "conditional" green card status toward the five years needed for citizenship. On top of that, the illegal alien could claim "retroactive benefits" and start the clock running the day that the DREAM Act is enacted. In combination, these two provisions put illegal aliens on a high-speed track to U.S. citizenship-moving from illegal alien to U.S. citizen in as little as five years. Lawfully present aliens, meanwhile, must follow a slower path to citizenship.


It would be absurdly easy for just about any illegal alien-even one who does not qualify for the amnesty-to evade the law. According to Section 4(f) of the DREAM Act, once an alien files an application-any application, no matter how ridiculous-the federal government is prohibited from deporting him. Moreover, with few exceptions, federal officers are prohibited from either using information from the application to deport the alien or sharing that information with another federal agency, under threat of up to $10,000 fine. Thus, an alien's admission that he has violated federal immigration law cannot be used against him-even if he never had any chance of qualifying for the DREAM Act amnesty in the first place.


The DREAM Act also allows illegal aliens to receive in-state tuition rates at public universities, discriminating against U.S. citizens from out of state and law-abiding foreign students.


The DREAM Act also makes the illegal aliens eligible for federal student loans and federal work-study programs-another benefit that law-abiding foreign students cannot receive-all at taxpayer expense.


A consistent theme emerges: Illegal aliens are treated much more favorably than aliens who fol¬low the law. There is no penalty for illegal behavior.


Talking Points to Prevent Attaching Provisions of the SKIL Act

Increase the annual cap for "temporary" nonimmigrant visas from 65,000 to 115,000. But that's just the first year (after that, if the cap is met in any year, it can be further increased by 20 percent for the next year with a ceiling of 180,000 per year)


Establishes more exemptions from the cap, thus rendering the cap virtually meaningless (as it is, approximately two-thirds of all current H-1Bs have been exempted)


Instead of capturing "unused" EB visas (as claimed by proponents) from previous years, adds new EB visas by an amount coinciding with the number not issued in those years


As with the H-1B provisions described above, establishes additional exemptions to the annual EB visa cap that do nothing but make it easier for U.S. employers to import cheap labor rather than hiring American workers.


"Expedites" and "streamlines" the processing of millions of new applications (and requisite background checks) for "temporary" workers and for LPR status, which, to an agency (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services [USCIS> that has shown itself to be unable to adequately implement current immigration laws, is both untenable and reckless


Authorizes employers to propose a prevailing wage of their own choosing if the Labor Department is too swamped with labor certification applications to respond within 20 calendar days, thus allowing existing wage stagnation in high-tech fields to become further entrenched


Allows greater abuse of the L-1 "intracompany transferee/specialized knowledge" visa, which, unlike the H-1B, may be issued without numerical limitation and without the employer being required to pay the alien employee the prevailing wage, or meet other labor condition requirements, and they are valid for longer periods of time


Puts L-1 nonimmigrants in line for lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, which, for all intents and purposes, would make their employment permanent and would take yet more jobs away from U.S. workers


Expands eligibility for F student visas - shown to be an effective method for terrorist elements to lawfully enter, and then remain in, the United States - to aliens wanting to study in high-tech fields and, in concert with other high-tech-related provisions, affords them the opportunity to be "fast-tracked" toward LPR status and permanent placement in the job market as more cheap, foreign labor


Talking Points to Stop Expansion of Visas for Seasonal Workers

H-2B visas are for temporary or seasonal non-agricultural, unskilled workers. Employers who want to hire H-2B workers must obtain a labor certification from the Department of Labor (DoL) stating that qualified American workers are not available to fill the jobs. Unfortunately, the "certification" process is less certification and more rubber stamp, since DoL is not permitted even to verify the truthfulness of the information on petitions. If the employer filled in all the blanks, DoL approves the petition.


H-2B visas were created so that employers could fill temporary labor shortages until U.S. workers can be found. Employers of H-2Bs are required to look for American workers first, but the requirements for advertising job openings are minimal. At the least, employers should be required to post job openings on an internet-based system like DoL's "America's Job Bank."


Since H-2B visas are renewable for up to three years and family members are allowed to accompany the workers, these visas often end up providing semi-permanent residency. After three years, the foreign worker and his family must go home for six months before returning for up to three more years.


The United States economy is not facing a shortage of unskilled workers; in fact, it has an oversupply


14 million Americans are unable to find full-time jobs in the current economy (Bureau of Labor Statistics - BLS);


The unemployment rate among the 12 million American adults who do not have a high school diploma is almost 9 percent (BLS);


An astonishing 40 percent of working-age African-American men are unemployed (BLS);


The percentage of 16- to 19-year-olds holding jobs in the United States is the lowest it has been since the government began tracking statistics in 1948 (Prof. Andrew Sum, Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University).


At least 40 percent of the illegal-alien population came to the United States on a temporary visa, like the H-2B, and then overstayed after the visa expired. Congress should not even consider increasing the numbers of temporary visas until DHS has fully implemented an entry-exit system, based on biometric identifiers, to ensure that visa holders leave the United States when their visa expires. Otherwise, Congress will simply be facilitating illegal immigration.

Friends, the business lobbies have bought off most of the Democratic leadership that is in control of the Senate in order to radically increase the importation of foreign workers and keep American wages from rising.

Because Republican party leaders have traditionally been helpful to business lobbyists, we face incredible odds in trying to stop this triple threat next week.

We stopped an amnesty for all illegal aliens in June. But these actions next week not only will provide amnesty to several million of them but is designed to soften up the politics to pass other amnesties later this fall. We must overwhelm the Senate with our opposition starting Friday.

 

Handymanherb... Preach it borther!!!![sm=americanasmiley.gif]I think this border crap has gone way way way to far.[:@]
My truck was built in America, at the St Louis plant. I don't think America is lazy so much as we are always looking to save $$. I try to always buy American when I can but it isnt always that easy to do... Thank god for Dodge hehe . My one major sin was I just bought a newatv about a month ago, its a.....Yamaha Grizzly 660, Hardwoods HD Camo.