Classic, iconic American products no longer made in America

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Ian Gills

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Blame the unions? My eye.

The uncomfortable truth is that workers here are less productive and competitive because they do not have access to universal healthcare nor universal education, like workers elsewhere.

So they are either sick, stupid but cheap; or, clever, healthy but expensive.

Neither of which gets you very far in a competitive global economy.

Blame the founding fathers for putting the fear of God and Big Government in you.

Time to revisit your values before your values visit your wallet.
 
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Ballvalve

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As a kid I worked as a temp through an agency at a union shop {Raypac - still making pool and water heaters, maybe in mexico now}

So here comes this kid and the angry union guys put me on the biggest hydraulic press brake in the shop, bending pool heater boxes.

Expected me to run off or cut an arm off. Little did they know I was bending steel since I was 12. After 10 minutes of training, in about 4 hours I bent the whole shifts average production. Kept checking my output with calipers and gauges. Could'nt reject a part.

So now they move me to a nasty punch press a few stories tall. Bent up a days worth of titanium burners in a few hours.

Asked them for more parts, I was on a roll. Scared the hell out of them as management was watching from the catwalk.

6 of me could have replaced 15 of the sleepy union guys. And they were paying me quite a bit of money for those days. I got a BROOM for the rest of the program.

The Unions had or have 2 faults, a culture of very moderate and disinterested productivity, and wage creep that killed them off.

A culture of productivity should be a value revisited. And Union wages brought down from the sky. That would keep Americas factories working and competetive - and make health care possible.

Edit: http://www.raypak.com/commframe.htm

So big brother AO smith gobbled up family owned Raypak, and probably moved much of that plant south.
 
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Tom Sawyer

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drive a 96 honda civic. gets about 30mpg. have not put more than 500 bucks into it in 14 years cept for gas, oil and tires.
drive a 97 Ford F150 4wd. It's got 285,000 miles on it. A bit rusty but starts every day.


Can the Brit's make cars? Hmmmmmm. Triumph, MG Lucas the prince of darkness
 

Ian Gills

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Can the Brit's make cars? Hmmmmmm. Triumph, MG Lucas the prince of darkness

Are you mad? Compared to what's on offer in the US, hell yeah!


And now the American cars...

 
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Ballvalve

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When that Lincoln sled hits a honda civic head on, you just put the wipers on and keep going.

And they were required to keep the Mafia happy. All they have now are Suburbans.

"If honda built humans we would never die" : If Honda built humans in America, They would work for a fair wage, buy American made cars, and have such productivity that no factories would need move south or far East.
 

Terry

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I used to own a Ford Taurus too.
Not the SHO though, but it did kind of look like the one in this video.
I also had a newer one that was silver and with the sleeker more rounded look, but apparently American didn't like the Taurus that looked Italian.
They made it boxier after a year or so.

[video=youtube;hhOsZKRbDao]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhOsZKRbDao[/video]

The 96 was nice, but hard to keep running.

[video=youtube;zWPZ6lPTqBI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWPZ6lPTqBI[/video]
 
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Jimbo

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Unions constitute only 6% of the work force.


Can you say, "Dying Breed?"

I believe if you count school teachers, + federal, state, county, and city workers, it is much higher than that. It is enough here in SD to keep electing the commie pinkos to a majority on the city council
 
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