mrb321us

Tower Automotive, which makes frames for all Ram pickups, has announced DC is moving production of that component to a joint-venture supplier in Mexico effective mid '05. As a result 500 of the 650-member American workforce may lose their jobs to cheaper Mexican labor. Pretty soon, there will be no blue collar workers left in America able to afford over-priced products like the Dodge Ram. The remaining Tower workforce will still produce frame components for the Ford Ranger. A well-connected automotive-industry friend, now retired, recently told me some chilling news: He said that it is the Big Three's long-range plan to eventually move the majority of US automotive production to China where the growing demand for cars and trucks is expected to dwarf the US market in 30 years. How much longer are we as a nation going to put up with this crap? I recently read that in another generation we may not have any skilled machinists left because so many manufacturing jobs are going to the Third World. Then what are we going to do if there is another war (I mean a real one with the likes of North Korea or China), and we have no steel industry or skilled tradesman?

Commatoze

I saw this announcement this morning; a real shame.

apache

Just another step towards a one world economy it seems. more lost jobs is not right.
Call me what you, will but your right with the loss of skilled craftsmen in the USA. we have become a society of lazy butts sitting behind a computer screen. Its become hard to find a machinist to even prep a block in these parts, they look at you and ask, why dont you just buy a new one??. Scary it has become.

infidel

All the just made legal by Bush Mexicans will buy the trucks after taking all the "jobs that Americans don't want".
Maybe the reason Americans don't want these jobs is because you have to speak Spanish to get one.

stevenknapp

Pretty soon, there will be no blue collar workers left in America able to afford over-priced products like the Dodge Ram.

If they are moving the labor overseas to save cost, what would the products cost if they were still "made in the USA"?

I'm torn. On one hand keeping things made in this country makes sense to me. On the other hand I think of some friends with UAW jobs that seem to get a pretty good deal. I also think about the makes from overseas that have started building in the USA. Dodge needs to move to Mexico, how is Toyota then successfully building trucks in the USA?

Talk that questions the value of unions is fighting words for many I know. But it leaves me stuck between two conflicting values. First, I don't like the government screwing around with things, period. The market should be fair. If someone can build frames cheaper, good for them! They are raising the bar, competition is good. On the other hand I love my country, and I hate seeing jobs go overseas.

OH, and this isn't just a blue collar issue! It's a white collar issue too. Many engineering jobs are moving overseas. You can get three Chineese engineers for the cost of a US engineer.

blackjack

I recently read that in another generation we may not have any skilled machinists left because so many manufacturing jobs are going to the Third World.

I have found that the Skilled machinists have already left. Try to hire one Union or non. Problem is that no one seems to want to be a tradesman anymore. I have tried to hire Boring Mill Operator/programers in the past @ $27.50 per hr + benifits (health, life, dental, paid vac. etc...) and found the pickings slim to none and many that applied seemed to have a pemadonna attitude.

I was always taught that 2 things in this country generated GNP Farming and Manufacturing we need a wake up call before both are gone. We sell our farms off at huge $$ for the farmer to turn property into developments, while we keep our thumbs on top of them and make it hard for farmers to make a living from the land what choice do they have their children watch them brake their backs for what?.
In the manufacturing business it has become very difficult for the small businessman to make ends meet. We must adhere to strict regulations that other countries do not have and yet we open our borders and call it free trade. The Indians (asian) are doing engineering work for 19.00 per hr. (wrap rate) while American companies find their burden rates alone to be 30-35.00 per hr. What do you do as an owner turn work over an no profitt or worse yet a loss. When I had my manufacturing Business about 3 years ago we did alot of automotive work. At the end of 2001 we had done a large volume of work for a supplier that sold a lot of product to DMC we bid each job competitivley against other vendors. At this point Chrysler asked this company to return 5% as an overall cost cutting ploy. The company came back to its suppliers and demanded the 5% from each of them and threatened not to do business with anyone that did not comply. (I sure missed them) This reduction was only supposed to affect the tier 1 suppliers but as per this example you can see how the trickle down effect put small business paying the tab.

I could go on but to what conclusion. We as a country need to close some of these revolving doors that promotes unfair trade and double standards.

I heard the president of the UAW make the statement that NAFTA was nothing more than a race to the bottom and although I can rarely agree with him, in this instance I stand sqaurely on his side. As Merl Haggard put it "we are rolling down hill like a snowball headed for hell" The division between the have and have nots is growing.
Well I appoligize for the long reply but we as Americans can no longer bury our heads and hope that someone will solve these problems for us and by the same token we can not be expected to continue to be the saviour of the world while we saddle our future generations with debt that can never be satisfied.

apache

Well said Blackjack, we need to look at the long term future for the kids growing up these days. it seems everyone just wants to make a quick killing. I hate to see jobs lost here, but it seems the cost of operating in the USA has climbed so high you cant afford to keep it here. To many 10 digit CEO salaries???
I really feel sorry for the young ones of these days trying to have a go at it.
I like to blame it on all the BS lawsuits from golddiggers who dont want to work and their lawyers who pull it off.

stevenknapp

Other thoughts.

Some jobs are going from Mexico to China, again it's cheaper to do business in China than Mexico. IMHO I think China is a bigger threat, not sure I trust them.

The UK, or heck, the EU seems to be a more expensive place than the US to do business. Yet Germany and England both have a great reputation for automotive engineering and manufacturing.

The idea that some work is "too good" for anyone is stupid, but the attitude is there. Hard work isn't respected. Hard work is what gets you places, if that hard work is behind a desk or on a job site it doesn't matter. It's still hard work.

Teddroe

Electrolux just announced last week that they are moving out of Greenville Mi and going to Mexico. The Governor offered them 71 million in tax concessions over the next 3 years and they are still leaving. It will be a loss of 2700 jobs in that one plant alone, plus they say another 1 1/2 more jobs per person will be lost in the trickle down effect from all the parts suppliers to that company that will probably close. That really stinks.........

Mexstan

I find it very interesting that there are many similar stories to this thread that indicate that America is in serious trouble and getting worse. It is not just the loss of jobs overseas, it is things like morals and the fact that America was founded on Godly principles and now those principles are getting trashed and ungodly stuff is the in thing. What used to be good and contributed to making America great is now bad and the bad is now good. Go figure. Technically the US is bankrupt anyway.
Now, not to start a war here, but did you know that America appears to vanish in Biblical prophecy? It appears to be a non entity. I can't help but wonder if all the above and more is not tied into this fact somehow.
Are you guys aware that there is a very serious ongoing war right now to make the US dollar disappear? The Euro and the new Islamic Gold Dinar are being pushed to eliminate the US dollar. In fact, the entire Muslim world is being pushed to make the Dinar the world standard of currancy. Don't think that people like Bin Laden are not aware of what is happening to the US economy. They know exactly what is happening and why. So they are taking advantage of the falling dollar and pushing the new dinar and also making sure that more and more jobs leave the US.
I could go an much more but that is more than enough.

Mexstan

After I posted the above I went looking for an article I remembered reading. There are others similar to this on but this one seems to give more detail. Read it and let us know what you think. Sorry it is so long.

IS THE ISLAMIC GOLD DINAR A REAL THREAT?

Feb 5, 2004

By Craig R. Smith, CEO SATC

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NEWS FLASH: Feb. 4 (IFN) -- ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT BANK HOSTS MEETING OF EXPERTS ON GOLD DINAR. A meeting of experts from Central Banks, financial and academic institutions from Member Countries of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) was held today at the IDB Headquarters to discuss a proposal from Malaysia on using Gold Dinar for international trade among OIC Member Countries.The Bank is expected to submit a report based on the outcome of the experts meeting at the forthcoming Islamic Summit to be held in Kula Lumpur, Malaysia, during next month. The present membership of the Bank consists of 55 countries. FULL STORY
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Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar had its biggest decline in a week against the euro after a powder found in the Washington offices of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist tested positive for ricin, a poisonous substance, re-igniting concern about terrorism against the U.S. FULL STORY

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INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS THE ISLAMIC GOLD DINAR?

A.D.700 - A.D. 1924: From the very beginning, Muslims used a gold coin called a Gold Dinar as their form of money. The Gold Dinar remained the official Islamic currency until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1924... when it disappeared for 77 years.

But on Nov. 7, 2001 -- less than two months after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 -- the Islamic Dinar was officially re-launched by the Islamic Mint in West Malaysia and is now available to the public.

Although a beautiful coin, the Gold Dinar could pose a serious threat to the U.S. economy! In fact, its supporters believe the Gold Dinar will become the official currency of more than 1.5 BILLION Muslims worldwide. Now radical Islam is urging Muslims worldwide to drop the U.S. Dollar and adopt the Gold Dinar as their primary currency!

WHY IS THE DINAR A THREAT TO THE U.S. DOLLAR?

Since the reissue of the Gold Dinar in November 2001, the U.S. Dollar has dropped to a RECORD LOW against the euro... while the price of gold has SOARED from about $260 per ounce to an 8-year RECORD HIGH of over $410 per ounce. And this is just the beginning!

As the dollar continues to drop, the priced-for-perfection stock market could be impacted dramatically. Unprepared investors could lose BILLIONS! It's no coincidence that Osama bin Laden chose to strike the World Trade Center on Sept. 11... Why?

Because, the World Trade Center represented the heart and soul of the U.S. economy. And destroying the U.S. economy is the main pillar of bin Laden's strategy to bring down the United States.

Back in 1997, there was a huge and devastating currency raid by the famous trader, George Soros, who leveled Asian monetary units and caused the major Asian economies to falter. It is true that some of those economies have not fully recovered. However, it is also true that history may point to this currency raid and raider as the germination of the seed for the uniting factor of Islamic economic power that changed the economic and monetary world.

FROM OIL FOR DOLLARS ... TO ... OIL FOR GOLD!

On Jan 18 Forbes reported that Sell oil for gold, Mahathir tells Saudi Arabia ... "Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia should sell oil for gold, not dollars, to avoid being "short-changed" by a decline in the U.S. currency ... He suggested countries tally their total annual imports and exports and settle the difference at the end of the year in "gold dinars."

Recent news supports the idea that the Gold Dinar, with support from 53 other Islamic nations, is a planned offensive against the use of the dollar as a settlement currency for oil. It is perceived, and correctly so, that the Islamic world is controlled via the use of the US dollar as the main settlement currency.

When I say "controlled" I mean whatever happens economically in the USA is exported there via the dollar. Dollars exchanged for the Gold Dinar currency as a measure for gold settlements quarterly or gold convertible to pay for certain oil imports would end all the debate of whether or not gold has a place in the monetary system.

CAN RADICAL ISLAM CONVINCE MUSLIMS TO USE THE GOLD DINAR INSTEAD OF THE DOLLAR?

IF it was just the radical fundamentalists that were pushing the gold Dinar, you could presume that this movement would never get off the ground, BUT it is not.

On Jan. 8, 2004 the Malaysian Star reports, "Malaysian gold mine bought to promote gold dinar -- MALAYSIA-BASED IGD Practice (Labuan) Ltd is buying into a gold mine in Kazakhstan in a bid to promote the use of gold dinar globally."

According to John Myers, Outstanding Investments A 1,300-year-old gold dagger;

"Many Muslims believe that the United States is responsible for the enormous devastation suffered by hundreds of millions of Muslims during the Asian Currency Crisis of 1997. This ANGER will provide a powerful incentive for Muslims to get even with the United States by selling dollars and buying Islamic Gold Dinars.

Just take a look at this quote from the Islamic Mint Web site:

"... he heard the Messenger of Allah say: "'A time is certainly coming over mankind in which there will be nothing [left] which will be of use save a dinar...'"
-- Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal

I think it's obvious. These folks don't just want the dollar to drop, they want the U.S. dollar to disappear. Permanently!

Last year SwissAmerica.com posted a ground-breaking story by Jim Sinclair, "The Gold Dinar: A Nuclear Wild Card," which quoted the Islamic "AL-FATH AL-'ALI AL-MALIKI" (PP. 164-165)

"This Fatwa considers paper-money to be fulus, because it only represents money and does not have value as merchandise. It follows that since Zakat cannot be paid in fulus, which has no value as merchandise, it cannot be paid in paper-money, which value as weight of paper is null. On this basis, it becomes clear the urgent need to restore the use of the Dinar and the Dirham as payment of Zakat. If the millions of Muslims who now make their payment of Zakat in paper money would do it in newly minted Dinars and Dirham's, they will put in circulation millions of gold and silver coins into the mainstream of daily commercial activities of our communities. That single act will became the most important political act of the century, opening the path towards the establishment our own halal free currency breaking away from the usurious financial system. The return to the payment of zakat in gold and silver is an essential part of the reestablishment of Islam."

Those are serious words and should not be taken lightly. You see, the establishment of a gold-based currency is rebellion against the IMF as it is distinctly forbidden under IMF rules.

CONCLUSION: BE PREPARED!

The U.S. dollar has never had as many enemies as it has today. Does it make sense to have all of your assets linked to the U.S. dollar right now -- OR -- to have a portion of your assets directly linked to gold?

You be the judge. My recommendation is to understand that terrorism can take many forms, including currencies. The rapid decline of the U.S. dollar in the last two years should be telling us something which historians have long warned ... "the destiny of a currency determines the destiny of a nation."

Every paper currency without a gold/silver backing in history has ultimately fallen to it's true value ... ZERO!! Could it happen to the precious U.S. dollar? YES!

Our Constitution demands a gold and silver-backed money system. Recently New Hampshire proposed moving to a gold/silver state currency (HB-1342) for that very reason. Other states are now considering the same.

Yamadad

What else??????

mrb321us

Here are several things to consider: HD Dodge Rams sold in US are assembled in both US and Mexico. DC makes a higher profit on the ones assembled in Mexico because of a much lower labor rate, yet they charge the same to American consumers no matter where the vehicle was made. And DC pockets the difference. No wonder they want to shift more production down there. By charging the same as they would if the product were produced in the US, they pocket considerably more profit. Now think about this: a new Dodge Ram 2500 sells for thousands less in Canada (in US dollars), but, like cheaper Canadian drugs, Americans are not allowed to buy them. DC says trucks are cheaper in Canada, because Canadians can't afford to buy them at American prices. Obviously DC is still making a nice profit on trucks sold in Canada, otherwise they wouldn't have so many dealers up there. If a Canadian Dodge dealer is caught selling a Ram to a US customer he could lose his DC franchise. DC isn't the only one doing this. Most vehicle manufacturers do the same thing. Very little is written about these situations, and most consumers never stop to consider they may be getting screwed.

Roger Ramjet

It's all about money. Money in the pockets of DaimlerChrysler, of course when you say DC you are saying Germans!

aaronisbad

Wally Worlds got a 20" color tv with remote for $29.99 I aint heard nobody complain about that yet? Whats Up ????