Please Buy American and Help Stimulate the U.S. Economy

Our elected officials are doing the best they can to stimulate the economy.  But truth be told there is only so much that they can do in a free market economy.  The real stimulus and boost to the economy will come quickly once Americans start purchasing American goods.  I am going to focus on shoes but this can be applied to other tangible goods purchases.

In the 1960s, the United States made 98 percent of its shoes. It now imports more than 90 percent of its footwear. The iconic red Radio Flyer wagons for children are now made in China. Even the Apple iPod comes in a box that says it was made in China but "designed in California."  Men Own an Average of 12 Pairs of Shoes; Women Own an Average of 27 Pairs.  The average man owns 0.4 pairs of shoes made in the US approximately 0 pairs of shoes.  It also means the average woman owns approximately 1 pair of shoes made in the US.   Footwear retailers in the U.S. generated approximately $25.3 billion in revenue in 2009 (excluding internet and catalog sales), representing roughly half of the U.S. $53 billion footwear industry.  U.S. footwear manufacturers represented a much smaller portion of the industry in 2009 generating an estimated $1.9 billion in revenue.  Which means the actual number of US manufactured shoes sold is only 3.6%.  If Americans were to purchase 10% percent of their shoes from US manufacturers (on average 1.2 pairs of shoes for men and 2.7 pairs of shoes for women) the US manufactured shoe sales would nearly triple generating an estimated $5.7 billion in revenue in one year.  

Employment in the footwear manufacturing industry has dropped dramatically in the United States in only 5 years. By 2002, there were less than 20,000 workers employed in U.S. footwear manufacturing.  US footwear manufacturers could potentially hire nearly an additional 40,000 workers if 10% of shoes purchased by Americans were US made.  In addition, any good business responds to market signals and if businesses begin seeing a trend of purchasing US made footwear they will make more available.  This could potentially pump several billions back into the US economy in the long term.  Our government can only give us short term stimulus.  The American consumer is a very powerful force to be reckoned with and can change the entire economy in a short amount of time by simply buying or not buying.  The market signals the American consumer is currently sending is that name brand is more important than American made.  The market responded by giving us more name brands.  Because the consumer did not care where the shoes were manufacture the businesses did not either.  If the consumer were to suddenly care whether or not their shoes were made in the US, companies would respond likewise.  

If Americans were to purchase 10% percent of all their tangible goods from US manufacturers not just shoes for one year the US economy would have a 10% increase (that's obvious).  Americans generate about $17,580,635,232,096.38 in income annually.  That could be increased to about $19 trillion.  I got the idea that Americans could stimulate the economy simultaneously with the US Government after reading an email I received from Made in the USA Forever's Todd Libscomb.  The email discussed that the Real Stimulus is for Americans to Buy American.  You can read it here.  Made in the USA Forever sells all American made products.  This is their website. 

I will be editing in more American made products and retailers in the future.  I hope next year many Americans decide to buy at least 10% American and I want to provide you with as many resources to do so as possible.  Buying American coupled with the American Jobs Act of 2011 should have our economy better than ever by January of 2013.


"Buy American Possible Resource List"
Panty Hose
Sneakers
Men Dress Shoes
Natural Body & Household products
Toys
NEW BALANCE Women's 790 Running Shoes $84
New Balance USA Collection
Buddy's Jeans $29.95-$40.00
Kids Jeans Made in Tennessee $10
Men's Jeans and shorts starting at $26.99
Women's Jeans $35.95
Continued Here...

Sources: 

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1169863,00.html#ixzz1Y8zLmoqD

http://madeinusaforever.com/

http://secure.campaigner.com/Campaigner/Public/t.show?NRFG--9mWP-nTqlQ4

http://dmarron.com/2010/01/04/whats-the-united-states-worth-1-4-quadrillion/

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Tl3KfIobT7wJ:researchwikis.com/Footwear_Marketing_Research+americans+employed+by+us+shoe+industry&cd=19&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

http://www.accuval.net/insights/industryinsights/detail.php?ID=127

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1169863,00.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/business/worldbusiness/20iht-wbmake.1.20332814.html

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/02/ff_madeinamerica/

http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/walmart/walmart_5.cfm

American Jobs Act of 2011 = Buy American

After reading the America Jobs Act of 2011 legislative proposal the words that resonated to me the most were “BUY AMERICAN”.

 SEC.4. BUY AMERICAN – USE OF AMERICAN IRON, STEEL, AND MANUFACTURED GOODS. 

(a)    None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for a project for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of a public building or public work unless all of the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in the project are produced in the United States.

President Obama did not use the words “Buy American” in his speech because to many the phrase rings of protectionism.  President Obama throughout his political career has favored companies at home.  President Obama has applied a previously unused part of the trade law known as Section 421. This allows U.S. industries or unions to seek protection from "surges" of imports. President Bush nixed the four Section 421 petitions that reached his desk, citing the national economic interest.  Many Americans disapprove of protectionism and the President wisely chose not to use the words “Buy American” in his speech.  The American Jobs Act of 2011 will give American businesses an economic surge at the time when they need it most…NOW.  Politicians that do not support SEC. 4 of this legislative proposal are not pro American businesses and should not be re-elected.  SEC. 4 is located on pages 5 and 6 of the American Jobs Act of 2011.  You can read it for yourself here.  Call the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to speak to your representative and let them know you support SEC. 4 BUY AMERICAN.

Congresswoman Blackburn May Be Suffering Memory Loss

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn may be a backer of Gibson Guitar and its CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, but she voted for — after initially opposing — the 2008 bill that led to last month’s raids on the company.

Blackburn sided with the majority in overriding a veto from then President George W. Bush of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, a massive agriculture bill that mainly dealt with farm subsidies but also expanded the trade law that Gibson is alleged to have violated. Blackburn has criticized the Obama administration for upholding and enforcing the law by raiding Gibson’s facilities in Memphis and Nashville in search of rare imported woods.

It seems as though she may have caved into peer pressure when she blocked the veto.  But, to change her attitudes, values, or behavior in order to conform to group norms does not show good leadership qualities.  Also, how can the Obama administration be at fault for laws that were enacted under the previous administration?  As a member of Congress, she should know the procedures for repealing a law.   I am assuming complaining to the media and blaming the President are part of the process (I am feeling very sarcastic today).

Blackburn did oppose the farm bill when it first went through the House of Representatives. But her stated reasons for doing so did not include the bill’s expansions of the Lacey Act, which bans the importation of endangered species.  The Lacey Act also led to last month’s raids on Gibson Guitar.

Congress Appears to Want to Wait Till the Next Election to Fix the Economy

Republican congressional leaders sounded dismissive Tuesday about President Obama’s $447 billion job-creation proposal, with its offsetting tax increases, a day after Obama indicated he might be willing to accept a partial version of his plan or have Congress enact it in pieces.

House Speaker John Boehner said Obama, who was in Columbus, Ohio to promote his plan, was seeking "permanent tax increases ... to pay for temporary spending," a tradeoff GOP lawmakers are not willing to accept. 

I don’t know what permanent tax increases Speaker Boehner is talking about.  I have read the American Jobs Act and from what I read there is nothing about tax increases in the act.  However, I did see limits on deductions and credits which are something I have suggested in the past.  Too many deductions and credits are the reason the U.S. is in debt now.  It makes no sense for a country to owe its citizens more money than they pay in taxes.  Tax refunds are just another form of welfare or entitlements.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed Obama’s proposal as “a hodge-podge of retread ideas aimed at convincing people that a temporary fix is really permanent and that it will create permanent jobs.”

  I don’t understand why any sane person wouldn’t want a temporary fix as America inches closer to a double dip recession.  Permanent solutions can be tackled after the US economy is stabilized.  Congress needs to prioritize.  President Obama will not be in office until the year 3000 and he is focusing on the short term success of this nation.

The brush-off from GOP leaders wasn’t surprising: Since 2009, they’ve opposed the revenue-raising ideas that Obama’s budget chief, Jacob Lew, offered Monday to pay for the new jobs proposal.

The ideas were in the first budget blueprint that Obama introduced shortly after becoming president in 2009.

President Obama has been working hard since he got in office to begin paying off the deficit.  But Congress has been using their power to make the Obama administration look like the worst administration in US history.  Many Americans would be surprised if they knew how limited the president’s powers are. 

The tax impasse seems unlikely to be settled until voters have their say in the 2012 elections, as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told reporters Tuesday. "Maybe the issue of taxation, maybe some of these other issues, will have to be left for the election," Cantor said.  Wait a second, the Republican Party is willing to do nothing for another 14 months so the economy gets worst and they win all the Democrat’s seats.  Are they not in office to represent the people?  What do they want a de facto single-party state?  Could this lead to Communism (Where is the sarcasm font when you need it?)?

But that doesn’t mean some of the job-creating tax cuts won’t be put to a vote in the House. Cantor said last Friday that GOP leaders would “take the things we can agree on… the things that provide incentives to the private-sector, small business people and entrepreneurs” and vote on them.

Is Congressman Cantor suggesting that the US give tax cuts without generating any new income?  Wouldn’t this dig us further in this $14 trillion ditch?

Additional Child Tax Credits May Be a Contributing Factor to the US Deficit

A dozen members of the Senate Finance Committee are upping the pressure on the IRS over the use of refundable tax credits by unauthorized workers. 

The lawmakers on the tax-writing panel are pressing the agency and the Treasury Department over their reading of the law, after the IRS said it did not believe it had the authority to deny tax credit claims from workers not allowed to be in the U.S.

The senators’ push comes after a federal audit found that the IRS had disbursed $4.2 billion in Additional Child Tax Credits in 2010 to workers using individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITIN). The agency hands out the tax ID number to ensure that it collects from workers who can’t or don’t have Social Security numbers.

The audit found that workers with ITINs were putting in for the child tax credit at a much faster clip in recent years, with those taxpayers claiming $924 billion worth of the ACTC in 2005. 

 The Social Security Administration estimates that 75% of undocumented immigrants are actually on formal payrolls and are paid by check just like anyone else. They get on the payroll by using fake social security numbers or social security numbers of the deceased, which are easily available from counterfeiters for a couple hundred dollars.

My solution:  Lower taxes for everyone in general and do away with the additional child tax credit.  The total of Collections before Refunds by Type of Return for the Fiscal Year 2007 was $2,691,538,000,000.  The ACTC given to workers with ITINs in 2005 cost the US a little less than 1/3 of the collections before refunds (if the amount collected for 2005 was the same as 2007).  It is impossible to sustain the rest of the government programs and lower the US deficit whilst giving such a large portion of tax payer money away.  How do we even know those using ITINs are real individuals?  What if an undocumented worker were to file for 2 sets of ITINs (there most likely isn’t a way to check since undocumented workers don’t have documents)?  Is there any way to check that those using ITINs are actually undocumented workers (since they are undocumented right)?

Sources:

http://roygermano.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/do-illegal-immigrants-pay-taxes/

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/180713-senators-press-irs-for-answers-on-tax-credits-unauthorized-workers?utm_campaign=hillsonthemoney&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

If the Tea Party becomes a “real” third party elections could be thrown to the Democrats

According to the Chicago Tribune, Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) said, "I don't want this to happen. But if the Republican Party doesn't really get serious about government spending, I think you will see a third party, a fourth party, a fifth party, who knows right now they are not a party, just a big group of people."

The tea party could take half of the conservative and right leaning moderate votes if they become a “real” party.  A recent AP-GfK survey showed that 56 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning people identified themselves as tea party supporters. Also, Republicans who back the tea party place a higher priority than other Republicans on the budget deficit and taxes, issues at the center of the nomination contest.  During the month of August, the number of Republicans inched up from 33.1% to 33.5%. The past two months have been the lowest total for the GOP since they won control of the House last November.  33.0% consider themselves to be Democrats, down from 34.8% in July and the lowest level measured in seven years.  But if the tea party takes 56% of the Republican’s 33.5% the Republican Party is left with only approximately 15% and no chance of winning.  It is also highly unlikely that economically conservative yet Socially Liberal voters or Communitarian voters are going to support the tea party’s religious right wing ideologies.  These two groups account for 44 percent of Americans according to the latest Reason-Rupe Poll as of August 29^th.  After Washington's debt showdown this summer, an Associated Press-GfK poll found that 46 percent of adults had an unfavorable view of the tea party, compared with 36 percent just after last November's election.  If the tea party becomes a separate “real” party this could mean trouble for the Republican Party.  I just hope our Republican officials are not making decisions based on the fear that the tea party becomes a separate party and destroys the Republican Party.  The threat of this third party appears to be imminent if the GOP doesn’t give them whatever they want whenever they want it.  I don’t underestimate the power of the tea party and powerful people don't like being pushed around. You can never quite predict what they're going to do. Point is, the GOP having the tea party is kind of like owning a pit bull; it might protect and attack for them, or it might just bite their hand off.

Source:

Michael Westin

http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/sarahposner/5002/tea_party%3Dreligious_right%3Dunpopular/

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/06/report-08-turnout-same-or-only-slightly-higher-than-04/

http://rhinehold.newsvine.com/_news/2011/08/29/7514367-reason-rupe-poll-finds-24-percent-of-americans-are-economically-conservative-and-socially-liberal-28-percent-liberal-28-percent-conservative-and-20-percent-communitarian#comments

http://news.yahoo.com/tea-party-bulling-way-2012-gop-race-125504231.html

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/partisan_trends

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2010/04/support-for-the-tea-party/

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/179731-congressman-if-gop-slips-on-budget-cuts-third-party-could-rise?utm_campaign=briefingroom&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitterfeed

It’s Not True That No Jobs Were Created in the Month of August

Some people think that to get labor statistics figures on unemployment, the Government uses the number of persons filing claims for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits under State or Federal Government programs. But some people are still jobless when their benefits run out, and many more are not eligible at all or delay or never apply for benefits. So, quite clearly, UI information cannot be used as a source for complete information on the number of unemployed.  According to the Department of Labor the total number of people collecting unemployment insurance benefits as of August 13^th is 7,336,276 (which is down from 9,794,901 last year).  The US population over 15 is approximately 250,272,403.156.  Which means less than 3% of the US population over 15 receives UI benefits.

Let’s take a look at how the numbers are actually calculated.  Because unemployment insurance records relate only to persons who have applied for such benefits, and since it is impractical to actually count every unemployed person each month, the Government conducts a monthly sample survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS) to measure the extent of unemployment in the country.  There are about 60,000 households in the sample for this survey.  In order to select the sample, all of the counties and county-equivalent cities in the country first are grouped into 2,025 geographic areas (sampling units). The Census Bureau then designs and selects a sample consisting of 824 of these geographic areas to represent each State and the District of Columbia.  Every month, one-fourth of the households in the sample are changed, so that no household is interviewed more than 4 consecutive months.  Each month, 2,200 highly trained and experienced Census Bureau employees interview persons in the 60,000 sample households for information on the labor force activities.  The information collected, relates to all household members 15 years of age and over.  A sample is not a total count, and the survey may not produce the same results that would be obtained from interviewing the entire population. But the chances are 90 out of 100 that the monthly estimate of unemployment from the sample is within about 290,000 of the figure obtainable from a total census.  This means there could have been up to 290,000 people hired this month.  I keep hearing that the Obama administration failed to create any new jobs this month but I personally know of 2 people that were hired this month.  There are probably more but it just isn’t a true fact that no jobs were created in the month of August.

Sources:

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/current.htm 

http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm