Who killed the auto industry?

To hear the media tell it, arrogant corporate chiefs failed to foresee the demand for small, fuel-efficient cars and made gas-guzzling road-hog SUVs no one wanted, while the clever, far-sighted Japanese, Germans and Koreans prepared and built for the future

I dissent. What killed Detroit was Washington, the government of the United States, politicians, journalists and muckrakers who have long harbored a deep animus against the manufacturing class that ran the smokestack industries that won World War II.

Thus when America was thrust into the global economy, GM and Ford had to compete with cars made overseas in factories in post-war Japan and Germany, then Korea, where health and safety standards were much lower, wages were a fraction of those paid U.S. workers, and taxes were and are often forgiven on exports to the United States.

All three nations built "export-driven" economies.

The Beetle and early Japanese imports were made in factories where wages were far beneath U.S. wages and working conditions would have gotten U.S. auto executives sent to prison.

The competition was manifestly unfair, like forcing Secretariat to carry 100 pounds in his saddlebags in the Derby.

How has this global economy profited or prospered America?

In the 1950s, we made all our own toys, clothes, shoes, bikes, furniture, motorcycles, cars, cameras, telephones, TVs, etc. You name it. We made it.

Are we better off now that these things are made by foreigners? FULL STORY.

See Also Death of Manufacturing.

On May 20, 2003 Congress voted on "Compact Of Free Association Amendments Act Of 2003. You can read this Bill starting on page H11722.

House Congressional Record May 20, 2003 Mr Smith of Michigan page H4259.

"I want to speak for a moment about losing our manufacturing and our high-tech jobs in this country."

"All of us should be troubled about the continuing decline in manufacturing in this country. Products from China and other countries are now taking away our business. The manufacturing sector accounted for 41 percent of non-farm employment in 1946. Forty-one percent in 1946, 28 percent in 1980, 18 percent in 1990 and just 12 percent of our total economy today is manufacturing jobs.

What does this mean? This means that millions of people are being pushed out of manufacturing jobs into service sector jobs that often pay less and are less reliable."

What happens when there are no more manufacturing jobs left in America. What happens to all the American middle class who will no longer be able to support their families or keep a roof over their head. Well, our government does have a backup plan in place.

Congressional Record, May 20, 2003 Pete Hoekstra Page H4360

THE FACTS ABOUT FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES

"Mr. Speaker, tonight I want to spend a few minutes talking about one of the fastest growing companies in America today. It pays its workers somewhere between 23 cents an hour and $1.15 an hour. It has a wide array of products. It pays no Federal Taxes, it pays no State or local taxes. As I said, it is one of the fastest growing companies in America today."

"Some may say this is what it means to create high-quality, high-paying jobs in America."

Download Flier "America, Here's Your Competition"

A Private Corporation-Owned by the Federal Government, Operated by The Department of Justice is Stealing Your Job. As if NAFTA and Free Trade agreements were not enough to hurt American manufactures - now we have this!

"The Man Who Called The Collapse"11/20/2008