I stopped in at the Cabela's store after turkey hunting last week to look for a new Call and see what else they had that I might need/want. I started looking at things and noticed everything I picked up was made in Egypt, China, Pakistan, Macau, VietNam, Salvador, Gautamala, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Bangladesh, Jordan, Honduras, Sri Lanka and Canada....all Cabelas branded things. Finally found a made in the U.S.A. product which was a Primos band; it's no wonder we have lost all the jobs in this country to off shore countries when big chains like Cabelas and Wal Mart have all their products mfg'd off shore. They build traffic with U.S. products and after they have people coming in the stores they switch to off shore manufacturing. It's a typical big business strategy that takes a few years to implement but eventually works. I was appaled and left the store without spending a penny. You're right, no more for me, Cabelas, Wal Mart and others like them are on my "store of last resort" list. I'll pay more for made in the U.S.A. products. Just bought a pair of fencing pliers at Ace Hdwr Saturday and had to pay $6.00 more to get U.S.A. made pliers. Even Ace branded products are made off shore. I encourage all who read this to join in and purchase only U.S.A products and help bring the jobs back home where they belong. Yes, it may cost a few bucks more but it is worth it. I will not be a walking Bill Board for Cabelas promoting off shore products; everything that I picked up that had Cabelas plastered all over it was made off shore. I'm done with Cabelas and Wal Mart and plan to do business with the backbone of America...the small independent business man that sells made in the U.S.A. products. Hope you'll join me.....CBB

That is exactly my feelings also. When I see the evidence in a store, I leave without buying. I stopped going to Walmart some years ago because of the alien produced products.

I'm old enough to remember that when Wal-Mart started out it was totally "Buy American" with U.S. Flags all over the place. That was, probably, when Sam was still living.

Best Regards, George

Cabela's used to have nothing but quality items in their stores. Back in the early '80's I stopped into their one store and took a look around. Every thing I looked at was of good quality and was the stuff they made their reputation on. Back then I would have no qualms about ordering something sight unseen from the catalog.

Not so today. About 2 years ago I called and spoke to a customer rep and asked that they remove my name and address from any and all mailing lists.She asked why and I said I'd rather spend a bit more to buy a US made product and can not do that anymore in their store.

I got a nice long e-mail from someone extolling the virtues of why they buy off shore. I replied with a thanks but no thanks.

If a fella looks hard and long enough, we can buy quality local goods.

tunes

I wish folks felt the same about vehicles....as they ride around in their Jap cars-trucks and four wheelers, etc.....

We are masters at sinking our own economy.........

Interesting issue: trade internationally or isolate/insulate the economy.

The second largest single purchase item most of us make is our vehicle. I have been buying American vehicles with one foray into the Japanese product. But, after being on a forum for GM trucks, I now recognize that much of GM vehicles are produced either with many many parts from offshore or in fact assembled in Canada. I think my current truck came from Canada.

I don't think you can buy a common vehicle today that is made entirely in the U.S..

not to derail the thread, but it might be easier to buy a Honda that is entirely made in the US than a GM vehicle.

I mostly agree with the sentiments. I'll pay more for made in the USA. Depending on what you are looking for, it may be pretty hard to find.

The Japs have,the last I knew, a $600 advantage per vehicle in vehicle construction overhead(labor) when compared to US manufacturers. This is a huge advantage and you can thank the UAW and the other unions for it.
The last time I was in a Walmart was in Douglas,AZ which is just across the border from Mexico. While I was in there I didn't hear ONE word of English spoken.
Jim

After watching many American cars prematurely die for one reason or another just a handful of years after purchase, while the Japanese cars continued to run great for many more years, I would be hard pressed to buy an American car.

It is not the American public that ruined the American auto industry, it is the American auto industry that ruined itself.

(insert above the name of any of miriad American industries past their former glory; steel, building materials, clothing, firearms, electronics, household appliances, etc.)

I don't understand why some people are so quick to complain about Americans who spend their hard earned dollars on the best product they can find, while turning a blind eye to the fact that these shrinking American companies are producing inferior products at a higher cost.

What is wrong with expecting any company (American for foreign ) to earn our business?

--shinbone

I don't know the answer to the problem of free trade, but we sportsman seem to fall for every gimick that comes along, thinking it will get us our game faster and someone always finds a foreign country to make it for us. Having been a believer in good boots for work and hunting, I have been buying them for years and remember when Sears switched from American made to Hungarian made in the 60's. Now a pair of good boots run close to $100. and are mostly made in China. I know the Chinese aren't pocketing most of that money? You can still buy American boots for that price too, you just have to find them!

Oh! My neice bought her first car, a Chevrolet Aveo, (wanted to buy American) She now has half the purchase price in repairs. Seems when the timing belt breaks it bends the valves and ruins the head! No warranty or recall either!

I'm primarily an American double gun fan, but do have some foriegn guns. Most recently, it was a Beschi produced NID copy in .410. There is that Parker Repro in 28g too. But I prefer true American doubles.

What's in your safe?

Will this pertain to guns too? Are yall willing to boycott AYA, Purdey, Winchester, Beretta, Perazzi, Miroku, Grulla, Holland & Holland, Caesar Guerini, Browning, FN, Rizzini, Merkel?

I guess that leaves Remington, Ruger and CSMC.

Adam

In our safe there are L.C. Smith, Parker, Ruger and Remington long guns.....Colt, S&W, Ruger, and Remington hand guns - CBB

All across the South, foreign car companies have built plants. Honda, Nissan, Kia, Toyota, Hyundai, and Mercedes. They pay well, have great benefits, and were enticed to come her because of low taxes and a union free work force.

3 things are killing American businesses.... taxes, unions, and America's addiction to cheap prices. Most people want a good price. The orgin doesn't matter.

Don't get me wrong.... I prefer to buy American when possible BUT not all costs.

My feelings as well.

For American car companies, I'd say management is at least as much as fault as unions. These managers typically get paid a lot of money and have made many bad decisions over the last few decades. For example; Chrysler K car, Ford Explorer exploding tires, Ford Pinto exploding gas tanks, plus a thousand small decisions that we don't know about but pay for everytime our American car breaks down.

The same can be said for just about every declining American industry.

--shinbone

Only a 16 gauge Ithaca double built in 1936 is under the dresser. I don't NEED anything else, I may WANT something besides that but I don't NEED it.

And a Ford pick up in my drive way I think its over 300,000 miles now maybe a little less.

The "problem" of free trade is that it's here, it is what it is. It's globalization, the way of the world, our countries voted for it, at the polls and from our pockets. Money has no conscience, steel was once the measure of industrial strength. Look where the money and steel resides now. The notion of buying and selling local, taking in each others' wash, is a quaint idea. Canada and the US are exporting juggernauts; trade in innovation and resources across our border alone is more than $1 billion every day. I was brought up to believe competition, private enterprise, open markets would make healthier, happier, democratic societies. Everyone here knows what done us in. It wasn't the unions or political party of any stripe.

Amen...........Plus:

#4 is the TORT system in this country....every new product manufactured here has a significant "value added" to the cost to cover frivolous law suits....

#5 is Government interference and rediculous manufacturing laws that have driven volumes of manufacturing out of the U.S.....which started the offshore boom in manufacturing years ago...."why build in the U.S.A.".... IT'S NOT COST EFFECTIVE....

There went all the jobs......Gov't, Union and Tort inflicted damage......

" . . . every new product manufactured here has a significant "value added" to the cost to cover frivolous law suits . . ."

They are all frivolous lawsuits until it is your child who ends up with brain damage on the operating table due to a defective anethesia machine, or your wife becomes a parapalegic due to a defective step ladder, etc. (and by "your" I mean the generic "your", not anyone specifically).

--shinbone

Still, the tort system encourages large settlements. The compensatory damages are usually something granted from a measureable reference, but the punitive damages are often rediculous. Punitive damages are touted as preventative in nature.

If that's true, what if we were to amend the law to make all punitive damages go to something like charity? That'd take incentive out of the "frivolous" suits.

Not saying that punitive damages are never unreasonable, or that the system isn't flawed. However, punitive damages are awarded by a jury of 12 neutral people who have listened to all the evidence, usually over a period of many weeks, and made their best decision. That decision is then reviewed by at least one appellate court. I am not sure how to make the system better than that.

To give punitive damages to a charity would encourage juries to error on the side of awarding punitive damages, since the money is going to a good cause, anyway.

Large businesses are usually the ones paying out the large punitive damages. These same large businesses have the resources (i.e. the money to hire lobbiests) to promote their propaganda that large damage awards are bad for society. I'd be wary of any publication or speaker concluding the same unless it is well supported by concrete data. In other words, I think any politician who is campaigning for tort reform is in the back pocket of big business, unless he/she has hard data backing up their tort reform plan.

JMHO

--shinbone

I love it when people start carping about the tort system. They usually have little or no clue about it, and get their information from the propaganda placed by insurance companies. I spent twenty years practicing law in the tort system (for both plaintiffs and defendants) until I burned out on it, sold out and moved to Maine and I know wherefrom I speak. I've tried a lot of cases and won most. Let me give you a number of truths to chew on:

1. Plaintiffs' lawyers get paid on a percentage of what they recover. This means they are not going to take a case they can't win, because if they do, they are working for free. There are few faster ways to go broke than that. The cases they can win are the cases where precedent - the law, as defined by cases already decided - say their case is a winnable one.

2. Plaintiffs' lawyers do not take cases (as a rule) where there is neither insurance nor assets from which to collect. This is a corollary of #1 above.

3. Defense lawyers get paid by the hour (except when they're employees of the insurance company, often practicing under a bogus firm name to give jurors the impression they are not employees of the insurance company) and therefore have every incentive to make the cases last as long as they can.

4. Those runaway juries? They are populated by the same people who get jury duty, i.e., you and your neighbors.

5. The instructions the juries get are given by judges, based upon decades of precedent. And jurors follow the rules the judges give them.

6. No one gets punitive damages any more. The times you read about them in the paper are the exception. Sort of a "man bites dog" thing. And even when someone gets an award of punitive damages, they usually either don't collect or settle for a lot less rather than face an appeal.

7. Those huge jury awards? Just because a jury says a big number does not mean the injured person gets that. They usually settle for less - often a tiny fraction - rather than face an appeal. Appeals courts are populated with the lawyers who formerly represented companies and insurers, and who retain their sympathy for their former clients and their antipathy for plaintiffs.

8. Just because someone sues for a large number ("John Doe sued for $10 million...".) means nothing. Rather, the requirement that people say "I want $10 million" is usually a court rule adopted at the urging of insurers so they "know their exposure". Rather, it facilitates misleading news articles.

9. The insurer propaganda (and purchase of politicians through campaign funds) has been so effective that the same injury is today worth about half the number of dollars it was worth in 1990. I.e., if you got $50k for an injury in 1990, you're lucky to get $25k today for the very same injury.

10. You don't want to be the person getting a large jury award for an injury. If you are, you've been badly injured for life. Most of the money is calculated to be for your future medical bills and the lost income you would have been able to earn had you not been so badly injured. And, in addition, you'll have all sorts of long-lost relatives showing up with wonderful ideas on how you should use your money for their benefit. And those TV ads for people who will buy your structured settlement? They wouldn't be on TV if it weren't profitable to the people buying them.

Chew on those for a while.

Moving back to the "free trade" and "imported products only" at the big box stores (and the other complaints about nothing being made in the USA), remember this: you'll never find a union that went to the company and said "please move the factory and the jobs to China, Mexico or Vietnam." They weren't the ones who moved the factories and jobs overseas, and they weren't the ones pitching the benefits of free trade. Nope - those were the Wall Street boys and their purchased politicians in DC and elsewhere.

Now, whether one wants to shop at Cabelas or not is entirely up to them. I live pretty close to one of their stores and it is convenient - not that I need much other than consumables like ammunition, socks, the occasional fishing lure and stuff like that. But, I can say a lot of the small sporting goods dealers get out when Cabelas shows up.

Exploding tires on the Explorers was Firestone's fault.And the mayor of New York just chose Nissan over Ford to supply taxi cab fleet! Bobby

All the union organizers I've been around said: "give me more money and bennies, I don't give a rats axe if you can afford it". Union organizers try on small and mid sized business all the time. It's not just for big business anymore.

Having worked in small, mid, and large manufacturing businesses, I've seen small and mid sized businesses decide to go oversees for products they, themselves, manufacture. Eventually, leading to them becoming a clearing house for foriegn goods. Some of that driven by union pressures, some by greed, some by survival. Everyone is trying to paddle their own canoe, some sprinting for short times, some for long distance. There's a lot of reasons for work going offshore.

That's always struck me as humorous; guys who won't by a pair of boots or a shirt because it's not "Made in USA" will spend thousands on a shotgun made overseas.

Quote
"Moving back to the "free trade" and "imported products only" at the big box stores (and the other complaints about nothing being made in the USA), remember this: you'll never find a union that went to the company and said "please move the factory and the jobs to China, Mexico or Vietnam."

I worked for International Harvester for several years so I'm well familiar with unions the UAW in particlar so I beg to disagree with the above statement.
Every time the UAW got more unreasonable benefits and made American manufactures less competitive that's the implicit message the company received. "Please move your factory----" There was/is a $600 vehicle labor cost differential between a vehicle built in Japan and one built here the last I knew which is a tremendous differential.
Here is an example of union benefits: If you were a Labor Grade 10 and your job was eliminated and there wasn't another LG 10 position available you could take layoff in lieu of transfer instead. This meant that you would receive 90% of you pay for up to a year for staying home.
While IH never built plants overseas they lost a lot of business to Japanese outfits like Komatsu and came very close to bankruptcy.
IH survived as Navastar but it is a mere shadow of what it once was.
I'm pretty sure everyone on this forum who is familiar with Winchester knows that the classic Model 70 rifle and Model 12 shotgun both had to be eliminated due to skyrocketing labor costs.
Jim

But what's more American than Cabela's?

If you don't shop there, they'll go out of business. Then what? What about all the Americans they employ?

OWD

Guys putting bumpers on cars on a line making $75K a year or more are a part of the issue. The wages in some companies get pushed out of scope for the education/experience level compared to other similar jobs in industry.

My last Mercury waS made in Canad, with lots of Mexican-made Parts.

My current KIA is over 50% made in the USA.

In many instances, one would find it difficult to find American-made goods: TV's, PC's, cell phones, cameras, SxS shotguns, boots, clothing, dishes, etc.

Our domestic production costs are too high for multiple reasons: lawsuits, liability insurance, EPA, unions, etc. it seems doubtful that we will ever again be a manufacturing nation.

JERRY

If lower wages are part of the solution, Chuck, how low would they have to go to make a difference? A lower-wage economy has as must chance as those promoting the steady-state economy of limited growth. No one has forgotten that working men and women paid the price for those now licking the cream.

King,
not so much lower wages as appropriate wages for the labor value. If organized labor pushes labor costs beyond what the business can pay and still make a profit, it's gone too far. Auto makers and government both have had employee costs that they couldn't afford for the long haul. I met a friend's son that was considering retiring. He was 45 and a fire battalion chief. He could make much more money collecting a high percentage retirement and onto another career than continuing to work for the fire dept. Something is wrong when we see these out of scale salaries, retirements and bennies.

That mean you won't be buying any of our old English made guns then? Yippee! More for me.... /wink..

T

Oh and BTW:
Someone forgot to tell my 22 year old American made daily driver that it should have quit running years ago.
Jim

My Hondas are built by my neighbors right here in Ohio. My '62 Corvette though is all American. My last Chevy was the second worst car I ever had, the first one was another Chevy and I was a GM guy before that. Your right we need to get rid of the unions and become like the previous CEO of GM and make 31 million a year and then blame it on the backs of those that made the poorly engineered stuff and have the stones to blame them for it. My broken Chevies, were not by the side of the road because of the people who built it, it was there because of those that designed it. You want the economy to get better? You pay a wage that keeps people on the move going on vacation, to ball games, races, buying golf clubs, guns, fishing poles, campers, boats, planes, etc. If they have spendable income, there is taxes that are generated. Jobs are created, building and maintaining these items. It isn't going to happen at minimum wage, ever.

Cheap imported labor is problem in places that you do not even think about it as a problem. Just last week they busted and closed several houses of prostitution in Indy that had been staffed entirely by imported Central American illegal immigrants all doing illegal things for far below scale wages. They were putting honest American workers out of work by doing their jobs. Non union labor at that.

If you refuse to buy from non US/Can. makers you will have to do with out most of the clothes and shoes sold in the US. Like most here I do not have the body to go barefoot and naked anymore. I have to buy a car with non US parts because I can not walk to work. The world is what it is and you have to pick and choose your battles. This is not one of the best.

I'm going on memory here but, my friends' 2010 Toyota Tundra has a decal on the door that says that 87% of the parts in this vehicle were mad in the USA. PARTS!, gentlemen. It was also BUILT here, employing Americans. Can Ford, Chevy or Dodge claim that 87% of the parts that comprise their respective vehicles were made here (USA)? I doubt it.

Like many others I prefer to buy American. But..............what IS American anymore? Simply that the company's headquarters are here?

We own/run eight John Deere tractors, combines and cotton pickers, all built in America. What's more American than John Deere, right? Oh, please! Am I to get bent out of shape because Germany's Bosch builds a better injection pump, and Japan's NipponDenso builds a better starter than is built here? Not me, because I am not a hypocrite. If I grow cotton that ends being sold to China, should I boycott them and only sell my cotton to a textile mill in America? Tell me where there IS one, anymore. If my peanuts are exported to Singapore, or Denmark am I to get upset and stop producing them?

King Brown said it right, this is a global economy now. You can either face up to it and use it to your advantage, or you can spend the rest of your life being miserable because you can't buy a camouflage shirt made in America anymore. It is what it is, and wishing it was what it ain't won't make it go away.

SRH

In the driveway...2 Chevys and a Ford.

In the safe....6 Foxes.

I'm looking for a 100% made in the USA flatscreen TV.....any ideas?

mike, I sympathize with you. I drive GMC's and Fords, too. But, next time one breaks down, and you go to the local parts store to buy the replacement part, be sure to tell them you will only buy a replacement part "Made in America", hear?

Oh, good luck finding the TV.

SRH

VIZIO, Inc. was founded in 2002 by William Wang with the idea that everyone deserves to own the latest technology. Mr. Wang's first two employees, Laynie Newsome and Ken Lowe, were honored as co-founders and eight years later are still hard at work taking entertainment freedom by storm! By providing a myriad of high definition entertainment options and unmatchable value, VIZIO has grown to over 160 employees and remains the first American brand in over a decade to lead in U.S. LCD HDTV sales.

A good story about a good American Company - L. L. Bean.

I have a pair of the very familiar L. L. Bean Maine Guide Hunting Boots. The ones with the rubber bottoms and leather tops. I have had these boots for 40 years.
20 years ago I sent them back to Bean in Maine and they put on new rubber bottoms for $20.00.
It is time again for new bottoms so I went to our new L. L. Bean retail store near Rochester, NY to inquire about the process of returning them for new bottoms. Instead of new bottoms, they offered me new boots of the same type at no cost - Zero $$, free, for $150.00 new boots.
These boots are like an old friend and hunting companion so I'll spend $43.00 to have the bottoms replaced in Maine.
That's good Customer Service.

Jolly

I won't say any argument made here is wrong, because in some circumstance it is probably right, but how much do most of you think a working American should make annually, considering possible layoffs, health care and rising prices and taxes? I have been a conservative all my adult life, but I see corporations continually being bailed out or being supplimented with tax dollars and executives taking big bonuses. I just can't understand the thinking. The average working American may make two million dollars in his or her lifetime, but the arguement for multimillion dollar salaries are "they are worth it" or "they are taking risks". I can't help thinking a person making $25 an hour, who can loose his job when banks make bad loans or a company's inflated stock values "readjust" has a bit of risk too? Once a person has two million in the bank they are at least assured an average working persons standard of living. And the thing about the boots, I mentioned earlier, the ones made in China are only a couple dollars less than the ones made in the U.S.A.. The Chinese aren't getting that profit margin. Profit margin is the key, I think. Can a company exist with less of a profit margin and better paid employees who can afford to pay for their own health care and save for retirement or does a company have to make large profits, make their executives millionaires and pay out large dividends to their stock holders? The answer is of course- yes, to the latter! That is what those with power want and their arguement is "that is what makes America strong". So we have working people without health care and at real risk of becoming homeless every business cycle, but that is alright because the wealthy and powerful are keeping America strong. Working class people fear they may loose their income or health and the wealthy fear being like working class people. We know who will always win. It just a shame they have to complain so much. Unions leaders are just the wealthy in a different niche. Perhaps it is just a combination of fear and lack of discipline, both rich and not?

This would be good news, if the TVs were actually built here using American parts. Think that's the case? Ask yourself, how can they (produce and) sell millions of TVs a year, as they claim to on their own website, with only 160 employees? Hmmmm.

SRH

ben-t, this is a very thoughtful post and while I can disagree with small parts of it, overall it's spot-on.

People are so fearful of what they think is "socialism" that they selectively ignore the socialism that really exists in this country - the wealth is being transferred from the working class to the oligarchs. And the working folk support this and think it's "patriotic"

If low marginal tax rates are needed to create jobs, where are the jobs? We've had record low tax rates for a decade. Where are the jobs?

German companies are making money hand-over-fist and German workers are well-paid and have universal health care. The whole health care argument is bogus. The balance of power in this country has tipped and unless you've already gotten yours, you'll never get it nor will your children. The pols on both sides are bought off by the really big money.

Sorry for the rant - I realize this started off as a Cabellas post and there, too, I agree - I try not to buy Chinese stuff.

Yup.

A couple things that need mentioning when comparing the German model to the US model (and the US model comes up short every time):
1. In Germany, unions have seats on companies' boards of directors. They have a stake in the company and a voice in corporate decisions across-the-board. As a result, companies work not just for the owners but also for the people who work there.
2. In Germany, basic health insurance costs somewhere around $100 a month. You're required to buy it, but it's affordable and the companies can't screw you around with "prior conditions" and such.
3. In Germany, they believe schools are for educating children, don't carp about overpaid teachers' unions and don't look at schools and teachers as places to cut budgets. Teaching is a respected profession and treated accordingly. And most Germans who go on to college speak, read and write English better than most Americans. (I know - in my lawyering work I've done "document review" reading thousands of emails and letters written by Germans in English, and theirs is better than most Americans'.)

And don't get me started on the perversity of taxing hedge fund people at 15 percent and ordinary folks at 28 or so percent. (BTW - those jobs that the low marginal tax rates were supposed to facilitate creating? They're in China.)

Cabelas now has a CEO(former Remington CEO)who will "cheapen" products as much as possible.(Remington) has fallen to producing a dirt product.Cabelas will follow this as well,they have "increased their profits" at the bottom line,without passing any saving to the customer.They do NOT want their clothes or Cammo to last more than year so they will sell more.I used to buy their boots,but no longer has they are made in China and do not fit my American feet.The Cabelas family now have no say in the company and it's all abouut the stock holders.
They are off my shopping list for good....

If we don't buy from Cabelas, where would we go for a big selection of mail order items at a fair price?

--shinbone

I don't mind having a laundry basket from China, but my sxs won't be Chinese, that's for sure.

While I'm no particular fan of Chinese products and I despise low quality in any product, I think the past Cold War isolation of China, and associated threat of nuclear war, was a situation the world couldn't ensure stability of forever. So, it's my opinion, the price we are paying of having China in the world economy and the U.S. trading with them, is the lessor of the evils. Something about '...keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer...'

I have not went through this whole post and it may have been said before But we can blame nobody but ourselves. Your next door big shot neighbor who doesnt give a darn if you have a job or not just so he can cut cost and keep his pocket full. Till they see the light WELCOME IMPORTS and soon no money to buy,

Remember Boyt Harness?

Imported now, no more lifetime guarantee.

I had a conversation with a neighbor a month or two ago about the Toyota Tundra and Honda Accord sitting in my driveway. He opined that I was part of the downfall of the American Auto Industry. BTW, he drives a Dodge Ram.

I asked him where his truck was built. After looking at the decals and paperwork that came with it, he determined it was manufactured in Mexico. While my Tundra was built in the USA.

I also told him that when Chevy, Ford or Dodge started building a truck with the same longevity, resale value and dependability at a comparable price, that I would gladly trade in my Toyota.

Consumers are going to spend their money where it makes the most sense. Why pay more for an inferior product just because it was made in Mexico or Canada by an American car company?

Grandfather was one of the strikers at the Homestead works, father and uncles union members in various steel mills around Pittsburgh. The unions were doing good things then in securing basic rights of workers. Then by the end of my father's generation steel workers were getting outrageous benefits no business could afford - steel mills were done. Generally the unions became recognized as a problem more than a solution and their numbers in business declined precipitously except in Govt employee unions. Their national leadership is more concerned with "Workers of the World Unite" which Markism. Follow that path, workers in US and Bangledesh will be getting the same pay and benefits and they will be closer to those paid in Bangledesh. Businesses on the stock exchanges need to have enough regulation to prevent being looted by executives, Unions need to be regulated to prevent their abuses as well. Everyone is being pitted against someone else. Envy, greed being used to divide us and those doing it are elected by us. Anyone see the problem here with career politicians? They have plundered us like no CEO can possibly achieve. They are the ones to get control over.

Just my opinion, but that day is here and has been for more than ten years. My 1999 GMC 2500 had 215,000 miles on it without any significant issues when I sold it to a friend. That truck will be pulling a 3 horse trailer long after any Toyota could muster a drive across the country with a suitcase in it. Just normal maintenance and preventative maintenance of hoses etc. My 2008 Chevy 1500 has 63,000 on it now, without any significant issues.

Like the saying about the memory of poor quality lingering long after the product is gone, the American auto industry is still battling to recover from its past. Don't get me wrong, I don't think a GM is on par with a Lexus. Just that the American truck is a good reliable product.

American makers make good 1/2 ton and larger trucks, but the same cannot be said about every other class of vehicle that many other people want. When it was time to replace my vehicle a few years ago none of the US automakers even manufactured the vehicle I wanted anymore (4 cylinder small 4x4 pickup), so I had no other option. Others have suggested I just get a full size truck but I get a calculated 24mpg average, haul compost and firewood into and out of the back 40 with ease, transport myself and the wife with 2 large dogs in comfort, get essentially truck offroad capability with car handling, and I haven't had a hiccup in 90k miles with only gas and oil in it. It aint perfect, but it's been a very reliable vehicle and I'll probably buy another one if I still don't have any other similar options in another 100k miles. Guess what? It was made in Louisiana--without double checking I'm pretty sure the sticker said 85% made in USA.
The last guy who gave me grief about my toyota shoots a citori, drives a 2005 Dodge truck and drinks budweiser.

Rayle Electric who supplies my power uses Ford trucks and many run over 300,00 miles with no problems.Bobby

300,000 Bobby

FYI, my 98 hp 4 wheel drive (not a toy, but not huge either) John Deere tractor was assembled in Saltillo, Mexico. The front transaxle was made in Brazil.

We bought it because it was the best we could get for the money.

Starter packed up in my 2002 Chev Silverado last week and the Canadian Automobile Association man showed up with another Chev---a '93 tow truck with, he said, one million miles on it. C'mon, I said, not a million miles? "Yes, I sold my old business years ago and now I just work part-time with my old Chev."

WOW....I find this all very interesting. Since I started the thread and have kept up on it I thought I'd make a final comment and at the same time say that many, many good comments and anologies have been made. I agree with Rifle that this all happened with Cabelas after they went public and the Cabela's family was out of the picture; it's called greedy strategy for the stockholders. The very same thing that happened at WalMart after Sam Walton passed away; they got greedy and went to off shore mfg. As for Shinbone's question, where do we purchase "American made", we just have to shop around and be committed and willing to pay a little more if we really believe in the "American Made" concept as I do. I worked in business for many years and have a true appreciation for the free enterprise system. My last twenty years of employment was with the world's largest pharmeceutical company. We mfg'd in the U.S. and had mfg'g facilities in more than sixteen other countries more for logistical reasons than for cost of manufacture. For me today and for the last many years it is and will remain a "Made in the U.S.A." mindset or I'll let it go by. I gave Uncle Sam over twenty years of service and of which I'm very proud and I won't desert her at this stage of life. Thanks for all your input and very thoughtful comments....CBB

Back to subject of CABELA's:

The zipper recently broke on a jacket I had purchased from CABELA's (their own brand)ina prior year. I took it back to the local store, and asked them what "they could do?"

The women at the service desk was very nice. She looked up some code on the inside label, and said she thought I bought it three years ago. I said I didn't exactly remember, but that perhaps she was correct. She told me to go ito the store and find a replacement that was similar, which I did. She then said she would have to charge me $6 difference for the replacement; which I thought was a heck of a deal.

CABELA's still provides first class service!

JERRY

New on this very important topic. I did not read all of it but wish to share a bit of info on the new Ford plant in South America. Hope I am not repeating this. This is the largest line which Ford wanted to build in America, but due to the robotics, The UAW pushed them out of the country. Draw your own conclusions.

I had to go round and round with Cabela's a couple years ago over a broken fly rod. I bought it on close-out, but it still had their "life time replacement" guarantee. It was their top-line rod at the time but when it broke the model was different, so they couldn't replace it with the same model, and they just wanted to give me back what I paid for it, which was considerably less than replacement value. I argued that they should replace it with the current comparable model, but they wouldn't go for it. I wrote a number of letters which I copied to the CEO, et al; never got anywhere. Then I finally wrote one to Jim and Dick. I said, among other things, that I was sure that if they still owned the company I wouldn't have to write such a letter. Not long after that I got a call from some high-up in customer service who said that they had "misunderstood the situation" and that certainly they would be replacing the rod with the most current comparable model. Jim and Dick's names still show up as being on the board, but I figured that was just in name only; I don't know who read that letter, but whoever it was, it worked.

I've read most of the posts and there is one thing I am not hearing.

Many of you have described Cabelas and Walmart etc as "greedy". They are public companies and their reason for being is to make as much money as they can. It's called return on equity. And I don't see them making anywhere near the return that some other companies make, say Apple or Microsoft. So they are not being outrageous in how much they are making. Retailers profit margins are notoriously thin.

If there are complaints about the level of quality vs price, the quick and easy response would be to stop shopping in that store or buying that brand. Over a relatively brief period of time, management would get the message. But given their level of success, I don't think that's what Americans (and elsewhere) are doing. The successful price/quality equation is created by the consumer.

I'm in the wholesale business and supply retailers both large and small with footwear. I have watched over the last 30 years the almost complete destruction of the American and Canadian footwear production industry. But it was driven by consumer demand for lower prices. Take two very similar shoes, price one at $90 and another at $80, we all know which will sell best.

And the cost difference was/is significant. To get a similar quality orthopedic shoe to one I have made in China now, the price from a North American factory (if they still existed) would be close to double. It's true in athletics and fashion footwear as well.

The lower prices spread across a large array of consumer products represent dramatically more money in the pocket of most consumers.

If we don't like the product quality or the politics of production, we have options. Most Americans however, have voted. What matters most is price.

That may be enlightened self interest or it may be an economic disaster that we still haven't seen the worst of yet. I don't know.

But the decision has always been in the hands of consumers.

I bang this drum every once in awhile, but its sound gets dimmer and dimmer. I drive a Ford Escort and keep it running with a good, hard-working mechanic who happens to be "from the neighborhood" - we go WAY back.

It's certainly hard to buy only American these days. It's hard to even buy UK goods, which I will always support. You know things are bad when a Barbour item is made in a Pacific Rim or former USSR country.

I resigned myself to the fact that at times it's impossible to buy US/UK a couple years ago. But I still have a couple rules:there's one place I WILL NEVER buy goods from and that's CHINA. Their goods are shoddy and they are still an enemy, although you wouldn't know it by all the cuddling our governments do.

As far as motor vehicles go I tell everybody I can that if they must buy a Japanese vehicle just make sure to NEVER buy a Mitsubishi. During WWII they used captured Americans as slave labor. This is factual, not internet conspiracy crap. Dig around and research it.

These are horrible times. Governments don't really rule, corporations do. How much longer before our consumer based society cracks down the spine and falls belly up? The number of have-nots increases every day and will soon overwhelm the haves. With no jobs and only social programs and crime to live on, how long do you think we can last?

I could go on and on, but why bother? I come here to talk and read about poetry in wood and steel, to feed my head, heart and soul.

Regarding shopping at Cabelas, I find no other source with the products I seek, other than BassPro, who I see as so close to Cabelas as to be barely distinguishable. On footwear, I can't recall an American mfr of boots with the characteristics I seek.

What type of boot and what characteristics?

LOVE my Filson boots, made in the USA.

Russell Mocassin company - Berlin (pronounced "BER-lin) Wisc.

www.russellmoccasin.com

Custom made - just right for me who has 13A feet (or skis)

The point has to be made that back when Cabela's had mostly American made products, they had one store and most of their business was done via mail order. Today they have dozens of retail locations that employ hundreds, maybe thousands of people. Not to mention the construction and retail business those stores bring to the surrounding area as well.

If by selling high profit, imported items, Cabela's can continue to open stores around the country and create the benefits that are associated with opening those stores, I for one don't think the sky is falling.

www.whitesboots.com Handcrafted in the U.S.A. They also have a warranty and will repair their boots. I've worn their boots every day for over 20 years. My first pair lasted 14 years and were re-soled 6 times before they finally said I have to buy a new set. They may be a little expensive but you get what you pay for.

I bought several pairs of Rocky boots about 12 yrs. ago. They have a lifetime guarantee on the soles and the Vibram soles are now cracked clear across the bottom on one of the pairs. I wonder if this company, that is no longer an American manufacture, will honor their warranty?

I still didn't see any boot I'm interested in. I'm not looking for a leather boot. I hunt in bowhunting boots made of cordura and gortex most of the time. They are light, waterproof and provide good support and flexibility I haven't found in a heavy soled leather boot. Possibly the kangaroo or ostrich boot would be close in the Russell line, but not sure about waterproofing. I think the kangaroo would be difficult for me to obtain in CA as I believe it's a banned product. The boots I've been buying last 4-5 yrs and that's about when I feel they need to go away for reasons other than wear.

Again, I'd buy a American made boots of same construction if I could. Unfortunately, I haven't found any. While I'm no penny pincher, I do think 5-7 times the price for these boots vs what I'm buying rocks me back a bit. If I thought I was getting better performance, I'd buy them. I'm still not convinced that's the case. I often come home and hose off my boots and scrub them with a brush. I'm sure leathers are not the way I want to go.

Chuck: I highly recommend Russell Moccasin boots. They last much longer and oh so comfortable. If you haven't tried a pair I highly recommend them with Aspen gumlite sole. The soles wear out fast but extremely light wt and Russell will rejuvenate them for modest fee. You should give yourself a treat. I bet you will never go back to cheap boots!! Regards, Buzz

Not any more.

Dave, The soles on my Rocky boots, about the same age as yours, cracked and deteriorated. I called Rocky and they said they would not make any adjustments...take them to a shoemaker. Same thing happened to a pair of Timberland boots and they sent me a new pair.

Where you folks choose to spend your money is none of my business and I don’t really care about Cabela’s one way or another. However, the fact is no retail store could be stocked primarily with American made goods.

28 Bore and others: What you want from Cabela’s (or Wal-Mart) is simply impossible for them to deliver –even if they wanted to. The boot discussion makes this fact clear. Having an in house label hardly makes them manufacturers. All they do is slap their logo on stuff made by someone else. In many instances there is no domestic source. They are just retailers. What really could they do to please you?

RyanF, Your point is a good one. Even a retailer to who has a deal with a foreign manufacturer to sell a boot that costs the real manufacturer $5 to make and another $5 to be sent here on a big boat in a big metal box is only trying to compete in todays retail environment and keep the stock holders happy. The problem with this is two fold. First is the competitve advantage the manufacturer has with his low wage labor, the second is that the retailer sells the foreign boot at a price that is only enough below the price of an American made boot, with a 40% markup, to get people to choose the foreign made one. The quality maybe the same, a bit less or a bit more less, but the price is always less than the American made boot. When someone argues that this is fine they are saying people who make American boots should be paid much less than they are currently so retailers can make a bigger profit on American made boots. This is where you get the "unions ruined American manufactering" line. Or like someone once said to me " those lazy illiterate autoworkers getting paid to much money ruined the American auto industry", but as pointed out, foreign countries make cars here, so maybe something else helped ruin American auto manufacturering? Perhaps over paid executives who thought if assembly line workers would work a little harder the cars would get better gasoline mileage? I just don't understand the hatred for people, in this country, who make things with their own sweat. I have yet to see a CEO of a corporation announce he was quiting his job because he isn't getting paid enough more than the people on the assembly line. I hear about "class envy" but what about "beating up on the little guy"?

I know you were not arguing against American workers, I just wanted to address your arguement concerning retailers. Everybody knows this stuff anyway, if they really think about it. I don't know if Cabela's employees are paid well or if they have health care? I hope so.

Sorry, but we have the same situation here on our side of the boarder. Want to buy a good boot for $99.00, don’t expect it to be made in North America. Expect to buy a bottle of ketchup at Wal-mart for $1.39, don't expect the U.S plant to be open for much longer.

Sorry if I offend anybody or got off topic, but 'Pay less - Live Better' smile, smile ,smile. Will only lead to pay less, and watch your neighbor lose his job.

I paid $239 three years ago, or so, U.S, for an American made boot, on a lovely trip to Hamburg Pen, and was glad to do so, and still have them now.

My local Bass Pro has them now for $99. Doubt they’re made in the U.S anymore at that price (?) I really try to pay a fair price, though it may be higher, to provide a future for my kids and others. It hurts a bit, but the alternative - cheap, cheap cheap, will hurt more, eventually.

Sorry for the rant.
Don.

Thank you, ben-T. I agree with all you said. I never could figure out either why it is a crime for the people who actual make the product to have a fair wage, while those that take Thurs. afternoons to the country club seem to write their own check. This white/blue collar thing is a marriage out of necessity. The people who can sell, design and engineer, know what needs to be done to get their product to market, but really don't have the desire to work in a dirty, hot shop with overtime required to make a good wage. Like wise, many of those in the shop would much rather just hit the time clock and be happy to manufacture what those in the office don't want to do. Neither can be effective without the other. They need each other. It sure appears to me, that the owners overseas are happy to make am income at a certain percentage over construction cost. If they look to the U.S. market the foreign makers can sell their products at an actual inflated price because of those in high U.S. manufacture management have tacked on higher price to their product to insure a higher income for themselves. Remember, I said High manufacture management. In the '70's to early '80's, when I worked in a union machine shop, I remember very well the average white collar was always quietly cheering for those in the shop. If we got a raise, so did they. On the over time idea. Now you know what is wrong America. I remember working 55+ hours a week, day in and day out. Right before one of the layoffs, we went to 40hrs. I thought I was on vacation! Children and marriages suffer when one of the spouses is home only long enough to mow the lawn. I just remembered, what ever happened to COLA?

As the famous and famously successful investor Warren Buffett said: "There is a class war in America. My class (the wealthy) is winning."

FWIW, the not-wealthy class is not even fighting.

I've told this story any number of times elsewhere, but I'll repeat it here. A few years ago, I was browsing for a dining room set in a store near Philly that sold antiques and reproductions. I saw a set of black walnut, ball and claw feet, the whole deal. But, there was something about the carving on the feet that was just off. A bit clunky. If you've seen enough carved wood (I had a client who was a high-end cabinetmaker, so I have seen a lot.), you can just tell when the carving is not right. So, I got the salesman to talking. Asked him "this is a reproduction, right?" "Yes. It is." "Uh-huh. Where'd they get the wood?" "Oh, it's local."
So, I led him into talking more about the piece, and he revealed that while the wood was, indeed, local Pennsylvania walnut, the craftspeople who made it were not. In fact, the wood had been harvested and dried locally, then shipped in a container to the craftspeople who were Vietnamese, living and working in Vietnam. They then proceeded to cut and carve and build the furniture and shipped it back to the USofA for sale at a price better-than-competitive to locally produced. The carvings were clunky in part because the carvers had never seen a real ball and claw foot.
I passed on the set for a lot of reasons, not the least of which that I didn't want to support a system so f'd up it deemed reasonable shipping wood half-way around the world to be made into furniture to be shipped back and sold within 30 miles of where the trees from which it was made grew.

FWIW, when I buy boots, I buy GI surplus. Made in America. Properly broken in, they're the most comfortable I've found. YMMV.