Cabelas exporting jobs in a big way

[jcn59]

2008 Western Hunting catalog 79 pages:

First 35 pages appear to be exclusively imported goods, balance of catalog mostly imported.

What is the difference between an "Import Business" and an "Anti-American Business".

Anyone know how much "tarrif" revenue was lost because of  NAFTA and similar gifts to USA-based importers?   

[Beers]

Don't know if you just started paying attention to this kind of thing or what.... But find me a catalog that isn't that way. Even the products that are "MADE IN THE USA" are often as not made here by a foreign corporation. We just don't make anything anymore. We're not an industrial economy. We're just consumers here.

Here's a list of the Nation's 50 largest employers: http://nyjobsource.com/largestemployers.html

Out of those 50 only 14 actually manufacture anything, and 4 of those are military contractors. The rest are retailers or service providers. We'd all love to buy American products, but someone would have to make them.

As to Cabela's specifically, I'll tell you what. You go back through that catalog, and for every foreign made product you come across, find an American made equivalent within 25% of the price. If you can find an American made equivalent for even a fifth of the foreign products I'll buy you one of each. As far as companies go, I think Cabela's is a pretty darn good one. Don't blame them because we no longer compete with foreign industry.

[jcn59]

I wasn't stating an opinion, just the facts,  and the facts are Cabelas is exporting American jobs in a big way. 

I do have an opinion, and this is it:  Back in the 1950s most American homes had a single income, and I think we had a stronger economy then than now.  We took pride in our "Made in USA" goods.  We had good paying jobs, we drove cars made by American companies in the USA by Americans and we were the envy of the world. 

We NEVER competed with third world sweatshops.  Tarrifs were used to balance prices of cheap imported goods & labor with goods made by Americans in the USA, as well as to generate income for our government.  We had PRIDE!

[kevthebassman]

Thank NAFTA and our warm relations with China.

[DakotaElkSlayer]

I wasn't stating an opinion, just the facts,  and the facts are Cabelas is exporting American jobs in a big way. 

I do have an opinion, and this is it:  Back in the 1950s most American homes had a single income, and I think we had a stronger economy then than now.  We took pride in our "Made in USA" goods.  We had good paying jobs, we drove cars made by American companies in the USA by Americans and we were the envy of the world. 

We NEVER competed with third world sweatshops.  Tarrifs were used to balance prices of cheap imported goods & labor with goods made by Americans in the USA, as well as to generate income for our government.  We had PRIDE!

That was also the peak of the labor unions...

Jim

[Beers]

I wasn't stating an opinion, just the facts,  and the facts are Cabelas is exporting American jobs in a big way.

Fact's eh? Who's job are "they" exporting? A great deal of the products in a Cabela's catalog simply aren't made here anymore. Last I checked Cabela's is American owned, and staffed with American employees. In fact they're one of the few major retailers who's customer service number is answered by a real (American) human being instead of a machine or an Indian. No thick hindu accent to decipher. I don't even have to press one for English.

Here's a fact. We import the vast majority of the things we buy and use. It's not a new fact. Take a peek around your house sometime. What percentage of your belongings are American made? What kind of car do you drive? How many jobs do you "export"?

[jcn59]

Imagine the volume of lobbyist dollars that flowed into our lawmaker's pockets when NAFTA was first proposed!  I bet every major business in the country paid as much as they could just to get  the "free trade" agreement passed.  Now, everytime a "free trade" bill is debated, the lobby dollars just "gush" into Washington.  What a brilliant "get rich quick" scheme for our politicians.

Our lawmakers did not create NAFTA out of thin air.  It was bought and paid for by American and foreign business.  Anyone of average intelligence knew that it would cost American jobs but no one cared.  Some people still try to justify the flow of foreign goods into the USA.

[Sourdough]

The environmental movement made it too costly to manufacture big items here in the US.  All the steel mills closed.  Mining has been shut down or slowed to a point of being non existent.  Foreign labor is so cheap we can't compete.  One of the reasons it will take so long to get oil out of the ground to market is that we have to wait for the pipe to be manufactured and shipped from a foreign country (China).  We no longer make steel pipe here in this country.

Yes I agree mining and manufacturing created a lot of pollution and hazards, but we also went overboard and the hostile attitude drove those industries overseas.  They could have been cleaned up, and made environmentally friendly.  But no, no one wanted one in their back yard so they were driven out of business.  We only have ourselves to blame. 

Look what happened to the west coast oil refineries, they were all shut down because no one wanted one in their back yard.  Luckily Texans don't feel that way. 

[oldandslow]

Cabela's is a retail business, not a manufacturing business. They have to buy all the products they sell. If the products are made overseas and not here they have only two choices. Sell a foreign made product or not sell that product. Blame the company that manufactures the product, not the retailer.

I have to say that Cabela's is a good company to do business with. I've been buying from them for a lot of years and have only had a problem with two items. A simple phone call each time and I was told " It is guaranteed. Send it back and we will replace it". It took about 10 days to receive the replacement both times.

[beemanbeme]

One simple truth is the American worker has priced himself right out of the job market.  I would be willing to pay a little extra for a legitimate "made in America" label all things being equal but I ain't gonna pay 50% more or double for an item that is inferior.
I work hard for my money and after the feds and the state paw through it, I kinda figure I can do what I want to with what little is left. And one of the things I want to do with it is get the best value for each dollar I have left.  
If that hurts Joe "What's the least I can do and stay on the payroll" Smith's feelings, he can wave the American flag at me all he wants, It don't bother me none.

[jcn59]

Yes, it's ridiculous to expect a living wage in the USA.   All of us working people should move to Taiwan where we can live on thirty cents a day.

[Beers]

Problem is, most American's idea of a "living wage" differs greatly from what we used consider it. My brother worked in a Kyowa factory, started at $19.50 an hour. He quit, said it wasn't worth the money for the work he did. He worked at an assembly line... Never mind that that's more than I've ever made, and I manage to support a family of four w/ zero assistance from Uncle Sam.

Today people seem to think that if they can't afford cable TV, high speed internet, a new car every 4 years, big 'ol flat screen TV's and a pile of other luxuries then they aren't making a "living wage"...

[jcn59]

From the looks of any parking lot full of cars, most everyone spends more on transportation than I do.  Lots of people are finding out they can no longer afford the fancy houses they think they deserve, too.  I guess credit is like respect.  Everyone feels they are entitled to it without first earning it.

I'd still like to see major tarrifs on imported goods like we had in the past so that our manufacturing facilities could compete with overseas sweat shop wages.  I think then we would see that our manufacturing companies could provide Cabelas with products now made only in third-world countries.

No, I'm not rich.  I live in an old house and my wife and I drive old vehicles to work.  But we pay our own way!

[DakotaElkSlayer]

Yes, it's ridiculous to expect a living wage in the USA.   All of us working people should move to Taiwan where we can live on thirty cents a day.

   If any of you have been watching this outsourcing closely, you will see that they send the jobs overseas for cheap labor, but the same product costs the same!!!  The only reasons they had to move was to increase the profits of an already profitable company, ie. GREED.  What I would LOVE to see the government do is only allow government agencies to buy from companies that have 90% of there jobs in the US.  Congress tried to pass something like that a few years ago, but it was shot down.

Jim

[Hairtrigger]

The falling dollar is going to help the American product compete with cheep imports, high cost of fuel also hurts chinese junk

[beemanbeme]

"living wage"  ROFLMAO..... I've worked with men for 40 years that were ALWAYS one pay raise away from making a "living wage".  That's kinda like a "good paying job" which is a job for which you're not qualified, from which you can't be fired, and which pays you about 4 times what you're worth. 
Instead of a "living wage" you should learn to live on what you're qualified to earn. 

BTW, those "sweat shops" that you folks like to mouth about are pretty much a union myth. The pacific rim has one of the fastest growing middle classes in the world.  Their burgeoning car ownership is another reason why gas prices are rising. But then, they don't expect to drive a F350 to their job at the 7/11.

[kevthebassman]

BTW, those "sweat shops" that you folks like to mouth about are pretty much a union myth. The pacific rim has one of the fastest growing middle classes in the world. 

There is indeed a growing middle class in places such as China, but there are also human beings working in absolutely horrendous conditions for very little pay.  In addition to that, China's industrial operations have almost no environmental restrictions.  Living in one of China's large cities is like smoking two packs a day, which is why cancer is a huge problem in China.

I really don't understand your beef with labor unions in the first place.  Nor do I understand the reason why you seem so keen on sending all of America's manufacturing overseas. 

[jcn59]

I had a UAW job in 1964 at a die-cast foundary in Illinois.  One of the guys there was about 55 & he polished the flash off various casting for almost 30 years.  He couldn't even stand up his whole shift much less work all day what with his respiratory problems associated with his job.  When his friends finished up their daily production, they went over to his machine & did his work so he could meet the daily quota.  Damn few of you "experts" who speak poorly of union workers would have lasted a full shift in that place.  It was like a cross-section of hell.  The inside of the place had an orange glow and there were clouds of noxious fumes at the ceiling from the molten zinc and aluminum.

[thumbcocker]

Don't forget that the government taxed and regulated all the manufacturing out of this country. Read democrat.

[beemanbeme]

Kev, I worked around unions for 40 years. You didn't read my first post. Waving the flag at me doesn't work.  It's my money.  If you can't compete, you can't compete. 
Fellow I knew worked in Chi. Could do his 8 hr assignment in about 2 hrs. Asked shop steward "what should I do?"  Was told, "go hide".  He didn't feel right about that so he started helping others.  They didn't like that. So he asked supervisor for more work.  That earned him a trip to the parking lot where they beat the snot out of him for "hot dogging" and making others look bad. He quit.
Firestone plant in North Memphis: one of their LAST union demands, if a worker could make a day's "quota" in 3 hours, why should he have to stay there all 8 hours?  Why can't he go home.  Now remember, a "quota" is supposed to represent an honest days work.  The plant is closed now.  I had a number of friends that worked there. They just couldn't understand why they closed.  They were the same ones that used to sit around and brag on how little they did and how much they screwed the company.

[jcn59]

Foreign made goods are a source of pride for many despite the high price;  things like FN Brownings, Italian shotguns, pre-war German drillings, etc.  Imports aren't always the "cheapest". 

But consider what's happened to the "Made in USA" apparel and shoe business.    I doubt there was ANYBODY who did a day's work in three hours in the southern USA clothing factories.  Those people earned their money or they were replaced.  So now we buy "made in Viet Nam" camo jackets that were made by the same people who shot at us forty years ago.  People brag about their Sakos but they don't brag about how cheap their imported clothes are.  Raise your hand if you take pride in building the Chinese economy.

It was a sad day when we lost the southern United States clothing business to "cheap imports".

[alsaqr]

If any of you have been watching this outsourcing closely, you will see that they send the jobs overseas for cheap labor, but the same product costs the same!!!

Bingo!!!! 

The made in China product is always a very cheap imitation of the US made product. 

Watch out for scope rings.  Two of my friends have bent scopes due to out of line Leupold rings that were made in China.  I install a lot of scopes and have to do a lot of honing on made in China Weaver and Leupold rings.  Sometimes you just cannot make the damn things work.   Now I use only  Millett rings. 

[Hairtrigger]

[ Watch out for scope rings.  Two of my friends have bent scopes due to out of line Leupold rings that were made in China. 

Use an alignment bar and lap the rings. It does not matter where the rings are made, I have seen some Ruger rings that would have put a dent in a scope if the alignment was not first checked.

[alsaqr]

Use an alignment bar and lap the rings. It does not matter where the rings are made, I have seen some Ruger rings that would have put a dent in a scope if the alignment was not first checked

.


I do that.  Some of the made in China Leupold and Weaver rings are so bad that they will not lap straight.  Wore out a lapping bar on the damn things.  Yes, I can screw around with cheap made in China junk or work with good made in the USA Millett rings and bases.  Some of the made in China mounts do not even align right. 

[BBF]

Thanks Guys, you just made my day in regards to rings. I just ordered some Weaver's because they are about the only brand I can get here.