Who really cares?
 

This will tell you who!

From an email I just received:

CNN Headline News did a short news listing regarding Ford and GM's
contributions to the relief and recovery efforts in New York and
Washington. The findings are as follows......

1. Ford- $1 million to American Red Cross matching employee contributions
of the same number plus 10 Excursions to NY Fire Dept. The company also
offered ER response team services
and office space to displaced government employees.

2. GM- $1 million to American Red Cross matching
employee contributions of the same number and a fleet of vans, suv's, and
trucks.

3. Daimler Chrysler- $10 million to support of the children and victims of
the Sept. 11 attack.

4. Harley Davidson motorcycles- $1 million and 30 new motorcycles to the
New York Police Dept.

5. Volkswagen- Employees and management created a Sept 11 Foundation,
funded initial with $2 million, for the assistance of the children and
victims of the WTC.

6. Hyundai- $300,000 to the American Red Cross.

7. Audi- Nothing.

8. BMW- Nothing.

9. Daewoo- Nothing.

10. Fiat- Nothing.

11. Honda- Nothing despite boasting of second best sales month ever in
August 2001

12. Isuzu- Nothing.

13. Mitsubishi- Nothing.

14. Nissan- Nothing.

15. Porsche- Nothing. Press release with condolences via the Porsche website.

16. Subaru- Nothing.

17. Suzuki- Nothing.

18. Toyota- Nothing despite claims of high sales in July and August 2001.
Condolences posted on the website

Whenever the time may be for you to purchase or lease a new vehicle, keep
this information in mind. You might want to give more consideration to a
car manufactured by an American-owned and / or American based company.
Apart from Hyundai and Volkswagen, the foreign car companies contributed
nothing at all to the citizens of the United States. It's OK for
these companies to take money out of this country, but it is apparently not
acceptable to return some in a time of crisis. I believe we should not
forget things like this. Say thank you in a way that gets their attention.
Pass it on.

Take care,
-Chris

Raise a good point, I always try to buy stuff made in North America.

Here is a email I got a good time back but I always kept it cause it really makes you think.

LOOKING FOR A JOB?

Regarding job layoffs in Canada & US:
Joe Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6 a.m. While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG). He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA), designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE) and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA). After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA) he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN) to the radio (MADE IN INDIA) he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY) and continued his search for a good paying NORTH AMERICAN JOB. At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day, Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL) poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE) and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in North America . . . . .

Buy North American!

$$$$$
 

Chris. i will consider that when i CAN afford a new vehicle! $17 grand for a new 2wd Ranger pickup! Car companies can shove their over-priced vehicles up there azz! The money these big corporations make, the SHOULD give back to their country! all of them. they want to make big money off hard working American people, then it should be given that they would help out. too bad it doesnt work that way....:mad:

Thanks Chris
 

Thanks for posting this Chris. It just reinstills in my heart where peoples hearts of this country are and how screwed up the rest of the world is.

Brad

well....
 

Not to degrade the subject of this post but... no one is required to give money to anyone. It's just an act of selflessness. And in the case of corporations, a publicity/marketing tool. Although if I was that rich, I would donate for sure.


Do you know if Microsoft gave anything because we all know Billy could use some lightning of the pockets. :)


Bob

did you write that? VERY GOOD POINT! WELL SAID!

Daimler Chrysler is kind of a foreign company. I don't really know why other countries are required to donate money to the United States when terrorist attacks happen here. It's a tradgedy, but does Ford donate when a bomb goes off in England? Maybe they shouldn't buy Ford, then?

I don't know. I can also see the fact that Toyota's and Honda's and the like are in many cases considered domestically sold vehicles. That would make my point pretty nill.

I like to buy American.

Thanks Chris, That was definiately some good info.

I find it hard to know if I am really buying american even when I try to. Alot of the american manufacturers make there cars in other countries....to boost profit margins. To me thats not american made. I have trouble supporting the whole buy american cars movement cause the american car manufacturers dont support our american economy like they should.

Honda makes cars here and puts americans to work to me they are as american as GM or Ford for that reason.

JMO,

Yep, which is why I can't really take a steadfast stand on the subject.

When I do buy myself a new car, it will be a domestic. And not only a domestic, but a FORD!:D

Ive seen that e-mail come across my desk about three times now, and it pisses me off every time. Why you ask? Because of the corruption in charities. GM gave to the American Red Cross we will take all your donations and keep them and get rich, please donate you poor fools.....

Come on, I think the companies that didnt donate are the smart ones.

Its a tax write off and a publicity stunt, and charities are EXTREMELY corrupt, and I dont know why anyone would donate to charity when its fairly well known how corrupt they really are.

This will not affect my vehicle purchasing decision in any way whatsoever.

69Mach1 - you cant buy anything made in america even if you wanted too. The last 20 things I bought were all made in china. I swear, I think EVERYTHING is made in China.

Anyway, thank the politicians and the big business for this. Nothing we measly poor consumers can do about it

Mach 1-
This was the first I had seen of it, and I just thought it was interesting enough to share. Certainly didn't mean to dampen your day.

I hear you, and you are probably more correct on this point than I am, but I just don't agree. There is no doubt that having assembly plants located here as opposed to Japan is beneficial on the surface. It is beneficial to the manufacturers because they save on shipping costs and import tariffs. It's beneficial to the town they set-up in because it gives the townfolk a job (not a career, mind you, but a job). The problem is that that's about as far as it goes, as far as being "American". It saves the manufacturer alot of money, yet only puts pennies on the dollar back into our economy. We, as a country, are much better off having the vehicles shipped here rather than just their parts. There are millions and millions of dollars spent on R&D for every vehicle made, and the bulk of that money stays in Japan. Then theres the corporate employees. The upper 20% of the workers Honda employs worldwide make 16 times more money than the rest of their employees combined (Time magazine). None of them live in this country, or reinvest their money into our economy, other than to buy up all the property they can. While there may be several hundred people who now make a living wage in each of the towns where a foreign company has set-up an assembly plant, we as a country are losing millions as a result. It is true that there are very few items a person can buy that are completely American made, but supporting a company that is headquarted in the United States is almost always better for our economy. If I have a choice, I will always buy "American". I am overly patriotic at times, but I'm not apologizing to anyone for it. I am a direct descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence (Edward Rutledge Jr, South Carolina), and although that means nothing to many, it means something to me.

Take care,
-Chris

Buying by emotion
 

I buy American when possible and if I have a choice, which isn't often as so many internal parts of many appliances and so on all have foreign-manufactured components, but I do what I can in that area.

I'm a free market believer and I don't buy $25,000. cars or $2,000 computers or a $350. TV based on what contributions the manufacturer made to the 9/11 victims fund.

Charity is just that, charity. A huge corporation that donates a million or two to a charity doesn't even feel it, it's not 'their' money, it comes out of corporate profits and as has been stated, it's mostly just public relations. Nice, but not all that meaningful, compared to some $9.-per-hour guy who takes $20. out of his gas money to give to the same fund.

That's real charity, not just a tax write-off or PR move.

We're all free to buy from whomever we wish based on any critiria we chose to impose. No problem with that but personally, I don't use corporate giving as a guide to buying. Many very popular American companies give lots of money to homosexual groups, anti-second-amendment groups, pro-abortion groups and other activities that I oppose politically or on moral grounds. If I boycotted all of them, I wouldn't buy anything.

It can get crazy so I simply refuse to go down the road of making purchase decisions based on political stands or charity contributions of the manufacturer. That's my decision.

Re: Buying by emotion
 

Very well put. Personally, I think that people should buy cars based on performance, fuel economy, price, or some other criteria involving the car itself. The money that was "donated" like mentioned before, serves as a tax break and is only a drop in a bucket compared to the profit margins that those manufacturers made. If you want to buy a car based on donations, your next vehicle should be a Hyundai....there profit margin is probably only better than Daewoo's and Suzuki's auto sales. I also want to point out a few things....Mitsu is part owned by DaimlerChrysler, Audi and Porsche are owned by Volkswagon, Isuzu is owned by GM, Fiat has a "strategic alliance" with GM, and Daewoo is recovering from bankruptcy. Have a great day:D:D:D

No I did not write it I got it in a email awhile back. I do agree on many peoples statements, I don't buy stuff based on the companies donations, but I try to buy stuff made in North America, not only because it's where I live but better quality. Also you don't know how your product was made in China, I do not support Child Labour, and when you get into Asian made products no one really knows. Alot with other countries too not just blaming Asia but most of it comes out of there. It's a free market out there, it's all based on personal opinion.

Happy Purchasing,
§am.

Mach. i have a question for you. where was your Ford hat made?:confused:

Maybe he'd have better luck finding a job if he wore a suit, instead of jeans and sneakers. :D

I dont have a Ford hat.