American made???

[Radar Love]

Speaking of AMerican cold ones you may find the following intersting.

The Boston Beer Company, brewer of Sam Adams, is one of the few American brewery companies that is publicly-owned, which may turn out to be unfortunate since they could become the target of a hostile takeover by InBev like Anheuser-Busch was. The Boston Beer Company started in 1984 and since then has become the largest craft brewer in America, although they have less than 1 percent of the U.S. beer market.



Iron City Brewing Company and Pabst Brewing Company are probably the two largest private companies in terms of the most brands offered in the United States. Although all the Pabst breweries were closed years ago, they still retain ownership of several brands, but most are brewed by British-owned SABMiller PLC. Pabst brands include Blatz, Colt 45, Country Club Malt Liquor, Lone Star, Old Milwaukee, Old Style, Olympia, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Pearl, Rainier, St. Ides, Schaefer, Schlitz, Schmidt, Special Export, Stag, Southampton Ales and Lagers, and Stroh’s. The Pabst Brewing Company website has a statement regarding the recent purchase of Anheuser-Busch and calls themselves “the last of the famous iconic U.S. brewers to be fully independent and American-owned.” The claim to independence is a bit compromised, however, if you pay a foreign company to brew most of your beers for you.



Iron City brands include American, American Light, American N.A., Augustiner Dark, Augustiner Lager, Drummond Bros., Eagle Malt, Falls City, Gerst, I.C. Golden Lager, I.C. Light, J.J. Wainright, Light Brigade, Night Flight Malt Liquor, Old German (Pilsner), Olde Frothingslosh, Penn’s Best Light, Penn’s Best N.A., Prime Time, Sterling, Totally Dirt Cheap Beer, Totally Dirt Cheap Light, and Wiedermann.



Other brands brewed by privately-owned American companies are Genesee, Genesee Cream Ale, Genny Light, and Dundee Ales and Lagers (Highfalls Brewing Co.), Pete’s Wicked Ale, Shiner, Tappeto Valante, and Bridgeport Ales (Gambrinus Brewing Co.), Point Beer (Stevens Point Brewery), Stegmaier and Pocono (Lion Brewery), Saranac, Utica Club, and Utica Club Light (Matt Brewing Company), Dixie (Dixie Brewing Co.), Moerlein (Christian Meorlein), Harpoon and Harpoon Ale (Harpoon Brewing), Pyramid Ales (Pyramid Breweries, Inc.), Sprecher (Sprecher Brewing Co.), and Yuengling (Yuengling Beer Co.) which has the distinction of being the America’s oldest brewery company (since 1829).



To be clear, giving up their independence isn’t something Anheuser-Busch wanted to do. They rebuffed the first $65-per-share offer from InBev. They tried to buy the rest of the Mexican company that makes Corona that they didn’t already own to make themselves too large to be acquired. They tried to say that InBev was unable to proceed with the buyout since it did business with Cuba and it’s illegal for U.S. companies to do so. They also brought up anti-trust concerns. Of course this is just my opinion and you would have had to have been in on the discussions to know for sure, but I think Anheuser-Busch did everything they possibly could to remain an American company.



But regardless of their true intentions, I hope you’ll join me in boycotting Budweiser, Busch, Michelob and all the other brands owned by Anheuser-Busch including Corona. I hope you’ll also not switch to British-owned Miller or Canadian-owned Coors products since you would merely be switching from one foreign company to another. A boycott is the second and last part of a strategy in letting foreign companies know that Americans don’t like their American companies being bought out and having their ownership (and all future profits) transferred overseas. The first step, of course, has already been tried, which was making our voices heard through petitions and other means to let both Anheuser-Busch and InBev know that a large number of Americans were against this acquisition.



If Americans stop buying Anheuser-Busch products and sales of the new Belgian company plummet, foreign companies will be forced to think twice in the future before trying to buy American companies and American assets. And it’s not unthinkable that the merger could be undone in the future due to falling sales. Mergers have been reversed before. This is the best strategy for preventing unwanted and unwelcome takeovers of historic American icons like Anheuser-Busch. In any case, we get to choose which company assumes the new crown of our country’s biggest American-owned brewer. I know I’m not aware of and haven’t listed all of the domestic companies and brands in this article, so please feel free to email me at if you’d like to know the ownership of a different brand you’re considering and I’ll be happy to research the ownership of the company for you. If we keep our money in America where it should be, we’ll help ensure that the American companies that are left in this industry can keep their headquarters here as well.

 

[stevec314]

Bjryman,

I agree with you on most everything. My only problem is that if we were to pay an extra $1,500 per car to fund employee benefits ( that does not include labor ) then $1,500 wouldn't be enough. Now it would go to $2,500 to fund this because the fact is the american autoworker makes way more than most with better insurance, retirement, working conditions, and overall process of work. Meaning most all is automated and manual labor is VERY minimal. Here is a prime example:

In Tn when the county governments fall short on revenue the FIRST thing they cut is education programs in public schools. EVERY single time. Its going on now as we speak. We as a government need to operate as business NOT government. If my company falls short I can't just go and vote to increase the budget and basically get more money. I have to manage what I have. when its gone....its gone. A few years ago we got in a financial pinch and we needed to cut our spending. The first cut I put in was my own salary the second was my VP's salary. No employee was ever laid off or got a pay cut. I treat my employees like my family because they have all been with me ( most of them ) for a very long time. One of the problems with the unions ( Please don't nail me on this its only a fact ) is that there is a clear cut distinction between mgmnt and employee. In my company there isn't. I load trucks, run machines, clean the restrooms, and anything that needs to be done if there is no one else available to do it or they are too busy. This is how it should be. Working together for the benefit of the company as well as our country. How do employees view this philosophy? When I pulled in last year with my brand new ultra, the plany pretty much shutdown because everyone wanted to go outside and see it. They were happy for me as opposed to saying "yea with all that money bla bla bla."

Somewhere down the line we lost this can do/ will do attitude in American business. Its all about the bottom line as opposed to beating out other countries. You are right about us buying foreign stuff. I buy things that I can afford and at this point buying American is preffered but not always affordable.

Great points all of you guys have.

 

[93bear]

In today's global economy we have to get used to having stuff built by the lowest bidder. There's good in that ($1000 big screen TV's) and bad (lost jobs). However icons like harley were born in America and have come to symbolize all that America is about. The foreign manufacturers might build bikes that look and sound like Harley's and even make part's that are used on Harley's but they can't duplicate the spirit that took over a hundred years to create. I ride a Harley because I love history and tradition and that's what Harley is all about. And if we really want to protest we should only ride old "All American Bikes".

 

[Sgt York]

I forget what year it was, but I bought a Low Rider the first year they came out (77?). When I got it home I noticed that the speedo/tach had stamped at the botom Made In Japan. Being young, I called the dealer back upset and complined that if I wanted a bike made in Japan, I would have bought a Honda. The dealer told me that the front forks and carberator was also made in Japan, and if the bike was made 100% US, I could not afford it. Fast forward to present, what does not have over seas parts in it?

93bear said it all.

 

[TXMikey]

Sending work to the lowest bidder is nothing new; Americans have been doing that for years with our own manufacturers. The problem is other countries have made themselves more competitive, thereby winning contracts for products formerly made in America. For that, I think there are several forces at work. To me, one of the biggest culprits may be our unions.

Working in a major corporation without unions, I don't see some of the insider actions that unions provide, so I speak solely from an outsiders perspective of what I see/read in the news. Too many times, it seems the unions have the idea of "we're going to strike unless we get more pay and benefits while cutting the amount of hours we work". On first blush, that sounds like a great idea. If you look closer however, you'll see that it actually results in a higher cost for the goods produced. Higher prices on our products mean we become less competitive with overseas products that don't have the same labor costs.

Another area is the litigation that is so prevalent in America. Ever wonder why so many things have the "idiot stickers" on them. Do we really need a warning on a lawnmower saying you shouldn't reach underneath when it's running, or a warning on a coffee cup that contents may be hot? There's a cost associated with each of those items, and someone has to pay for those multi-million dollar awards we all have read about. Again, that cost is passed on to the consumer in the form of a higher price for goods, making them less competitive with overseas products. It also runs many companies out of business because the insurance they need is too expensive to purchase because there is a higher than average risk involved with what they make. Again, those jobs move overseas.

As stated earlier in this thread, we the consumer demand cheaper products. Retailers know they have to provide what the customer wants to stay in business, so they are essentially forced to seek cheaper products overseas.

When our government cuts back on education like Stevec314 mentioned, all we are really doing is "dumbing down" our future workforce so we will be less competitive in high-tech and skilled trades in the future. This will make us even less competitive with the overseas market. If we are not careful, Americans in the future may only be able to work unskilled labor jobs because we will have failed to provide them the education they need and deserve.

I realize I've probably stepped on some toes here. I have no grudge against labor unions; they provided a tremendous service during the early 20th century to improve working conditions, and I think their time is coming back around as more employers take advantage of the workforce. Corporate management has also got to realize abuse of the workforce will ultimately lead to lower production and a higher per unit cost of goods produced.

We've got to realize all our actions have consequences that can be far-reaching and long term.

 

[toad451]

I had a discussion with my brother-in-law recently about foreign companies purchasing American companies. He works in the carpet cleaning business and his sales accounts include foreign companies. Because of the Euros strength against the dollar, he has met or surpassed all of his sales goals this year. His counterparts who have no foreign accounts are struggling. The strength of the Euro against the dollar may be why a company like InBev decides that they want to add America's number 1 brewery to their list of assets. As some of you have pointed out, we are living in a global economy and that means that situations in other countries and other stock markets affect us more than they did back in the 50's and 60's. I do agree the our government has done a poor job of protecting America's jobs and assets. Hopefully we can get that changed someday.

 

[Nitzo]

Keep buying those Hondas and Toyotas and all those other import pieces of crap and put them in your driveways and don't forget to fly OLD GLORY beside them

I ride a 08 Harley (it has Brembo brakes), I drive a Ford F-150 (some parts made in Mexico). I work a union(I.B.E.W)job in a right to work state. I try to do the best I can, it's very difficult. But, your thinking about Jap stuff as crap, wrong. Many of our standards had to be brought up to the Jap stuff that was coming over.