Presidential-Race.net

YOU CONTROL YOUR FUTURE -

Food, clothing, toys, tires, appliances, auto parts, computers, tools – America’s $202 billion trade deficit with China continues to increase and this equates to U.S. JOB LOSSES. Job losses associated with the U.S.-China trade imbalance are estimated at some 2.1 million through 2006. (Thank you, Walmart – China’s number one importer and 6th largest trading partner - surpassing both Germany and Britain!!)

The unthinking American voter and consumer has inflicted this upon themselves and their fellow country-men and women - fitting is the quote you may have seen on a bumper-sticker while driving, “Have you lost your job yet? If not, keep buying Foreign.” As consumers, we have helped place ourselves and our country in this predicament.

So what can you do as a consumer to support your country? Research and constrict your purchases to products made in the U.S.A., whenever possible. That will help shore-up the American economy. As a voter enhance control of your future by supporting a presidential candidate that will heed the need of the American consumer to have safe, healthy choices on the shelves for purchase. Take action where the government has not.

TRADE DEFICIT and the VOTER

The serious economic implications of the U.S.-China trade deficit have been recently overshadowed by new concerns over product safety. Through 2007, there have been 25 lines of toys recalled for safety reasons in the U.S. All 25 originated in China. The NY Times has reported that 70 to 80% of all toys in the U.S. come from China, and that Chinese toys account for 60% of all product recalls.

What can you do as a voter? Support a candidate running for the White House that will heed the need of the American consumer to have safe, healthy choices on the shelves for purchase.

CONSUMER SAFETY AND HEALTH

Reports have hit the newspapers that contaminated products are slipping into the U.S. in large quantities.
National Public Radio reported that a Chinese herbal tea producer sped up the tea-leaves drying process by running over the leaves with trucks. The leaded gasoline used by Chinese vehicles literally dumped thousands of pounds of lead into the tea. (Not reported were potential inflection of the rubber emissions of the tires, but you can easily imagine how that compounds the issue.) Other examples abound for health/safety concern.

Recall notices have included popular toys and toy-makers, including:

* Thomas & Friends Toy Trains (RC2) – 24 models of the train set recalled as they were coated with lead.
* Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer figures (Hasbro) – 1 million toys (including Sesame Street and Dora figures) coated with lead paint.
* Mattel Toys has 9 million Chinese-made toys including Polly Pocket! ™ Play Sets, Doggie Day Care, Barbie™ Doll and Tanner ™ Playsets, Sarge Die-Cast Cars, Batman ™, and One Piece Playsets; recalled because of dangers to children from lead paint or tiny magnets that could be swallowed.
* Fisher-Prices has 1 million toys recalled because the Chinese factory that manufactured them used suspect lead-based paint. This included many depicting Sesame Street favorites Big Bird and Elmo, and Dora the Explorer.

Safety and health concerns continue with non-toy items contaminated and originating in China, such as:

* Catfish, shrimp, eels, and other fish products from contaiminated fish farms, which are using unsafe additives in meal to feed the farm-raised fish (which are also raised in polluted ponds).
* Cold medicine tainted with lethal chemicals.
* Gluten in pet foods contaminated with melamine (which can cause cats and dogs to sicken or die).
* Counterfeit toothpaste contaminated with diethylene glycol (an ingredient used in anti-freeze).

GOVERNMENT ACTIONS AND INACTIONS

So what is the government doing about it? The Bush administration "action" has pressed for cuts in both domestic and import inspections of food products (does that make sense?). The White House had plans to close 13 FDA laboratories as part of its long-range project to switch from hands-on inspection to “risk-based” monitoring (before Congress intervened and halted this nonsense). Other concerns that the government influences:

• Out of hundreds of thousands of imported food products, approximately 20% are listed on the U.S.D.A. computers for review, and only 1% of those are actually inspected. Government INACTION
• The Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) has 450 inspectors responsible for monitoring 20 million shipments coming into the U.S. annually. The U.S. inspection service is so lax that even the Chinese press has been critical (ref: Xinhua News Service, 20 July 2007 edition). Government INACTION
• The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), with responsibility to monitor the safety of millions of products – including appliances, automotive components, furniture, toys, and tools, has only 100 field investigators to cover the billions of consumer products shipped to the U.S. annually. Last year alone, the U.S. imported 22.3 billion toys from China. Government INACTION

YOU CONTROL YOUR FUTURE

What can you do as a voter? Support a candidate that will:

1. Heed the need of the American consumer to have safe, healthy, non-pirated choices on the shelves for purchase (such as US made DVDs, computers, books, software, cameras, etc.),
2. Increase the need of the services intended to protect the population.
3. Outlaw any resale of products recalled (such as items you may find on various internet bid-sites).
4. Punish any corporation found importing in violation of health and safety standards enjoyed in this country.
5. VOTE!!