Americans’ purchases shape the economy

Americans are responsible for the high taxes and unemployment that we all complain about.

First of all, look at all the foreign-built automobiles and trucks on our highways. The big corporations get a tax break for moving their operations overseas. The foreign workers get substandard wages, substandard working conditions, at the same time the corporations are building a big bank account.

The automobiles made outside this country are shipped here and sold for the same price as if they were being made here. This savings is not passed on to purchaser of the vehicles but retained in the corporation's pocket, so they can give the CEOs, etc., a big bonus.

This is also true with other foreign-made products that we purchase.

Now to the guts of all of this: Foreign workers pay no income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, Social Security taxes, local taxes here. People in the USA. in order to keep our country solvent, have to pick up the missing funds. Thus, higher taxes.

Americans also don't think of the young children who work in the factories, as slave laborers.

We Americans are a greedy bunch - all we care about is if it's a few cents cheaper regardless of where it is made. Let's buy American-made products. Look at the label and when you can't find them, ask your senator, congressman and any other elected official why. Sooner or later they might get the message.

Bill Hickey

Independence