Only in America does one encounter illegal immigrants working on infrastructure construction projects, paid for by U.S. tax dollars, using equipment and materials made in China or other foreign nations.
The Brandon (or Biden) administration wants to change one side of that equation.
Illegal immigrants can continue to take American’s jobs, but the equipment and materials must be made in America.
Using "Made in America" equipment and material is the goal of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill Biden signed in 2021.
However, the administration is encountering problems implementing the goal.
Globalization and offshoring (30 years worth) have hollowed out America’s manufacturing sector.
The Washington Post, a long–time cheerleader for globalism, has the details. "The 'Buy America' initiative that President Biden says will promote domestic manufacturing and fuel a blue-collar renaissance is running into a problem: The United States no longer produces many of the items needed to modernize roads, bridges and ports."
This is compounded by the administration’s inability to coordinate what the right hand is doing with what the left hand wants.
The U.S. Department of Transportation, under the sure hand of Pete "SuperFund" Buttigieg, vetoed a waiver requested by U.S. ports to buy imported dock cranes.
This puts port authorities in a real bind since the electric cranes that comply with the administration’s Global Warming theology are all made overseas.
This lack of U.S. capacity didn’t happen overnight.
"The consequences of more than three decades of offshoring can be seen in U.S. government statistics. Outside of the computer industry, inflation-adjusted manufacturing output has essentially flatlined since 2007, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis."
Economists support gutting U.S. manufacturing because putting thousands of U.S. workers out of work so corporations can save money by manufacturing in dollar-a-day third world countries is so much more financially efficient.
"[Favoring U.S. manufacturers] is economic nonsense, though it may be politically wonderful," says economist Gary Hufbauer.
And besides economists never worry about their jobs being outsourced.
The most efficient economic model, according to economists, is for the U.S. to concentrate on moving money around on digital finance spreadsheets and encouraging more tech coding-based companies.
Making tangible physical products can be handled by brown people in foreign countries while the U.S. goes virtual.
As a result, the United States will be a bit like Carthage without the child sacrifice and running conflict with Rome.
Team Biden — at least for for the time being — disagrees.
And in a rare demonstration of good sense, has decided to make contractor’s requests for "Buy American" waivers public knowledge.
"By publishing waiver details on a government website, the administration also intends to demonstrate demand for specific items, effectively providing domestic manufacturers with a road map to new business opportunities, the officials said."
Some of the equipment that requires waivers is built in Finland, Japan and Europe; all of which are not known as havens for corporate wage-cutters.
Americans can manufacture quality industrial goods at a competitive price.
You only have to look at the foreign car brands that are now manufactured in the USA.
Not everyone in the U.S. is going to go into coding or artificial intelligence for a living.
A healthy economy offers a wide variety of career fields for aspiring youth.
Returning manufacturing to the United States reduces our dependence on potentially hostile nations and simplifies supply chain planning.
Even better, it puts Main Street first — instead of Wall Street.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker's bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.