Made in USA: Any Chance?

 OurFuture.org's Isaiah Poole writes that the Cash-for-Caulkers is well-intentioned, but provides a huge stumbling block for buying domestically made goods and keeping jobs in the USA. Why isn't more being done to secure manufacturing jobs?

In his article, Why Not 'Cash For U.S. Jobs'?, he states: The last time I made a trip to Home Depot was for a space heater for my bedroom, and I did what I suspect many people are doing on purchases like this: In addition to comparing the price tags, looking for the "Energy Star" label and asking whether this heater is any better than the one that's now on its way to its eternal home, I looked to see if any of the products had the "Made in the U.S.A." label.

Unfortunately, none did, and I can't say I was surprised.

And there lies a major flaw in President Obama's trip to a Home Depot in a Washington suburb today to tout his "cash for caulkers" program. It is a well-intentioned program to get people to invest in making their homes more energy efficient, and in the process getting more dollars flowing through the economy. But, as the Alliance for American Manufacturing notes in its statement today, what's missing is a stimulus for American manufacturing and the jobs in that sector.

If the federal government provides homeowners with incentives to purchase products stamped "Made in Mexico" or "Made in Japan" or "Made in China," will factories workers in America be called back to work? In most cases, energy-efficient appliances and retrofitting products manufactured overseas do not rely on American-made steel, rubber, glass, and other key inputs.

Recently, AAM took a more detailed survey of a Home Depot to get a sense of just how much benefit the economy would actually get as a typical homeowner uses the "cash for caulkers" credit to retrofit their home.

We were glad to see that some products are made in America, including: READ MORE at OurFuture.org

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