I cant believe this,GM is now China

[Leo_Gnardo]

China has been buying up U.S. land, steel mills, copper and other metals.

Wood harvested by Japan and the list goes on.

20-30 years ago USA was selling off the Tongass Forest to Japan for $2 a trunk. Far far less than the cost of production. (Cutting tree and moving it on board Japanese freighter.) Maybe this is still going on. Another wise way for our gum'mint to spend our hard earned tax dollars.

Also lots of complaints late 70's - 80's about Japan steel undercutting USA made prices, grabbing all the scrap and returning it to USA as I-beams, sheet steel etc. Now China has taken their place except they're using all that scrap to build their own manufacturing & housing and some makes its way back here as consumer products.

Stand by for China cars. Late 60's, Japan started to export their Toyotas & Datsuns to USA without many takers. And a miserable Subaru with suicide doors, rated "unacceptable" by Consumer reports. Stick around for another 20-30 years, you'll see lots of China cars in the USA and some of 'em won't be half bad.

[Structo]

Not at all, being from Oregon, I remember ships leaving for Japan with big logs of timber all the time.

We always wondered how that could be profitable.....

[Reeltarded]

wood is cheap.you clear it to make room for goldmines.

[cbass]

Japan is still buying all the walnut around here.3,000 miles from the west coast .I can't even get any unless I can buy a semi load

[Zippy]

With China holding so many of the U.S.'s notes of credit, I wonder what happens if the government chooses to default on its loans. Does China just take Disneyland, Seattle, and San Francisco?

[C Moore]

The scary thing is the 80 BILLION we paid to bail out the auto industry,Does this employ US workers??Do the auto Co. have to pay back the billions with interest???So many people without jobs here.Mikey

You could substitute "auto" with "bank".
Or a bunch of other industries. And you are right.....no it is not done to help the majority of the population.

[Reeltarded]

2017 insurance bailout..

Policy will set things uo to fail. Not because it's a conspiracy. It's because dumbass are politician and the electorate are idiot.

[Leo_Gnardo]

With China holding so many of the U.S.'s notes of credit, I wonder what happens if the government chooses to default on its loans. Does China just take Disneyland, Seattle, and San Francisco?

Remember late 80's? Japan's economy was soaring. Second invasion of Hawaii, armed with friendly greenbacks instead of bombs & bullets, they bought the place up an acre at a time. Also bought Rockefeller Center in NYC and lots of other expensive goodies. Artwork - $50 million for oil paintings - like that. THEN the Japanese economy faltered & fell and all that nonsense came to an end. Don't worry, they're not in depression, hardly. Over 5 tours in Japan and I never saw anybody begging, no living in the streets or in shantytowns. They're doing OK just not on top of the bubble as in the late 80's.

China (and Japan besides but not so often mentioned) hold a lot of Treasury debt, but not as much as we might think. They still continue to buy although yields on US debt have dropped to an all time low for the last 5 years. IMHO the ChiCom government isn't all that happy about it but at least there's been no default. So far so good. Meanwhile they're buying the country an acre at a time - and I'm not too comfortable with that. There's always been foreign investment, but too large a slice going to any one country, that's not smart.

$80 bil to stabilize GM - paid back with interest. No problem. And if GM wants to sell to China, set up manufacturing there, what's the big deal? There's a big market - they're in biz to make a profit. Where's the complaints about Philip Morris and other tobacco companies aiming their attention at China. Golly if they could get just half the country hooked on MarbleRows wouldn't that bring home the bacon? Don't worry, they're workin' on it. Gotta sell that tabacky somewheres.

20x as much to stabilize the banksters - now that's another story. IMHO some money SHOULD be spent - to house, clothe and feed banksters for long term sentences in Federal prison. But no the game goes on and on, and who's Congress' best friend? Banks? Oil? Pharma/Medical? All in a race to outspend each other on lobbyists & gifts. We have the best congress money can buy. Nothing new there.

[Structo]

Like I said before, if you can find a product made in Japan today, then you can expect top quality.

Back in the 60's early 70's it was classified as junk.
Thus the reputation for "Jap Junk".

The set of nut files I bought a couple years ago from Warmoth, stated it was made in Japan.
Very high quality set of files which I have used to great.

This is a crazy world in which we live, protect yourself.

[Phil_S]

I have proof that the government knows everything and surely they are monitoring this thread. On our good advice, I saw in this morning's New York Times that the treasury sold the last GM shares it was holding.

[rp]

I have proof that the government knows everything and surely they are monitoring this thread.

We could get to the bottom of this pretty easy, next congressional hearings on the nsa someone can ask Gen. Alexander whether he thinks Sozos are worth the wait and money. Write your congressman.

On our good advice, I saw in this morning's New York Times that the treasury sold the last GM shares it was holding.

If you follow the papers the govt got all it's money back on AIG and all the rest of that crap they (we!) bailed out. I'm so very sure it's all on the up and up

[Zippy]

Where's the complaints about Philip Morris and other tobacco companies aiming their attention at China. Golly if they could get just half the country hooked on MarbleRows wouldn't that bring home the bacon? Don't worry, they're workin' on it. Gotta sell that tabacky somewheres.

How much is the subsidy to the tobacco industry? Why does it still exist? We don't want people to get sick from the stuff yet the US gov't still underwrites the industry - and NOW we have a new, improved, "safe" nicotine delivery system, e-cigs. It doesn't get any better...

Yee haw.

[rp]

How much is the subsidy to the tobacco industry? Why does it still exist? We don't want people to get sick from the stuff yet the US gov't still underwrites the industry

You'll like this: in Italy all tobacco is state monopoly and only sold in state licensed stores, they also have national health. Try and get your mind around that one. My guess is after the govt does the math: sales & tax profits + enough people dying off from cancer/heart disease before they can collect their pensions > cost to cure or keep alive the cancer victims. Not to mention the under the table money pols and health ministers are probably getting from the tobacco people, which also might explain why they haven't Bloomberged the cigarette taxes.

What did this post start out about, anyways?

[Leo_Gnardo]

How much is the subsidy to the tobacco industry? Why does it still exist? We don't want people to get sick from the stuff yet the US gov't still underwrites the industry - and NOW we have a new, improved, "safe" nicotine delivery system, e-cigs. It doesn't get any better...

Yee haw.

Subsidy also to the (extremely successful and profitable) oil companies too.

One word: lobbyists.

- - - - - -

On the Audio Asylum website one of their correspondents boasts about smoking hashish in the presence of police officers - and not even being noticed never minde busted - using his e-cig rig. So we now have that technology, for better or worse. Light up or leave me alone...

[Zippy]

What did this post start out about, anyways?

China?

And that brings us back to crap-loads of garbage sold at low, low prices by people that don't make enough money to buy food and pay rent.

Chinese workers? Maybe. But that also includes Walmart - more gov't subsidies in the form of gov't aid to their workers because they pay so little. Something is wrong in this country that we keep subsidizing the companies that are making all the money.

I want some free money!