Comments on: Buy American

By: kristan_180

kristan_180 — Sun, 21 Dec 2003 11:55:23 +0000

Please, John, I don’t have time for political discourse. I am on this list to
discuss diabetes and pumps. I have many opinions about this topic, but prefer
to keep them to myself.
David

John Neale wrote:

By: antoinette_5

antoinette_5 — Sun, 21 Dec 2003 05:44:33 +0000

Everyone has there point of view, and everyone has made legitimate points…
Just lets remember the name of the list we have joined and lets put this
issue to rest once and for all.

Thanks,

By: mattie_70

mattie_70 — Sat, 20 Dec 2003 15:03:44 +0000

But can only have free choice while there is free international trade in
these goods. And indeed free international trade in labour. And while the
jingoistic nationalism that Jan seems to endorse is alive and well, the US
government can continue to punish you for buying foreign goods by taxing
them more than domestic goods. How can that be right?

Did you know that Disetronic pumps cost more than necessary in America
because the US government puts heavy taxes on them since they are imported?
And likewise MiniMed pumps suffer heavy import duties when you import them
into Europe. These tit-for-tat import duties are evil and wrong, and
prevent us, the consumers, from making balanced intelligent choices based
purely on quality, performance and price.

Incidently, I don’t understand yhy is it acceptable for a company to boast
that it employs Americans in preference to Mexicans, but unacceptable for

it to boast that it employs whites in preference to blacks… It would seem
that racism between countries is acceptable, but racism within a country is
not. Strange.

John

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By: daphne400

daphne400 — Fri, 19 Dec 2003 12:04:54 +0000

amen to that David!!!! Joan:)

By: daphne400

daphne400 — Fri, 19 Dec 2003 03:57:13 +0000

we are all consumers…..I’m not a strong "buy American" American…I have a
toyota van, made in taiwan tvs, etc, so I’d say I’m an international
buyer…given the popularity of the internet, I don’t think it will be too
much longer before those barriers are finally brought down…until then, we
must be patient, right? Joan:)

By: antoinette_5

antoinette_5 — Wed, 17 Dec 2003 04:12:26 +0000

Yes true David. I steered away from this one myself. I just hope these other
companies get approved soon so there is more pressure put on everyone to
help develop better products. We really need more development in the area of
infusion sets.
David I just had to return 4 boxes of Tenders because I found a defect. The
needles appeared to be bending up but after I returned one to the tech
support department they discovered the the plastic base was glued
incorrectly to the tape. They agreed to replace them and take a look. It
seemed like almost every other one I was opening looked like that.

By: kristan_180

kristan_180 — Tue, 16 Dec 2003 18:07:56 +0000

You are really opening a real can of worms with this one; since this is
not a political forum, I think this be best left in the bit bucket.

But, thanks to the powers that be that we have two credible sources for
a pump. They drive each other to improve their products, pricing, and
performance, so that we have a real choice!

David

By: elmo_15

elmo_15 — Mon, 15 Dec 2003 23:05:39 +0000

I agree with you Jan, my only hope is that other countries don’t adopt the
same attitude or else our export market could shrink considerably.
fp

By: clair4

clair4 — Mon, 15 Dec 2003 18:16:19 +0000

Dear John..just to clear things up a bit..the term "buy American" is popular
here in the States because so many of our jobs are lost to foreign markets
such as Mexico or Japan ..it is not to infer that one market is superior to
another or that fine products are not made all over the world.eg..Banting and
Best were Canadian (they discovered insulin)….we’re all diabetics in this
world together so lets just keep looking out for each other and keep each
other informed no matter where in the world we are..Leslie

By: damian150

damian150 — Mon, 15 Dec 2003 10:03:45 +0000

Sounds like we’re comparing apples to insulin pumps. My husband has lost 3
jobs due to companies transferring their manufacturing to Mexico and *other*
countries for cheaper labor. Whitehall, the original manufacturer of Anacin
was here locally. It was bought out by Bayer AG (Germany). They have
announced 550 people are going to lose their jobs this year because they are
closing Bayer and moving elsewhere. The U.S. has many developments and
knowhow; should we then suffer economically because someone else is growing
apples that taste good? A crop is a crop.
I have friends from Russia (Ukraine) who only eat crops grown in their
vicinity when living there. They just don’t think of trading with those
villages nearby that grow another kind of crop and therefore can double
their choices. We are much more advanced than that.
America (US) is the greatest nation in the world and greatly blessed by
God. No other nation has had the success and blessing as we have — and just
over 200 years old. We are not, nor want to be, a communist country — we

are capitalists. Every dog wants his own bone. Many people lose their lives
trying to get into this great country because of the opportunities (look at
Elian Gonzalez’ mother and stepfather) and prosperity. I buy fruit
(Brazilian grapes in the wintertime, etc.) from other countries when my own
backyard is not producing crops, however, that does not mean I will shun my
neighbors’ manufacturing skills to buy elsewhere in the world. The job we
lose may be our own.
Buy American.
Jan