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LOUISVILLE /JEFFERSON COUNTY
DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEWSLETTER
Week of April 2, 2010
The link to this electronic newsletter is being e-mailed to 7,500+
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CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT LIST OF EVENTS
Updated on a regular basis
Bulletin Board:
Yarmuth Announces $9.3 Million in Federal Funding for
Louisville International Airport
Funds will go toward purchase of snow removal equipment, runway improvements, noise reduction programs, and the construction of a new taxiway
Congressman John Yarmuth (KY-3) joined representatives from the Louisville Regional Airport Authority to announce that more than $9.3 million in federal funding was headed to Louisville to expand and upgrade Louisville International Airport.
“For our valuable corporate citizens like UPS and its thousands of employees in Louisville, these funds will allow our airport to accommodate more of the commerce that helps our economy grow,” said Congressman Yarmuth. “For the millions of passengers that travel through Louisville International every year, projects funded by these federal dollars will help minimize the impact of inclement weather, making it less of an obstacle for ensuring flights are safe and on-time.”
A total of $9,302,923 from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will go toward several different projects at Louisville International, including the construction of a new taxiway and the purchase of two new “snow brooms” that will help keep runways clear during winter weather.
$5 million in funding will also go to support the Airport Authority’s voluntary relocation program, which helps residents affected by noise in the wake of the airport’s expansion find new homes.
“We are certainly grateful for Congressman Yarmuth’s support and assistance in securing these grants, as they will help us move closer to completing the Voluntary Residential Relocation Program and provide funding for needed airfield equipment and repairs. In addition, the monies will help the Authority enhance its airfield facilities, putting in place 21st century, state-of-the-art infrastructure,” said Phil Lynch, Chairman of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority Board of Directors.
The funding details – from three separate awards - are as follows:
· $5 million – Discretionary funds awarded by the FAA for the Voluntary Residential Relocation Program.
· $1.6 million – Amendment of a 2007 award to help fund the completion of construction on Taxiway ‘A.’
· $2.6 million – Awarded to help improve pavement conditions, fund apron repairs, purchase new snow brooms, and fund reimbursements for initial land acquisition.
Coburn Can’t Take the Heat, Tries to Deflect Blame for Killing Jobless Aid, by Tula Connell
Back home in Oklahoma, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn must really be feeling the heat from some of the millions of America’s jobless worked he shafted last week. Coburn, who blocked a short-term extension for unemployment insurance (UI), issued a press release making it look as though Senate Democrats blocked the extension and he was a helpless victim of the vote. He’s also sending out the same info to those who, like some AFL-CIO Now blog readers, sent him scathing letters for his mean-spirited move.
In
short, Coburn’s spin is: Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
In fact, Coburn blocked the emergency UI extension bill, effectively killing it until after the Senate returns from break April 12. Some 200,000 jobless workers a week will now lose UI support because of Coburn. Worse, Coburn has said he would continue to block UI extension after the Senate returns.
Coburn also disingenuously states the best solution for jobless workers are jobs.
So why then did Coburn vote against the jobs package passed by the Senate earlier this month?
See, Senator, jobs are a great solution. The problem is, there are more than six U.S. workers for every one job. More than two in every five unemployed workers in this country have been unemployed for more than six months. That means jobs need to be created. And because the private sector isn’t creating them, the federal government needs to step in.
Until there are enough jobs for workers without jobs, workers desperately need a helping hand like unemployment insurance and COBRA, to get by.
One that Coburn isn’t willing to give them.
Here’s Coburn’s online contact page. Drop him a line and tell him if he can’t take the heat…
Reflex Responses On Health Bill, by Charlie Cook
Democrats are happy, Republicans are not, and independents are closely divided.
No matter how talented the pollster, the results of any survey conducted the day after an event ought to be taken with quite a few grains of salt. Nevertheless, the outcome of the Monday night USA Today/Gallup Poll, which checked the nation's pulse less than 24 hours after the House passed its massive health care package, demonstrates that seemingly huge, consequential events can have a rather small impact on public opinion if the topic has been debated ad infinitum.
The 1,005 adults interviewed were first told, "As you may know,
yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that
restructures the nation's health care system." Then they were asked,
"All in all, do you think it is a good thing or a bad thing that
Congress passed this bill?" Overall, 49 percent responded that it was
good, 40 percent said that it was bad, and 11 percent had no opinion.
(You've gotta love those 11 percent of folks who have listened to all
of this arguing and still don't know or don't care.)
Although independents are usually a smaller share of the electorate in midterms, they will play a crucial role.
Although not an overwhelming endorsement of the legislation, these numbers are certainly better for Democrats than the tallies in most pre-vote polls. The rest of the survey's results, however, are more telling. Among self-described Democrats, 79 percent thought that passing the health care bill was good, and just 9 percent thought it was bad. Among Republicans, 76 percent thought it was a bad thing, and 14 percent called it a good thing. So the Democratic and Republican assessments are almost mirror images of each other, with slightly more Republicans supportive than Democrats opposed. (The difference was within the margin of error for the subgroups involved.) But here's the kicker: 46 percent of independents thought it was a good thing, and an almost identical portion -- 45 percent -- thought it was bad.
Asked to choose among four single-word emotions to describe their reaction to the bill's passage, 15 percent of the entire group surveyed said "enthusiastic" and 35 percent chose "pleased." Meanwhile, 23 percent picked "disappointed" and 19 percent opted for "angry." The combined 50 percent positive/42 percent negative responses were close to the previous set of numbers for good thing/bad thing. Among independents, a total of 45 percent chose either enthusiastic (10 percent) or pleased (35 percent); a combined 47 percent picked disappointed (27 percent) or angry (20 percent).
In short, Democrats are happy about the legislation, Republicans are not, and independents are closely divided. To the extent that more Americans like the bill than not, that is simply because there are more Democrats out there than Republicans.
Polls taken weeks and months from now will be much more meaningful. In terms of the upcoming elections, what happens next will likely turn out to be far more important than passage of the health care bill. Can and will President Obama and Democrats on Capitol Hill shift their focus to issues that are less controversial and polarizing? Will the next few items on the Democratic agenda reinforce public concerns, particularly among the all-important independent voters, that government is spending too much and is expanding its turf far more than it should?
Although independents are usually a smaller share of the electorate in midterm elections than in presidential contests, they will nevertheless play a crucial role, as we can see from the Gallup polling on the generic ballot test for the week that ended March 21. The survey of registered voters found that 92 percent of Democrats would vote for their party's candidate for Congress in their home district, while 92 percent of Republicans would support the GOP choice. Independents tilted toward Republicans, with 48 percent saying they would vote for the GOP candidate and just 35 percent favoring the Democrat.
The overall numbers show Democrats with a 2-percentage-point edge, 47 percent to 45 percent, down from 3 points the previous week. But remember, this poll surveyed all registered voters, not the smaller universe of "likely" voters. And fairly high Republican turnout on November 2 is sounding much more likely: Forty-three percent of GOP voters say they are enthusiastic about the midterm election compared with just 25 percent of Democrats. That's a strong clue about where these numbers might be headed later this year when Gallup narrows its polling to "likely" voters.
THINK FAST
The White House and organized labor are warning "House Democrats who supported health care legislation last year only to oppose the final measure on Sunday that they shouldn't expect assistance for their reelection campaigns this fall." "There is not a whole lot of Barack Obama and Joe Biden to spare on a good day," a senior White House official told Politico. "We're going to have to focus on our friends."
Following the lead of Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has blocked an extension of unemployment benefits, some of which are set to expire on April 5. Several GOP senators, including Susan Collins (ME), have hinted that they will help Coburn oppose the extension, unless an offset is found. Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) office said a deal is unlikely to be reached before the Senate returns from recess on April 12.
Former militiaman and Alabama blogger Mike Vanderboegh "was unapologetic in a 45-minute telephone interview with The Washington Post" for urging people who opposed the historic health-care reform legislation to throw bricks through the windows of Democratic offices nationwide. Vanderboegh said his call for people to throw bricks is "both good manners and it's also a moral duty to try to warn people."
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow -- who lives in Western Massachusetts -- hit back on Sen. Scott Brown's (R-MA) made-up claim that she may challenge him for his Senate seat. In a full-page Boston Globe ad, Maddow tells him to stop trying to "smear one of his constituents to raise money out-of-state."
"At constituent meetings in three rural towns, every white speaker, save one, commended" Rep. John Barrow (D-GA) for his vote against health care reform while "each black speaker conveyed a deep sense of betrayal." Claiming to support some but not all aspects of reform, Barrow told reform advocates, "I hope you all know that I ended up voting against a lot of the things I believe in."
Nevada U.S. Senate Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian "was slapped with a criminal complaint dated Thursday alleging two felonies stemming from a bad check." Ashjian proclaims his tea party bona fides by arguing, "We believe we are the only true conservative party in this race not affiliated or taken over by the Republican Party." But Tea Party organizing groups are claiming Ashjian is an opportunist who needs to get lost.
Members of the left-wing activist group Code Pink tried to make a "citizen's arrest" of Karl Rove last night at a book signing in Beverly Hills. The event was eventually shut down and Rove was forced to leave the stage after being heckled as a "war criminal." Rove said the interruptions reflected the "totalitarianism of the left."
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) signaled yesterday "that he won't support the financial regulation reform bill he helped craft." "I couldn't support the bill in its current form," Corker told the Wall Street Journal. "I have no plans to support the current legislation. I hope we'll get back to the negotiating table."
Top Republicans are starting to worry that their rallying cry to "repeal" the health care reform bill "just might singe GOP candidates in November's elections…if voters begin to see benefits from the new law." Some Republicans, like Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), a GOP Senate candidate in Illinois, are easing back from their earlier "adamant repeal-the-law stance."
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) canceled a health care town hall meeting on Tuesday due to security concerns. "We just thought it best to cancel it for safety concerns. This was not meant to be a place where we're going to talk partisan politics," a Ryan spokesperson said.
Tony Perkins, the president of the conservative Family Research Council, urged his supporters "to stop donating to the Republican National Committee and instead contribute to its own coffers or to candidates with like-minded goals." "I've hinted at this before, but now I am saying it -- don't give money to the RNC," Perkins wrote in his column on the organization's website.
Turtles nest near Rush Limbaugh's pool after he bought ads protesting laws that protect them
YOUR COMMENTS
Why the GE celebration of Ronald Reagan?
Considering the right wing warnings of MEDICARE as socialism promoted by Reagan in his GE sponsored and paid for speeches, is there a connection with GE's roll out of such a high profile Reagan Centennial Celebration and the newly passed HC reform. "[I]f you don't [stop Medicare] and I don't do it, one of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it once was like in America when men were free." - Ronald Reagan .
What is GE's motive and purpose?
Am I paranoid to assume that their purpose is less than
pure? Why do they want to be so closely associated with the one man
probably most responsible for leading this country to the current mess in
which we find ourselves? Are they hoping to fan the flames of the paranoid
and hate filled mobs? DO they hope to help promote the astro-turf back lash
to ensure that we do not reform the corporate friendly wild west of greed is
good winner take all high jacking of our representative democracy?
IF it is required that Reagan receive such a high profile sainthood pronounced by GE, I can't wait to see which corporate sponsor seeks to bestow seemingly equally earned honors upon Bernie Madoff, Kenneth Lay, and the CEO of AIG. Apparently fleecing America is to be greeted with great reverence.
What can be done to help GE understand the offensiveness of their praise for Reagan while millions of Americans are sinking below the wreckage of ideology he stood for and promoted.
I have copied Gary Sheffer - GE Public Affairs and Communication on this. Below are other POCs for GE Communications and Public Affairs.
· Gary Sheffer GE Corporate, Vice President Communications & Public Affairs Work +1 203 373 3476 Email Gary · Anne Eisele GE Corporate, Director Financial Communications Work +1 203 373 3061 Email Anne · Leigh Farris GE Corporate, Manager Public Relations & Marketing Services Work +1 203 373 2599 Email Leigh · Erik Hendrickson GE Corporate, Director Communications Work +1 203 373 2547 Email Erik · Lisa Lanspery GE Corporate, Manager Public Relations & Marketing Services Work +1 203 373 3447 Email Lisa · Deirdre Latour GE Corporate, Director Public Relations & Marketing Services Work +1 203 373 2145 Email Deirdre · Jamie Loftus GE Corporate, Manager Communications Work +1 203 373 3046 Email Jamie · Peter O'Toole GE Corporate, Director, Executive Communications Public Relations Work +1 203 373 2547 Email Peter · Stephen Schooff GE Corporate, Manager Communications Work +1 262 309 0157 Email Stephen
Ron Leach
Recent Senate Votes
Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 - Vote
Passed (56-43, 1 Not Voting)
The Senate approved this bill that would make changes to the 2010 health
care overhaul law and revise student loan procedures. The Senate made minor
changes to the bill, sending it back to the House.
Sen. Mitch McConnell voted
NO
Sen. Jim Bunning voted
NO
FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act -
Vote Passed (93-0, 7 Not Voting)
The Senate passed this measure to reauthorize the Federal Aviation
Administration through FY 2011 and expedite the transition to a new air
traffic control system. The bill was sent to the House.
Sen. Mitch McConnell voted
YES
Sen. Jim Bunning voted
YES
Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act - Vote Passed
(246-178, 5 Not Voting)
The House passed this legislation to provide tax incentives for small
business job creation, extend the Build America Bonds program, and provide
other infrastructure job creation tax incentives. It now goes to the Senate.
Rep. Brett Guthrie voted
NO
Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES
Disaster Relief and Summer Jobs Act of 2010 - Vote Passed
(239-175, 1 Present, 14 Not Voting)
The House approved this measure that would provide funding for disaster
relief, summer jobs and small business programs. The bill now goes to the
Senate.
Rep. Brett Guthrie voted
NO
Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES
FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act -
Vote Passed (276-145, 8 Not Voting)
The House passed this bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation
Administration through FY 2011 and expedite the transition to a new air
traffic control system. The bill now heads to the White House for the
President’s signature.
Rep. Brett Guthrie voted
NO
Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES
Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 - Vote
Passed (220-207, 3 Not Voting)
On Thursday night, the House agreed to Senate amendments to this legislation
that would make changes to the 2010 health care overhaul law and revise
student loan procedures. It now goes to President Obama, who is expected to
sign it on Tuesday.
Rep. Brett Guthrie voted
NO
Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES
ECONOMY -- SENATE GOP BLOCKS VOTE ON EXTENSION OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: For the second time in a month, a Senate Republican is blocking an extension of unemployment insurance and COBRA benefits. Senate Democrats sought to approve a 30-day extension before the Easter recess as emergency spending that "does not need to meet pay-as-you-go requirements." The current extension expires April 5, and swift passage of the measure would have protected the "approximately 212,000 unemployed Americans [who] would lose benefits in the first week," and the further one million who "are now newly at risk of losing benefits in April," according to the National Employment Law Project. But Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) refused to allow a vote on the package before the start of the two-week recess, insisting that he would not support the extension unless it was paid for. To make his point, Coburn presented on the Senate floor a "poster of a young girl wearing a placard stating her share of the national debt." Unlike last time when Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) held up a vote on extending unemployment protections, the Republican leadership has rallied to the obstructionist cause. Senate Republican Whip John Kyl (R-AZ), who has argued that "unemployment compensation is a disincentive for people to seek new work," appeared with Coburn at a press conference Friday to support the hold. Kyl said he regretted the lack of public GOP support for Bunning last month, and added that "when Sen. Coburn stepped forward to provide that leadership a lot of us felt this was the time to do it."
BLOG WATCH
Why is Rush Limbaugh
trying to cover up his Obama-Hitler comparisons?
Chris Matthews
refuses to admit he was wrong to ridicule Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) on
reconciliation.
Modern slavery in the United States.
The RNC
raises money for Fox News' Sean Hannity.
How divesting from insurance companies could
lead to a better health care system.
An ethics watchdog files a complaint against Fox News host Sean Hannity's
deceptive charity.
Fox Business is
still furious at WellPoint for raising insurance rates and inadvertently
helping to pass reform.
Justice Antonin Scalia
explains why the health insurance mandate is constitutional.
Attorneys general call the constitutional challenge on health care
reform a "waste
of scarce taxpayer dollars."
The Department of Health and Human Services contracts with a firm
involved in Bush administration propaganda.
Are tea party protesters drowning out the real "silent
majority?"
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) admits that
health care repeal won't happen.
DAILY GRILL
"So why in your mind would the President and other lawmakers not want to
enroll in what they want all other Americans to have?" -- Fox News' Gretchen
Carlson,
3/29/10, referring to the health insurance exchange created under the
Affordable Care Act
VERSUS
"Nothing in this title shall be construed to restrict the choice of a
qualified individual to enroll or not enroll in a qualified health plan or
to participate in an Exchange." -- Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act,
Section 1312
"[M]oving forward, of course, you'll only be able to get your [student] loan
through the government."
-- Fox News' Gretchen Carlson,
4/01/10, commenting on the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act
VERSUS
"Private lenders still will make student loans that are not backed by the
government." -- AP,
3/30/10
HUMOR
"During a fundraising trip to California, some young Republicans took the
Republican Party credit card to a club in Hollywood that has nude dancers
doing bondage shows. Usually when Republicans find themselves in dark rooms
with whips and chains, it's in
Dick Cheney's basement." -Craig Ferguson
"Republican donors aren't happy about this. It's not fair that rich
Republicans spend huge amounts of money at sex clubs and poor Republicans
have to go to
airport bathrooms." -Craig Ferguson
"The Republican National Committee is in trouble after it was revealed that
they spent two thousand dollars at a West Hollywood
bondage themed nightclub with topless dancers and imitation lesbian sex
acts. And they are the family values party. Makes you wonder what the
Democrats are doing, doesn't it?" -Jay Leno
"President
Obama, big surprise visit to see the folks in Afghanistan. ... Obama
demanded more accountability. He said we got to have more accountability, we
got to have a crackdown on corruption; we have to have a better government.
And he said if it works in
Afghanistan, we're going to try it back home in the United States."
-David Letterman
"Some people aren't sending their census forms because they're angry at the
government, which is dumb because the census is how we figure out who gets
represented. So if you don't send in your form, your state gets fewer
congressmen. Which, come to think of it, maybe none of us should send in our
forms because no congressmen seems like the perfect number, really."
"President Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan this past weekend.
I guess after the last 14 months in Washington, he wanted to go someplace
where there was less fighting." -Jay Leno
"The
healthcare bill finally passed. Now that it's over, I hope the name
calling will end. And Congress can get back to what it does best ... sex
scandals." -Craig Ferguson
"Hey, you guys, baseball season starts next week. And President Obama is
going to throw out the first pitch at the Nationals game. Meanwhile,
Joe Biden will be on hand to make the first error." -Jimmy Fallon
"Former Gov.
Sarah
Palin has been very busy. She's been campaigning for select Republicans,
including John McCain, who's in the middle of a tough Senate race in
Arizona. How does he introduce her? 'And now, the young woman who cost me
the presidency, Sarah Palin!"' -Jimmy Kimmel
"You guys hear about this? Sarah Palin has a new Fox News series, which is
being described as a show about people with real-life tales of overcoming
adversity. Hey, she should do a story about that guy who became the first
black president. That would be a good story. Think about that one." -Jimmy
Fallon
INTERESTING
DROWNING DEMOCRACY IN AN OCEAN OF CORPORATE MONEY
Can five votes make a difference in America's democratic elections? You betcha, as Sarah Palin might say. Especially when those five voters are Supreme Court justices hell bent on allowing the unlimited money power of corporate giants to drown out the people's democratic voice.
But wait, say apologists for the five Supreme voters who hung this plutocratic albatross around the neck of our democracy – it's not just corporations who were freed by the Court to spend billions to elect or defeat candidates. They smugly point out that labor unions, too, can now take their members' dues money and dump as much of it as they want into their campaigns. So, see, the ruling justices took care to be "fair and balanced."
Where've we heard that phrase before?
Balanced? Even if every union were to liquidate all of their assets and set aside every dime they have for elections, their total warchest would be $6 billion. Just one Wall Street firm, Goldman Sachs, doled out three times more than that in bonus payments to its bankers this year alone. Indeed, the combined union assets of $6 billion adds up to a mere one-tenth of one percent of the assets held by only the four largest banks in our country.
Yet, the Court's corporate supremists have now equated the freedom to spend money on elections with our people's freedom of speech. This means that those with the most money get the most speech. What's fair about that?
As an indicator of how imbalanced our brave new world of money-based elections will be, check this out: the 100 largest American corporations have annual incomes totaling $13 trillion. Henceforth, they can tap this ocean of political clout to elect policymakers who will do their bidding – not ours.
To help undo the Court's coup agains us, connect with www.freespeechforpeople.org.
"Supreme Court Decision in Citizen United Case is Disaster for American People and a Dark Day for..." Forbes.com, January 21, 2010.
"Unions Can't Compete With Corporate Campaign Cash," The Nation, January 24, 2010.
"AFL-CIO Letter Details Role In, Position On Citizens United Case," The Nation, January 29, 2010.
Buy American Mention of the Week, By Roger Simmermaker
Treat yourself to American treats this Easter
With all the different options for American consumers who want satisfy their sweet tooth this Easter, it can be confusing to know just how to buy American-made candy from American-owned companies so we can keep profits and jobs in America.
No one working in the confectionary industry in America wants to celebrate such a popular holiday and at the same time wonder if Americans really care or are conscientious enough to support Easter candy made right here in America to save their American jobs. Heck, we might even create a few new American jobs if this information reaches enough people who are willing to buy American using the money that they’re already going to be spending anyway.
So here are some of the main companies you might see in the stores while you’re searching for that chocolate Easter bunny or other Easter-related candy and where most of their candy is made.
Everyone knows about the Hershey Company based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Hershey’s is the largest manufacturer of chocolate in North America. Even though the company did close their Oakdale, CA and Smith Falls (Ontario, Canada) plants and transferred production from these two plants to Monterrey, Mexico, Hershey’s still has the owns the largest chocolate factory in the world in Pennsylvania, which measures over two million square feet. So they still make a lot of chocolate products in the USA.
The most maddening issue with Hershey is that it’s almost impossible by reading the label to tell if a particular piece of candy is made in America or Mexico. Frequently listed phrases like “Distributed by the Hershey Company” and “Mfd. By Hershey” aren’t helpful. It would seem the company could do a lot to diffuse the discontent from moving one of its plants from California to Mexico by making clearer labeling of their products’ origin. Hershey has so many products on the market – many of which have to be made here since the company has such huge manufacturing prowess in America – that it would be worth their while to give concerned consumers more information.
Popular Hershey products range from their famous “Kisses” to Kit Kat, Mr. Goodbar, York Peppermint Patties, Milk Duds, Whoppers, and Reese’s. If you’re searching for a Hershey brand chocolate Easter Bunny, it’s doubtful you’ll be able to tell where it was made (as is the case with almost all of their other products).
Russell Stover is based in Kansas City, Missouri, and they have the kind of labeling that encourages me to patronize their products. Most have a round, red, white and blue label that says “Proudly Made in America.” Russell Stover also has Whitman’s and Pangburn’s brands under their company umbrella. The Whitman’s Sampler boxes not only say “Proudly Made in America” as well, but they also specify “Each Sampler chocolate and all its components are proudly made in America.”
Ferrero Rocher is a candy company based in Italy (the same company that makes the Tic Tac brand). The Easter-related candy I found from this company was made in Canada.
Lindt (which also owns Caffarel and Ghirardelli) is an upscale candy maker based in Switzerland, and has six factories worldwide. Their lone American factory is in Stratham, New Hampshire, so most Lindt chocolate you will find is imported.
Some Palmer brand chocolate bunnies bear the “Made in USA” label, but most of them simply say “Mfd. By R.M. Palmer Co.” The R.M. Palmer Company is privately owned and was founded in 1848 in West Reading, Pa. The company claims almost all their products are made in USA.
Godiva chocolate may not be on the top of your list this Easter, but it’s worth noting that the Campbell Soup Company sold the brand to Turkish-based Yildiz Holdings in 2007.
Brach’s is based in the United States, but most of their candy is either not labeled with a country of origin or is made in Mexico.
Cadbury, which has long been British based, was bought out by American-based Kraft this year. Not only is this acquisition good since Cadbury is now an American company, but it also puts to rest a confusing scenario in the confectionary industry.
Before the recent acquisition, British-owned Cadbury products were often made by American-owned Hershey under license, which caused confusion about whether Cadbury could be qualified as an American product or a British product. Now that American-owned Kraft has control of the company, they can either absorb the existing Cadbury products in with Kraft production or continue to use American-based Hershey.
Kraft did make a promise to the Brits that they ended up breaking by closing a factory in Britain they promised to keep open. But I guess that’s better than closing an American plant instead, right? Anyway, production was moved from the UK to Poland.
Britain’s practice of allowing national champions to become the property of foreigners is now called the “Wimbledon Effect”: World-class players competing in a world-class tournament that no Brits are able to win.
Fortunately America has many national champions in the confectionary industry. There are many American companies that are still making chocolate in the United States we can patronize to not only help save existing American jobs but also potentially create new ones. It’s all about the old economic law of supply and demand. If patriotic American consumers create the demand for products made at American factories, output from those factories will need to increase, and more Americans will likely be hired to meet that demand.
The answer to America’s unemployment problems is right in our own back yard. The answer is “Buy American.”
***************************************************************************
Roger Simmermaker is the author of How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism and writes "Buy American Mention of the Week" articles for WorldNetDaily.com and his website www.howtobuyamerican.com. Roger is a member of the Machinists Union and National Writers Union, has been a frequent guest on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC, and has been quoted in the USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Business Week among many other publications.
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