quote:

Oblamers

quote:

The company that makes the Max Axess wrench and other tools for Craftsman, the Apex Tool Group, is being acquired by Bain Capital, the company founded by Mitt Romney, in a $1.6 billion deal.

Throughout the presidential campaign, Bain was criticized on the grounds that it encouraged outsourcing by companies it buys at the expense of American workers. Apex makes many of its tools overseas. A company spokesman referred all questions to Sears.

quote:

ORIGINAL: SadistDave

After all, a lot of Oblamers stimulus money went overseas. 
-SD-

quote:

ORIGINAL: Owner59

quote:

ORIGINAL: SadistDave

After all, a lot of Oblamers stimulus money went overseas. 
-SD-

You`re lying.......

quote:

For the curious, here is the national breakdown for the number of turbines installed in the U.S. from 2009 to 2011, according to the American Wind Energy Association and the Congressional Research Service:

United States - GE, Clipper - 49 percent
Germany - Siemens, RePower, Nordex -15 percent
Denmark - Vestas - 15 percent
Spain - Gamesa - 7 percent
India - Suzlon - 6 percent
Japan - Mitsubishi - 6 percent
All others - 2 percent

Our ruling

The Americans for Tax Reform flyer said the Obama administration funneled about $2 billion in "green" stimulus money to foreign companies, with particular benefits for China.

On the dollars, the claim understates the amount that went to foreign owned companies. It was certainly more than $2 billion, which would bolster the group’s claim.

quote:

ORIGINAL: SadistDave

The only thing Bain has to do with the story is that they are planning to buy the overseas company after the fact.

Which is to say that Bain really had absolutely nothing to do with the Bionic Wrench having it's design ripped off t be made overseas.

-SD-

quote:

Is our stimulus money paying for traffic lights on Chinese streets?

A TV ad running in eight states blames President Barack Obama for sending stimulus money overseas while Americans are out of work.

"Tell President Obama, American tax dollars should help American taxpayers," the narrator says. Instead, $2.3 billion in tax credits funded jobs in Mexico, Finland and China, the ad claims.

quote:

Here’s the string of claims, starting with an image of the president signing a bill:


Washington promised to create American jobs. We passed their stimulus. But that's not what happened. Fact: Billions of taxpayer dollars spent on green energy went to jobs in foreign countries. The Obama administration admitted the truth, that $2.3 billion of tax credits went overseas, while millions of Americans can't find a job. $1.2 billion to a solar company that's building a plant in Mexico. Half a billion to an electric car company that created hundreds of jobs in Finland. And tens of millions of dollars to build traffic lights in China.

We’ve rated two claims from the ad, about stimulus tax credits supposedly funding a plant in Mexico (Pants on Fire) and paying for jobs in Finland (False). In this fact-check, we’re examining if those tax credits included "tens of millions of dollars to build traffic lights in China."

quote:

Our ruling

We watched this ad and imagined Chinese street corners with shiny new American-funded traffic lights.

The reality is nearly the opposite: American cities, counties and states bought and installed new energy-efficient street and traffic lights with stimulus grants. Many of those lights contained foreign components, including some from China, but it’s simply not clear how much stimulus money went toward those parts during the eight months it was allowed.

The ad’s claim has a tiny sliver of truth, but it pairs words and images to create an altogether different impression. We’ll have to put the brakes on this traffic light claim, and rate it Mostly False.

quote:

ORIGINAL: SadistDave
I agree that patents should be protected to a degree. However, I do not think that improvements or adaptations of an idea or design should be punished because they are based on an existing design. Let's take this wrench. It utilizes a handle and a ratchet mechanism. I'm betting that handles and ratchet mechanisms existed long before this particular design, which means they are just an improvement on existing technology. So when someone comes along with an idea that improves the design of this wrench, they should not be penalized.
-SD-

quote:

ORIGINAL: cloudboy

Here's a story that helps sum up the new American economy:

Popular Wrench Fights a Chinese Rival

Loyalty and "patriotism" are dead behind the alter of cheap workers, corporate greed, and bottomless profit motives.

Mr. Brown sees a broader issue than just the fate of his wrench. “Our situation is an example of why we’re not getting jobs out of innovation,” he said. “When people get the innovation, they go right offshore. What happened to me is what happened to so many people so many times, and we just don’t talk about it.”

Believe it or not, Bain Capital is player in the story as well.

quote:

ORIGINAL: cloudboy

The company that makes the Max Axess wrench and other tools for Craftsman, the Apex Tool Group, is being acquired by Bain Capital, the company founded by Mitt Romney, in a $1.6 billion deal.

Throughout the presidential campaign, Bain was criticized on the grounds that it encouraged outsourcing by companies it buys at the expense of American workers. Apex makes many of its tools overseas. A company spokesman referred all questions to Sears.

I'm sure Bain capital acquired Apex to boost its American workforce. Apex is the Company that provided Sears with the Chinese knock-off. That's the dovetail with the story. Bain is working with the dark forces against the laudable, American entrepreneur. [The Bionic Wrench was greeted with enthusiasm at trade shows and in industrial design competitions, and the company survived the downturn in 2008. Mr. Brown resisted overtures from large chain stores that wanted to sell the tool under their proprietary brand, he said, and rejected the lure of cheaper manufacturing in China. “I was raised a different way,” he said. ]

-------

This story is more about slimeball business practices (Sears assholes) and a rigged game that undercuts American companies. The story is a small metaphor for American manufacturers and the difficulties true job American job creators face in the global market. We are basically told that "free trade is a good thing," but if Americans lose their jobs to companies that pay slave wages and pollute the environment by outsourcing to China, it seems we might want to draft a new set market rules. I'm not an economist and don't have my hands on all the levers at play here, but this story really struck me as one of the big drivers of American unemployment.

“I’m in favor of free trade,” Mr. Brown said. “The person who’s out-innovated loses. But it’s destructive when someone competes but doesn’t out-innovate, they just produce it in a different market without regard to safety codes and human conditions.”

quote:

In their "final analysis" of a claim that 2 billion dollars of the stimulus was spent in China, they decided that over 2 billion dollars of stimulus money went to companies overseas, but they stilled ruled it a false claim. Why? Because less than the 2 billion went to China.

quote:

The Obama administration admitted the truth, that $2.3 billion of tax credits went overseas, while millions of Americans can't find a job. $1.2 billion to a solar company that's building a plant in Mexico. Half a billion to an electric car company that created hundreds of jobs in Finland. And tens of millions of dollars to build traffic lights in China.