Rep. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, released a report last week that shows exemptions to the Buy America laws for military contracts cost 620,000 American jobs and sent $53.5 billion overseas since 2007.
There may have been a time -- shortly after World War II -- when it made sense for the U.S. to encourage manufacturing in Germany and Japan so those countries would become and remain our allies. But it sure doesn't make sense any more.
A company called Colonial Bronze is based in Torrington, Conn. The Air Force needs bronze products. The Air Force tried to buy bronze products in China. Here's what Jamie Gregg, the president of Colonial Bronze, has to say about that:
Instead of looking at my company to supply the products that the Air Force needs, they issued a waiver, saying that these products were only made in China. Careless investigations into American made product availability like these are not only hurting my company and the families we employ, they are destroying U.S. manufacturing.Our friends at EconomyinCrisis.org aren't pleased either. They point out that when manufacturing goes overseas,
...technology, innovation and know-how tend to follow production. So as manufacturing goes to places like China, India and Mexico, the key technologies, many of them crucial to national security, go with them...This really isn't rocket science. But perhaps American rocket scientists have all seen their jobs go to China and India because of the Pentagon's procurement policies.
