chaadster

Yes... I'm proudly pro-American, which often gets me lumped in with the anti-Asian racists, which needless to say, are "pro-American" in a way, and for reasons, that are totally bizarre and utterly anathema to me.

rjones28 

My hovercraft is full of eels.

chaadster

Breadcrumbs. Follow the trail; it's all there... Utah, Mormons, Osmond, J. Smitty...you can do this. You must focus!

rjones28 

I will not buy this record, it is scratched.

Machka 

Timmy's is half the reason I return to Canada every now and then!!


Australia has a lot of great stuff ... but they just don't do donuts well at all.

Trsnrtr

Seriously? To me, they are just so-so but i do seem to have a lot of donut bakeries in my area to choose from if i want a donut.

Did Burger king ever get Tim's bought, yet?

Machka 

I think they're just perfect. The closest I've encountered elsewhere was in Japan. Japan has donut shops as good or almost as good as Timmy's.

US donuts are too greasy and horrible ... Australian donuts are dry.

Trsnrtr

Yummmmm. Wait until Burger King owns them. I bet greasy will be the least of it.

Machka 

It'll be a sad day if Timmy's donuts become greasy and horrible.

However, at least there will still be a couple reasons to return to Canada ... dill pickle potato chips and perogies.

tottenham21

I thought this was a bike forum not wot cars are made where and by whom, at the end who cares as long as you are happy with wot ya got...And to all the peeps going on about oh I only buy American this and American that wake up and smell the cup of tea cause everything that is supposed to be made in USA is actually NOT, hell even Chevy and Ford or GM has Asian parts plus assembled in Mexico, it just says made in USA but assembled in Mexico.

Tim_Iowa

Do you care where your bike was manufactured?

I'm proud to say that my 4 bikes were all "handmade"

Rivendell (Waterford, WI)
Schwinn KOM (Greenville, MS)
Cannondale (Bedford, PA)
Giordana (Italy, whichever town Billato is in)

However, I bought none of them new, so it's not like I'm sending any money back to those US makers. (I never buy new bikes, cars, motorcycles, or houses. Let someone else pay depreciation.)

I care where the bike was made, but I don't ascribe any specific value in US manufacturing versus non-US.

I definitely ascribe value to a quality-crafted frame, though. A hand-made, silver brazed, lugged steel lightweight from a quality maker (like Waterford, Billato, or others) has a pretty high value to me.

As an American, a veteran, and the son of a union shop steward, I have pride in something made in the US. But I buy stuff from all over the place, it's a global economy.

roccobike

If one of the major brands was made in the USA, yes, I'd consider it, but they are not. Unless our tax code is re-written so that the USA no longer has the highest corporate tax rate in the world, don't expect any major manufacturer to move from outside the US. If bike firms follow big pharma we can expect Trek to relocate it's headquarters to outside the US.

chaadster

Oh, if only it were that simple that your regurgitated Republican talking points meant something! Even if the USA did manage to outstrip Japan's multinational corporate tax rate, which we do not, at least according to Forbes (Japan - In Photos: Global Corporate Tax Rates From Lowest To Highest - Forbes), go ahead and let them relocate to the Cayman Islands and let's see how much they like it there. It's shameful that your philosophy doesn't reward and honor the best for being the best. So much for your vaunted meritocracy, eh?

In fact, why don't YOU move to the Caymans and let us know how great it is for you, your work, your family, cycling, and quality of life overall?

Doge

I care about who designs it, who engineers it and who quality controls it. Most of all who supports it.

rjones28 

The folks that designed my frame care so much that they painted it on the top tube.

roadwarrior

No.

But I do have one of the last CAAD 9 frames made in Bedford, Pa.

Read a few of the posts on this thread. I'm surprised it is still open.

roccobike

Sorry you disagree. You can attack all you want but, face it, corporate tax rates are hurting the US and keeping jobs and companies from moving here and staying here. You didn't read the part about Japan lowering it's corporate tax rate in 2015 leaving the US high and dry as the highest rate in the world. As for the Cayman Islands, no I'm referring to countries like the UK and Ireland where multi-nationals already have a manufacturing base, who are attracting high tech US companies to relocate their headquarters and their corporate income due to lower tax rates. So what is New York state doing? They're wooing companies to relocate there with lower tax rates (last time I checked, Cuomo is a Democrat).
This isn't about Republicans, or Democrats or Liberals or Conservatives. If we want more jobs in the US, then we have to compete globally for those companies. BTW, I'm not interested in the Cayman Islands, I'm quite happy here in RTP, a lower tax haven for companies.

chaadster

OK, that's fine...but that's not what you said before. You said the USA had the highest corporate tax rates in the world, and that was just not true.

Furthermore, my point was that isolating tax rates as "the problem" way oversimplifies the issue, and lower taxes as business development incentives has proven to be largely a failure for the states and local governments that have taken that path hoping to see it power economic growth, to say nothing of the public good. Many Republican and Democratic governors recognize that.

Racing to the bottom on tax revenue doesn't work, and there are more comprehensive approaches that recognize and value the myriad elements that impact business location choices, such as access to services, quality of life issues for employees, infrastructure, travel modes, and worker training and suitability. It's an approach called "economic gardening."

Take a look at Texas to see what racing to give away corporate incentives does (https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/us...pagewanted=all). Texas has more tax giveaways and incentives than any other state, yet is 46th per pupil financing by state this year? Sure, there up from 49th last year, but there still a long way from caring that a state full of idiots is a poor proposition for future economic success. (Texas improves school funding but still trails most states | Dallas Morning News).

America is the best nation on Earth, or ought to be, and we should be rewarded (paid) for making it that way. Why shouldn't we get more tax dollars than a pissy nation like Ireland? The entire population of the Republic of Ireland is like 4.5 million, and even if you add in Northern Ireland, it's still only about half of the population of Los Angeles alone. What the hell does Ireland have on the USA besides allowing companies to keep more money?

Doge

Note - "they care". Did they paint the support number where you can get a new derailleur hanger sent to you or where you can get a replacement fork with matching paint?
I can't think of companies that do, but I can think of more than one time I would have liked that.

halfspeed

You can't even get a fork with matching paint from "them" when it's a recall replacement.