"but how does something like that get by?"

It's the race to the bottom. How little can you charge for something? Even if a product is made by convict slave labor children, it's still got to cost something to make, package and ship 7,000 miles.

If you ignore all safety and environmental standards too, then you can really bring the price down.

And if you eliminate all governmental regulations, or even if you don't eliminate them, if you emasculate them by removing anybody who might ever be able to test or check them or see if the product being brought into this country meets current standards - well then, that's how it happens.

We need to bring back manufacturing jobs to this country. We need to put Americans back to work, making quality products. We need to remove tax subsidies to companies that offshore jobs. But most of all we have to stop complaining about cheap foreign imports while we run to stock up on them at Wal-mart and we need to make "Buy American" something that people believe in again and actually follow.

And if we do all these things we'll start to see our economy and our country return to the place in the world where they should be.

Sam

"Where are we going and why are we in this hand basket?"