Stimulus? US to by Chines, ending Alabama jobs

clipped from www.mcclatchydc.com At a time when the federal government is spending billions of stimulus dollars to stem the tide of U.S. layoffs, should that same government put even more Americans out of work by buying cheaper foreign products? In this case, Chinese condoms. That's the dilemma for the folks at the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has distributed an estimated 10 billion U.S.-made AIDS-preventing condoms in poor countries around the world. But not anymore. In a move expected to cost 300 American jobs, the government is switching to cheaper off-shore condoms, including some made in China. The switch comes despite implied assurances over the years that the agency would continue to buy American whenever possible.

The reasons to buy Chinese instead of American included lower prices (2 cents versus more than 5 cents for U.S.-made condoms) and the fact that Congress dropped the “buy American language” in a recent appropriations bill.

Okay, the condoms are a bit cheaper in China, but did anyone ask the Alabama supplier if they negotiate the price to keep the jobs here?

And about that “buy American language”, do we Americans need to be legislated into buying American before we even think that it just might be better for the American economy if we did buy American? Do we really need to be forced to do this?