So much for that toyota quality..

SEAN!
Well said! and as for Swift & Twain as I recall they both got thier asses kicked for being a lil too sarcastic to the wrong people at the wrong time LOL...
I can take it, its no biggy, but I do think we had better watch our P's & Q's if they start talkin some kinda euro equivalent here and try to replace our money.... I dont care if we buy thier stuff, really as long as the playing field is at least equal or a lil tilted in our favor. Trouble is, its not. Its way tilted in thier favor and it bugs me deeply that the japanese own most of new york real estate. I am not kidding when I say that foreign countries are now and have been getting more & more homogenous. The japanese have been for years & years and have no intention of "rounding" any time soon. I feel this to be a very anti american policy and for that reason I have as little interst in contributing to their growth as is possible. That oil ******** in venezuela is up there too....if his stations were the last ones in the country I would select to walk. That POS is doing everything he can to destroy us financially and we still allow him to sell here and we buy his gas and fund his efforts? WTF? are we nuts? why not just hand him the deeds to our homes and keys to our cars and phone numbers of our daughters? I know it seems a lil radical, but hey that is HOW this country was founded...I think its in our water? LOL if we dont get a lil pissed off and let our ignorant politicians know about it ( and believe me if foreign sales drop THEY will know about it better then YOU writing them a letter)....nothing will happen and this economic decline idiocy will continue
The GAP thing.....well I guess we will have to adopt a more european attitude toward clothing and shoes....instead of having 30 pair, maybe 3 pair of better higher quality shoe would suffice? ( that is just an example NO I dont have 30 pair) same with clothing 3 very high quality outfits vs 10 or 20 medium quality to disposable outfits?
Hell I dont know all the answers, but I do know they do not buy as much from us as we do from them and THAT skews the playing field against us in a major way.
Toyota is not alone in this doo doo.... the Chinese are right now making a car that they intend to market here for pretty much the cost of dirt. That is going to blow the lid off the whole shootin match. No market can compete with what they have come to accept to live on....and they have an equally resource rich country that has yet to be tapped....things here could tank suddenly and it would take us decades to recover if at all. They have zero regard for our standards and they already KNOW as most of us are begining to find out...that which comes to our shores is NOT highly inspected or scrutinized to the level we all assume. most of it just passes by the LONE customs guy/ boarder patrol officer and is allowed in regardless of the lead in the paint or the danger it presents.
Toyota is guilty, of that I have lil doubt. but so is Hundai, Honda, Nissan, Subaroozoom and the rest of the transplants, they are here for the bucks and they do not care WHO they put out of work who they impact or if we starve....as long as the money is flowing back to Japan & korea THEY are happy campers. Just like Honda Hundai zoom zoom and the rest.... fact is WE DONT NEED that many brands...... back in the day ( I am 57) there used to be a huge tarriff on imports......and back then our sales in thier country is about equal to what it is today..... I know Roger Smith and GM went a lil sideways when all their cars looked exactly the same and the infamous K car Cheesh....but I know that foreign governments subsidize their manufacturing ALL of it, not just cars, and their labor is already cheaper so they have an enormous edge.... that our manufacturers do not have. they dont pay for medical, they dont pay retirements they dont have unions....Jesus! it is a wonder we still have companys willing to play in this crazy sandbox! Think of what would be said & done if Iacocca had said ...I am not coming to the federal hearing?
I hear what you are saying but I think it is in our overall best interest to grab onto a lil homogenous-ness ourselves and follow the other golden rule.... treat everybody as you expect to be treated until such time they give you reason to treat them like they treat you..... I think that reason is here NOW and we need to get off our collective asses and show the world that we are madly inventive and creative and that we can produce the best bang for the buck and that we can compete...its going to sting a lil but if we dont do it now its going to kill later on.
Nice banter! look me up if you ever make it to the woodward cruise..... this would be more fun over a burger & beer listening to an watching american muscle roar by...
have a great week
66cuda