After all these screwball anti-constitutional Kentucky laws I've had to report on lately, it does my heart good to see that Kentucky's finally pushing a new piece of legislation that I can really get behind.
Long-overdue new rule: no more American flags made in China.
WKYT says, "The bill has sailed through two legislative committees and the Senate without a single "no" vote. It now heads to the House floor where Speaker Greg Stumbo is predicting unanimous support. Gov. Steve Beshear also supports the measure. Beshear spokesman Jay Blanton said the governor plans to sign it into law when it arrives in his office."
What I find mind-boggling is that we never had set a standard about this in the first place. I mean, even without considering China's track record for horribly dangerous imports (toxic plastic toys, poisoned pet food, etc.), why on Earth would we as Americans have our flags manufactured anywhere else but here in the USA?
Why on earth would I buy something made here at increased cost when I could get the same thing made elsewhere for a fraction of it? Makes no economic sense to me. But if you're up for paying more based on sentimental reasons, please don't force me to.
ReplyDeleteI find it ironic how you prefaced the post with a concern for "anti-constitutional" laws and proceed to flesh this out.
My reference to "anti-constitutional laws" had nothing to do with the flag issue. It was a direct reference to, as I indicated, certain previous posts about laws that I've complained about on this blog. It wasn't meant to imply that I thought Chinese-made flags were unconstitutional or something.
ReplyDeleteI also didn't say that I wanted Americans to pay more for their flags. If China can make us a flag for a certain price, I am certain an American-made one can be found for that same price if we really look hard enough. (If no one in America is savvy enough to be able to manufacture a cheaper flag, then we're probably all doomed anyway.)
And the proposed law refers to flags purchased by government agencies in Kentucky, not private citizens, of course. So no one's forcing anyone to buy these hypothetical expensive flags, except in the old "harrumph, my taxpayer dollars" sense.
There are some economists who say that outsourcing in order to get a cheaper deal on something actually costs us ALL much more in the long run, because of the gradual deleterious effect on our own workforce and economy. I'm inclined to believe they're on to something with that.
Enough politics. Let's go get a beer and a shot.