[Untamed]

Buying American is an ideal way of ensuring the money you spend, stays in the local, state or federal economy. But as was mentioned, "buying American" isn't always buying the parts, services or intellectual property from actual American companies, investors or owners.

I think the problem with buying American, is in the expectations of what is American, what is quality and what is affordable. Companies today are trying to make more, with less, as quickly and as widely distributed as possible. The American people have a certain lifestyle they expect, so the cost to do all this is higher than other countries. Short of changing American's expectation of what is a good lifestyle, nothing else will positively affect American's buying decisions. Quality for the price, will always be the selling point.

Having said all that, and taking into account the discussions about unions, or at least the average laborer who lives and works in the USA, I think the best thing a consumer can do (when talking about cars) is buy a vehicle that is assembled in the USA, made from parts that are in part at least, made in the USA, then sold by a company that has a majority of its holdings in the USA. Todays economy requires outsourcing of everything from parts, to labor to intellectual property. So anything that is designed, assembled, manufactured and sold as "American Made", where the majority of it comes from the USA, is your best bet - when trying to "buy American".

GM fits that viewpoint with some of its vehicles. But so does Toyota, Honda and any other car whose company has built assembly plants in the USA, has contracts with parts makers in the USA, and has set up a separate USA sales division to sell and service cars and parts in the USA. The intellectual property might be Japanese (or other non-USA), allowing money to eventually flow back into a foreign balance sheet. But real money is being paid to USA employees, feeding their families, and allowing them to build quality products that they can be proud of.

Does that viewpoint conjure images of the phrase "sell-out"? In this day and age, I honestly think that phrase is outdated. I bought my Toyota Camry for various reasons - some of which I now regret. But the car was made here in the USA, sold to me by a US citizen, serviced by some very New Jersey grease monkeys, under the company name of North American Toyota Sales Division.

If I had to do it all over again I would have listened to the voice screaming in my head and bought the Grand Prix. Not because its American, or assembled by an American company, but because I like it. No more, no less.