CNBC's Erin Burnett: We Need China's Toxic Food And Lead Coated Toys To Keep Economy Strong
On Friday's "Hardball" CNBC's Erin Burnett spoke with Chris Matthews about the current instability in the U.S. economy and Burnett had these choice words to say about China:
Download | play 
Download | play (h/t Jane)
"A lot of people like to say, uh, scaremonger about China, right? A lot of politicians, and I know you talk about that issue all the time. I think people should be careful what they wish for on China. Ya know, if China were to revalue it's currency or China is to start making say, toys that don't have lead in them or food that isn't poisonous, their costs of production are going to go up and that means prices at Wal-Mart here in the United States are going to go up too. So, I would say China is our greatest friend right now, they're keeping prices low and they're keeping the prices for mortgages low, too."
Burnett makes a valid point, if China were to revalue it's currency we'd be screwed -- so we should just keep our traps shut, let our children gnaw on lead coated toys and eat potentially lethal food so the Walton family doesn't lose money? I realize it's a much deeper issue than that, but she probably should have used different analogies to get her point across.
Speaking of Wal-Mart, if you haven't yet seen Robert Greenwald's documentary, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, you can pick up a copy here. It'll make you think twice about setting foot in a Wal-Mart again...
So it doesn't matter if the shit is dangerous, just so long as it's cheap?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA....the world's greatest economy needs cheap food and toys or it's going to be destroyed.
that's either orwellian truthspeak or actually true....i can't figure out which is worse....i am sure the stupidity of the american public will buy either.
Okay then, I'm going to keep my trap shut and eat poison food and buy lead paint toys. OR, maybe Americans manufacturerers could use safe materials and pay good workers and then all Americans could afford to buy quality products. But, I guess you can't expect Republicans to think of that, oh yah, then the robber barons wouldn't be making out like the bandits they are.
When I buy poisonous food, I want it at bottom-barrel prices, goddamnit!
I going to the store to pick up some pencils to snack on. Anybody else want some? I am gonna wash it down with Bush flavored Kool-Aid.
-GSD
That is just about the craziest comment I have ever heard. It is like arguing that cancer and auto accidents are good things because of the obvious economic benefits -- expensive surgery, car repairs, lots of prescriptions, rehab for orthopedic surgery, extra police, ambulances, an absolute boon.
You think Erin or Tweety have ever been in a Wal-Mart?
To quote Moe Howard - "This... would be beneath you!" Nyuk nyuk nyuk
during this same segment (at the end), matthews sexually harassed (IMHO) erin burnett.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200708120002
he asked her to keep getting closer to the camera, then said "im just kidding, you are a knockout." and "you're beautiful".
its big-time pervy...
MATTHEWS: Could you get a little closer to the camera?
BURNETT: My -- what is it? Is it zooming in strangely?
MATTHEWS: Come on in closer. No, come in -- come in further -- come in closer. Really close.
BURNETT: What are you -- what are you doing?
MATTHEWS: Just kidding! You look great! Anyway, thanks. Erin, it's great to -- look at that look. You're great.
BURNETT: I don't even know. I'm going to have to go look at the tape here. I'm in a strange location.
MATTHEWS: No, you're beautiful. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. You're a knockout. Anyway, thank you, Erin Burnett.
BURNETT: All right, Chris. See you later.
MATTHEWS: It's all right getting bad news from you, even, OK? Thanks for coming on Hardball.
I need china to lick my balls
Just when you think the corporate media cannot possibly spew more rubbish, here comes Erin Burnett. Why these dupes continue to be given a platform escapes me.
Yeah? Fu@k China, and I say that without apology. Their gov't are some of the most arrogant, racial supremacist $#!+heads on the face of the Earth, and while the neocons here in America are screwing us 'til Kingdom Come, the Chinese gov't are laughing all the way to the bank -LITERALLY.
LOL. China merely indicates it may decide to dump the Dollar in response to our escalating anti-China rhetoric and we fold at the speed of light. When you've borrowed enough, the Bank owns your ass.
Say what you will, there's no denying Bush is doing a Heck of a Job.
Iran, here we come.
Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
USA, USA, USA.
"Low prices for hazardous foods and merchandise in exchange for a high death toll".
Now that is a Republican economy to vote for.
Go ahead GOP, use it as a campaign slogan.
Erin Burnett is another example of the failure of private schools...................!
I have some e coli veggies I can sell erin for cheap. If she's so supportive.
You have to appreciate the irony that the Chinese are doing to us what we along every other world power did to the Chinese over a hundred years ago. Of course the poisons they are pushing on us are a little more subtle then opium, but we are just as addicted to their exports as they were to ours, and consequences from not buying from them maybe just as dire.
Chris (My Two Sense) @ 8:
Chris, thanks for that great find. It's not just Matthews, btw. Anyone who has watched Morning Joe on MSNBC with Joe Scarborough knows that he gets all giddy when Erin's segments come on and he constantly fawns over her. It gets old really quick.
rasta @ 2:
Rest assured, it's the truth. You think this kind of free-ride bullshit can go on forever? Sooner or later, China's gonna want to crawl out of the third world mud. They're gonna rule the world folks, better get used to the idea.
never been in a Wal Mat..as for the bimbo....what do you expect.....BOOOO...same old shit.....We wouldn't have to worry about China revaluing there dong or whatever it's called if Chimp wouldn't of sold out the country
Too bad we don't outsource the jobs of these Corporate Media talking heads. I'm sure they could find some people in China or India to regurgitate corporate talking points at a fraction of the cost.
I like China and have a few wonderful friends there. And they do make some decent products too outside the lead paint and contaminated food ones. But yeah she really put her foot in her mouth on that!
She didn't...she didn't imply that we shouldn't complain about dangerous food and goods from China so they don't ruin our economy did she?? No one can be THAT stupid.
Yes, she's that stupid.
Just how badly DO we need tainted food and toys and stuff, especially from China?
Imagine if China were to revalue it’s currency even while we continued to consume all of their shit? Naw, could never happen -- not at least BEFORE the Olympics.
China Tells America: Eat That Shit Or We Shoot This Dog
http://tootruthy.blogspot.com/2007/05/china-to-america-eat-that-shit-or-...
Logan Murphy @ 15:
the way some of these guys act is really weird...like they've never been around an attractive woman before.....ok maybe she's not a bimbo.......but then again....maybe she is.
Inca Garcilaso de la Vega @ 10:
Because the Corporate Media pays them to spew such rubbish. It's just the mouthpiece for the economic elite.
The media is only as Liberal as the corporations who own it. Who ever heard of a Liberal corporation? Doesn't really make any sense when you think about it.
Too bad we don't outsource the jobs of these Corporate Media talking heads. I'm sure they could find some people in China or India to regurgitate corporate talking points at a fraction of the cost.
Hey Erin, have a nice helping of lead paint chips in your coffee and tell us how grateful we should all be.
(that is, if you haven't already)
I needed a flashlight a couple weeks ago. I went to the local hardware store, and a couple of big box stores. That's all we have around here. I could not find one made in the U.S.A. All made in China or East Bunglefuck. So, I went onto eBay and found a nice Eveready made here in 1923. It is a beauty and cost less than 20 bucks. AND it will last!
Buy used. Recycle. Make do.
There are exactly two things I'd agree w/ Dick Cheney on:
I fu@king hate the Chinese gov't and I fu@king hate the Russian gov't.
Don't get me wrong, I think Dirty Dick's a total piece of $#!+ and oughta be deported to Saudi Arabia, but the Chinese and Russian gov't's really are worse than our own.
It's still possible to make the effort to find or grow non-Chinese food and shop for non-Chinese toys and products. And the ignorant masses who can't be bothered can die a slow death . If the U.S. economy depends on killing it's own people, it may be time to kill the economy and start over .
But I'm sure these are not products she consumes. Her child doesn't knaw on lead-paint toys. That's just for lunks like us. The class warfare of the plutocrats and their apologists against the rest of us is out of control. And of course it's impossible to inspect these items effectively so as to protect us. Why that would be socialism.
Chris (My Two Sense) @ 8
Haha.. yeah I saw that too. That's just creepy.
Its too late. We have sold out to china in so many ways including outsourcing , just ask Costanza. Its getting out of control.
Wait till Erin puts on some of that make up that is laced with arsenic or something low in cost of cancer producing.
Chris likes her because she'll do anything for a buck and provide the service at the lowest cost.....
Right there at Wal Mart, right Erin..............
She doesn't care about the people that shop at WalMart, obviously. She's never shopping there and neither is Tweety, so why would they give a sh!t about the people who do? All that matters is that prices can be held down so that the corporations peddling this toxic merchandise continue to make money. That's what makes America great, after all.
What amazes me about this clip is how open she is about her attitude. She might just as easily have said, "Well, well, f*ck 'em if they can't afford to shop in a decent store."
On the other hand, she probably knows that the only people watching Tweety's show are fellow elitist fatheads (and the few people checking up on them).
Yeah, what would it matter if we started gettin' cheap pharmaceuticals from China and they shipped placebos rather than antibiotics. I mean, good fer the economy, right?
Ms. Burnett's statement is one of the dumbest things of heard in a long time- and I saw Date Movie!
The Chinese gov't. does have laws preventing lead paint on toys, does have laws preventing anti-freeze from going into toothpaste, does have laws preventing a poisonous protein analogue being used in food, and even has a minimum wage law (~$1/hr)!
However, the country has grown so fast in the past 15-20 years that the central government can't enforce these laws. They pretty much left this task up to the local authorities, and of course, the local authorities answer to the highest bidder (ie: bigger profit margins for the corporation).
lilybelle @ 30:
These corporate hacks don't consume the same cheap stuff we poor working stiffs have to. They can afford to buy luxury products. Little wonder that they aren't concerned if we great unwashed masses get slowly poisoned, lose our jobs and suffer declines in our wages do to cheap imports.
Re-evaluating the yuan to where it should be is a two edged sword. Yes it would hurt us greatly, almost the same amount it would hurt China when demand slows in american market.
Just look at what happened to Japan in very similar situation when they started pushing yen up, they went stagnant for 10plus years. No free lunch in nafta world.
One other thing, most of the furniture being retailed in America is being made there. Talk about toxic, they use finishes and materials that are truly toxic. One of the most dangerous health jobs is selling furniture because of fumes from this trash.
I can't wait until the Big Mac has a sesame flavored shredded cardboard bun. I don't remember if it was China, but sandwiches were being served on buns which didn't contain any flour - just cardboard. USDA and FDA approved once meant reliable and now it means profitable. It's time to gut political appointees from the government workforce and restore civil service. Stop the privatization of government services. I can't believe how the Republicans in Congress were bragging about stopping the Democrats who wanted to return the collection of back taxes function to the IRS employees. It costs two dollars to collect fourteen dollars for IRS employees and privatization costs ten dollars to collect three dollars. More fuzzy math from the GOP. If you create a pot of gold, these squirrels will find a way to steal it
She got a job at CNBC because she understands economics. Not.
MSNBC is trying to say that China gives good old America inferior products? Good old America? The producers of such great products as the Ford Pinto (blows up real good), Patriot Missile (almost blows up it's targets sometimes), and of course who could forget the manufacturers involved in the yearly recalls for defects that seem to expand yearly. And we worry about inferior products from other countries?
I have never posted before, but this was one of the dumbest statements I have ever heard from a so called news person.
Let me get this straight. Communist China is our superbest friend, and Communist Cuba is our superworst enemy? Why don't we export our for-profit health insurance racket to Communist China and import the public health program from Communist Cuba? That should really help our superbest friend and screw our superworst enemy.
That was beyond heinous. She can have my entire share of Chinese food products. Bon apetite.
OK, now that she cleared it all up for me and I now understand that China is our best frien, I guess it's my patriotic duty to go to Walmart and buy as many lead-laden toys and as much poisonous food from China as I can. Whew. I'm so glad she straightened me out on that. Bye. Gotta go shopping!!
Really, what about the buyers at WalMart and Costco and whoever? Someone is the willing customer in this issue, and it's not China.
Chris (My Two Sense) @ 8:
When is Tweets gonna get out his loofah and start calling her at home?
mjs @ 41:
Heck that's nothing, stick around awhile, C&L is the best blog for documenting rightwing WTF moments, and they're all caught on tape.
What a parasitic apologist.
What America needs are corporate CEO's that are willing to make less money and get rid of the parasites that aren't.
Mike C @ 20:
Yes she did. And we should not be surprised by now. We have endured this school of thought championing profit above everything else for over a generation. As hard as it is for some of us to comprehend, these people actually do believe we have to sacrifice our health, our liberty and our dignity to please Wall Street. That was no slip of the tongue. She meant what she said. Perhaps though, she erred in saying it in front of the rest us. We hear the same argument again and again. We can't afford a reasonable health-care system, or rail way, or schools. A mighty country like ours cannot manage to keep its citizens safe from industrial and agricultural poisons and keep the prices down and the profits up. They are right, in a way. It simply has become unsustainable. So, something has to give. Our pundit friend and her associates have decided that we will just have to do without our health. Given a choice between obscene wealth (for them) and a reasonable life (for the rest of us), which do you think they will choose? Know thy enemy!
Go ahead, laugh at me! But you people better be careful what you wish for on Iraq. If Iraq were to become peaceful, we would have to bring our troops home, then they would all be unemployed. The insurgents are our greatest friends right now. They're bringin' it on, and there's no sign of letting up.
Karl Bauer @ 27:
Karl Bauer @ 27:
Since when?
[deleted - refers to deleted comment]
Let's take it down a notch.
Blue Buddha @ 35:
WOW! Sounds like here.
This is based upon the very merest of observations, but prices tend to be better at Target than at Walmart. WM's "we're so flaming low priced" marketing is such bullshit. I don't go to WM unless I've run out of other immediate options, and am almost always disappointed, in at least one way, sometimes multiple ways, when I do.
The best price isn't necessarily the best deal.
I hold no delusions Target is squeaky-clean but when I patronize one I don't come out feeling filthy.
I think the issue here is that Chinese have financed the national debt that George Bush decided to run up, and as a result, they are in a position to do a great deal more damage then the sub-prime mortgage issue could ever cause.
(China's fiscal 'nuclear' option).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/08/07/bcnchi...
Anyhow, China and others are developing Sovereign Wealth Funds with an eye towards investments other than in treasury securities.
Chris @8, thank you for pointing this out. I saw Matthews disgraceful comments to Erin Burnett but wasn't recording it. What the hell is wrong with him? He's said some truly bizarre things recently. His guess that Fred Thompson smells like aqua velva, the constant references to Clinton's cleavage, and now this.
Has anyone checked him for Lyme disease? It can affect the brain.
Well if your dead from their lead you won't need a mortgage. Maybe if they quit buying our bonds then Bush won't have any credit to fight his war. Since the Dems are to chicken shit to cut funding someone has to cut him off. Keep mortgage rates low? This hasn't been true for a while now. The money from the bonds that we have been been bankrupting our selves with is supposed to be the reason that rates are low. Prior to the Iraq war this was true. Since then it has gone to war.
EH @ 45:
You have got to be kidding or brain dead. This isn't buying drugs in a back alley.
Well, there you have it. For our friends China and the Walton family to keep providing us with things cheaper than we can make them ourselves we should be willing to poison our children, relinquish our rights and assume debt we cannot repay. If the words tea, East India Company and British Empire come to mind, they should.
Robt @ 32:
...you got it as I said earlier...she is like Coulter...onlt way to shut ´em up is to....a guy Says knows what I mean :)...het guy?
Isn't Erin's attitude wonderful? If the products China makes are made well enough NOT to KILL you, you won't be able to afford them. Just be poor, buy their crap and die. Very nice. Really, I mean that.
Anyone who has to think twice before setting foot in a Wal-Mart, has yet to think at all.
Peace!
"These corporate hacks don’t consume the same cheap stuff we poor working stiffs have to. They can afford to buy luxury products. Little wonder that they aren’t concerned if we great unwashed masses get slowly poisoned, lose our jobs and suffer declines in our wages do to cheap imports." -snowball
Yep. If the educated middle class (who the corporate elites hate competing with and explains why they love outsourcing) choke on all that tainted shit, that way, they don't have pull the trigger...
Our disappearing jobs? Iraq? Crumbing infrastructures? Subprime lending crimes? Won't affect the Haves, only the Have-Nots who sit idly by and watch.
IT'S NOT THE ECONOMY, STUPID. IT'S YOUR JOB.
Wow I wonder if she thought about what she ACTUALLY said after the interview!!??
Capitalism at its lowest common denominator. Love to hear her amend her comments
Lead is proven to lower IQ. Do they (Corporate America & China) want us to have dumber children? The reporter should give a spoonful to her children and see what happens. f'in moron &*^&*^*&*&(*()$$$%!!
rasta @ 2:
Great sound byte!
.
ROFLMAO
So, as long as Wall-Mart is able to keep their shelves stocked with lead based paint toys and poisonous food... we'll be fine... RIGHT?
.
I've heard the US manufacturers (not the government) are the ones responsible to verify that their products that are made overseas are safe...
Isn't that just a little like the fox guarding the henhouse?....
Lead and Mercury never hurt me, but a little in your diet will save you some bucks. Think about that.
Thank God everything is made in China!
Erin, it won't matter what China's currency is worth if we are all dead from poisoning. With Friends like them---who needs enemies? What a sickening commentary by a true airhead greedmeister.
sad tat she doesn't have the ba!!'s to say...
The U.S. Government can buy back the FED at any time for $450 million (per Congressional record). The U.S. Treasury could then collect all the profit on our money instead of the 300 original shareholders of the FED. The $9.8 trillion of U.S. debt could be exchanged dollar for dollar with U.S. non- interest bearing currency when the debt becomes due. There would be no inflation because there would be no additional currency in circulation. Personal income tax could be cut if we bought back the FED and therefore, the economy would expand. According to the Constitution, Congress is to control the creation of money, keeping the amount of inflation or deflation in check. If Congress isn't doing their job, they should be voted out of office.
People in America need to realize jus what got America in this shape..."cheap" yes so-call cheap items from a foreign land and now the largest company in America wants to make everything "green" but at the same time they put 95% made in China in their stores in China and support Chinese export...don't take my word...its on their China web page quote*Wal-Mart firmly believes in local procurement. We recognize that by purchasing quality products, we can generate more job opportunities, support local manufacturing and boost economic development. Over 95% of the merchandise in our stores in China is sourced locally. We have established partnerships with nearly 20,000 suppliers in China. *end quote! Now! if there be 182 country's making items for the world to buy and they have only 5% of the pie in China...duh! This company makes the nice people of China support their currency(yuan) by keeping it in their country working for the people there.... but with the "yuan" going up in value and the US dollar going down...all the foreign items that the American consumer buys thinking it is cheap has went up in price. People...its all about the currency and to keep a currency strong you got to keep it floating around the country you live in so it can work for you. For the past 12 years all them US dollars are being shipped overseas to a foreign bank and with the American worker not making anything for the foreigner to buy the "we the people" have to turn to the "second" largest employer in America(Uncle Sam) to sell "we the people" debt in order to get all them dollars back! 50 years ago a foreigner would had given their left nut for a US dollar or a Hershey's chocolate bar and today the same foreigner has got Uncle Sam and the American consumer by both all the while Hershey is moving the chocolate factory to Mexico. Wake up! America and think "MADE IN AMERICA."
Shit! Does this mean we have to start eating or playing with our martgages?
Tweety didn't even blink either. He was like "Yeah, right....."
He also seemed to be flirting with her, which was pretty weird.
So if China is really our pal like Erin says and keeping our costs down. Would China be willing to take over in the Iraq occupation?
It would be cheaper that way and Wal Mart could supply the Chinese troops and make an a big corporate profit for America. Well for the Waltons anyways.........
If it was about cheap labor we wouldn't be paying top dollar to Blackwater that is priced way above military costs...........................
Another know-nothing media whore telling us the mess the assholes they love to cheerlead have created is good for us. Eat shit, err, I mean eat Chinese.
The bonds that China buys to allow Bush to get credit to run his war reset every 60 days. Let's say Bush gets pissy with China for whatever reason - maybe pushes them a little too hard to revalue their currency or speaks too forcefully about their human rights violations. When the next 60 days comes around, China can say, "Hey, we're calling in our bonds! Pay up!" Oops, that would put a slight damper on Wall Street. That's the real scary about China.
#69 ticktock,
More like the Gators tucking their kill underneath the water for later........................
China is our greatest friend right now, they’re keeping prices low and they’re keeping the prices for mortgages low, too.”
More crap and spin from the MSM. The fact is that China has us by the short hairs. They know our currency is worthless and our economy is nothing more than an addict begging for another fix. In this case the Federal Reserve was more than willing to comply as well as other central banks. The dollar is toast and while the markets may exhibit some form of anemic rally over the next couple of days, this entire house of cards will soon collapse on itself and the US dollar with go through the same death throws as the German Mark did when it took a wheel barrow full of German marks just to purchase a loaf of bread.
I guess being stupid is a requirement to be on TV
I don't know who to thank more.
Bush or China?
My top 3 tips to save even more money!
1. Hungry for more cake?
Eat the box it came in.
2. Can't afford gas?
Syphon some from your neighbors car.
3. Have no social security?
Get arrested.
Life is good!
She's an idiot and here's my 2 cents.
Have worked for a Hong Kong company supplying toys from China to mass market retailers in the U.S. for 22 years.
It's not as unsafe as one would think. Most retailers have very stringent testing requirements and do a pretty good job of policing the Chinese factories. Not perfect by any means but pretty effective nonetheless. I was very surprised to hear of the Mattel issue.
I think I have had one item recalled. Pool dive sticks that the design posed a danger and have since been banned.
#51 david hawes:
well, for starters we are still able to debate this on our computers.
try it in china. try it in russia.
like i already said, i despise the neocons and want to see billy kristol fed to a school of pirrhana, but the chinese and russians gov't's really are a hell of a lot worse than what we've got. that's all i'm saying...
miss skeptic, your #76,
China is pals with Iran and gets a large percent of their oil from Iran.
So when GW mouths off to Iran, China is listening. Now Cheney might not care about China and get stupid over Iran. Cheney will be taken care of by his Dubai Haliburton. There again, Bush's family fortune
is not subjected to part of the repyment to China either.
What these guys are doing to the American economy will not infict economic pain on them as it will us as Americans. They can just move to another country to exploit. Maybe GW considers taking over where Saddam left off in Iraq. He did say it would be easies in a dictatorship. Thats how his corporate fascist mindset works.
I thought she was being sarcastic, no one can REALLY be that stupid.............can they????????
WalMart should have a Blue Light Special pick your poison sale!!! Also a DEAD-DOG-MEAT DEPARTMENT!!! YUMMY!!!!
" I thought she was being sarcastic, no one can REALLY be that stupid………….can they???????? "
Have you ever watched a guy named O Rielly ? Or listened to a feller name Rush on the Radio ?
Frank Zappa:
I suppose the same could be said of the illusion of giving a damn about the citizens. Erin, you have Wal-Mart disease. similar to mad cow disease, but in your case I'd say it's probably more like mad pig disease.
Not much of a smart economist there.
Sure the shit's cheap now in the short run, but thwen that lead paint poisons your kid and that poisonous food well, poisons and kills you and your kids (fter making you deathly ill for a long time), the costs are extrmely expensive.
It's a hell of a lot cheaper to pay someone here or elsewhere a living wage to produce products that are safe now and in the future than to pay people such low wages they can't afford the health care to take care of the sickness caused by the cheap products.
What's that old medical saying, "An ounce of prevention is worth a gallon of treatment." Unless, like this CNBC anchor, you own lots of stock in HMOs. Then, please people, get sick! Eat risky foods so you have to pay higher premiums and give me more profit!
By the way, what does it take to get fired by CNBC? A sense of the public good?
the last 5 seconds of this clip = the most important
Mortgages - China has our economy by the short and curlies.
Oh, and, why is the crap we fill our houses with so cheap?
Pah, everyone knows that food and toys are just red herrings to distract the giant flock of sheep that is the American public. (And it seems many of the forum goers as well)
Look under your keyboard, your mouse, your pots, pans and bowls. Look behind your monitor, your speakers, your microwave, behind your computer (or under your laptop). Look at your pens, pencils, stapler, hole puncher, your CDs and DVDs.
Chances are most (if not all) these items are made in China, in fact I daresay 90% of your household items are made in China (not just the cheap ones). In fact, food (with the exception of rice and certain vegetables) is perhaps the only thing outside the automobile industry that China has NOT dominated in the US. And speaking of automobiles, cars are just as good a source as Chinese made toys to get your daily lead dosage.
We're battling Wal-Mart here in Austin, Texas, at a location called Northcross Mall. They're trying to build one of the largest ones in the whole state right in the middle of our city amongst thousands of homes, rather than beside a highway, where such a supercenter belongs. It would be one of their new "urban" Wal-Marts, which are skinnier, but two-stories tall and with a three-story parking garage. This affects you. Yes, YOU! One is coming to a neighborhood near you -- or yours -- if we don't stop this one. It would add as many as 20-25,000 cars into the middle of our neighborhoods, which are already congested. We've sued our own city and the developer to stop it. Imagine that. Thousands of citizens suing their own city government, which stood shoulder-to-shoulder with developers and did nothing to stop the development, rather than stand beside the people. In Austin, Texas! (And we're the blue part of the state.) Even after we formed a 1-square mile wide human chain around the property to protest the development, and signed petitions, and protested downtown, etc.
Help us at Responsible Growth for Northcross. www.rg4n.org. We need donations and encouragement.
rasta @ 2:
my favorite post on here. thanks for noticing
Lord of Karma @ 14:
my 2nd favorite post on here. even more ironic that the majority aren't even concerned about dangerous consumer goods until it hits them.
***
The funny thing I think is, Wal Mart sells a lot of pretty necessary items very cheap, to people who really need stuff at a cheap price. I mean, they market to a pretty wide group of demographs, but a key group of demographs are the lower class. the poor.
aka - the 15% not covered by healthcare, according to Michael Moore (and our own government).
so... Ms. Barnett's not thinking big enough here. By propping up this business model, we create a greater need for publicly-funded (aka taxpayer-funded) healthcare services. More broke people buying antifreeze-laced toothpaste in 2007 than in 2003 = More people going to the hospital for antifreeze-ingestion complications in 2007 than in 2003.
Math must be hard for Ms. Burnett. Demographic mathematics is even tougher. But Chris is right, you really do look great. love the lip gloss..
Mug @ 79:
No, just on CNBC. You have to be unashamedly greedy and utterly morally corrupt, as well. I switched to Bloomberg ages ago for my financial news.
I don't need no stinkin' toys
burnt @ 93:
Maybe this is a new way of warfare, sell your adversary poisoned products . . . lead is perfect . . . . acts slowly . . . makes people stupid . . . . great for American Idol viewership!
Jason Meeker @ 92:
anonymous @ 97:
Hillarymart
A couple random thoughts here - watching her body language as she spoke, and the wording, 'if China is to start making say, toys that don’t have lead in them or food that isn’t poisonous..., it seemed pretty obvious she was well aware of the irony, even teetering ever so gently over the edge of sarcasm. Does she believe America SHOULD import hazardous toys and food? I rather doubt it. I do believe, however, that she believes we're now in a position where we have little other choice, like it or not.
More random thoughts: Beijing has the Olympics. But the air pollution there is so bad that the Olympic committee can (and has strongly hinted that they WILL) not allow athletes to complete in conditions hazardous to their health. This would be a disaster for the Chinese, both in reputation (which all racial sneers here aside, they do care about) and financially. The Chinese responded - they shut down all road traffic for a week to see if they could clear the air sufficiently for the games. Apparently, they're having trouble even with that - it ain't just the cars, it's the crappy factories spewing junk in the air as well. The Chinese may be arrogant, ambitious, greedy bastards - but then, what exactly is the difference between them and the SUV driving, gun-toting, ignorant bigoted redneck bastards who put Bush into power and gutted our country? The Chinese will end up the same way as we did - if they're not smart enough to learn from our bad example in time.
A third random thought: We're all talking about the Chinese pulling the plug like it's only the States who will be financially ruined, and the rest of the world will just skip along tra-la-la without a worry. If the Chinese were truly stupid enough (and I seriously doubt that they are) to revalue their currency to such a level where the dollar becomes even more toilet papery than it is now, the global repercussions would be massively destructive - and not even China would escape unscathed. Yes, they can, and will, use their massive holdings as extortion to get what they want out of the US - but you can't blackmail a corpse. They have no intention of completely destroying the US economy. (For that, you can look closer to home, around Pennsylvania Avenue, say).
So, folks, it may well be that China owns our arses. But that doesn't mean we have to import dangerous toys or toxic food to survive. It does mean, however, that we have to stop thinking like the arrogant, ambitious, greedy bastards WE have been for far too long and start fixing what's wrong at home rather than blaming the Chinese for wanting to be the new 'us'.
She is right, though... prices for safer toys WILL go up at Wal-Mart.
By the way, maybe the question that ought to be asked instead is: Are Americans so dumb, that we can't make our own toys here in this country? If so, then we can only blame ourselves, and the idiot voters that keep reelecting the same crooked politicians, over and over, who ALLOW China to sell us EVERYTHING, almost tax free to them, and they buy very little from us except a few airplanes.
PRICELESS!
you wanna help the economy? buy lead painted toys and poisoned food.
Bitches!
I'm guessing she already ate one of those tainted food products if she can come up with an argument that stupid. The production in China isn't cheap, because of lax regulation, but because the workers are practically indentured servants for our corporations. The yuan is low, because China subsidizes private and state enterprises, not because they're actually competing in the global market.
Thanks, C&L, for picking up on these WEIRD comments.
I was watching this when it aired and commented to my wife, "What did she say? Did she say we have to keep buying this cheep shit from China?"
THEN... I was totally CREEPED OUT by what Tweety said to her at the end of the segment about coming closer to the camera. At first I thought he was watching the Two-Shot and HIS HEAD WAS BIGGER THAN HERS... then I thought, What a silly fucking GOOFBALL he is to be making a point about THAT!?! Then, well, it was just CREEPY the way he ended the segment. He must have been picturing her NAKED, or something.
HE's weirded out. Time for TWEETY to retire to his own GREEN PASTURES in Vermont or maybe Iceland.
Several things:
1. Maaaan she is hot.
2. What a stupid example to make.
3. The actual point Erin is trying to make holds water.
The thing is, in order to keep Walmart prices down for sh*t we don't need is to keep the living standards of Chinese down too.
=my2c
we are prisoners to the offshoring first crowd. We have no more domestic factories as these corporations only care about this quarters financials
I was watching Friday also when she made that stupid comment. I immediately emailed the show. Glad to see it posted. Tweety was weird Friday. After the episode with her he had two women on talking about Sen. Clintons' "I'm your girl" comment. After which he commented that they both wore pearls. He has some kind of fixation with pearls.
You buy it then Erin and I'll see you next Tuesday. If you don't rot away from poor health.
bs on every level. china need us most as a partner, and we continue to print currency that is only barely more worthless than theirs. they send the worst to us, that is all they have. we also get their pollution. good trade for the cheap crap we trade we purchase to equalize their purchasing america's worthless bonds and inflated property. funny shit all around
Last weeks 'liquidity crisis' in the markets was in reality the Chinese tweaking the dollar to rattle some cages about shedding too much light on its human rights abuses, tainted food, crummy toys and Wal-Mart. They are holding quite a handful of dollars.
I'm supposed to give a shit about the economy after I've died from poisoned food from China? Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees. The bubble's going to burst, like Repug-lite Hillary will do anything to stop it. Enjoy the luxuries of middle-class while you can.
And it's meteor shower night for anyone who missed that. No moon this year too, excellent viewing.
Wal-Mart Brand Soylent Green: Made in China.
Thanks Nonny Mouse@99 for the interesting thoughts on the post.
There's a great Frontline documentary about Walmart available for viewing at:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/
Then there is the Independent Lens documentary "China Blue" which isn't available in its entirety for viewing online, but there are video segments available:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/chinablue/film.html#
The film traces one young woman as she travels from her rural home to find a job in a Chinese blue jeans factory. She works for pennies an hour (when she gets paid) and sometimes is forced to work around the clock. Once employed, workers often can't return home because they don't have enough money to purchase their bus tickets.
It is the buyers who set the prices, often threatening to take their business elsewhere if 20 or 30 cents isn't shaved off the unit price.
Quote from the factory owner:
"Usually I pay the workers all together about one dollar for a pair of jeans."
Erin Burnett:
Yeah, Erin, producing poisonous food (I assume by lacking effective regulations) keeps prices low and I suppose as an additional benefit from your perspective, the poisonous food will keep populations low.
You are one sick and twisted puppy, Erin.
“A lot of people like to say, uh, scaremonger about China, right?"
Huh? WTF?
That someone so inarticulate is considered qualified to even read cue cards, let alone comment extemporaneously on important matters, is all you need to know about the moron executives who run cable TV news.
And I'm sure that Tweety had a sweaty grip on something very dear to him when he was asking the bimbo to come closer to the TV.
Inca Garcilaso de la Vega @ 10:
Well, because they toe the corporate line, that's why.
Where does this imbecile come off?
We need China to poison us so we could have a good economy?
We need China so the prices at Wal-Mart could remain low?
We need China so our mortgage rates remain low?
First, if China does re-evaluate their currency, we deserve what happens for not keeping our currency strong.
Second, Chinese workers are paid slightly above what the slaves in America were paid.
Thirdly, if Wal-Mart imported QUALITY items, they wouldn't have to be replaced so often.
And why should I care about Wal-Marts success? Do they care about me? If they did they would stock better merchandise.
America imports so much from China because it is cheap. We import faulty toys, tainted foods and pelts that are stripped from live animals.
Erin Burnett, perhaps you enjoy the poor quality of dvd players, the taste of anti freeze in your dog food or the smell of cat fur around your snorkel coat. I don't.
I would rather pay more for American made items. Perhaps then the Chinese economy wouldn't be such a threat to ours.
Google American made merchandise. There are many vendors that sell things only made in America. Of course it will cost more because we believe that people deserve a decent wage and perhaps some benefits for their work.
I can't even begin to reply to the Chinese affect on American mortgage rates.
jharp @ 82:
I dunno, it's in line with my retail experience, too. We had a recall of pedal cars from China at Discovery Channel Store because of lead paint. Exact same deal.
One simply needs to ask what society would possibly still PRODUCE lead paint, never mind put it on a child's toy, and therein lies your answer. There's no excuse for it.
Eternal Vigilance @ 118:
Wait a minute. Lead paint on toy cars. Wingnuts on tv talking about how they love to buy cheap chinese goods without regulations. The wingnut population appearing to become dumber and dumber over the generations.
Connection? Hmm.....
kablooie @ 111:
You beat me to it :)
[...] Video here [...]
Eternal Vigilance,
"One simply needs to ask what society would possibly still PRODUCE lead paint, never mind put it on a child’s toy, and therein lies your answer. There’s no excuse for it."
Think of it as "what society would possibly still produce metha amphetamine". Just like the U.S. there are a lot of crooks looking to make some dough. It's really tough to police.
When will we stop calling these pundits "corporate shills" and start calling them what they are: "mentally handicapped."
Have there ever been so many people who can so passionately defend behavior so reprehensible, be it suggesting we need another 9/11 or that lead paint in kids' toys is somehow a necessary trade-off. Crrraaaazzzzyyy.
They don't let 'em get behind the wheel of a car, and they shouldn't let 'em get behind a mic.
By the way, the reason we've given China so much power over our economy isn't because we're helping keep their operating costs low—it's because Bush has mortgaged the country to the hilt to pay for his idiotic war.
But let's not look too deeply into the root causes, let's talk about how China's power rests in low-price pet food and children's toys.
Its really hard to believe where television "journalism" has deevolved. Completely idiotic!
[...] Logan Murphy @ Crooks and Liars. This entry was written by whig and posted on August 12, 2007 at 10:22 pm and filed under [...]
WoW 100+ comments and only two people who got Erin's message across to them.
We're in this strange predicament where we are slave to China NOT re-evaluating their currency. Because, if they did, this means they will have to stop buying our treasury bills.
The hidden message here is the hypocrites on capital hill keeps hawking about Yuan's peg to the dollar when they are the same ones selling China our treasury bills hence making many Americans living pay check to pay check sensitive to EVEN sight hikes in made in China toys' COGS.
Maybe you guys ingested too much lead paint or Erin is just too smart for her own good.
What comes through in her commentary is that investors are scared to death of China right now. They know that China doesn't need to launch missiles at us to destroy us, all they need to do is dump a few billion in Treasuries on the market at the bid price and watch our economy implode. then they can come pick up the pieces at Wal-Mart prices. That being said, China really does not want to do this, because they need us almost as badly as we need them. If the American economy does implode, all that debt becomes worthless, and the Chinese become bagholders. They are a lot smarter than that.
President PNACcio @ 129:
You're one of the few who really have come to the truth of the situation... China will try to use the leverage of the threat of their "nuclear option" as they call it but they wouldn't do it in a million years and the idea that it is because they would lose big time on their debt is only part of the problem for them.
The other part is that the Europeans are so heavily invested in the US that they would also throw a major big time fit at China were they to do that. Witness the European Unions response to our real estate crisis... The Fed throws about 40 Billion of liquidity into the market, the EU threw 130 Billion into it. Why you may ask? Because European funds and companies have been investing in both commercial and residential real estate her in the US for quite some time.
If China actually were stupid enough to start dumping their treasury bills, they would not only severely damage the dollar and the US economy, but also the EU and in one fell swoop they would destroy their two biggest markets! It ain't gonna happen!
Remember folks! Profits before people!
I was with my wife when she said that and both of looked at each other and went 'no she deed'n!!' What was even more astonishing was that Tweety didn't even say anything her outrageous comment. Instead, he asked her to get closer to the camera like he was gonna kiss her or something. I am not kidding. He kept saying, 'can you get close to the camera?' and she was shocked herself with the question. She kept saying 'why?'... It was soooo creepy. She finally said, 'i have to watch the tape on this show.' lol Well, there's journalism in the 21st century for ya!!! It is unbelievable!
ethiolib,
Yes i just read the quote above:
Chris (My Two Sense) @ 8:
I know I've said this a million times, but this is the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard!
etane @ 128:
The point is, we're *not* screwed if we force China to make safe quality products, or create them here.
know why?
cuz prices, will get driven up. if prices get driven up, then... monies will be transferred, Profits will be made from this. just not the kind of profit Erin wants..
America's a melting pot, right? a big frickin stew. The richies floating at the top of the economic stew these days watch mind numbing reality tv shows and invest in Ford, crappy houses, and Wal Mart driven profits. They need the poor to buy that crap. If that crap has lead paint on it, the poor won't buy it. Or they'll get it somewhere else. I don't care how prevalent Wal Mart is. Ultimately, prices will go up.
Think of it like a big spoon dipping into that melting pot, stirring it, pulling the ingredients from the top to the bottom, and the bottom to the top. Its bound to happen. Banks secured loans for houses to consumers who can't pay for their houses, credit cards, car loans, etc. Those loans are backed by struggling (and Enron-esque shady) corporations beholden to too many shareholders, and too many Chinese manufacturing plants. So a big karmic/economic spoon's stirring the melting pot.
Prices will most definitely go up. Because of the generation of lots and lots of new blue collar jobs in QA - overseeing design, manufacturing, shipping and storing. It'd be nice to see more corporations with a quality QA department anyway. I couldn't help but notice that was one of the first departments most corporations cut after 9/11 and Enron hurt our economy a long time ago, and it just never bounced back.
Companies will have to charge more money to pay for more jobs that have to pay good salaries to a whole bunch of people making crappy salaries nowadays, cuz QA work ain't cheap janitor or services work. Creating more high salary jobs. Thus cutting into the current economic model's take home monies for executives and investors.
naw, I got the point etane.
The point was, some smart pretty yuppie chick named Erin is worried she might be broke and maybe have to take a 2nd job like the lower middle class have to do nowadays, cuz her investments might go to shit. and Chris Mathews (a man who, arguably, speaks for upper middle class power brokers) responsed to all this with "hey gorgeous, show us your tits".
which sort of speaks for a lot of upper middle class power brokers these days, kind of putting a terrible spotlight on the inevitable. best buckle up, folks, the economy's gonna get bumpy. but I'm confident it'll sort itself out.
ethiolib @ 132:
I know it's unbelievable what has happened to this country. The elites in the media, the elected officials, elected by the people to fuck the people, and the rich in this country think that the rest of this nation is pretty much irrelevant and disposable moving statistic. They don't even bother to act dignifying and respectfully towards the remaining 280 million US citizens anymore. Forget Freudian slips. We're talking here of the truth and pure honesty in your f*****g face. Tweety did the close up to change the subject, he knew she was about to follow up on that point by saying something like "Save us from China's reign on our economy you Wal-Mart shoppers not worth us, lick the toy paint and f*****g die!!" Oy, oy. Let's be civil here. That's a kind of TeeVee Fox News is morphing to, but the MSM is probably not ready for the Psycho News. Erin offered us pretty much a teaser of what's to come.
Bimbo, you should stop using the imperative. Just give us the facts. You are free to eat all the lead and melamine your fragile little body can handle.
Chris, I guess just to throw it out there and, you know, be provocative, but also ask a fair question -- you know, maybe not everybody is able to own a home. We like to think of owning a home as a right in this country.
You know, I am really, really, REALLY - getting tired of watching these same coddled, overpaid, over- priveleged dickheads spouting their cleverly coded bullshit about the rights of poor and working class people . You don't have a RIGHT to healthcare; You don't have a RIGHT to a home; You don't have a RIGHT to a job that respects you labors enough to pay you a livable wage, etc, etc, etc. No, all you little proletarian shits, in AmeriKKKa Inc. you have no rights, just one obligation - to continue to toil away in support of a system that allows us, your all wise, all knowing betters in the Media to live the lifestyle WE so richly deserve. Oh, by the way. Will somebody please throw a fucking bucket of cold water on tweety. I mean really, next guest he has on, he'll probably be humping their leg.
You guys know nothing about economy nor anything about statistics. You simple minded people are drawn into this big "china-bashing" game. Again, American media are hyping up the China threat thing. This is no difference from what they did 5 years ago, remember the WMDs? the 9/11 connections?
Now, someone tell me, how many toys do you Americans buy from China, and how many are lead-painted. Before bashing China, which does not have a voice here, do some math. It's just so easy to target the bad bad commies and generalize one toy factory to the whole industry from the communist china. Isnt that the same logic behind racial-profiling?
And nobody is blaming the IMPORTERS? Hah...
There should have been a flashing banner when she spoke, saying "Stupid Bitch Alert".
O....M....G.......Did she actually say that?
What a maroon!!!
Maybe she would be a little more concerned if they started putting lead in tampons, or melamine in eye liner.
As long as it's just children and animals, who gives a fuck? I mean, we can't be expected to have our already failing currency have it's real value show just because some kids die from lead poisoning.
I believe the society is now gone over the edge. There really is no hope anymore when supposedly intelligent people like that care only about money at any cost.
Man she would be for child endangerment in my country... But you know... We have laws against this kinda of thing...
why are reporters asked questions as if they are experts?
Can we vote on who gets the poisoned food? Then it could be like The Lottery.
From China, with love @ 139:
The Chinese Gov't has been imprisoning disidents, punishing free speech, destroying Tibet, etc., etc., since joining the world market and the US turned the other way. Now some are talking about poison being sent to us in consumer goods. The Chinese respond by threatening to destroy our economy by dumping our currency. Fuck the Chinese Government, their oligarchy and appologists like you.
Why does corporate responsibility ALWAYS have to affect the consumer? Why couldn't it simply reduce profits, reduce CEO payouts or reduce stockholder dividends?
This is all corporate PR spin to scare the public away from the corporation's duty to public welfare.
Such a pathetic sham.
Holy shit. "Be careful what we wish for"????????????
Well, one thing I DON'T wish for is for my kid to suck on some lead-tainted toys and for my pets to ingest poison.
Screw Stu Bykofsky. Economic terrorism is the new game in town.
But if we make China change their safety standards our prices will go up!!! The horror, the fear!
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