7/28/2021

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,          

            I hope you have a good visit to Lehigh Valley, PA today. I am intrigued by the electric-powered garbage truck that Mack is building & look forward to hearing more about it.

I am ambivalent about this “Made in America” thing you will be promoting today. I was raised by a dad whose mantra was “the open market is the best way to efficiently distribute resources.” He would say that if Germany can build the best ball bearing at the lowest price, then let’s buy from them. On the other hand, I think it’s good to be self-sufficient & not to have to rely on strangers for our products. I also worry that federal suppliers will have a hard time increasing their US content from 55% to 60% over night. What kind of lead time did you give them?

It’s interesting to see that even American car companies don’t source all of their parts in the USA. IN 2020 the Ford Ranger was the car with the highest TDC (total domestic content) at 85%. Volvo cars assembled in the US have only 30% TDC. Since Mack is part of the Volvo group, it may be that some of their trucks have a low TDC also. I encourage you to ask about that at your visit to their factory today.

Speaking of Made in America, is the federal government buying N95 masks “Made in America” now? Back in March 2020 this wasn’t the case. I’d like to stock up on some N95s to protect myself from the smoke that will undoubtedly be settling over Davis in upcoming weeks & I’d buy American made masks if I can find them.

Did you hear about the terrible flooding in Myanmar? Let’s get some humanitarian help for the folks on the Thai border. They are having to endure so much & the junta is showing no mercy. Please work with the International Red Cross & UN to send some assistance.

What’s going on in Tunisia? Is it turning into another Myanmar?

BYBS,

RCA