MADEINUSAFOREVER INTERVIEW

Listen to this interview with Todd Lipscomb. I couldn't have said it any better and then next post we will review his website MadeinUSAForever.com


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ROGER SIMMERMAKER'S BUY AMERICAN

With permission, I give you a very important article from Roger Simmermaker. Roger is the author of How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism and writes "Buy American Mention of the Week" articles for WorldNetDaily.com and his website www.howtobuyamerican.com. Roger is a member of the Machinists Union and National Writers Union, has been a frequent guest on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC, and has been quoted in the USA Today, Wall Street Journal and US News & World Report among many other publications.

Boycott Anheuser-Busch InBev and buy American beer instead



By Roger Simmermaker



Just because Belgian-owned InBev bought Anheuser-Busch to become the world’s largest brewery company doesn’t mean American-made beers from American-owned companies can’t be found.



From the emails I’ve received to the comments that were made on petitions from the KeepBudweiserAmerican.com website, there is clearly a large number of Americans that are willing to boycott Anheuser-Busch products and switch to one of the remaining American-owned brewery companies. So I’ve compiled a list of 66 beers that patriotic Americans can purchase and in doing so can reward American companies that have chosen to keep their headquarters in the United States.



The Boston Beer Company, brewer of Sam Adams, is one of the few American brewery companies that is publicly-owned, which may turn out to be unfortunate since they could become the target of a hostile takeover by InBev like Anheuser-Busch was. The Boston Beer Company started in 1984 and since then has become the largest craft brewer in America, although they have less than 1 percent of the U.S. beer market.



Iron City Brewing Company and Pabst Brewing Company are probably the two largest private companies in terms of the most brands offered in the United States. Although all the Pabst breweries were closed years ago, they still retain ownership of several brands, but most are brewed by British-owned SABMiller PLC. Pabst brands include Blatz, Colt 45, Country Club Malt Liquor, Lone Star, Old Milwaukee, Old Style, Olympia, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Pearl, Rainier, St. Ides, Schaefer, Schlitz, Schmidt, Special Export, Stag, Southampton Ales and Lagers, and Stroh’s. The Pabst Brewing Company website has a statement regarding the recent purchase of Anheuser-Busch and calls themselves “the last of the famous iconic U.S. brewers to be fully independent and American-owned.” The claim to independence is a bit compromised, however, if you pay a foreign company to brew most of your beers for you.



Iron City brands include American, American Light, American N.A., Augustiner Dark, Augustiner Lager, Drummond Bros., Eagle Malt, Falls City, Gerst, I.C. Golden Lager, I.C. Light, J.J. Wainright, Light Brigade, Night Flight Malt Liquor, Old German (Pilsner), Olde Frothingslosh, Penn’s Best Light, Penn’s Best N.A., Prime Time, Sterling, Totally Dirt Cheap Beer, Totally Dirt Cheap Light, and Wiedermann.



Other brands brewed by privately-owned American companies are Genesee, Genesee Cream Ale, Genny Light, and Dundee Ales and Lagers (Highfalls Brewing Co.), Pete’s Wicked Ale, Shiner, Tappeto Valante, and Bridgeport Ales (Gambrinus Brewing Co.), Point Beer (Stevens Point Brewery), Stegmaier and Pocono (Lion Brewery), Saranac, Utica Club, and Utica Club Light (Matt Brewing Company), Dixie (Dixie Brewing Co.), Moerlein (Christian Meorlein), Harpoon and Harpoon Ale (Harpoon Brewing), Pyramid Ales (Pyramid Breweries, Inc.), Sprecher (Sprecher Brewing Co.), and Yuengling (Yuengling Beer Co.) which has the distinction of being the America’s oldest brewery company (since 1829).



To be clear, giving up their independence isn’t something Anheuser-Busch wanted to do. They rebuffed the first $65-per-share offer from InBev. They tried to buy the rest of the Mexican company that makes Corona that they didn’t already own to make themselves too large to be acquired. They tried to say that InBev was unable to proceed with the buyout since it did business with Cuba and it’s illegal for U.S. companies to do so. They also brought up anti-trust concerns. Of course this is just my opinion and you would have had to have been in on the discussions to know for sure, but I think Anheuser-Busch did everything they possibly could to remain an American company.



But regardless of their true intentions, I hope you’ll join me in boycotting Budweiser, Busch, Michelob and all the other brands owned by Anheuser-Busch including Corona. I hope you’ll also not switch to British-owned Miller or Canadian-owned Coors products since you would merely be switching from one foreign company to another. A boycott is the second and last part of a strategy in letting foreign companies know that Americans don’t like their American companies being bought out and having their ownership (and all future profits) transferred overseas. The first step, of course, has already been tried, which was making our voices heard through petitions and other means to let both Anheuser-Busch and InBev know that a large number of Americans were against this acquisition.



If Americans stop buying Anheuser-Busch products and sales of the new Belgian company plummet, foreign companies will be forced to think twice in the future before trying to buy American companies and American assets. And it’s not unthinkable that the merger could be undone in the future due to falling sales. Mergers have been reversed before. This is the best strategy for preventing unwanted and unwelcome takeovers of historic American icons like Anheuser-Busch. In any case, we get to choose which company assumes the new crown of our country’s biggest American-owned brewer. I know I’m not aware of and haven’t listed all of the domestic companies and brands in this article, so please feel free to email me at roger@howtobuyamerican.com if you’d like to know the ownership of a different brand you’re considering and I’ll be happy to research the ownership of the company for you. If we keep our money in America where it should be, we’ll help ensure that the American companies that are left in this industry can keep their headquarters here as well.

Our American Soldiers

Are They Forgotten?
I may be getting offtrack today about American products but I just read an article by Dane Morgan on soldiers in Afghanistan and wanted to bring your attention to it. Very informative and interesting and his post will direct you to interviews of what the soldiers are actually saying and doing over there. A must read for whoever is 100% behind our American soldier. I hope you take a moment to read.

MIA BELLA CANDLES

Once upon a time in a town called Wilkes Barre PA, two nurses Carmen and Lyn Milazzo decided to make their own candles. Through trial and error they came up with a great smelling, even burning candle that got the attention of Bob Scocozzo and Charlie Umphred. These talented people combined forces and formed an all American Company called Scent-Sations, Inc. They distribute their candles and products from Wilkes Barre and are living the American Dream. I believe, from reading the company's history that anyone who involves themselves with Scent-Sations can live their own American Dream, no matter what the economy looks like.

About a year ago, someone had given me a Mia Bella votive candle. I burned it and loved the smell and how it lingered through my kitchen and living room. I burned many candles since then, but never forgot about that free votive that someone had given me. In my search for American made companies, I ran across Mia Bella products. So I emailed Robert Scocozzo and he was more than happy to speak to me personally. I like this kind of contact. He didn't know me from Adam but was willing to take time out of his day and answer any questions about the company that I had.

I've checked many candle companies, some well known and some not, and became frustrated because a lot of the product was made outside of the USA. Mia Bella candles are made in Wilkes Barre and seem reasonably priced for gourmet candles.

Now that you know about these great candles, I actually listened to my heart and signed up for their Candle of the Month club. A great concept that gets me a jar candle, 12 votives and a Bella Bar(wait until you try these)! Plus, now that I joined the COTM club, I can consider myself a distributor and get great prices when I sell candles. I recently set up a small area at work with candles, made up sample packets and every time someone walks by my candle table, they comment on the yummy smell. Just from the sales alone I made up the cost of the COTM club price. But you'll have to check out my new website for more information. Oh, I get a website too. When you visit, click on the candle that says free drawing and enter. You never know, you just might win something.

So, I feel like I really am very lucky to find an American company with a great product plus now I am getting involved with Scent-Sations and possibly making my own American dream come true. I'll keep you informed how well this works out for me but the important thing is this company is a success from small town America.

Most people who've tried Mia Bella candles say they'll never be able to go back to burning anything else. More and more people are looking at the money making opportunity as well. So in conclusion, maybe the company should be called The American Dream.

Right to Bear Arms

I know todays blog isn't about an American made product, but if you believe in the Right to Bear Arms, you will be happy to hear about this court ruling today. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, the justices' first major pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history. The district of Columbia had a ban on handguns that is incompatable with the rights under the Second Amendment. I'm sure it will be all over the news by this evening so you will get a chance to read it in it's entirety. I am just glad that we as American have finally had our voices heard.

List of USA Companies

I thought I would like to take the time to list the companies that I've spoken about so far in my quest to find American made products. I am quite pleased to announce that all of the businesses are still up and running. The only company that I haven't included is Fallbrook Naturals. This was a company based out of Fallbrook, Ca that made soy candles but my link won't work and when I put in the website, nothing comes up. So, I am assuming that they are no longer on the net unless someone can tell me otherwise.

American Bikini Shop-Swimwear
Anchor Hocking - bakewear, glasswear
Annin & Company - Flags
Bathboats.com - Custom gifts
Dreamsaks.com -great gift idea
Flag Clothes - Patriotic sportswear and gifts
Happy House Quilts - Hair Accessories and craft kits.
Henry Rifles - Entire line of American rifles.
Lightening Labels - Custom label printing
Nubody Supplements - Vitamins
Socks4life - Socks by the dozen
SOS From Texas - Organic cotton Tshirts
Uncommon FlagPoles - Telescoping flagpoles
USA Coffee Company - Coffee from Hawaii
USA Made Vitamins- Vitamins for bodybuilders
Wickers - All weather Thermal Underwear

My next company is called Mia Belle, a candle company from Wilkes Barre PA that I've been researching this past week. I've personally tried one of their candles and they smell delicious. I'll be writing more about that in my next post. For now, Buy American and as always, if you find a great American company, let us know.

Anchor Hocking

I want to give a shout out to my friend Dixie who was shopping the other day for some kitchen ware and found us more Made in the USA dishes. Anchor Hocking has been around since I can remember. I remember those casseroles coming out of the oven in Anchor Hocking bakewear. Do any of you remember your parents attaching a handle onto the bakewear to get it out of the oven?

Anchor Hocking has been around since 1905. You can buy them at Walmart, any specialty shop or almost any retailer. They are the second largest supplier of glasswear in the US and on their website they quote, "We manufacture all products at the company facilities in the US." Some of their facilities are in Lancaster, Ohio and Pittsburg, PA. Defintaley take a look at their website and download their catalog. You will probably be familiar with a lot of the products already and the plus is they are Made in the USA and affordable.

Thanks, Dixe, for being so diligent in looking for the Made in the USA product.