One job the American president has is as kind of a coach for the American people. I am referring to what is known as the "Bully Pulpit". I presume this name came about because of Teddy Roosevelt, who used the presidency and the stage it gave him to great effect. The president, if he or she uses the right tone, can guide the national conversation, and can even convince the people it is right to do something, such as John Kennedy did when he convinced America to go to the moon. One thing I feel the president should use the bully pulpit for is to convince the American people to buy American products. You can't get into putting tariffs on goods unless you want your trading partner to do the same, thereby igniting a trade war. However, you can suggest to the American people that they buy American, and you can lay out the case for why.
There are websites which only sell products made in America, such as madeinusa.org or proudamericantradingpost.com. There are several others and, if you look, you can find pretty much everything. There aren't many TV's, I only found one a/v processor, and no stereos. However, if the American people suddenly had a demand for American made electronics, the supply would appear. People would take the risk, and that creates jobs. The bottom line is that we make relatively little here anymore. China builds the TV's we watch, and other nations put together the stereos we listen to and the iPOD's in our pockets. However, if the American consumer was convinced to look for products only here, once again, those products would be made here.
If people started looking at the labels on the products they buy and buying those labeled "Made in America" most of the time, the turnaround in our economy, debt situation, and employment picture would be almost immediate. When trying to decide what is American made, some things will fool you. The car I drive is a Honda Civic. Sounds like it's not American, doesn't it? However, it was manufactured in Ohio, and the parts content was 90% American, including the engine and drive train. To me, that's an American made product. I don't care that it doesn't say "Ford" or "Chevy" on it. Some products that have those labels are made in Mexico or Canada anyway, and I don't consider those vehicles American made, no matter what their names.
The American president has a lot of power which is not enumerated just because of the office. I feel he or she should use that office to convince the American people to start buying American again, to start running a trade surplus again, and to once again run this country in the black. Using the bully pulpit to do this would make Teddy proud.
