“..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 Walmart 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 just for balance, here’s a creepy clip of Chris Matthews harassing her.
Creepy sexual harassment in the workplace … and YOU ARE THERE! [Angry Letter-Writing Liberal]
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Wouldn’t China be our best friend if they raised prices, forcing walmart to charge more and possibly go out of business? Oh, how the mind dreams sometimes.
So what she’s saying is that it’s ok if a couple kids or animals die, long as Wal-mart can maintain their current price point. That makes sense… if I was mentally retarded.
While she’s sipping Fiji bottled water and shopping at ‘up-class’ stores, which sell organic pet food or other non contaminated products the rest of us should ‘take our chances’. This chick needs to run for office, something tells me she’d fit right in.
China had to of paid Erin Burnett big bucks. She is a total sell out. No child in this day and age should have lead in it’s system. No excuse for what China has done.
Why is CNBC still on the air?
Errr, does anyone have a longer version of the quoted clip? Before and after would be nice. Because while on it’s face that is one damning quote, with some added context it could be a great deal more poignant.
Like, say that the quote ended “So I would say China is our greatest friend right now. They’re keeping prices low. And today’s America wants low prices. Ask your average discount shopper if they’re willing to pay 15% more for a product, even if that product is less likely to be poisonous/less efficient/whatever, and don’t be surprised to find out what they’re response is. For some people, the difference that cost difference is the difference between buying that product or going elsewhere for a cheaper deal.”
I mean that kind of quote would be a debate point. But the quote in that video clip is given without the accompanying question and cuts off right after the contraverisal quote. I’m not saying this Erin Burnett (who I never heard of before today) is incapable of making such a negatively copious claim, but I’m surprised that almost all the commenters here have jumped on her without asking for more context.
“If…China was to make toys without lead in them, or food that wasn’t poisonous, their costs are going to go up.”
Excuse me? Wouldn’t this translate to “cost is more important than non-hazardous products”???
This one has to be SPOT-ON the DUMBEST shit I’ve ever heard from these talking heads. Did Rupert Murdoch buy CNBC/MSNBC to become faux news 2 and 3?
“If China was to devaluate our currency…”
Are we making up words? One thing I’m pretty sure of, if China does ‘devaluate’ our currency and our economy collapses, theirs will follow rather quickly.
@doctor_cos: I’m fairly certain Rupert Murdoch would be more likely to run a story advocating war against China rather than being friends with them …
@oncewascool: Let’s not kid ourselves here…the MSM are all in the pockets of big business and there’s NO WAY they’re going to risk offending their advertisers. Which is why right after you see a story about the latest toy recall, there’s a commercial for Wal-Mart. Anyone who really thinks the media is going to speak up and tell people “don’t buy (so-and-so)” needs their head examined.
I am thinking (and hoping) that what she said had simply come out wrong. It does happen, and unfortunately, sometimes it happens at the least appropriate times. Like on TV.
Regardless, When you look at the entire amount of Chinese products imported into this country, all these weird things going on are quite minor. It just so happens that the proverbial shit is all hitting the fan at once as opposed to occuring over a longer duration of time.
And obviously product from China is cheaper; why else would we purchase so many goods from them? Almost everything we buy gets imported in from some country or another, very much of which comes from China. I can’t think of anything that’s made 100 percent in the United States. We want to pay low prices for everything. In order to do this, you need cheap labor. Cheap labor does not come from the United States. And in order for business’ to stay in business, they have to have competitive pricing. Thus, more outsourcing. It is a nasty cycle.
I don’t really understand why people are surprised by this. I hear all the same stereotypes about workers in China as everyone else. And much like most people, I don’t know if they are true or not, so I will assume that they are. Which is why I am not surprised by the fact that a few things have gone awry.
Maybe next we’ll see “Bag of Broken Glass” on the toy shelves at WalMart.
Is it dangerous? Well, yeah…
BUT IT’S CHEAP!!
Christ, when did putting your family’s health at risk become a good tradeoff for saving a buck?
Dave Chappelle — “WWHHAATT!”
I’d love to see John Stewart interview her.
Appreciated CNY = Low purchasing power of USD = less stuff can be bought by Americans = LOWER STANDARD OF LIVING
@miborovsky: Keyword is LIVING
Don’t worry people, this will all be forgotten in time for the Christmas rush
The second clip just proves that even Chris Matthews just hits mute and watches the pretty lady on the teevee.
Once again, life imitates the Simpsons.
Crusty-Os! Now with 30% less metal fragments!
nuke china.
debt paid, problem solved.
@Fl3shy:
Definitely. Something people don’t seem to realize, unfortunately.
A) Dirt cheap
B) Mass Produced and easy to get
C) High Quality/Reliability
Pick two. ONLY two.
@manevitch: I’m sad that Dan Aykroyd and Candice Bergen haven’t been asked to comment on any of this toy controversy yet.
That girl needs some more lead in her brain, preferably through high-speed mechanical injection.
All you guys saying how evil she is, do me a favor. Go down to Walmart and ask people if they’d be willing to pay double, triple or quadruple the prices for the same things if they were made in the USA or in a country with ethical business practices. Maybe you’d find some people who are. Maybe some people say they didn’t know of the horrid circumstances products in China are made (though, ignorance is no excuse). But most people just don’t care. They want their cheap crap at any cost.
And yes, I do acknowledge some people need cheap stuff because of limited means. The real problem is that people who don’t need to shop at Walmart do; how many times have you seen some movie star say in an interview they love to shop at Walmart? That’s ridiculous. But even if you need Walmart, it doesn’t change the fact that the products are made with child/cheap/slave labor, cause harm to the environment and could be dangerous products.
@miborovsky: There is just no excuse to kill people. Even in the name of profit. Thanks for playing.
@Musician78: No one is going to be able to afford ANYTHING if no one has a job. Gee, there must be something made in the US that Americans are making, then, right? since there are still people in the stores buying stuff.
Yup…she’s hot!
The ironic thing is that she’s using the exact same arguments that the Freeper types here use to defend Wal-Mart. Bet they’re so pissed that she got airtime and they didn’t.
why not just give her the opportunity to experience the “wonders” of the chinese poison train firsthand? tie one of those lead-laced bibs around her neck, give her a couple big bags of salmonella contaminated veggie bootie to munch on..and why not throw in a few of the recalled mattel toys for her to play with when shes done gorging on her contaminated delicacy?
She would then be either forced to come to terms with the fact that she is an idiot, or will be pushing up daisies, and we can all rest assured that at least one person like her has been removed from the gene pool.
@ARPRINCE: Thats what I have been saying for years. Who cares if its cheap if no one has a job!
@Nemesis_Enforcer: OOPS I mean to reply to Buran.
According to her reasoning, If “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 Walmart here in the United States are going to go up too.”
In other words, what the Chinese are doing, with the unhindered assistance of a servile and corrupt American government, is the equivalent of a home invasion robbery.
For which we are supposed to be grateful.
I see.
Whatever happened to hot girls who kept their mouths close for fear that the helium would escape?
Oh F Wal-mart. They have done more damage to the American economy than any other company in recent memory. Ooooh….such low prices that other companies go out of business (including the ones supplying them). This pathetic obsession with getting the lowest price regardless of quality is going to bite us in the ass in ten years when the groundwater is irreversibly contaminated by all of the disposable consumer goods people have buying at “the lowest price”. We are finally seeing the corporate greed factor rotting away the roots of the mortgage market, and I hope to see it entering the realm of big box stores as soon as possible.
Anyone that hasn’t seen Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Price, I strongly recommend you rent it. Even if you’re on the fence. (IMDB it for more, and the producers have a web page). It’s very informative. And quite sad. But excellent.
“I think people should be careful what they wish for..”
I think talking heads should have better notes, and perhaps think a little more quickly and speak a little slower. If she wasn’t trying to squeeze out so many words, perhaps the brain would have had a chance to catch up with the mouth.
“There is no excuse to kill people.” Damn. Buran wins AGAIN.
@Buran: If anyone is killing people, it’s the stupid American consumers who are committing suicide by WANTING crap products at dirt-low prices.
The Chinese? Like any good capitalist, they are merely supplying what is demanded. Namely crap that can kill people.
How many times must it be repeated that you get what you pay for?!
Her point, though valid, lacks any amount of tact. Americans and low, low pricing go hand in hand, but with a slipping dollar, those low low prices won’t stay low forever.
The fact that China is the world’s worst polluter is scary. Other than direct embargoes, there isn’t too much the rest of the world can do to stop it. Remember, China is still very much a communist country, and in the past have been considered an enemy of the free world. Also consider how have the embaroes on Cuba helped to end the Communist tyrany there?
Unless China wants to manufacture quality products, they will continue to flood the market with hazardous materials. Since their government is ultimately responsible for import/export of goods, couldn’t the UN order independant ‘evaluators’ for their quality control and health and safety issues. China is a member of the U.N. afterall.
I wonder if Mattel could in turn sue the Chinese government and have the U.N. enforce the ruling?
@miborovsky: You mean poor people actually buy things that don’t cost a lot of money? Well golly, that’s just crazy!
Yeah, people want things cheap but no one is asking to be poisoned. I assure you there is no demand for lead paint or anti-freeze toothpaste.
@dualityshift: please tell me you’re not serious.
“Also consider how have the embargoes (sic) on Cuba helped to end the Communist tyranny (sic) there?”
you are aware that cuba is still a communist state, right? & that despite 50 years of an economic embargo by the united states, they trade with virtually every other country in the world.
& leave it to my spell corrector to completely invalidate the need for the (sic) notations. doh!
There’s an old quote that fits most situations, and is no less appropriate here:
Fast, cheap, good. Choose two.
Yes, the lady made a mistake by saying that “lead paint” thing, but she has a point. People here in US enjoying the low prices tend to forget quality and ethics come with price. Once the manufacturers in China become more mature and more regulated, prices of their products more or less go up, then the consumers here will complain about the inflation because no other developing countries are able to replace China in such a massive scale (think about the fast developing infrastructure and the huge labor force in China).
Oh, people also forget that US personal savings rate has been down to around negative territory, guess who is footing the bill? China now is a leading creditor to US. Don’t be a hypocrite when the majority of American people still enjoy the low mortgage rate and the low inflation rate. Take an example of the gas price. People constantly complain about it, yet most people here still perfer large size vehicles. Just look at how popular the large SUV/trucks are. I hate hypocrites. If you complain about the gas price or the dependence on foreign oil, stop driving the gas guzzlers; otherwise, stop whining and bite the bullet.
BTW, capital always pursues low cost and high profit. That’s how capitalism works. America is a capitalist society and the people here are mostly proud of it and in turn hate its opposite (socialism or communism). Unfortunately, globalism is the global maximization of capitalism in the modern world. That’s the price you have to pay for sticking with capitalism. You just can’t play it both ways.
OK, the lady made a mistake by saying that “lead paint” thing, but she has a point. People here in US enjoying the low prices tend to forget quality and ethics come with price. Once the manufacturers in China become more mature and more regulated, prices of their products more or less go up, then the consumers here will complain about the inflation because no other developing countries are able to replace China in such a massive scale (think about the fast developing infrastructure and the huge labor force in China).
Oh, people also forget that US personal savings rate has been down to around negative territory, guess who is footing the bill? China now is a leading creditor to US. Don’t be a hypocrite when the majority of American people still enjoy the low mortgage rate and the low inflation rate. Take an example of the gas price. People constantly complain about it, yet most people here still perfer large size vehicles. Just look at how popular the large SUV/trucks are. I hate hypocrites. If you complain about the gas price or the dependence on foreign oil, stop driving the gas guzzlers; otherwise, stop whining and bite the bullet.
BTW, capital always pursues low cost and high profit. That’s how capitalism works. America is a capitalist society and the people here are mostly proud of it and in turn hate its opposite (socialism or communism). Unfortunately, globalism is the global maximization of capitalism in the modern world. That’s the price you have to pay for sticking with capitalism. You just can’t play it both ways.
@DragonAwake: you know, that’s an excellent, well-written & insightful synopsis. the only problem i have with it is that last sentence. ideally countries shouldn’t be able to play it both ways with globalism, but realistically, it couldn’t be farther from the truth.
china is an anomaly in today’s global market. they have repeatedly circumvented attempts by the WTO, the UN (& its various committees) & member states to float their currency, clean up their humanitarian & environmental acts, uphold IP rights, & eliminate government subsidization of their markets. at the same time, they have been hugely successful at using these same global organizations to sanction protectionist acts in the US, EU & elsewhere, open the floodgates for chinese goods around the world, & pillage the periphery for resources to fuel their fiery growth.
the very reason that chinese production even exists is b/c they systematically violate virtually every law in the book. if the chinese were required to play by the same rules as the rest of us, they wouldn’t be manufacturing a grossly disproportionate amount of the world’s products.
the way i see it, we can bite the pillow & hope for a reach-around while they have their way with us OR we can suck up the fact that prices are going to go up b/c we demand that production must meet the standards that we’ve grown to expect. personally, i’d opt for #2. hell, there may even be some side benefits, like increased quality, or maybe even an increase in domestic production when companies realize that china ain’t as cheap as it pretends to be.
She has a point? What flavor is that Kool-Aid?
“..if China was to say, make toys without lead in them, or food that wasn’t poisonous…”
What do YOU think is implied in this statement?
1. We should expect lead-painted toys and poisonous food
2. We should blame ourselves for enabling the poor Chinese companies to fall into such pitfalls as lead paint and poison food additives
3. I hope they show a new episode of ‘Oprah’ today so I can quit hearing about reality. It scares me.
Pick one.
And don’t blame me, I don’t (and won’t) shop at wallyworld/Mao-Mart and haven’t for several years.
@Fl3shy: @FreonTrip: That doesn’t make sense. What if I choose cheap and good, that would be win win wouldn’t it.
@quantum-shaman: That’s a pretty ignorant comment, even if you are joking.
@quantum-shaman: i hope your family dies in a nuke blast
Well, I am a dealer in collectibler, VALID, glass, ceramics and some toys, etc. I go shopping in resale stores and see a nice item I think will be good. NOPE! On the bottom now more than likely is the damned “Made in China” label. They have become experts in copying anything from antiques to credit cards.