How would a moron know if he can afford a loan? Where i am from they go down to the bank and ask for one. Then the bank tells them if they qualify... or not.

When i was 18 i tried to get a loan to buy a mustang. The car dealer laughed at me. Thats because he ran my credit and looked at my pay stubs and told me the cold hard truth... i was a dumb ass teenager who shouldn't/couldn't/wont own a brand new mustang.

The bush administration is responsible for the entire housing market crash. The guy in charge not only allowed it... he initiated it. It didnt work for obvious reasons like bankers being greedy monsters who dont care about anyone but themselves. This is why there are rules and regulations in place. Everyone knows what happens when you let the lenders police themselves. Every single time they get an inch they drive us as close to an economic melt down as they possibly can and then they grease the palms of a few politicians and steal tax dollars to get right back in the game.


But thats what happened.

At 18 I bought my first brand new car. it was a mustang. You must have had a real shitty job.

You are blinded by partisan bias. The bills that turned into laws in this came largely from the DNC with their "everyone should own a house" dreams. Bush's biggest mistake was never learning how to use the veto option. I think in 8 years he only vetoed 1 bill. I dont say that to absolve him of anything. But to not let the others skate their guilt.

At 18 i became a full timer installer making a whole $10k per year. The only car i could get was an $800 riviera that i sunk $4k into before i pushed it into a parking spot for the last time and sold it to a guy walking down the street for $100 :).

Adding...

My rent at the time was $550 plus another $100 in utilities/phone. That left me like $40 a week. No room in the budget for a mustang.

I was pounding nails for my step-dad at $6 an hour. My income wasnt a problem for a loan, but lack of credit was. I had almost forgot that my step-dad cosigned for me. In fact, he first found the car and told me about it, suggesting I buy it to build my own credit.

I was still at home when I first bought my mustang. But when I moved out I had two roommates to split everything.

I tried roommates a few times but it always ended up with me paying the rent myself and having to share the apartment with a loser/s and their girlfriends. In one case i left for work one day and came home to find a chick and 2 kids and 2 cousins moved in. My roommate was shocked and offended when i started packing. I met with the landlord and surrendered my half of the deposit to get released from the lease.

Lost a good friend from high school for a few years because his nut job girlfriend that gave him his first piece moved in. What made it really creepy, he and I shared a bedroom.

lol. when i was still living at home i had a girlfriend stay over and my brothers bed was right across from mine. "hes sleeping, dont worry"

credit card company says I can charge 20k.

That doesn't mean I'm gonna rush out and get a 84 Monte Carlo, put a 2500 watt stereo system in it and roll on some 28" spinners.

Credit cards and home loans are two entirely different products. I had a gold Amex card when I was 20. Credit card companies pray that you can't pay it back so they can milk you slowly over the course of your existence. My aunt had 11 credit cards within 12 months of filing bankruptcy. She hasn't been able to get approved for a home or a car though.

Lol I was looking for a 1980 Monte carlo last winter. I wanted to put hydraulics on it so I could use the lines from training day. Your in the office. Going up.

I have been doing a ton of research on this very topic for a 'made in N. America' series we are doing on IntegrationPros right now.
[Link: integrationpros.org]

Here is the FTC's determination on the 'made in the USA' topic. By this definition, there are no TVs that can lay claim to made in the USA.
[Link: business.ftc.gov]

Back in the late-80s and early-90s, Curtis Mathes, Zenith and RCA were the last televisions made in the USA (Zenith was in Melrose Park, IL and RCA was in Indy). I have visited both of these plants (the offices anyway) and these plants are now history. The demand for console TVs is what kept them on life support, because Sony, Hitachi, and Panasonic were making far superior products.

Vizio, Runco, SunBright and Pantel are US companies, but the owner's manual, bezel and the name badge may be the only part made in the US.

As for the off topic automobile discussion, the US Congress enacted the American Automobile Labeling Act which forces the manufacturer of any car sold in the USA to divulge the percentage of North American content.

You can look up the point of origin and the AALA breakdown of the origin of the components used to make the vehicle.

Here is a link to the last 6 years of data, courtesy of the NHTSA.
[Link: nhtsa.gov]