Has The US Become A Dumping Ground For China's Cheap Toxic Waste?

One of my neighbors spends half the year in China examining manufactured goods there for American companies who sell the stuff here, kind of quality control. My neighbor told me that if the manufacturers there can save a penny by putting 11 ball bearings into a gizmo that calls for 12, they'll go for the penny even if they understand it's likely to cause an accident in the vehicle the gizmo is in. It sounds like this mindset is what my neighbor faces every single day for every single minute of work. So if my neighbor has told me this several times, how come no one seems to have told the Pentagon? Or-- more to the point, I suspect, why hasn't the Pentagon paid attention when they were told? Why should the Pentagon care? Good question-- they spend millions of dollars buying defective products from China that endanger our military men and women in the field. Are these people fucking crazy!?!?

China has been dumping counterfeit electronic parts into the Pentagon’s supply chain.

The investigators found that counterfeit or suspect electronic parts were installed or delivered to the military for several weapons systems, including military aircraft such as the Air Force’s C-17 and the Marine Corps’ CH-46 helicopter, as well as the Army’s Theatre High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defense system.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing has been sounding the alarm bells on this. Are people deaf? Last week they reported that over a million parts have been found to be defective and that "suspect components include salvaged and recycled parts that were 'burned off old circuit boards, washed in rivers, dried on streets and sanded down to remove identifying marks.' AAM Executive Director Scott Paul, who has warned that deindustrialization poses a serious threat to U.S. national security:

"We commend Senators Levin and McCain for investigating this critical issue. The Department of Defense isn't helping our defense industrial base when it permits sourcing from China. And now we are paying the price in more ways than one.

"DoD has adopted a penny-wise, pound-foolish approach to trade with China. The American people would be appalled to learn that their tax dollars are being spent on suspect parts that put U.S. soldiers at risk. Taxpayer dollars should be used to purchase safe, high-quality, American-made goods that support key jobs in important industrial sectors.

"This investigation is a good start, but to preserve our national security, Congress must insist that DoD stop sourcing critical components from China."

That's a very simple approach. It's also the only approach that makes any sense at all. Although, thanks to Supreme Court decision made by 5 reactionary justices, all blatant corporate whores, China has been able to purchase a significant piece of the American political system and I somehow don't get the feeling that highly placed Chinese agents inside the American government-- from Pat Toomey (R-PA), Miss McConnell (R-KY) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) to Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) are ever going to face treason trials, no matter what happens because of defective parts in weapons systems. And then there's stuff like this: