Bottom line for me: We live in a global economy, period. Saying that you buy American is ridiculous.
Most of us work somewhere. Take a look at the products you sell, make, or otherwise use. Can you trace every single part, worker, laborer, assistant, consultant, or salesperson back to its origin?
Just today I was in Harbor Freight looking at their gas engines. They are exact copies of Honda engines, right down to the ribs in the plastic air cleaner cover. They aren't a Chinese ripoff, they are licensed to Chinese manufacturing corporations with Honda's permission. They are also offered on the free market at about 1/6 the price of a new Honda small engine.
So you bought an American car with a VIN that starts with "1". Who built it? Where did the parts come from? The "buy 'murican" argument fails the first time one of the assembly workers sends a paycheck home to his/her family in the homeland. Back in 1996, Honda held the distinction of keeping more US dollars in-country after opening their Ohio plant. If you dig deeper, 47% of their workers were temporary Japanese laborers brought over to start development. How much of their paychecks stayed here?
The economy is a massive, misunderstood, unrecognized entity that can't be quantified by a single character on a VIN, or a stamp on a tool that says "made in USA." Even Alan Greenspan knew that.
For me, I buy stuff... period. If it fits what I need as far as quality and price, I buy it. I don't care where its made, developed, manufactured, or marketed. Its all part of the global economy. If (for instance) Harbor Freight can offer me a tool with 60% the quality at 20% the cost, I'll buy it... especially if its an occasional use tool. Tools that I use and abuse constantly, I buy the best-rated; Rigid, Milwaukee, and Makita. Tools that I use occasionally like a sewer snake, a faucet wrench, or a drywall sander, I buy the cheapest E36 M3 I can find.
I don't give a berkeleying berkeley where it comes from, its all part of the global economy. If anyone thinks they are saving the world by buying "amurican" they need to seriously look at what they buy, who made it, where it comes from, and analyze every single step along the way.
You can buy a Japanese TV that puts more money into the US economy than an "American" car.
Look at it this way: Let's say you go to an American car dealership, buy a car that was built in America with American parts, and even has American electronics in it (good luck with that). When you signed the contract, did you pay attention to where the pen was made? Where was the ink made? Where did the pens get their logo? Where was the plastic made? Are the workers who made the pen American?
If you signed that contract without validating every single part, then (for all you know) you bought a vehicle that was only 10% American and your argument is invalid.