What are these people thinking???




Seattle’s public transit system is under fire for rejecting an advertising campaign urging people to buy American and shop locally because it was too political.

“It was a shock to us,” said Richard Tso, executive director of TAP America, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization.

The rejected ads read: “December is Buy American Month, Shop Locally, Join Seattle’s TAPamerica.org.”

Tso said his organization was prepared to pay as much as $9,000 for the ads to be posted on 45 Metro buses running through major shopping districts in downtown Seattle and Bellevue, WA.

“The ads were rejected by King County as being too political,” Tso told Fox News & Commentary, wondering if the county was simply being politically correct.

“Buy American should never be a bad word,” he said. “Those are words we should have pride in as citizens of the United States.”

But county officials told the Seattle Times that they have a policy against ads that express a viewpoint on “matters of public debate about political, religious or social issues.”

“The concept of ‘Buy American’ is an issue of both political and economic debate,” spokeswoman Linda Thielkein wrote in an email to the newspaper.

Tso said government officials were being “hypersensitive” and said they currently “run ads that seem to be quite controversial.”

“I think the ‘Buy American’ message is something that would resonate with more people,” he said. “that shows you the state of where we are as a nation.”

The Seattle Times reported that the bus agency adopted a strict advertising policy after a controversy over another group that tried to purchase ads alleging “Israeli war crimes.”

Tso said he hopes the county will reconsider their ban on the ‘Buy American’ ads.

I guess it could be considered an anti other countries ad?

It doesn't make any sense to me.

It is anti-globalization. Anti-capitalism.

Most of our products come from other countries, but they are American corporations giving jobs to those children that are paid a dollar a day to make Niki's.

Its all about profit.

December is the biggest profit month of the year. If people all started buying only American made products, heck we might have to create stuff here and create more American jobs at home.

That could cause the corporations to lose billions.

I'd be ok with that!

I can definitely understand how the P in tap (patriotism) rings of politics,,,,,,


kind of sad, but if thats the policy and has been adhered to consistently,, there are other sources of advertising

Long hand of China!
Maybe not direct,but Walmart and others would stand to lose a good Penny if Americans suddenly start to buy American Made!

i'd just as soon that the gubment, city, county, state, federal, not get involved in suggesting that i buy or don't buy anything from anywhere. this isn't a "ban" btw, as the title of the thread presupposes. the city "rejected" advertising.

corporations losing billions has never created jobs. just the opposite.

yep and walmart losing enough good pennies and watch the layoffs begin. most people get it even though we often whine about it at cocktail parties and on the forums. the american consumer is no differennt than every other consumer on the planet. we want value from wherever it comes. once again this year the top five selling cars in america come from foreign manufacturers. and the bulk of those cars are built right here in america by american workers who enjoy their jobs and don't want to lose them because their "corporation" lost billions.

it IS a global market folks. we can do one of two things. we can remain in denial with this "buy amrerican" crap and get run over by a train with china as the engine pulling along boxcars from europe and finally a caboose like vietnam; or we can face reality and deal in this global market like no other country on the planet can even begin to compete with and own all the track. of course that takes smart logic and that just cannot get elected.

Political Incorrectness

Dunno if its directly related to topic realy but was struck by sumting i read recently . the great Henry Ford paid his workers above average wage wen the company was just starting,he said "ur employess shud be ur best customers" , Made sense to me. Ah for a return to simpler times :)

I agree with JR on this, HOWEVER I think if the bus system allows advertising it should not really discriminate against anything like this.

Advertising is just someone asking that you buy something, it is NOT controversial if the thing being asked to buy is a common product, or a set of products produced in location A, vs B.

If I had requested an ad displaying a local wine, it would not be rejected even though by advertising a local wine I am really also asking you to not buy a foreign wine.

Asking is the key word and a true free market does not care how much or how often you ask so long as you pay up front baby.

By catering to specific ads you create a controversy.

Good point.

It also takes a special effort to buy American. You really have to do your homework because so many American products are manufactured elsewhere and they may not all be marked.

The sign is political.

they looney left at it's best...Seattle has always been a weird place, because of the liberals running loose out there

That's a strange thing to say. Are you suggesting that liberals, should be jailed?

take whatever you want out of it...

I take it as ridiculous.

spoken like a true liberal...

I'm not a liberal.

I'm a libertarian registered as a republican.

there's a finite amount of ad space anywhere and most certainly on the sides of a certain number of buses. any media provider must pick and choose among numerous ad clients. would descriminating against advertising by an adult toy retailer be acceptable by a city bus system? the city REJECTED an ad campaign. had they accepted, would it not be descriminating against a u.s. corporation, say a local bmw auto dealership, where such an ad might cause a loss in sales resulting in layoffs of it's local american employees?

it really is a global economy folks and as powerful as america is it cannot change that fact. we either saavy up and deal with it or wither and die.