About seven years ago, the Vanity Fair Corporation announced plans to shut down a slew of manufacturing plants all over the country and ship production of its Wrangler jeans brand to Mexico. VF eliminated 13,000 American jobs in favor of cheap labor in Mexico. So tell me how, exactly, is Brett Favre “comfortable in Wrangler?”

Southern Oklahoma towns like Coalgate, Ada and Seminole were particularly hard hit by these job cuts. A lot of good, honest, hard-working people lost their jobs. Many had worked there a long time. Within an 18-month period, two manufacturing plants and a very large distribution center vanished from the region’s economy. Poof, just like that, a 50-year legacy of producing one of America’s best-known brands was gone.

Has Wrangler jeans suffered from this act of indifference? Not really. People still buy Wrangler jeans because homespun heroes like Brett Favre tell us they’re “comfortable in Wrangler.” Heck, even people in places like Coalgate, Ada and Seminole still buy Wrangler jeans, even though they now work at places like Wal-Mart and 7-11, rather than at a manufacturing plant.

This is not a new phenomenon, folks. VF is still an American owned company, but one of its best-known brands is made in Mexico. VF is not alone. The last time Levi’s were actually made in America was 2003 — at its San Antonio manufacturing plant. And while Budweiser is still made in St. Louis, it’s now owned by a Belgian company. So when you see those commercials on TV about Budweiser being a “great American beer,” remember the profit margin on every cold one you drink goes overseas.

On the issue of free trade, I strongly disagree with Republican presidential nominee John McCain. He’s a free market guy, I’m not. Why? Because the door hasn’t swung both ways since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1992. Our chief export has been jobs.

It stands to reason if a company cuts American jobs and moves into cheap third-world labor markets in the interest of profits, there should a tax on the products they ship back to America. In most cases, those taxes, or tariffs, don’t exist or are too low to impact competitive pricing. Hence, there is no financial penalty for pulling up stakes in the U.S. and moving production somewhere else. In some cases, the U.S. government even offers tax breaks and other financial incentives for companies who import goods.

It would be different if the door did swing both ways. While we have seen significant gains in agriculture exports, as well as other areas, our trade deficit reaches an all-time high virtually every month. They’re not buying what we’re selling, folks. So why do we continue to support their economy?

They call it a global economy and keep telling us free markets are good for America. So far, I’ve not been impressed. With rare exception, the cheap stuff being made overseas doesn’t compare to homegrown goods and services.

There is but one defense against such tactics, and that is the American buying public — by far the most powerful entity on earth. If we don’t buy it, its maker won’t stay in business. Our ability to influence the global economy has been proven time after time. With the advent of the information age, more and more people are taking the time to research the products they buy and move away from items produced outside this country. In many cases, Americans restrict their buying to companies from so-called “friendly” nations.

Here’s hoping this trend continues. The best protection against cheap, untaxed foreign made goods is to simply not buy them. To do that, we need information — easy to get, reputable, honest information about all makes of goods and services. Who owns them? Where was this item made? Until we demand to know, we will remain sheep in the global economy jungle.

As for me, I’ve drank my last Budweiser.