With continued high unemployment, growing deficits and a sluggish economy, it's easy to think that a solution is out of reach.
But that's not the case, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column. By choosing to "Buy American," individual consumers can make a real difference.
Buying American is not anti-trade, but rather about consumer choice, Brunell says. He notes the case of Anders Lewendal, a Bozeman, Mont. contractor profiled by ABC News for building a home using only American-made materials.
Lewendal says that using just 5 percent more American products in construction projects would create 220,000 jobs. And yet the cost of his "all American" home was just 1 percent higher than homes built with materials manufactured offshore.
Former Cheers actor John Ratzenberger has become the face of the Buy American movement, and he's sounding the alarm about the shortage of skilled American laborers and craft workers that results from buying products from overseas.
It's not too late to turn things around. The Buy American movement shows that opportunities abound, Brunell writes. Even in the most dire situations.
