Nye meets with homeowners affected by Chinese drywall

For all of you that wanted to call all of this '"MEDIA HYPE" and "CASH GRABBING" I hope the news released from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) confirms what the homeowners of these homes have being SCREAMING for months now!

Here is the ap article:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CHINESE_DRYWALL?SITE=FLPEJ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Now you see why we are so worried for our families and lives. SHAME on all those that said we were cash grabbers! I hope you can look at yourself in the mirror each day with SHAME!

I remember all of the smugness and horrible words that have been said about all of us homeowners today as I take my children to see the pulmonologist due to the breathing problems they both have....two healthy children two years ago!

Thank you Virginia Pilot for sharing our stories and for the precise stories that you have written!

Maybe you should read this:
http://www.cpsc.gov/drywall.pdf

what about foodstuffs from china? A visit to wal-mart for canned mushrooms showed me that all were from china, even the brand labelled "pennsylvania dutch!" only one brand of shredded cheese claimed to be a product of the usa, and that was Borden. Kraft cheese claims on their package that they are "crafted in the usa" which doesn't tell us where the actual cheese is from. Other brands claim they are "distributed by" companies in the US, but that doesn't tell us where the original ingredients are from. A call to each individual company might help, but if they aren't required by law to disclose their specific imports, it won't help. A google search of "boycott Chinese products" did not yield any hits later than late 2007. Does anybody know about laws regarding food ingredients from china or any general boycotts of chinese products?

EvanJ,

If you are a scientist and you are so adamant about this all being a media hype why don't you prove the over 35,000 homeowners affected by this wrong? Trust me I would love to find out my home was safe BUT the damage to my home has been done the corrosion is there it is everywhere, electrical, hvac, plumbling and fixtures. Is it an optical illusion? No, it is there you can see it, feel it...... Not to mention the fact that my family that was healthy two years ago is constantly sick...... again tell me why, you seem to know all the answes. So oh wonderful scientist figure it out instead of bashing, find the answers.........

Another point do you think a big company like Dragas would move people out of their homes in order to try to repair a problem that is going to cost them millions of dollars with out the hard evidence that there is a problem? That would be really poor business.

Yes, I am a scientist. That's how I know how to read through the bull and extract the facts. The facts are absolutely no one has researched the issue and found the drywall at fault. There's a number of groups working on it, but there are no conclusion at this time. It's 100% media hype and irresponsible reporting at this point.

American citizens just don't get it. American businesses outsource our jobs to China, because American workers are too expensive and environmental legislation is too expensive. The American businesses argue that due to foreign competition that they have to cut benefits for remaining workers. Then the businesses sell defective products from China, that are far more profitable than products produced in America. Dangerous food, toys, pharmaceuticals, and now sheet rock! Finally businesses claim that we have to block litigation against lawsuits launched against defective products. I pity the American businesses who are forced to earn too much money in this spiraling loop of dismantling our country. Working people just need to get used to how things are done in this country.

When will companies wake up and realize......we don't want products made in China! I check labels and avoid items made in China whenever possible. It is impossible to completely avoid these substandard products, simply because their is no alternative. When selecting my last hairdryer, I did an all out search for one produced somewhere other than China. No such luck! I would much rather pay a few dollars more for a safer and better quality product.

Now is the time for Americans to take advantage and start producing quality safer products here at home! If large companies are too blinded by cheap labor and politics to see the need, then it is time for startup or small businesses to fulfill these needs. This is what America is about!

Is it Madame Toussaud's or Ripley's Wax Museum you are on loan from?

China being the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt (#1 of the countries; #3 overall) is also borne out by the U.S. Treasury's records, current as of Mar '09.
(Forgive me, but I'm gonna use the rest of this space to rant): So while mutual funds do own more than China does, placing them at #2 overall, I find it very unsettling that the #1 place, according to the sources cited in this & my previous post, is held by the U.S. Gov't itself (& since the gov't has no money save what it pinches from TAXPAYERS - that means 'We the People' own the largest share of the Nat'l debt & get to pick up the tab, but unlike real investors, get little or no R.O.I.!
So if I got it right, us taxpayers are essentially borrowing from ourselves to finance the outrageous & often illegal actions of our politicians: giving cash for someone else to piddle away, & charging ourselves (& our heirs) interest for the priveledge! What a deal!

While you are correct that U.S. investors & mutual funds currently hold more of our debt than foreign countries (& I should have stated "of all COUNTRIES which hold our debt") China holds over $100 Billion MORE than any other country: almost $740 Billion vs. about $635 Billion held by Japan, as of the end of March '09, according to Paul Toscano of CNBC.com (an admittedly Leftist organ so perhaps their #'s are suspect.)

And given the state of our economy due to the government caused meltdown, reckless spending & certain inflation to follow now that our currency presses are coming to full speed, many 401k holders & other domestic investors are hesitant/unable to invest as before, so I'd bet the percentage that China holds will only grow.

That's why our government will not keep China's products from our inventories no matter how dangerous they might be.

Banning imports of Chinese drywall at this point is like closing the barn doors after all the cows have escaped. Do we actually pay Senators for these kinds of decisions?

Years ago an airliner crashed that was owned by a foreign national. The owner traveled personally house to house to make substantial monetary retribution to the affected families who lost loved ones.

It is very likely that the factory owner that made the drywall does not live in anything so nice or large as this family's house. It may be impossible for him/her to ever offer any retribution. This possibly being the case with any nation involved in such an incident, the question is posed, "Will that nation take responsibility for its exports and the potential hazards caused by them?"

If any nation wanted favored trade status with the US then it would behoove our government to re-think and implement such trade status based on guarantees. In cases like these, governments whose industries exported faulty or deadly products would need to pay up lest they lose favored trade status. Although such a system would undoubtedly engender sabotage and fraud, it would valuably instill government regulation and oversight

China does not own the majority of treasuries. Not even remotely close to a majority. The majority is owned by US citizens and US businesses. The largest foreign owner is Japan. China is about 4% although that will probably go up a few percent due to the Obama/Pelosi spend-a-thon.

If you have money in bank accounts and investment accounts, you indirectly hold a good part of your net worth in government debt.

"We can thank BOTH Parties..." So here you are trying to show that two wrongs make a right; something that you earlier preached against.

We will probably never get past importing our goods from China, no matter how defective or toxic. Remember, China holds the majority of our "Treasuries" - the instruments we use to borrow the money with which to dig our nation deeper into the debtor's hole. Were we to tell them to stick it re: their goods, they'd retaliate by demanding payment on their notes & refusing to loan us more. (We can thank BOTH Parties for this state of affairs, tho' BHO & the Dems in Congress are anxious to set new records.)
We owe them so much now that if they were to demand payment, we'd either have to fight them or collapse.
I wasn't there, but Congressman Nye's meeting yesterday, probably at the direction of BHO & Sec. of State Hillary, more than likely was an attempt to quash complaints & criticism of the Chinese & sweep it all under the rug. Notice the media wasn't allowed access (like they'd have to worry about the Pilot writing anything critical.)

While scientists aren't involved in the local cases, I have no doubt that the homes were thrown up with Chinese drywall. I just don't know what role the gov't has in it. Perhaps they can pressure the Chinese for reimbursement. Perhaps something like the lemon law for homes? But that could scare away builders. I just don't want to see the gov't buying people new houses or paying for the repairs due to the drywall issue. The people should sue the builder, the people should smear the names of those involved on the internets.

EvanJ

I have repeatedly seen you on these comments disagree with the articles about Chinese Drywall that is fine you are allowed to disagree BUT are you:

1) a scientist?

2) live in a home with Chinese Drywall?

if you answered no to those questions then you REALLY don't know ANYTHING about the subject. There has been scientific proof that there ARE chemical compounds in the board that are causing corroding of metal in these home.

Another question for you EvanJ have you ever been in one of these home? Have you even talked first hand to a homeowner that is going through this nightmare? I would ponder to say NO because your lack of compassion is ZERO!

I invite you to my lovely home, so you can smell first hand what my family has had to live with for two years, I will let you see the thousands of dollars of repair bills that I have had to pay for the corrosion of my ac coils and the replacement costs of tv's, computers, jewelry and the electrical outlets, light switches and light fixtures. Then finally and most importantly I will also show you the pictures of my kids with bloody noses, the doctor bills and my sick family that suffers with rashes and breathing proble

Typical spineless politician to jump on some hyped story that still has no scientific support. A responsible leader would explain the facts of the situation and that people should not jump to irrational conclusions. Doesn't anyone find it interesting that these repeated stories contain zero comments from any engineers or scientists?

If you are a Hampton Roads homeowner and would like to join the other homeowners in the area then send an e-mail to chinesedrywall_1@yahoo.com.

After all of the China-originated health scares of the past three years, how would anyone *not* think that their "drywall" would actually be a product made from the solids scraped from inside a chimney after coal is burned? It's been compared to solid fly ash!

( yeah I know ). This chinese importing needs some SERIOUS overhauling? Tainted toys, pet products, drywall and so on. Whats the deal, I thought 3 strikes and your out worked fairly well? China is sending us trash and we ( america ) are piling it up with a smile? Maybe a sudden embargo freeze on chinese products would make them snap to attention? Or better yet, why dont we try stuff made in the usa? Its no secret we could use a boost? We might be saving a few pennies here and there by using chinese imports, but we are paying for it with sick and injured americans...