Consumer Reports Magazine Review

I have followed Consumer Reports for years, and have noticed a definite trend to trash American made and manufactured products-regardless of what they are...It seems that foreign made products are always evaluated more highly, and quite frankly, over 25 years, I haven't necessarily found that to be the case.   I suppose that back in the 1970's and early 80's, there were alot of American companies who had become complacent and quality control was virtually non-existent.  At that time, Consumer Reports served as an alarm bell to show us all how much more efficiently overseas companies were producing reasonably priced, very competitive products.   And the American manufacturers had to step up their innovation and quality.   But Consumer Reports seems to still be preaching the same sermon almost 30 years later.  If you read the in depth analysis, the items that they find fault with are usually cosmetic rather than functional, but they tend to really focus on those negatives and give very little column space to the good aspects.   I do like to utilize the comparative charts and graphs that line products up side by side and list out features and drawbacks...that is a helpful tool, but I don't think I would base an entire purchase decision on what Consumer Reports alone says.   One of the things that drives business out of this country and overseas is the notion that American workers are lazy, greedy, and don't care about quality, and constant negative product evaluations will do nothing to improve that image.  I see it as a contributing factor to more and more American companies electing to set up shop overseas, where even if the product isn't ultimately substantially better, the costs to produce it are lesser.