Watchman on the Wall

Announcer: Welcome to Watchman on the Wall, a daily outreach of Southwest Radio Ministries and swrc.com. God is still on the throne and prayer changes things. Today, we learn how Americans can actually buy American. Then Josh Davis will explore America in Bible prophecy.

Friends, why should you support Southwest Radio Ministries? Well, because every day this ministry is proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, teaching God's Word and helping believers understand the times in which we live through radio broadcasts, television programs, publications, podcasts, and digital outreach. For more than 90 years, faithful supporters have made this work possible. We receive no funding except from you. We are completely supported by listeners and viewers like you.

If this ministry has strengthened your faith, encouraged your walk with Christ, or helped you better understand Bible prophecy, would you prayerfully consider supporting this outreach today? Give securely at swrc.com or call 1-800-652-1144.

Now, here is our host, Dr. Larry Spargimino.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Many Americans, and I include myself, love America and we are patriotic. Now that does not mean that we pretend that America is perfect, but America is exceptional, exceptional in many ways.

We are offering a tremendous book. I really love the book. It's titled, "How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism." We are offering the third and latest edition. The author, Roger Simmermaker, is on the phone with me.

Roger, thank you so much for your books and for being with us for these shows.

Roger Simmermaker: Thank you, Larry. I appreciate you allowing me on here.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Roger, my wife was born in China. She, of course, had no sympathies for the Communist in China. And one day, she asked the manager of a local Walmart Supercenter, "Can I buy anything made in America?" And she tells me that the manager just smiled and walked away. So my question is, can I buy anything made in America or any products today made in America?

Roger Simmermaker: Yes, you definitely can, and it's interesting you brought that up because that's how I got started with buy American back in the 90s, is I went shopping for some apparel and I had such trouble finding American-made apparel, I decided to do something about it. And I looked into it and decided to start writing books about it. Which is what I did.

The fact is, about 97% of the apparel that we buy in this country is not made in America. But if you know where to find that 3% that is, and I know how to find it and where to find it, we're going to be okay. And you're not necessarily going to pay more money for that American-made product in many cases as you would a foreign product, say from China or another third-world country.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Well, you've got a lot of really good stuff, but on page 9 and following, you have a section titled, "Fathers Know Best." What was the wisdom of Washington and Jefferson and others on buying foreign goods? Well, you talk about Washington signing the Tariff Act of 1789. It imposed a tariff of 5% on the majority of dutiable imports, and that was deliberately done for the encouragement and protection of manufacturing in America. I never knew that. But the wisdom of the Fathers, to say the least, was certainly great in many, many areas.

Roger Simmermaker: Yes, they certainly were. And that tariff that you're talking about, that tariff bill of 1789, that was the second bill ever signed by George Washington after we adopted the Great Seal of the United States. He was a tariff guy. He was a Buy American guy. All the faces on Mount Rushmore were for tariffs, for buying American, and we need to get back to that as much as possible.

And that's the direction that I think President Trump is going today, and it should be no surprise. But a lot of people have gotten so used to free trade and globalization over the last 70-plus years. It's a shock to them and they don't know how to really read that or understand it. But if you go back to the Founders, that's the way that we were, that's the way the country was founded and we need to get back to that for sure.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: I certainly agree.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: You also write that Americans may think that they're getting a better deal in being able to buy cheaper goods from abroad. But as you point out, "Often we pay more in direct taxes to cover budget shortfalls created by free trade and the resulting trade and budget deficits." That's from your book "Unconstitutional."

I never thought of that, but you know the more you think of the logic of what you're writing about and all that you're bringing out and with regards to the economy, who gets the taxes and so forth and so forth, this is a major issue.

Roger Simmermaker: Yes, it is. And we have to realize that the Constitution says that we are to regulate commerce with foreign nations. And it mentions duties in the Constitution, which is another word for tariffs.

Regulation, some of it's good, some of it's not. But some of these regulations actually result in a higher standard of living for the United States. I mean, just take for instance, we have a 12.4% payment that we need to pay into Social Security. If you're an American, if you have an American factory, you hire American workers, you split that 12.4%, 6.2% each, is split between the company and the American worker. That factory goes overseas, the worker's now laid off. The company doesn't have to pay their 6.2% because they're in China or wherever. So we are subsidizing imports from China and other nations by at least, just my Social Security example, at least 12.4%.

And then the free traders and globalists want to turn around and say, "Well, let's not put any taxes or tariffs on imports." But what they don't realize is that we're tariffing our own, our own production 12%. If taxes are tariffs and tariffs are taxes, we are tariffing our own production at 12.4%. So it should be equal. And the Constitution talks about equal application of the laws. And that's why we should have fair trade and a level playing field across the globe.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Well, sometimes we see on a garment or on something it says, "Made in USA." Is it okay to purchase something that says "Made in USA"? Is that a proof of anything?

Roger Simmermaker: Well, unless they're breaking the law and they want to risk fines or jail time, the Federal Trade Commission has spelled out what it means to label something "Made in the USA." And that is, quote unquote, "all or virtually all made in the United States with parts and labor."

One example, I think they bring up if you go to the website of the FTC, is you can't have a lamp that's imported into the United States and then put an American lampshade on it and say, "It's Made in USA," because that's not a significant portion of labor and parts for that item.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Well, I would think that buying American means buying an American-made product made by an American-owned company that will have parts available that are made in America. Is that pretty much a good definition of what buying American means?

Roger Simmermaker: Well, that's one thing I talk about in the book. I really expand the term of "Buy American." Most people think "Buy American" and "American-made" are similar, but I would argue they are not.

Let's say that you're buying a product made in the USA from a Chinese company. Would you say that you're buying American when you do that? Because you know the profits are going to go back to China. The taxes are going to be paid to foreign owners, foreign stakeholders, stockholders, and foreign investors. And they're going to pay taxes to the Chinese Treasury, not the U.S. Treasury. So we're not really buying American in the purest sense of the term if we look at just where is the part or the item or good made.

It should be an American-made product from an American-owned company. That way we keep jobs, profits, and tax revenue in the United States within our borders.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: You explain that. You say that "ownership is the most important part of the Buy American picture for many reasons, the foremost being that American companies pay nearly twice the amount of taxes to the U.S. Treasury as do foreign companies." And so, you know, why do U.S. corporations shift their ownership to Bermuda or the Cayman Islands? Well, to avoid taxes.

Roger Simmermaker: That's correct. So, you know, just by the fact that it's American-owned company and it's owned by shareholders and stakeholders and investors that are here in the United States, they reap the profits from the sale of those items or goods and they're going to pay taxes to the United States. If you have a factory based in the USA but owned by a company in Japan or China or elsewhere, that's where the profits go, that's where the taxes are going to be paid. And that's the national economy that's ultimately going to benefit. Ownership is the most important part of the Buy American picture. What I like to say is ownership equals control, and control equals sovereignty and independence. We need to get back to all of those.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Yes, I agree. You know, I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, although I think so many conspiracies are no longer theory, they're fact. But, you know, it just seems to me, especially in the previous administration, that everything that we did, like what we're talking about right now, you know, those who support free trade, that the whole end of the game, the whole point of the game is really to destroy America and to create a situation where we will actually welcome a globalist takeover because we're so weak and so without any guts, without any strength, without any hope, that we will say, "Yes, please help us, please help us, we need your help." Does it seem that way with you that everything was done against our country?

Roger Simmermaker: Well, I will say that Joe Biden did continue a lot of the tariffs. He kept all of the tariffs on China. And he did actually increase tariffs in certain small instances. For instance, he doubled for a limited amount of time of the duties on Canadian softwood lumber that Trump had put on, and then he brought them back down. So he did continue that in some ways.

We have to go back to again our previous presidents that we've been talking about. For instance, Abraham Lincoln said we should "trade where it is necessary and discontinue it where it is not." He didn't say avoid trade where it is not, he said discontinue it. And just an example he used was, if we're going to import, I mean if we're going to buy coffee or bananas, things like that, we need the coffee beans from another country, that kind of thing. But in regards to things like cotton, if we make the cotton here, we should discontinue trade in that area.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Right.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Well, friends, I'm really enjoying the interview with Robert Simmermaker. We are offering our listeners his book, "How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism," Third Edition. This is a book of 503 pages in length. It's a very, very thorough presentation of some tricky things that you really need to know more about. You can have a copy of this volume by calling 1-800-652-1144.

Jefferson and Washington believed that Americans should buy American. Jefferson said, and I quote him, "I have come to a resolution myself, as I hope every good citizen will, never again to purchase any article of foreign manufacture which can be had of American make, be the difference of price what it may."

Now, there's an excellent companion volume that goes along with "How Americans Can Buy American," and it's titled "Unconstitutional: Our Founding Fathers Rejected Free Trade and So Should We." It's a 125-page book. A wonderful book, and we're going to be talking about that in a little bit. Our toll-free number, 1-800-652-1144.

And like I've said, and I'm sure you're aware of the fact that this is all a very, very hot issue today, and you should know what the issues are because I know you hear all kinds of things in the news from the left, from the right, and so on. Our toll-free number, 1-800-652-1144.

Now, Roger, I'm really interested in your background a little bit. I mean, you seem to be so knowledgeable in all of this. How did you come to be such an expert in these issues? And you really are. I mean, you've brought up things and angles that most people never even thought of, but you've been dealing with this for a long, long time. So tell us a little bit about your background.

Roger Simmermaker: Yes, I got involved in politics basically when Ross Perot came on the scene and he talked about trade policy, buying American, things like that that really spoke to me. One day, as I mentioned, I was going shopping in 1994, and I thought, "You know what? I'm going to make sure I buy something made in USA today." And that was, I didn't think of Ross Perot that day or politics or anything else. I just got upset about it and decided to write my first book. I didn't have any background in writing or publishing, but I was very good at English, so that's what I decided to do. And I just kind of jumped in with both feet, and the rest is history, as they say.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: That's interesting. I figured something like that to say the least.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: And I know you're involved with the CPA, the Coalition for a Prosperous America. I believe that organization represents domestic producers and workers across many industries. Tell us about that a little bit.

Roger Simmermaker: Yes, they do. They represent manufacturers, ranchers, farmers, even some unions are part of it. The AFL-CIO is has a membership, the Teamsters has a membership. So it's a very broad coalition of kind of a non-partisan coalition from all sides of the aisle that are for the common good of bringing common-sense trade policy back to the United States and definitely advocates of buying American, which trade policy and buying American, those are my two heavy hitter issues. The CPA, Coalition for a Prosperous America, is right down the middle on those issues, and it's a great organization.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Who funds them and, and, you know, it sounds like an organization that the Democrats love to hate. Tell us a little bit more about the funding.

Roger Simmermaker: Well, it's funded by the members, you know. I'm a member. We have a certain amount of dues that we pay. We have annual conferences, which we just had our annual conference a couple of weeks ago. You have all kinds of members from different backgrounds that are part of that, and they want to see America succeed because when America succeeds, they're going to succeed. We're all going to succeed. Everybody has a reason to be proactive in that regard.

Last conference, we had the U.S. Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, came by. Rick Scott, Senator from Florida. I live in Florida for 38 years. He was my senator for a while. Just a lot of good people that talk a lot of good common sense about where we are and where we need to go.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Has President Trump made any comments about your book or anybody on his staff and in his administration? I mean, I think he's a great president. I think he has the leadership abilities and embraces the viewpoint that we desperately need in 2025. And I don't make him the savior or the Messiah, but I'm certainly glad that he is our President. So, anybody in his administration or cabinets said anything about your book or is he aware of it? It's a tremendous, I think it's a good resource.

Roger Simmermaker: I would imagine he's aware of it. I mean, the book "Unconstitutional" that I wrote is endorsed by a couple of Coalition for a Prosperous America members. One is the economist Ian Fletcher. One of them is Dan DeMico, who was a former president of New Core Steel. So I know they've been more actively engaged with the administration than I have. And actually, there's been a few members, I won't name any names, but that have actually been recognized by the administration and said, "Why don't you come into the administration and help us out in these different areas in these appointed positions?" They definitely have the President's ear. I would imagine he knows who I am, but I don't know that for a fact.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Right, I know. Okay.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: On page 105 and following of "Unconstitutional," now friends, that's the other book that we're offering. On page 105 and following, you advise that America has to do five things to maintain our economic superpower status. Maybe you could give us a rundown or kind of a summary. I think they're all very significant.

Roger Simmermaker: Yes, they are. But the number one thing that I want to zero in on is we have to implement what I would call equalizing tariffs. And that would make trade actually fair all across the board, and it's all based on what President Teddy Roosevelt said. He said, "Tariffs must never be reduced below the point that will cover the difference of labor cost here and abroad."

Today, I think we would have to expand that into not just labor costs, but all cost burdens, production cost burdens, whether it be safety controls, military, Social Security, National Defense. These are all things that Americans pay for. You and I pay for with our taxes. And we have to remember that only American workers pay taxes to America. Workers in China and other countries don't pay a dime towards Social Security, Medicare, parks, roads, bridges, infrastructure. All these other things that we enjoy, we the people have to be able to pay for the things that we have demanded from the use of our tax dollars. If we have an equalizing tariff, which equalizes cost burdens to make trade fair, I think producers in the United States would be happy to know that they're playing on a level playing field against these other foreign producers. And from the get-go, they have a chance to be more efficient, they have a drive to be more efficient, to win that competition, to win the consumer over, and that is a real propeller for national prosperity if we can just get to that. Something that Teddy Roosevelt talked about.

Announcer: All of our programs are archived. We've said a lot of things, Roger's said a lot of things that you might want to go over and think about. They're all true and all in his book. Very, very helpful. So just remember to tune in to our show once again for our next broadcast. And Roger, thank you so much for this interview.

Announcer: What happens when Americans stop buying American? In the eye-opening book, "How Americans Can Buy American," author Roger Simmermaker offers practical, real-world strategies for supporting American workers, businesses, and communities through the everyday choices we make. You'll discover how buying American-made products can help strengthen our economy, preserve jobs, and keep manufacturing thriving here at home.

More than just a book about economics, it's a call to stewardship, personal responsibility, and investing in the future of our nation. Packed with valuable insights, helpful resources, and practical advice, this timely book shows how every purchase can make a difference. If you're concerned about America's economic future and want to learn how your spending decisions can support American families and businesses, this resource is for you.

Order "How Americans Can Buy American" today. Visit swrc.com or call 1-800-652-1144. That's swrc.com or 1-800-652-1144.

Announcer: Does Bible prophecy have anything to say about the United States? Today, Josh Davis explores one of prophecy's most intriguing questions as he examines America's possible role in the last days through the lens of Scripture.

Josh Davis: Where is America in Bible prophecy? Over the next couple of minutes, I'm going to give you all the answers. Well, I hope you know that I'm joking, friends, because that is a big subject that would take quite a while to dive into. And while I'll mention a couple of thoughts today, I want to encourage you to tune in again tomorrow. I'm going to be sharing a special "Headlines from the End Times." And instead of talking so much about headlines and recent events, although I want to sprinkle in some of that, I want to give a message from my heart to you about where America currently is and what God could do in this current day.

Now, when it comes to discussing America and Bible prophecy, well, we've got a couple of special programs planned for next week with a special guest, a Bible prophecy expert who's written and taught a lot on this very subject. I don't want to spoil it for you, but I just would say join me again next week, Lord willing, Monday and Tuesday for some special programs where we can dive deep into this big question: America's role in Bible prophecy.

Now, with the time that I have today, I would like to give you just a little bit of information. And really, when it comes to America's role in Bible prophecy, you just don't see it mentioned in the end times Scripture. I understand that troubles some students of Bible prophecy, especially those of us who live in the United States of America. We see what this country has been, and we're seeing what this country is in its current state. And we're celebrating the 250th birthday this very week. What an awesome milestone this is. What a spirit of celebration is in the air.

So where is America in the end times? Why doesn't this nation figure into the biblical end times scenario in any obvious way? You know, some people say, "Well, here's a reference to a figure, a symbol that could represent the United States of America." As far as I know, dear friends, that is just speculation at best. There's no clear-cut reference to the United States of America in Bible prophecy unless you speculate, unless you twist some scriptures around. And that leads us back to the big question: Why not?

I see at least a couple of explanations for this. The first explanation could be that there's a great move of God in this nation, that many turn to the Lord and are raptured up to be with the Lord. And those that are remaining leave the country just in shambles of unbelief. And with no mooring on biblical principles, the nation would soon fall apart. That's one possibility. And I pray that many souls would be saved, that many lives would turn to the Lord.

We also understand that either way, I believe after the rapture, the United States of America is going to come to a moment of decision. They've got to go one way or the other. And sadly, as you look on the right and on the left, you see people turning against the nation of Israel. And you see a big, big question from people on both sides of the political aisle. Now, that does connect us to Bible prophecy. You say, "Why are you bringing up Israel when you're trying to talk about America's role in Bible prophecy?" Well, Ezekiel 38, 39, it talks about the coalition of nations that would come against Israel. The United States is not one of those nations that's mentioned in an obvious, clear-cut way that would come against Israel.

But it's interesting when you read that passage, there is no nation that rushes to defend Israel. Now, why is that? Could it be that the raptured saints from here in the United States of America and in other countries who would be friendly toward Israel when they are removed from this world through the rapture of the Lord Jesus Christ, that those who remain, unbelievers, remaining on planet Earth, would be the ones who would have to decide whether or not to help Israel. And they would make the obvious choice, "No, we can't help Israel." Could be that possibility. And when God defeats the invading horde, it's going to take seven years to burn all the weapons. Ezekiel 39, verses 9 and 10, tells us that. If this battle took place during the seven-year tribulation, the weapon burning would extend into the Millennium. And I think that contradicts what Earth will be like during the millennial age.

Now, further, the defeat of Israel's enemies could set the stage for the Antichrist Daniel 9:27 peace treaty, making it look like, "I'm on God's side. I am here standing with you, Israel. Your enemies have been defeated." And we are standing with the Jewish people in this time. We stand here with you, making it look like the Antichrist is pro-Israel and on the side of Almighty God who has just won this decisive victory. Could that be part of the end times deception? Well, friends, we're keeping our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're continuing to pray for the United States of America that God would work in many hearts and minds before the rapture of the Church.

Announcer: Every day, Americans make purchasing decisions that impact jobs, businesses, and communities across our nation. But do you know how those choices affect America's economic future? In "How Americans Can Buy American," Roger Simmermaker reveals practical ways consumers can support American workers and manufacturers without sacrificing quality or value. Learn how to identify American-made products, understand the economic impact of your purchases, and discover how simple buying decisions can help strengthen local communities and the nation's industrial base. Whether you're passionate about supporting American jobs or simply want to become a more informed consumer, this insightful book provides valuable tools for putting your principles into practice. Find out how you can make a difference one purchase at a time.

Order your copy of "How Americans Can Buy American" today. Visit swrc.com or call 1-800-652-1144. That's swrc.com or 1-800-652-1144. Watchman on the Wall is a production of Southwest Radio Ministries and is supported by faithful friends like you. To learn more, visit swrc.com.