Dear Warren Buffett,
This letter is to persuade you to reconsider your support of Belgium-owned InBev's bid to acquire American-owned Anheuser-Busch, of which you are one of the largest shareholders. The signers of this letter are asking you to act in the interest what is best for the hard-working, common American men and women by keeping Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis, Missouri, an independent American company.
I advocate supporting American-owned companies that produce American-made products. Anheuser-Busch is such a company. Many times in the past, you have supported what’s best for America, when:
1. In February 2005, you criticized America's financial stability and currency, saying that a panic in the dollar might possibly create more wealth for you than the collective lifetime earnings of thousands of American workers. Isn’t that what would happen should InBev purchase Anheuser-Busch and you were able to cash in your stock?
2. In a March 2005 Guardian article, you warned of a bleak future for the United States in which ownership and wealth continued to move overseas, leaving more of the economy in the hands of foreign interests. You said "This force-feeding of American wealth to the rest of the world is now proceeding at the rate of $1.8bn daily." Won't we be force-feeding American wealth to the rest of the world if this deal goes through? Won’t we lose all future streams of income associated with American assets when we lose ownership? In the same article you predicted that after another decade the ownership of the U.S. by foreigners would be $11 trillion.
3. You have consistently warned us about the U.S. trade deficit, estimating that if it continued at the same rate for another 10 years, Americans would be paying three percent of our annual income to foreigners. Won’t we be paying even more if foreigners were to take ownership of Anheuser-Busch?
Anheuser-Busch is the only major American-owned brewery company left in the United States. Once the last of American competition is eliminated, foreign companies can set whatever prices they want, and any possibility for corporate responsibility and American loyalty to keep jobs here will be eliminated with it. Pleas for corporate responsibility to do what is best for America can only work with American-owned companies, not foreign-owned companies. If InBev buys Anheuser-Busch and decides to close American factories or start brewing beers like Budweiser, Busch, and Michelob offshore, Americans can expect no loyalty or corporate responsibility from a foreign company to keep jobs here.
In fact, InBev’s history of investing in other countries has not necessarily worked to the benefit of those countries. Brazil has lost 10,000 brewery-worker jobs since the 1990s and Canada has seen years of labor turmoil marred by years of layoffs and factory closings.
By keeping Anheuser-Busch American owned, we will not only keep a proud and historic American company based here and the jobs it provides, but also a formidable world competitor that will reflect the strength and pride America has in herself.
Sincerely,
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