Belgium's Budweiser bid proves once again the importance of American ownership. Belgium-owned brewery-company InBev's bid to acquire Anheuser-Busch Cos. is the latest example that proves buying American is more than just about American made. Buying America also means we should be supporting American-owned companies, and especially those that make products in the USA. Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis, Missouri is such a company.

InBev, the world's second largest brewery company behind British-owned SABMiller PLC, has already made an offer of $65 a share in an attempt to purchase Anheuser-Busch which the board rightly rejected. Anheuser-Busch wants to remain American and independent rather than accept a fate that previously American-owned Miller and Coors succumbed to. Miller was bought by a British company in 2002 and Coors was purchased in 2005 by Canadian-owned Molson. Anheuser-Busch, which is the world's third largest brewery company and has the largest share of the coveted American market, is the only major American brewery company left standing.

What can we do to help prevent Anheuser-Busch from falling into the hands of distant foreign owners? Visit www.KeepBudweiserAmerican.com and sign the petition to help stop InBev's takeover attempt. Since the first formal offer for Anheuser-Busch has already been made and rejected, the stage is set for a hostile takeover attempt aimed directly at shareholders. Many American shareholders of Anheuser-Busch want the company to remain independent, but clearly others don't seem to care.

One of these shareholders appears to be none other than Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, one of Anheuser-Busch's largest shareholders. Even though Warren Buffett has warned us many times about the dangers of force-feeding America's wealth to foreigners, he has publicly stated he supports the deal. Obviously if Belgium's InBev were to acquire America's last remaining brewery company, all future streams of income associated with the American assets would be lost with the ownership change. So the www.KeepBudweiserAmerican.com website also allows visitors to send an email to Warren Buffett urging him to vote to reject Belgium's bid to acquire Anheuser-Busch.

InBev has already stated no American jobs would be lost after Belgium's investment in America, but history shows these words are meaningless. InBev's investment in Brazil has resulted in 10,000 lost brewery-worker jobs since the 1990s and Canada has seen years of labor turmoil marred by years of layoffs and factory closings. Workers in other countries have a stern warning for American workers who may soon be employed by Belgium's InBev: "Watch out!"

Ownership equals control, and control equals independence. As we prepare to celebrate Independence Day later this week, we should be reminded that America can no longer remain an independent country if its manufacturing base is under foreign ownership or foreign control. Please visit www.KeepBudweiserAmerican.com and do your part to help keep Anheuser-Busch an independent American-owned company.

Roger Simmermaker is the author of How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism. He also writes "Buy American Mention of the Week" articles for his website www.howtobuyamerican.com and is a member of the Machinists Union and National Writers Union. Roger has been a frequent guest on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, has been quoted in the USA Today, Wall Street Journal and US News & World Report among many other publications, and is now a weekly contributor to WorldNetDaily.

949