June 25, 2006, Superhighway to hell?
The "we wish she were still blogging" Granny sends us a variety of links, including the map above (which shows a projected new 10-lane wide "NAFTA superhighway" to replace I-35 and some other roads, literally from our Southern border at Laredo, TX to our Northern border and on into Canada, with attendant Canadian and Mexican elements, whose ultimate intention and effect will be to allow a smooth American-union-worker-free movement of cheap goods from the Far East (China, mostly) through the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas, thus by-passing the Port of Los Angeles (and its container port which was built with federal taxpayer money), and allowing lots and lots of Mexican truckers to take our cheap Chinese goods to our markets at much lower cost while being waved through our borders and processed well behind them at Kansas City). There will also be rail links, pipelines, and other "modes" of movement of goodies.
Granny sends me a link to this article by the very, very suspect Jerome Corsi (of co-authoring the Swiftboat book fame) on the subject (which contains an expandable version of the map above),
as well as the Truthout piece if you click on the map above (or the link in this sentence), and what is arguably a confirmation of at least some elements of the story in the form of a Department of Commerce press release (the key being the "trusted traveler" program described in the sixth paragraph.)
I really have no idea as to the veracity of any of this; Mr. Corsi and the "Human Events" web site are... question marks as sources. After the unapologetic Jason Leopold and the Rove indictment fiasco, the once reliable Truthout is a question mark as well. (Granny, by contrast, seems to have a nose for this stuff; she, at least, has proven credibility, which, to my mind, gives some credence here.) Otherwise, there does not seem to be all that much confirmation of most of this out there.
The upshot of all this, it would seem, is that while the GOP led Congress is making a big deal about purportedly "shoring up our borders" (at least the Southern one) and the President is moving National Guard troops down there, another part of the Executive Branch seems to be making deals with Mexico, Canada (and I would guess China) to throw open our borders (at least to "trusted travelers") in the name of "commerce" (and if some of them undocumented workers want to ride in the back of an "approved" or "trusted" container truck that is waved through the "trusty lane" at the border, well, that's just bid'ness.)
I leave the implications to others. Frankly, I like the idea of free trade in general, and I certainly think this adventure will lower some costs and certainly be a boon to the Mexican economy. On the other hand, a vibrant port sector in this country is essential as a matter of national security, if for no other reason.
In this case, the proposed highway project and open border will, of course, screw American (and to some extent, Canadian) workers. Many "conservatives" (who stand to profit handsomely from it all) might say "that's the way it is;" at this point, the rest of us have got to ask, "what in God's name are we doing?" I'm just wondering where the outcry is from the teamsters and longshoremen's unions? Both of them will be screwed royally, if this all comes to pass.
But what's most interesting, as I said, is the juxtaposition and timing of it all.
If we're going to throw open a ten-lane wide hole in our border security, then just why bother with the pretense of doing anything about the rest of it? Are the rubes and hicks really going to continue to believe that their beloved Republican Party is going to put their own crypto-racist desires ahead of bid'ness interests, no matter what the facts show? I don't know, of course, but I suppose that's how you bet...
[BTW... if there's anyone out there in a position to confirm or debunk all this stuff, please chime in and let us know in comments...]
Comments
Well done, Dog!
Sometimes I wish I were still blogging too, but every time I see the mainstream highlight the blogs every day, I want to throw up.
For all their ridiculous posturing ... once they were forced to "see" the bloggers ripping their faces off ... and all their forums and panels on "the bloggers" ... they forget (or never knew) bloggers are just voices of the people.
I guess it is just JC on another cracker.
Gran
Posted by Granny at June 26, 2006 12:22 AM