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Thread: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    More Insults About the 'North American Conspiracy'
    Human Events ^ | 1-5-2007 | Jerome Corsi

    Conservative blogger John Hawkins of Right Wing News has now decided to join Michael Medved in a new ad hominem attack by using a disparaging adjective to call me a name (“kooky”) and placing me No. 3 in the list of the 20 “people on the right” he finds most annoying.


    Hawkins places me between No. 2 Mark Foley, whom Hawkins characterizes as a “page-molesting pervert,” and No. 4 Duke Cunningham, the congressman Hawkins notes is “going to jail for 8 years after taking a bribe.” I am honored to be included on any list John Hawkins wishes to create. But, as far as I can determine, my offense to Hawkins involves writing with the scope of the 1st Amendment, an offense that Hawkins considers somewhat worse than taking bribes, but not quite as bad as making salacious approaches to underage male employees.


    I first want to thank Hawkins for his continuing campaign to draw attention to my arguments.


    Second, I wonder how much additional writing I will have to produce before Hawkins reduces himself to the “liar, liar” ranting stage Michael Medved exhibited in his recent emotional tirade published on Townhall.com. I guess I will have to read more of Hawkins’s writing to determine if I find his views annoying, but upon introspection I find I have no emotional reaction whatsoever, even to his characterization that I am somehow “annoying” to him. Perhaps President Bush drew solace that he was listed seven positions below me on Hawkins’s “most annoying” list. I apologize to President Bush that Hawkins could not find a better pejorative for him than “incompetent.”


    Clearly in Hawkins’s hierarchy to be “kooky” in writing a political commentary is much more annoying to him than to be merely “incompetent” in conducting the affairs of the nation’s highest elected post.


    Arguing that my writings advance a “completely moronic North American conspiracy theory,” Hawkins linked to an old post he had written on his blog last summer. In an exchange published in July on HUMAN EVENTS’ Right Angle blog, I answered these and other objections raised by Hawkins. The exchange ended when Hawkins chose not to respond. Hawkins has never answered my last specific rebuttals published on the blog. Merely repeating his initial arguments would be considered “non responsive” in traditional debate theory.


    Besides, I have never argued a “North American conspiracy.” The European Union and the Euro are realities today, not a conspiracy theory. So too, North American integration is proceeding rapidly right now, fully documented, as the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America attests if you reference the Department of Commerce website SPP.gov. Equally, the Trans-Texas Corridor is proceeding rapidly, as documented by the Texas Department of Commerce website. If either the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America or the Trans-Texas Corridor is a conspiracy, the conspiracy is being perpetrated by government officials on their public websites.


    We will grant that the now public writings of those who advanced the European Union, such as the memoirs of EU intellectual architect Jean Monnet, confess after the fact that a stealth method was pursued to create the European Union. As Christopher Booker and Richard North, co-authors of the 2003 book, “The Great Deception: A Secret History of the European Union,” write that Jean Monnet “knew that only by operating in the shadows, behind a cloak of obscurity could he one day realize his dream.” Architects of North American integration, such as Robert Pastor of American University, breathe new life into stealth politics when suggesting openly that a new 9/11 crisis may be just the event needed to advance his agenda for creating the “North American Community” he openly professes.


    At any rate, I invite Hawkins to resume his debate with me. To make the process easy, we will link to the exchange. Seeing that I wrote the last rejoinder there, the next move appears to be up to Hawkins. Is Hawkins up to calm, rational debate, or does he want to leave his comments at the level of calumny, an ad hominem attack which always belies an inability to win the argument any other way?

    My writing has been aimed at making sure that North American integration does not advance to the point where a North American Union emerges after what may be a decades-long incremental process. I want to be sure that the United States does not follow the template set in place by how the European Union and the euro emerged over some fifty years, driven by an intellectual elite and evolving step-by-step from an initial, seemingly innocuous continental steel and coal agreement.


    What is it exactly that Hawkins finds annoying—that a NAU and the Amero could be the end result of the North American integration currently happening, or that I might suggest the Bush Administration could be following the Jean Monnet path intentionally?
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  2. #102
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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    As I said before, and I will say again... A North American "union" is a conspiracy theory. IF it happens it won't be because it was a planned EVENT, rather it would perhaps come out of some other incremental situation, or a collapse.

    It's BS. I will stick to that
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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    Quote Originally Posted by Joey Bagadonuts View Post
    Yep....get ready for the North American Union whether we like it or not. I guess that means the Constitution and US soverignty be damned.

    This is the real reason why I believe Bush has done nothing on illegal immigration.

    Globalization will be rammed down our throats by the New World Order crowd.

    Here's a little map...propaganda for the new highway. I snickered at the PDF file attachment..."NASCO Myths Debunked"....yeah, right.

    http://www.nascocorridor.com/


    I wonder if this "super state highway" was the reason behind the Supreme Court's decision on emminent Domain? We'll see I guess.

    I'm with Joey Bagadonuts. And a bunch of other TAA forum members.

    And Jerome Corsi. Especially where Jerome writes:

    I want to be sure that the United States does not follow the template set in place by ... the European Union ... driven by an intellectual elite ...


    That's what this is all about. The North American Union is no conspiracy theory. Four United States Congressmen (Reps. Virgil Goode, Ron Paul, Walter Jones and Tom Tancredo ) did not create the House Continuing Resolution 487 to defeat a conspiracy theory. There are real people trying to do something real that will affect us all.

    And I'm all for stopping it, if that is at all possible.

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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    Michael Medved sure has his knickers in a knot over this. I haven't seen that many adjectives in just 2 paragraphs in quite a while.

    I've slowly lost interest in Medved - that speed is increasing.

    http://michaelmedved.townhall.com/bl...e-7caa91fee062

    Thursday, December 28, 2006

    Shame on Demagogues Exploiting "North American Union!"

    Posted by: Michael Medved at 2:11 AM

    Today I spent a few minutes listening to another nationally syndicated talk radio show and felt outraged and embarrassed to hear the guest host (an otherwise bright and well-informed conservative) facilitating the twisted, ignorant mounting public hysteria over the looming menace of a “North American Union.”

    This paranoid and groundless frenzy has been fomented and promoted by a shameless collection of lunatics and losers; crooks, cranks, demagogues and opportunists, who claim the existence of a top secret master plan to join the U.S., Canada and Mexico in one big super-state and to replace the good old Yankee dollar with a worthless new currency called “The Amero.” Another delusion usually associated with these fears involves the construction of a “Monster Highway” some sixteen lanes wide through Texas and the Great Plains, connecting the two nations on either side of the border for some nefarious but never-explained purpose.

    SNIP

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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    Michael Medved. sheesh. All of that rubbish name-calling ad hominems from a Sasquatch devotee. I am just so sick of Michael Medved. pahtooie!

    Back to the topic...

    I suppose all of the hardware to be used to create the TTC doesn't really exist; the whole thing is just some 8,000 mile, 1 million acre flippin' mirage paid for with phantom cash.

    http://www.corridorwatch.org/ttc/index.htm

    http://www.keeptexasmoving.org/

    http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51023

    http://www.texastollparty.com/ttp_trans_texas.php



    http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/05jul/07.htm

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    Senior Member samizdat's Avatar
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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    RUSCOISLAM...ISM
    My personal comment is that Texas appears here as the heart of the Americas. Not a bad idea. Forget the Alamo. Let's hope that Americans from Argentina to Alaska get inspired by de Holy Ghost and refrain from continually crowning the Sacred Heart of Jesus with thorns. That would help a lot.

    flippin' mirage paid for with phantom cash.
    Looks like a good trick by the Treasury Dept. Better late than never. I like Nasco. I agree with Rick that NAU and the amero is a conspiracy theory, albeit the intellectual commie thugs pushing this are anathema.
    I don't like "amero" nor the NAU. A loose NAU is practically inevitable. Amero may shoot up, but will likely be drowned out in the self-pity when real wars, famine and disease shoot forth. Then it's back to barter, booty and city-states.



    A loosely, [(charitably) : little hope for much of that,
    now that the wood has gone dry, but a little charity is
    like yeast which permeates the whole mass. ] united N. and S. America is essential for resisting the Soviet-SCO-China-Islam bloc.

    The good news is that Islam particularly, and true communism. to a lesser degree are not ideologies entrenched in central, south or far north America. The bad news is that Venezuela is a big blemish, Brazil is not too jumpin for joy at the Holy Ghost, and Islam and communism have strong footholds in the US of A. as well as Canada. What a broth, not what God hath wrought, yet the works of man.

    In summary, the highway is great- moves provision, makes jobs, albeit a la fdr, creates progress, and solid communication- (note I avoided the Solidarity gerund).

    Amero and Nau are western-commie pipe dreams.

    Here's a Q. Is Hugo connected??

    The true solution to beating (new coin phrase)- RUSCOISLAM...ISM- is a good God bless America in the morn, the eve, and in between. The "white washed tombs full of filth and dead bones" are you and me.

    Christ was revealed on Epiphany to 3 wise men. Christ commanded us to give shelter, food, water, and clothing to our neighbors, and to visit the sick and imprisoned. And to bury the dead.

    The sheep go to heaven and the goats go to hell.

    Lackluster Christians, or avaricious and lustful false christians, by their luke-warm or antichristian whogivesahootspha have buried the kingdom of God into small plots in oasis here and there.

    Only God's comng again or mass miracles can spark up the water needed to dampen the hatred, caused by the demon's manipulation, control and vengeance.

    Yet wait thee. God is present, and miracles occur each moment. If only God's people (who are called by His name) would humble themselves and pray...


    The heart follows the mind, no?

    I'll bet there's a Bible per person in all of South and Central America. Yet I'll reckon less than 1 in 1000 has bothered to read and think- Who is Jesus? What are the 10 commandmants?

    ...and yes, in the commy and islam phile nations, our brothers burn, lose heads and worse , due to their ignorant and or posessed leaders.

    Bibliaphile, loving God with tenderness, retiring to a solitary place to BE with God. This is survival.

    Multiplying bread and other produce is not my forte, nor are many capable. Hence, it is natural, logical and propitious to design and erect superhighways for the huddled masses. Nasco.

    Nasco-excellent
    Amero- ====0000
    NAU-... that depends a lot on Texas.

    what if tomorrow, Bush went to Congress and blurted out.

    Get out your real weapons and fight, America. Do charity and pray. Both are necessary to avoid the "cooked goose". Don't ask nor blame me for the problems in Iraq. This was a bandaid device to stop the bloodflow and prevent RUSCOISLAM...ISM. We went for conventional and ground to prevent a nuclear war.

    Now, America, and I mean from Argentina to Alaska, get out your real arms, each and every one of you damblasted creatures. [Its Sunday. Turn off the ##TV. Get down on you knees and prop up in an arm chair to read the Word of God.

    Jesus Christ is manifest today, as an innocent child, the lamb of God. I call on you Americans as soldiers in the fight for charity, for wisdom, for progress in God's creation. Get out your d. bibles and read em. Get out yer rusty ROSARIES AND RATTLE EM. Reflect upon Jesus, Moses and the 10 commandments.

    Prepare for and remember always the time of death, and thou shalt not sin. Shore up your spirituality, America, for many have shown to be a sorry lot, worthy of the fires of hell. Awaken, dead, and receive the blessing Jesus has prepared for you.

    After the 9-11 attacks, I called for prayer at Yankee stadium. Now where's the beef? I'm the peaceful leader of a peaceful nation. I abhor violence, murder and the religious persecution practiced in islam and communist nations. I chose practical methods of conventional warfare, to prevent more calamitous WMD or nuclear confrontation, which TODAY, threatens the US, Mexico, Europe, Canada, Taiwan, and all the straits of humanity.

    And so I plead, fellow Americans. Get thee down to your knees. Bow before thy Maker, lest the storm of the destructor render us as a helpless dove amidst the storm of Noah's flood. Be though brave for once. Confess thy sins, wash them in Jesus ...blood, pray even for thy enemies, that they may turn... then shall ye hear from heaven.

    In the national realm, looks like Israel, with permision, is playing the sacrificial lamb, waiting for, and even asking for a provocative event justifying their BOOT to Iran or Syria.

    Possibly, the Israelis will boot Iran, US will boot Syria, causing gog to go off and raise the rebelious nations.

    Wish I was blind and not looking, but at such time, the superhighway whould be Kool.

    canto XXV Dante

    from purgatory, the lustful... "open your breast to the truth which follows and know that as soon as the articulations in the brain are perfected in the embryo, the first Mover turns to it, happy...."
    Shema Israel

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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    Sami, I think that was about as spot-on as it gets. Though I don't forsee any great reconciliation to God happening unless perhaps when the SHF. Commie and Socialist dreams for sure, but maybe w/ much American political apathy, and millions of illegals given amnesty and voting democrat, and with the way this idea has been hidden for years, the "pipe dream" may become a reality. Practically speaking the union gives us the numbers to win against the Soviet-SCO-China-Islam bloc.
    I'm taking America back. Step 1: I'm taking my kids out of the public re-education system. They will no longer have liberal bias and lies like this from bullying teachers when I expect them to be taught reading, writing, and arithmetic:
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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    I don't forsee any great reconciliation to God happening
    Yup. Me neither. But charity hopes all things.

    I apologize for swerving or hijacking accidently the NAU thread to an off topic religious soap box. Later I hope to place additional peripheral comments on preserving Christianity in the Americas on the appropriate thread. I hope it's not "the catecombs", but God works all things out for good for those who love Him and for those who will.

    canto XXV Dante

    from purgatory, the lustful... "open your breast to the truth which follows and know that as soon as the articulations in the brain are perfected in the embryo, the first Mover turns to it, happy...."
    Shema Israel

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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD


    Michael Medved. sheesh. All of that rubbish name-calling ad hominems from a Sasquatch devotee. I am just so sick of Michael Medved. pahtooie!

    First off Sean, let's get something very clear here, I've seen you use this phrase over and over, and have even used it against me.

    ad hominem... or argument ad hominem is very SPECIFICALLY a response to an argument by an attack on the person.

    If ANYONE is doing this... it would be you. Here in the above quotation you specifically attack the person, Michael Medved and call him a "Sasquatch devotee". THAT is an ad hominem attack.

    Nowhere in his remarks.... quoted below, did he attack the PERSON, just the person's premise.

    Today I spent a few minutes listening to another nationally syndicated talk radio show and felt outraged and embarrassed to hear the guest host (an otherwise bright and well-informed conservative) facilitating the twisted, ignorant mounting public hysteria over the looming menace of a “North American Union.”
    I suggest, Sean, when you decide to use the phrase that you do so sparingly, and two ensure that you yourself aren't falling for the "attack the person" crap that you're well known for. I didn't appreciate in the emails and PMs from before myself and I can see why people get upset with you.

    NORMALLY, as long as you stick the facts, you're fine.

    This "Union" is a whole lotta hogwash.

    There are few facts to back this stuff up. FACTS I said. Yeah, some congresscritters are raising cane, but that DOES NOT give credibility to it any more than the Democrats raising cane about some other conspriacy theory gives THAT theory any credibility (eg, when Rangle and other leftists accused Bush several years back of trying to "reinstitute the draft" -- and we pointed out, both chronologically and specifically that the LEFTISTS THEMSELVES each and everyone who were screaming about it were the ONES WANTING TO INSTITUTE A DRAFT).
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  10. January 8th, 2007, 15:59

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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=53602

    Michael Medved blows a gasket



    Posted: January 3, 2007
    1:00 a.m. Eastern





    An old adage came to mind while reading Michael Medved's latest blog entry: "Me thinks he doth protest too much."

    I'm going to rebut what I consider to be Medved's vicious, unrelenting, personal attacks on me and my news service without resorting to the over-the-top insults he employed in his recent commentaries on plans for a North American Union.

    "Today I spent a few minutes listening to another nationally syndicated talk radio show and felt outraged and embarrassed to hear the guest host (an otherwise bright and well-informed conservative) facilitating the twisted, ignorant mounting public hysteria over the looming menace of a 'North American Union,'" he wrote in his blog last Thursday.
    In all the years I've known Michael Medved, I've never seen him quite this upset about any other topic. Talk about twisted, ignorant hysteria! He seems determined to deny – despite overwhelming evidence, which I will recap briefly – that there is no well-funded, well-heeled political movement promoting a merger of the United States, Mexico and Canada.

    More at the link above.

  12. January 8th, 2007, 17:04

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  13. January 8th, 2007, 17:06

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  14. January 8th, 2007, 17:26

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  15. #111
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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    Dallas-based food chain to accept Mexican pesos
    Dallas Morning News ^ | January 6, 2007 | Karen Robinson-Jacobs

    Monday, patrons of the Dallas-based Pizza Patrón chain, which caters heavily to Latinos, will be able to purchase American pizzas with Mexican pesos.

    Restaurant experts and economists said they knew of no other food chain with locations so far from the Mexican border offering such a service.

    "We're trying to reach out to our core customer," Antonio Swad, president of Pizza Patrón Inc., said Friday.

    "We know they come back [from Mexico] and have pesos left over. We want to be a convenient place for them to spend their pesos."

    While U.S. restaurant chains have stepped up their marketing to Latino consumers and incorporated Latin flavors in the menu, it's unusual to see that outreach extend to the cash register.

    "I think it's a very interesting idea," said Ron Paul, president of Technomic Inc., a Chicago-based restaurant market research firm. "They are catering to that audience."

    But Mr. Paul said he did not see other chains rushing to emulate the program, in part because of bookkeeping headaches.

    (Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
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  16. #112
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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    I wonder if they do cross border runs? Nah. Some vigilante would probably catch em stashing sex offenders in the m/c gas tank.

    Or a nuke in the pizza box. Hey. Has anyone checked to see if the malvatruchas eat pizza? A mero mero conspiracy.

    canto XXV Dante

    from purgatory, the lustful... "open your breast to the truth which follows and know that as soon as the articulations in the brain are perfected in the embryo, the first Mover turns to it, happy...."
    Shema Israel

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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    John Hawkins - There Isn't Going to Be a North American Union
    Human Events ^ | 1-10-2007 | John Hawkins

    Yesterday, Jerome Corsi was prattling on about the North American Union again after Michael Medved deservedly spanked him for spreading conspiracy theories. While I don't think Corsi is any more worthy of being taken seriously than those who think Jews rule the world or the "Truthers" who think President Bush is responsible for 9/11, I thought I would respond to him one last time. (I think that's about the fourth time I've said that.)

    Now, why respond again? What's the point? Well unfortunately, a lot of conservatives consider this conspiracy theory to be so preposterous that they believe it's beneath them to even bother discussing it, and that leaves Corsi and his ilk to dominate the debate. And since there are a lot of conservatives being taken in by this North American Union nonsense, somebody has got to step up to the plate.

    Of course, once you decide to respond to a conspiracy theory, you have a very basic problem: the people who believe in this theory didn't reason their way into it, so it's extremely difficult to use reason to convince them that there's nothing to it. In this case, from what I've seen, most people who buy into the NAU conspiracy theory have done so because they're understandably upset about Bush's outrageous position on illegal immigration or because they're heard a few big conservative names like Corsi, Phyllis Schlafly, Michael Savage, Lou Dobbs or Joseph Farah talk about it as if it were reality. Then, they see that we're cooperating with our neighbors on certain issues (which is something that we're always doing) and they leap to the conclusion that we're in the middle of some far ranging plot when nothing could be further from the truth.

    However, not one of the advocates of this conspiracy theory mentioned above has ever produced one single solitary piece of evidence that shows anyone in the Bush Administration is working on an “Amero” or actually merging the U.S. into Canada or Mexico, because there is no such evidence. In fact, that's one of the most striking things about this conspiracy: it's supposedly a grandiose plot that the Bush Administration is engaged in, yet no one from the Bush Administration is ever tied to any of the "evidence," such as it is, that's offered. For example:

    A think tank called the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) had a task force that put out a report called "Building A North American Community." If you read through the report, contrary to what you've heard said time and time again by NAU conspiracy theorists, you'll find that it does not call for a "North American Union." Moreover, the CFR itself doesn't even take official positions on foreign policy issues because its members have a wide variety of different opinions on the issues. So, there's no cabal of globalists sitting around at the Council on Foreign Relations, rubbing their hands together sinisterly, and plotting to sell us out to Canada or Mexico—but even if there were, so what? Think tanks champion all sorts of ideas, good and bad; it doesn't necessarily follow that they're implemented by the government.

    Then there's Robert Pastor, a liberal university professor and globalist, who has talked about an Amero in one of his books and served as a co-chair of the task force that produced the "Building A North American Community" report. Newsflash: I've talked to Pastor and he denies talking to the Bush Administration about any sort of North American Union. Furthermore, he says that to the best of his knowledge they're not working on any such thing. He also noted that the Amero was one of three ideas he floated in one of his books, that he wasn't married to it, and again, to the best of his knowledge, nobody in the Bush Administration is working on it. In addition, Pastor has this to say about the idea of a North American Union:

    Each of the proposals I have laid out represent (sic) more than just small steps. But it doesn’t represent a leap to a North American Union or even to some confederation of any kind. I don’t think either is plausible, necessary or even helpful to contemplate at this stage.

    Even if Pastor had said exactly the opposite and called for a North American Union to be formed tomorrow, so what? He doesn't work for Bush. It's like having a Communist professor screaming that Lenin was right and we should become a Communist nation tomorrow and then having people like Jerome Corsi go, "See? George Bush is converting America to Communism!" It makes no sense.

    Next up is NASCO and the Trans-Texas corridor. NASCO is a business organization that promotes businesses up and down a certain stretch of highway in the U.S., Mexico and Canada and they do support the building of the Trans-Texas Corridor. However, NASCO isn't affiliated with the Bush Administration, nor were they formed to promote any sort of North American Union. You can like NASCO or not, you can be for or against the Trans-Texas Corridor, but understand that neither project has anything to do with a plot to merge the United States with Mexico or Canada.

    Then there's the Security and Prosperity Partnership. The SPP works under the Commerce Department and they are working on increasing cooperation between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada on a variety of issues (which is something we're always doing). However, again, despite what you may have heard, the SPP is not based on the "Building A North American Community" report. Furthermore, they're not working on an Amero or a North American Union. They say so right on their own website:

    The cooperative efforts under the SPP, which can be found in detail at www.spp.gov, seek to make the United States, Canada and Mexico open to legitimate trade and closed to terrorism and crime. It does not change our courts or legislative processes and respects the sovereignty of the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The SPP in no way, shape or form considers the creation of a European Union-like structure or a common currency. The SPP does not attempt to modify our sovereignty or currency or change the American system of government designed by our Founding Fathers.

    Heck, even Tony Snow has specifically said, "Of course, no. We're not interested (building a European Union-style superstate in North America). There is not going to be an EU in the U.S."

    So, if the SPP and the Bush Administration are actually working on a North American Union, despite their denials, where’s the hard proof? Not, "Well, look at Bush's position on illegal immigration." Not, "This language on the SPP website sounds kind of similar to this language in the CFR report." Not, "There's a college professor who thinks this is a good idea." Where's the real proof that the Bush Administration is actually working on an Amero or merging the U.S. with Canada or Mexico? There is none and there won't ever be any offered.

    That's why conspiracy theorists love to try to bog people down in minutiae. Sure, lots of people saw planes hit the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, but let's ignore that and talk about the temperature that steel melts at and the size of the hole in the building at the Pentagon. That’s how they trick people in missing the big picture. With the North American Union conspiracy theory, nobody ever talks about how this could practically be brought about when it would be almost universally opposed by the American people and would likely require a Constitutional Convention to pull off. Presumably, people like Jerome Corsi believe that there will just be a press conference one day announcing the changeover to an Amero and introducing us to our new Canadian and Mexican overlords—actually, these conspiracy theorists never really think that far ahead and they hope that you don't either. They don't want you to consider that there have been no leaks from the Bush Administration about this conspiracy even though thousands of people would have to know about it, that the mainstream media, which would love nothing better than to beat Bush over the head with something like this if it existed, isn't discussing this issue, that the citizens of Canada and Mexico wouldn't go along with a NAU -- you could go on and on. The reality is that even if Bush were a diabolical mastermind who wanted to dump the dollar and form a North American Union, he doesn't have the authority to do it without the consent of Congress and without it passing muster at the Supreme Court, neither of which would happen.

    This is what the conspiracy theorists don't want you to realize because once you get out of the weeds and stop talking about roads, obscure reports, and professors, it becomes obvious that this conspiracy theory doesn't hold water. But, people like Corsi have gone too far out on a limb to ever admit that. So, they'll keep on insisting that the Bush Administration is about to implement a North American Union until Bush is out of office and then they'll try to take credit for preventing the implementation of a non-existent plot rather than admit that they didn't have the slightest idea what they were talking about.

    But, for just a moment, let's forget about Corsi and let's talk about you. Do you think America should jealously guard its sovereignty? Good, so do I. Do you oppose the amnesty plan for illegal aliens that George Bush favors? Good, so do I. Would you oppose any sort of North American Union if it were ever offered up? Good, so would I.

    However, that doesn't translate into accusing the Bush administration of being behind some sort of monstrous plot to sell us out to Mexico and Canada. When you buy into that sort of conspiracy theory, you marginalize yourself, and that's the biggest concern I have about these wild accusations about a North American Union. When I see important groups like the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and the Minutemen get entangled in wacky conspiracy theories via their relationship with Corsi, I worry that it will hurt their credibility. When I see people like Joseph Farah, Phyllis Schlafly and Lou Dobbs promoting a laughable conspiracy theory about as credible as the ones about the Illuminati and the Trilateral commission, it disturbs me to see them damaging their reputations when we may need their influence on issues like illegal immigration over the next couple of years. Last but not least, after making fun of some of our "friends" on the left for the wild conspiracy theories they've indulged in over the last few years, "Bush let 9/11 happen on purpose, rigged the elections, and is going to stick us in camps and rule as dictator, etc.," it troubles me to see a new "black helicopter crowd" being created from scratch on the right that's just as bad as the worst conspiracy theorists on the left. We're supposed to be better and smarter than that.
    Libertatem Prius!


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  18. #114
    Forum General Brian Baldwin's Avatar
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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    Personally I think if a NAU type of treaty comes into being; American businessmen will make damn sure that America is top dog. I don't see this happening anytime soon but I do see it happening eventually. I can't see it not happening. The days of empires are done unless we all nuke ourselves back into the dark ages. Instead we'll build empires of fiscal might. Mexico and Canada both figure into that. It would be foolish to think it doesn't. My only problem with it has been timing. If they were to try it now it would be a very bad thing as many "experts" have pointed out. Later down the road? We'll see. Canada is already well established in ways very similar to our own and would present very little problem in the joining. Mexico however is rife with coruption and political strife. Well beyond what we see in most major countries. To suddenly open the door to their nation would be to invite a virus into your body. Not a bright thing. Once Mexico deals with it's inner demons I personally wouldn't have any issues with a NAU. As long as it's constitution is based on ours. A proven success story considering we have in just 240 years gone from nothing to everything. Faster than any known nation in the written history of this world. (to my knowledge).

    So I have to agree here with Rick that at this time we're bordering on conspiracy theory when we state that it is happening even now as we speak. Certainly it's idea is being bounced around think tanks and political circles, but that hardly makes it action. The quickest way to have a full armed rebellion is to try to do this without the people's blessing. Doesn't matter if that's our people or the peoples of the other two nations. None would very much approve of it without more info and some involvement. It will leave the realm of conspiracy and enter into possibility when the heads of the countries above meet in a very public manner concerning just this topic. And we may see that before most of us pass on, but not today or tomorrow.

    That's my two cents.
    Brian Baldwin

    Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil.... For I am the meanest S.O.B. in the valley.


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  19. #115
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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    /shrug.

    It's all simple, common sense. When people start taking bits and pieces of things, throwing them together and melding it into a "conspiracy" without proof... it's a conspiracy theory.
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  20. #116
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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    Detours on a Super-Highway
    Fort Worth Weekly ^ | January 10, 2007 | Peter Gorman
    http://www.fwweekly.com/content.asp?article=4526

    Four thousand miles of smooth blacktop. Six open lanes of road with never a traffic jam. Four lanes for trucks to keep the 18-wheelers from bothering Joe Motorist. High-speed rail to get you from San Antonio to Dallas in just a couple of comfy hours. Oil, gas, and water lines running from Oklahoma to the Mexican border. Handy motels, shops, and gas stations to keep you from having to get off the road until you hit the state line.

    That’s the dream of the backers of the Trans-Texas Corridor, the biggest public works project in the history of the state and the most ambitious road project in the USA since Ike decided to connect Maine with California and Wisconsin with Arizona by building the U.S. highway system 50 years ago.

    But some people see it more as a nightmare than a dream. They see foreign companies owning the rights to Texas’ infrastructure, whole towns being turned to dust because there won’t be an exit ramp for them, vast stretches of farm and ranching land — close to 1 million acres all told — being gobbled up in a bid to put a feather in Gov. Rick Perry’s cap and eventually in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s cap if the plan is expanded to all 48 contiguous states. They see Texas water being traded for Mexican oil, toll fees as high as 44 cents a mile, “no-compete” clauses leaving Texas’ current free highway system to crumble, and a host of other problems with the gigantasaurus-sized plan.

    And the nightmare thinkers are a lot more vocal than those trying to implement the plan — surprising, perhaps, since Perry has hailed it as “the most visionary transportation plan this state has ever seen ... . [I]t likely will forever change the way we build roads in Texas.” And the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), has said it will financially benefit the whole state by “injecting billions of dollars in private spending into the state’s economy and creating millions of jobs ... .”

    If you’re neither part of the grassroots rebellion against it or the state-agency-and-big-contractor cheering section for it, chances are you are still bewildered by the hyperbole on both sides, and the question of what in tarnation this animal called the Trans-Texas Corridor really is. Whatever it turns out to be, the fact is that right now it is a huge pig in a poke for Texans, a massive creature that will transform the state’s landscape, but whose outlines — and price tags and details — are still partly under wraps.

    At its simplest, the TTC is not one road but a series of huge transportation corridors connecting the state’s major population hubs. It’s intended to ease traffic congestion along the state’s busiest routes and provide lanes not only for cars, but for high-speed and commuter rail, freight trains and trucks carrying NAFTA goods from Mexico to Oklahoma and eventually all the way to Canada. It will also include a utilities corridor for pipelines and conduits carrying natural gas, oil, water, electricity, and electronic data. In North Texas, the TTC is planned to run between Dallas and Fort Worth, paralleling I-35.

    In theory it will boost Texas’ economy by making Texas more attractive to businesses that will see the corridor as a time-saving, and therefore money-saving, way to move their goods. TxDOT said it will also “significantly reduce air pollution” by convincing Texans to travel more by passenger rail rather than cars and by reducing congestion on the rest of the state’s major thoroughfares.

    All of that sounds pretty desirable. But when the Texas Legislature passed HB3588, the massive transportation bill authorizing the TTC, in 2003, almost no one understood its final impact — not the politicians voting on it nor the general public.

    The executive summary of the bill describes a statewide network of transportation facilities that sounds pretty much like business as usual in the road-building game. But the master plan for the TTC-35, the section of corridor to run parallel to I-35 from Laredo to Oklahoma, released three years after the bill passed, indicates it’s anything but that. The plan, made public only after 175 Freedom of Information Act requests were filed by citizen groups and news media, describes a 1,200-foot-wide corridor to be leased to private companies who will design, build, and maintain their specific sections, setting and collecting all tolls for contract periods ranging from 50 to 75 years. Sections of existing roads that coincide with the corridor — all of I-35 from San Antonio to Laredo, for example — will become part of the toll road. Additionally, motels, gas stations, and stores built within the corridor will be part of the private company’s holdings — and part of their profit package.

    But the deal is even sweeter than that. The initial contract signed by the Spanish firm Cintra; their partner on the project, Zachry Construction Corp.; and TxDOT for a 316-mile section of road to be built from San Antonio to Dallas, includes what’s known as a no-compete clause. In this case, it means TxDOT has agreed not to improve any roadways that run parallel to the TTC for the duration of the Cintra lease, unless those improvements had already been approved prior to the signing of the contract.

    Perry has still refused to disclose some parts of the contract, on grounds that they contain proprietary information for the Cintra-Zachry partnership. But the sections that have been made public show that Cintra will not be obligated to build more than four car and truck lanes “until and unless it is demonstrated that there is a demand for high-speed rail, commuter rail, freight, and utilities.”

    And who gets to decide what tolls to charge on these new roads? Cintra. In the contract, TxDOT agreed that toll prices will be set “at what the market will bear.” A TxDOT news release suggested they would be in the 12- to 24-cent range per mile for autos. Opponents think they’ll more likely be twice that. In other words, the San Antonio-to-Dallas trip could cost a motorist anywhere from $32 to $118 in tolls, plus gas.

    Wait, there’s more. Later this month, TxDOT officials will be in Washington, lobbying Congress to exempt from federal taxation any income gained from dividends or partnership distributions by toll road companies.

    The tax exemption will be of interest to legislators from many states. The issue of ownership of major portions of the U.S. highway system by private — and often foreign — companies goes far beyond Texas. Cintra, for instance, in partnership with Macquarie (an Australian company), already owns a 75-year lease on 157 miles of the Indiana Toll Road. The state was paid $3.8 billion for the lease, which will allow Cintra-Macquarie to keep all tolls during that time, an estimated total of nearly $12 million.

    The ambitiousness and audacity of the Trans-Texas master plan provoked former Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, during her recent gubernatorial campaign, to call it “the biggest land grab in the history of Texas.”

    While support for the TTC has come from a small coterie that includes Perry, TxDOT, some federal officials, and businesses that stand to benefit, opposition is gathering from all over the map. On this issue, the Texas Republican Party has found itself in bed with the Sierra Club and independents like Strayhorn, Democrats like Houston Sate Rep. Garnet Coleman, the ultra-conservative property-rights group Stewards of the Earth, farmers, ranchers, and a host of groups created with the sole purpose of trying to stop the TTC.

    “The initial plan for the TTC calls for the taking, by eminent domain, of 580,000 acres of private Texas property,” said Terri Hall, regional director of the San Antonio Toll Party. “That’s more than 900 square miles. And there are secondary components to the TTC that would bring that number up to 1 million acres. That’s going to cut the state into pieces.”

    While TxDOT downplays the issue of having a series of nearly quarter-mile, non-crossable roadways cutting Texas into a bunch of jigsaw puzzle pieces, it’s very serious to the tens of thousands of farmers and ranchers whose property and livelihoods could be steamrolled by the widest roadway in the hemisphere.

    Ron Smith, editor of Southwest Farm Press, said the farmers and ranchers who read his magazine and web site are up in arms. “You’ve got farmers with 500 to 800 acres whose farms are going to be cut in half. The same with ranchers. They make a good point when they say that with the TTC having few crossovers it’s not just going to make their lives difficult, it’s going to drive them out of business.”

    Farmers are worried not only about losing valuable property but also about having their properties split, with access to the other-side-of-the-road half a major problem. And although final plans for the TTC have not been drawn as yet, Ric Williamson, chairman of the Texas Department of Transportation, has been quoted repeatedly as telling farmers that they can go ahead “and build a tunnel underneath the road if you want one.”

    Such flip comments won’t solve the problem. There is no way to know yet how far apart Cintra-Zachry will build the crossovers, which are extremely expensive since they have to cross so many lanes. If farmers have to move tractors for miles and miles along access road to get to a crossing, it will be costly for them as well as for the traffic on the access roads stuck behind their slow-moving equipment. And think about the problems involved for ranchers having to move their cattle from pasture to pasture, when the move involves herding the bovines down access roads for several miles to the nearest crossover.

    “It could be worse than you think,” Smith said. “Farmers are telling me the only way they’ll be able to work fields on the other side of the corridor will be to set up a second farm headquarters there. That means tractors and other farm equipment that couldn’t possibly pay for itself on a hundred, two hundred acres of land.”

    Anna Mowery, a longtime Republican legislator from Fort Worth, said she worked with the Farm Bureau to try to make certain that TTC overpasses would be frequent enough to allow for reasonable farm connections. “I don’t mind telling you that I think we need to do something, and toll roads seem like a reasonable way to go about improving our transportation needs. And what particularly interested me about the TTC was the inclusion of commuter and high-speed rail,” she said. “But what bothered me about the original plan was that farmers might need second tractors to access land cut by the eminent domain-taken corridor.”

    So, Mowery said, “I hung in with the Farm Bureau to ensure that the farmers and ranchers would have reasonable access.”

    But farmers and ranchers don’t see any assurances of reasonable access in the plan, despite her efforts. The legislator was surprised to be asked just how far apart crossovers would be on the TTC. She didn’t know. And in fact, no one knows if there will be one overpass every 10 miles or every 40. TxDOT, which spoke very briefly and conditionally to Fort Worth Weekly for this story, is silent on the issue. The truth is, there’s been no agreement. And no one, despite Governor Perry’s claim that no public monies will be used to build the TTC, knows who will pay for whatever overpasses there are. There is some question of whether or not TTC builders would pay for crossovers and road connections at all; one section of the law authorizing the project lists the state as being responsible for those.

    “Bottom line,” said Mike Barnett, a spokesman with the Farm Bureau, “is we were told to trust TxDOT and Cintra. And we don’t. We are dead set against the whole TTC. And we’ll fight for our farmers and ranchers as best we can to get them the best deal. But right now we have no idea what that will be.”

    Nor is it just farmers and ranchers who will suffer. In some places, particularly in the area from San Antonio to Laredo, for instance, I-35 will be incorporated into the corridor — taking a road already purchased by tax dollars and making it a toll road — and whole towns will be cut in half. TxDOT refers questions to its web page and the ominously named Master Plan, which reassures readers that there will be plenty of access to affected towns. But those reassurances don’t jibe with the Cintra-Zachry contract, which calls for the corridor to connect with all U.S. and state highways, but says nothing about duplicating the number of exits that already exist on I-35, or for the building of frontage roads along the new corridor.

    And in the southern part of Texas, where I-35 is little more than a two-lane road through towns, or along which towns have grown up, it’s not difficult to imagine that some of those towns will be wholly swallowed up by a 1,200-foot roadway.

    But the interest of the operators of the TTC is to make money. They will have a substantial investment to recoup — all components of the TTC combined will have a price tag as high as $184 billion — and it won’t be in their interest to put in 1,200- to 1,400-foot-long crossovers, at a price of $2.6 million each, very frequently. And besides, the TTC builders won’t want to let people off their road too easily. It’s to their benefit to keep them on the TTC as long as possible, and when they do stop, to have them eating and sleeping and buying things at their businesses, not existing ones.

    “I’ve wondered whether those farmers affected by this road would have the right to build motels on their land, or gas stations,” said Mowery. “I haven’t gotten an answer to that yet.”

    The limited-access clauses have a lot of people wondering what other time bombs are ticking in the TTC deal and when the public will finally be allowed to see the details.

    Maybe you figure that if the tolls are too high on the TTC and the exits won’t let you get where you’re going very well, you’ll just stick to the old roads. Well, good luck. The TTC legislation forbids improvement of any road that runs parallel to the TTC corridors beyond what’s already in the works. That means no beautification, no widening, no new exits or entrances for the life of the contract — 50 years in this case. “Imagine if you live in a little town on a two-lane farm-to-market road that runs parallel to this thing,” suggested former Fort Worth City Council member Clyde Picht. “And then a subdivision gets built, and suddenly you’ve got 3,000 homeowners and cars fighting for space on that two-lane road. Well, you need to widen it to accommodate people. But your hands will be tied.”

    Picht said he was surprised to hear about the no-compete clauses. “There should never be no-compete clauses in highway construction. If the toll is too high, let someone else build a road. I hate to see us depart from the traditional system of free roads. And this — well, I’m disgusted with it. After seeing the abuse of eminent domain with the Trinity Uptown project, I think this will be a thousand times worse.”

    Hank Gilbert, a farmer, former high school ag teacher, and small businessman who ran unsuccessfully for Texas agriculture commissioner last year, goes further. “They’re going to take a million acres of Texas agricultural and ranch land and pave it over. This is such a huge project it’s almost incomprehensible. And I personally don’t like the idea of taking people’s homes away to build a highway system to facilitate NAFTA to the betterment of companies that sent U.S. jobs down to Mexico to make more money by bringing their goods in tariff-free.”

    Gilbert, a Democrat, said it was the TTC — and what he sees as corruption associated with it — that propelled him into running for political office. He’s passionate about how little the general public knows of things like the no-compete clauses. “As best as anyone knows, because so many elements of the contract are not clearly spelled out, no-compete would mean no improvements to any road seen as a viable alternative to getting to a destination that you could reach using the toll road. But we don’t yet know what that proximity is. And in all likelihood, that would be determined by Cintra or whomever leased the road,” he said.

    The no-compete clauses have raised the ire of Republicans as well, including State Sen. John Carona of Dallas, the new chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security. Carona recently told Texas Monthly that “Within 30 years’ time, under existing comprehensive development agreements [like the one given Cintra], we’ll bring free roads in this state to a condition of ruin.”

    Gilbert is also unsure what the public’s financial investment in the TTC will be. “The governor and TxDOT signed off on a contract not made public in many parts, so we don’t have any idea what our fiscal responsibility will be. We do know that initially this will be a roadway with four lanes in each direction, two for passenger cars, two for trucks. There’s no guarantee they’ll have to put rail in, or utilities. The contract says things like ‘if and when they are deemed necessary.’ Well, if and when means when they look like they’ll be profitable. But who knows if that means they or us are responsible for putting them in at that time, because Governor Perry isn’t releasing those parts of the contract.”

    Perry’s also not releasing any information on what the tolls will be, though, based on TxDOT estimates, the cost of, say, a daily commute of 50 miles round-trip would be about $12 a day, or $60 a week. And regardless of how much pocketbook pain that causes, it might be the only option available — which is, of course, the purpose of the no-compete clauses.

    According to Perry and TxDOT, financial constraints have pushed the state into a corner, requiring that they find new ways to finance road construction to accommodate Texas’ fast growth.

    TxDOT chief financial officer James Bass explained that his agency collects about $7 billion annually from federal and state gas taxes, vehicle registrations, and a few other sources. Most of that goes toward maintaining existing roads, agency overhead, and paying for right-of-way and design costs for new roads. By law, 25 percent of state gas tax revenues are diverted to public schools. What’s left is about $700 million a year for actual construction of new roads — not nearly enough to keep up with the needs, Bass said. “And it’s only going to get worse,” he said. “With the needs that have already been identified to expand the system, between now and 2030 there will be an $86 billion shortfall.”

    From the road-builders’ — and politicians’ — point of view, the passage of HB3588, by allowing existing roads to be turned into toll roads and new toll roads to be built, provided a way to develop the state’s road system without increasing taxes.

    “So what we’re looking at is innovative public-private partnerships to raise those funds,” said TxDOT spokesman Michael Peters. In theory, said Peters, sums like the $1.2 billion paid to Texas by Cintra-Zachry for the right to design, build, and operate the 316 miles of TTC-35 will pay for other badly needed TxDOT projects.

    TTC supporters say that’s only the beginning of the project’s financial benefits. An October 2006 study done by the Perryman Group of Waco for TxDOT predicted that, once the corridor is complete, business activity along it would boost the gross state product by almost $666 billion and generate 3.7 million permanent jobs.

    The report was everything Governor Perry and TxDOT hoped and paid for. And the alternative to the TTC, according to TxDOT, would be to increase the state gas tax from 20 cents to $1.40 a gallon.

    Baloney, say skeptics, who see many ways to make up the shortfall in highway construction money without resorting to the TTC strategies.

    The first move, they say, should be to stop looting the state gasoline tax fund. Several papers released by Bexar County Commissioner Lyle Larson, who opposes toll roads, reveal that the highway fund has lost $10 billion in the last 20 years. “More than half of the total money diverted from road construction, $5.4 billion, went to fund the operations of the Department of Public Safety,” he told a San Antonio radio audience in October. Another $115 million went into the state’s general fund, and millions more went for a computer system for the state comptroller’s office, and to the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, arts commissions, and various politicians’ pet projects.

    Even despite such diversions of money, another recent report, commissioned by another state agency, suggests that the highway construction fund could cover most of the roadways Texas needs, with a relatively small immediate increase in the state gas tax, and more increases through the years. The report, released in November 2006, was produced for the Governor’s Business Council by the Texas Transportation Institute of Texas A&M. According to the study, $66 billion of the supposed $86 billion shortfall — the money needed for the eight largest urban areas — could be produced by raising the gas tax by 8 cents and tying future increases to changes in highway construction costs. David Ellis, one of the report’s authors, said that the indexing, over the next 25 years, would increase the state gas tax from the current 20 cents to about 92 cents.

    Compare that to the costs of privatized toll roads like the TTC. If an average driver uses roughly 1,000 gallons of gas annually, the 8-cent gas tax hike would amount to $80 a year. Even gas-guzzlers would pay no more than double that. But a 50-mile daily commute at 25 cents per mile would come to $62.50 a week — or about $3,000 a year. And even with a 92-cent hike over the next quarter-century, the costs would still be considerably lower than toll roads at their current projected cost.

    “But our report doesn’t make the gas tax out to be a silver bullet,” Ellis cautioned. “We’re going to need a whole toolbox to get these things built and maintained. And we don’t exclude tollways from that mix.”

    The list of objections to the TTC is long enough to draw all kinds of groups to oppose it. The huge costs, the loss of immense tracts of agricultural land and major problems caused for farmers and ranchers, the costs and controversy associated with making currently free highways into toll roads, the displacement of thousands of people, privatization of state infrastructure, and the governor’s refusal to release key documents about the initial TTC contract — all have combined to produce a groundswell of grassroots opposition.

    Environmentalists are also concerned that a fenced-in, or otherwise uncrossable road, as the TTC is assumed to be, may have severe repercussions on the migration of land animals or their feeding habits. Those concerned with terrorist activity wonder about the potential danger of putting utilities together in a single corridor that might make an attractive target. Those who worry about public safety are concerned that a road with few entrances and exits, and with rail and utilities in its center, will present difficulties for emergency vehicle access. People concerned with illegal immigration suggest that a road this large originating in Mexico will only increase the flood of illegal immigrants. Truckers are worried not only about the potentially exorbitant toll costs but about truck safety, since Mexican truckers will be permitted to enter the U.S. without U.S. driving credentials or vehicle safety inspections.

    “The only solution is a moratorium on not only the TTC but all toll roads, statewide,” said Rep. Coleman. “I submitted a bill to that effect in the last legislative session, but Mike Krusee, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and author of HB3588 ... wouldn’t let it out of committee. This is about cronyism and creating Lexus lanes and paying pals. To invest [this] kind of money ... in a superhighway when we could invest it in high-speed rail is ridiculous.”

    And TxDOT knows it, he said. “What ought to tell people something is wrong with the Trans-Texas Corridor is that TxDOT has gone on a marketing campaign to push this down our throats.”

    Coleman said he also believes TxDOT is sitting on road construction that’s already been authorized, in order to keep traffic congestion bad in Houston. “I believe they’re doing it so that people will get so fed up with congestion that they’ll welcome toll roads and the TTC,” he said.

    This session, he plans to reintroduce both his toll road moratorium bill and a bill to prohibit TxDOT from advertising the TTC. “This whole TTC has to be stopped. And people are beginning to get it, that it must be stopped. I believe we’re making headway on this issue.”

    Can a project with this much momentum and political clout behind it be stopped?

    “Anything can be stopped.” he said. “It just takes the will of the people.”
    Libertatem Prius!


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  21. #117
    Forum General Brian Baldwin's Avatar
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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    Quote Originally Posted by Rick Donaldson View Post
    /shrug.

    It's all simple, common sense. When people start taking bits and pieces of things, throwing them together and melding it into a "conspiracy" without proof... it's a conspiracy theory.
    I think a lot of that in this instance has to do with fear. Even on my part I worry about such a thing. But you're right that we can't lose our heads and start screaming that the sky is falling. That's what we elect congress to scream about. LOL
    Brian Baldwin

    Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil.... For I am the meanest S.O.B. in the valley.


    "A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in... And how many want out." - Tony Blair on America



    It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

    It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

    It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

    It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.

    -Father Denis O'Brien of the United States Marine Corp.


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  22. #118
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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    TTC opposition
    Daily Light ^ | January 22, 2007 | JOANN LIVINGSTON

    A coalition to stop the Trans-Texas Corridor voiced its concerns Sunday in Austin, citing border security and gun rights as key issues not being addressed.

    The large crowd in attendance at the meeting represented a cross section of Texans and included a veterans group out of Houston.

    “We didn’t fight a war so our government could give away our land,” said ret. Col. Sam Horton of Houston.

    World War II veteran, ret. Col. Arthur Peterson of Houston, said national security is at stake because the Gov. Rick Perry-supported transportation project would help erase borders between the United States and Mexico and Canada.

    The TTC is part of a plan to create a North American Union, Peterson said, citing the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America that was entered into by President Bush during a meeting with Mexican President Vincent Fox and then-Canadian Prime Minster Paul Martin on March 23, 2005.

    “As to what kind of union might there be, I see one based upon free trade, that would then entail commitment to markets and democracy, transparency, rule of law,” Bush told media after that meeting.

    “Their plan is to have the North American Union in place by 2010,” Peterson said. “It would be like the European Union.”

    Common currency with Canada and Mexico and trial courts and tribunals that supersede any U.S. court - including the U.S. Supreme Court - are in America’s future if its citizenry doesn’t say “no” and say “no” now, Peterson said.

    “We fought in wars with weapons,” the 36-year war veteran said. “Now we’re fighting with words, e-mails and letters. The key to the TTC is it must be stopped. It’s a bad deal. It’s bad for Texas.”

    Eagle Forum’s Gina Parker Ford noted the diversity of the several hundred people who gathered Sunday.

    “We don’t have an ‘R’ (for Republican) or a ‘D’ (for Democrat) on us today … . Each one of us has a heart of courage,” she said, saying her concerns include seeing, “the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer and the middle class getting smaller.”

    Ford said the TTC was just one of many objectives set by those wanting to create a North American Union that would have common borders and superseding courts.

    U.S. citizens have the right to bear arms under the country’s constitution, Ford said, noting however that Mexican and Canadian citizens do not. With common borders and superseding courts, that right is in jeopardy, she said, discussing other research that has been done into the Bush- and Perry-driven proposals.

    “We can expect to see these rights challenged,” she said.

    “This all adds up to not only more and bigger government, but to the establishment of a un-elected mega-government (the North American Union),” she said, noting there was no congressional oversight - and no Senate treaty approval - over the Security and Prosperity Partnership entered into by Bush.

    Ford cautioned that Bush isn’t addressing border security because plans have been announced for an “open borders/trusted traveler” program that would set up a common identification card to the three countries. That, she said, quoting Phyllis Schlafly, would “turn the U.S. into a boarding house for the world’s poor, enable employers to import an unlimited number of willing workers at frugal wages … and wipe out the U.S. middle class.”

    The TTC is part of the U.S. Government’s Council of Foreign Relations’ plans - which also include massive foreign aid to Mexico and monies for 60,000 Mexican students to attend U.S. universities for free, Ford said, noting the irony of seeing older American workers having to subsidize their Social Security by working at Taco Bell.

    “How many of you would like to have your kids’ tuition paid for by the U.S. government?” she asked. “It’s unfair and out of balance.”

    Meeting organizer Linda Curtis called on a grass roots effort to go to the Legislature and work toward legislation to at least rein in the massive project, which critics say will remove at hundreds of thousands of acres off of the tax rolls and into foreign control.

    “We represent millions of people,” Curtis said of the protest groups that are coming together as one voice.

    A rally is planned for March 2 on the steps of the state Capitol.

    David Stall of CorridorWatch said the TTC “is not about transportation, it’s about revenue.”

    “We didn’t ask for it,” he said. “We do need better roads and we need better transportation, but the TTC is not about doing any of those things. It’s about generating revenue.”

    The days of free roads are coming to an end unless Texans stand up now, he said, saying non-compete clauses are being allowed into toll projects that would prohibit any work on nearby roadways - essentially forcing motorists onto the toll roads.

    With no state oversight on the tolls, the private companies building the toll roads can set the tolls at whatever the market will bear, he said, saying “more and more” agreements are being reached in back rooms, with entities being created that are not responsive to Open Records and Open Meetings act provisions.

    “The TTC hasn’t happened yet,” Stall said. “We still have time to affect some changes. … Are you going to abdicate your responsibilities or take the bull by the horns?

    “Let’s stay in control and not turn that control over to somebody else somewhere else,” he said.

    On the Internet:

    CorridorWatch.org

    SATollParty.com

    IndyTexans.org

    TexasTollParty.com

    WallerCountyCitizens.org

    BlacklandCoalition.org.

    Http:/initiativefortexas.org
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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    Plan for superhighway ripped as 'urban legend'
    Worldnetdaily.com ^ | January 26, 2007 | Jerome Corsi

    Plan for superhighway ripped as 'urban legend'


    Congressman, DOT undersecretary disagree over threat to sovereignty

    By Jerome R. Corsi
    January 26, 2007, WorldNetDaily.com


    Jeffrey N. Shane, undersecretary for DOT

    Jeffrey N. Shane, undersecretary for DOT Congressmen and a policy official of the Department of Transportation engaged in a spirited exchange over whether NAFTA Super Highways were a threat to U.S. sovereignty or an imaginary "Internet conspiracy," such as the "black helicopter myths," advanced by fringe lunatics.

    At a meeting Wednesday of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Jeffrey N. Shane, undersecretary of transportation for policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation, testified.

    During the questioning by committee members, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, asked Shane about the existence of plans for a "NAFTA superhighway."

    Shane responded he was "not familiar with any plan at all, related to NAFTA or cross-border traffic."

    After further questioning by Poe, Shane stated reports of NAFTA superhighways or corridors were "an urban legend."

    At this, the chairman, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., questioned aloud whether Shane was just "gaming semantics" when responding to Poe's question.

    "Mr. Shane was either blissfully ignorant or he may have been less than candid with the committee," Poe told WND in a telephone interview.

    Asked about the Department of Transportation's work with Dallas-based trade group NASCO, the North American SuperCorridor Coalition Inc., and the Texas Department of Transportation plans to build the Trans-Texas Corridor, Poe told WND "the NAFTA superhighway plans exist to move goods from Mexico through the United States to Canada. It appears to be another one of the open-border philosophies that chips away at American sovereignty, all in the name of so-called trade."

    Poe said there are security obstacles to the project that must be addressed.

    "I don't understand why the federal government isn't getting public input on this," he said. "We get comments like Mr. Shane's instead of our own government asking the people of the United States what they think about all of this. This big business coming through Mexico may not be good business for the United States."

    Poe continued to insist "the public ought to make this decision, especially the states that are affected, such as Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and all the way through up to Canada. The public needs to make input on this. So, I don't understand, unless there's some other motive, why the public isn't being told about these plans and why the public is not invited to make input."

    Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., introduced House Concurrent Resolution 40 earlier this week to express the sense of Congress that the United States should not build a NAFTA superhighway system and should not enter into an agreement with Mexico and Canada to form a North American Union.

    Asked to comment on Shane's response to Poe, Goode dismissed Shane's claim that NAFTA superhighways were just another "urban legend."


    "Let's take Mr. Shane at his word. Let Mr. Shane come over here from the Department of Transportation and endorse House Concurrent Resolution 40," he said. "If, in his mind he's not doing anything to promote a NAFTA superhighway and he's not doing anything to promote the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, then he won't mind joining his voice with ours to be in opposition to any such 'urban legend,' as he so calls it."

    Goode added this comment in a playful retort to Shane's attempt to dismiss the discussion: "My prediction is Mr. Shane will run for the timber."

    In a serious tone, Goode objected to Shane's attempt to play what he agreed was a game of semantics.

    "When President Bush had the meeting in Waco, Texas, the three leaders called the new arrangement the 'Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America,' SPP for short," Goode said. "But, as is suggested by Congressman DeFazio at the hearing, the intent of people like Mr. Shane is to use different words and different names as a way to deflect attention from what they are really doing."

    Asked about White House Press Secretary Snow's denial that there was any White House plan to create a North American Union, Goode's reply also was direct.

    "I guess Mr. Snow is saying that a Security and Prosperity Partnership and a North American Union are not one and the same," he said. "That's just the use of his words, but is he denying that President Bush, President Fox and Prime Minister Martin had the meeting and came up with the Security and Prosperity Partnership in 2005? I doubt it."

    Also present in the audience at the subcommittee meeting was Rod Nofzinger, director of Government Affairs for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. Nofzinger told WND Shane's denial struck him as less than genuine. In an e-mail to WND, Nofzinger commented:

    "Considering what we know about the Bush administration's efforts to open the border to Mexican trucks and that DOT officials have met with groups such as NASCO, I was truly surprised to hear Mr. Shane say flat out that he had no knowledge of plans or meetings related to NAFTA or cross-border surface trade corridors."

    Substantiating Nofzinger's argument is a speech Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta gave April 30, 2004, at a NASCO forum in Fort Worth, Texas. Mineta told the NASCO meeting:

    "NAFTA has opened the doors to expanding and flourishing trade across our borders. Since its implementation, total U.S. trade with Mexico has increased almost 200 percent – with 70 percent of the U.S./Mexico trade passing through Texas.

    "There are, however, some things that we still need to do in the United States to fulfill our obligations under the NAFTA treaty. One of them is to finally open the market between Mexico and the United States for trucking and busing."

    Mineta continued:

    "And to our friends from Mexico who are here today, I say, 'Welcome, and get ready.' Opening the border is of mutual benefit."

    Specifically referring to Interstate Highways 35, 29 and 94 – the core highways supported by NASCO as a prime "North American Super Corridor" – Mineta commented:

    "You also recognized that the success of the NAFTA relationship depends on mobility – on the movement of people, of products, and of capital across borders. "The people in this room have vision. Thinking ahead, thinking long-term, you began to make aggressive plans to develop the NASCO trade corridor – this vital artery in our national transportation through which so much of our NAFTA traffic flows.

    "It flows across our nation's busiest southern border crossing in Laredo; over North America's busiest commercial crossing, the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit; and through Duluth, and Pembina, North Dakota, and all the places in between."

    In a statement provided WND by e-mail, DeFazio cut past Shane's attempt to dismiss the subject by ridicule, writing:

    In the hearing, Undersecretary of Transportation for Policy Jeff Shane, in response to a question from Representative Ted Poe, said the NAFTA superhighway was an urban legend. Whatever the case, it is a fact that highway capacity is growing to and from the border to facilitate trade, and there is no doubt that the volume of imports from Mexico has soared since NAFTA, straining security at the U.S. border. Plans of Asian trading powers to divert cargo from U.S. ports like Los Angeles to ports in Mexico will only put added pressure on border inspectors. The U.S. needs to invest in better border security, including enhanced screening of cargo crossing our land borders.

    Shane declined to comment for this article.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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  24. #120
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    Default Re: 'North American union' THE NEW WORLD

    I've tried to quietly observe this issue taking shape over the years. It's difficult at best for an intellectually capable and analytically based person (which I can only endeavor to be) to develop a firm arguable position regarding this topic. There seem to be well documented points on either side of the debate that lend much credence to the diametrically opposed positions... to the point where emotion may eventually direct the arguments rather than empirically derived fact.


    I should probably have spent a bit more time researching both sides of the coin prior to weighing in on the matter; but, here goes, for what it’s worth. IMHO there may be much to gain economically for certain entities should this “Union” take shape. It would be difficult, based on pure analysis, to argue against this position.


    One of the primary goals of the NAU and the Trans Texas Corridor, should these visions in the mist become reality, as I have reviewed from various sources, would be to provide an unencumbered trade conduit for Asian goods to enter North America for easy distribution in US. It appears to me that past trade patterns would support this scenario; Wal-Mart, and every other retail outlet for that matter, is filled to the rafters with products manufactured in Canada and the China. It would stand to common reason that this strategy would not only be perpetuated but refined.


    In addition, if you would allow me, the rather trite adage of “Lead, follow or get out of the way” may apply in this instance. The SCO, or Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the ever-expanding collective of Asian nations having security and economic cooperation clauses, is becoming a very prominent entity in the world political, economic and military arena. Is it necessary for other nations to form up against this entity or perhaps risk being left behind economically or militarily?


    …just a few thoughts as I continue to view this issue. Also, I’ve included an interesting article on the subject for your viewing pleasure. Keep in mind prior to reading the article that the viewpoint held by the author directly supports the mission of the organization he represents. I can't say whether this damages his credibility or not.

    http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/deweese021307.htm

    North American Union, Amero

    Is the Security and Prosperity Partnership the beginning of a North America

    By Tom DeWeese, American Policy Center
    Tuesday, February 13, 2007
    Is our government working quietly to create the equivalent of a North American Union -- much on the lines of the European Union?

    Some charge that such a Union will eventually override our Constitutional government, our judicial system, our economic system and even our currency, which, some speculate, will be replaced by something called the Amero. Can it be possible?

    Others say such charges are just another trumped up conspiracy theory of a lunatic fringe.

    I can't possibly address every issue and describe the complete history of the situation in our short time together, but I can go over the highlights and give you an idea as to why many of us are greatly concerned and in fact believe we are entering the fight of our lives.

    Here's a quick run down.

    On March 23, 2005 President Bush met with Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in what was officially described as a "Summit." The three leaders then announced the signing of an agreement to create common policies concerning various economic and security issues among the three nations.

    The initiative is called the Security and Prosperity Partnership or the SPP.
    It's purpose?

    According to a joint statement from the three leaders, the SPP is to "establish a common approach to security to protect North America from external threats, prevent and respond to threats within North America, and further streamline the security and efficient movement of legitimate low-risk traffic across our shared borders."

    Desirable or not, such an undertaking represents a radical change in how the three nations interact and cooperate with each other. It is a matter of changed foreign policy, monetary policy, and military policy.

    Yet there has been no Congressional oversight or authorization for the undertaking. No funds appropriated.

    Meanwhile, since that Summit in 2005, at least 20 working groups have been organized under the SPP to produce memorandums of understanding and trilateral declarations of agreement covering nearly every issue affecting our daily lives.

    Whether or not you accept the idea that a North American Union is being established, clearly it must be acknowledged that a new layer of tri-national government bureaucracy is being created.

    As you know, the major debate in the US today is over border security. Our nation is being flooded with hordes of illegal aliens. They are over-burdening our schools, hospitals and social services.

    In many parts of the nation, hospitals and services are being forced to shut down, damaging the quality of life of American citizens.

    On top of the illegal alien situation, we face danger from the threat of terrorists as Americans are forced to surrender liberty in the name of fighting this threat.

    And there is the flood of illegal drugs pouring over the border, straight into our kid's schools.

    More than 80% of the American people have demanded something be done to secure the borders.

    Yet, the Administration has fought efforts to close the border. Why? It appears obvious in light of agreements made in the creation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership.

    The SPP calls for "harmonizing" our borders into one seamless entity called North America.

    So, under what authority are more than 16 government agencies being organized to create the SPP?

    As reported by Congressman Ron Paul:

    According to Administration officials, "...The SPP is neither a treaty nor a formal agreement. Rather it is a "dialogue" launched by the heads of state of Canada, Mexico, and the United States... What is a dialogue? We don't know. What we do know, however, is that Congressional oversight of what might be one of the most significant developments in recent history is non-existent. Congress has no role at all in this 'dialogue.' According to the SPP, this 'dialogue' will create new supra-national organizations to 'coordinate' border security, health policy, economic trade policy, and energy policy between the governments of Mexico, Canada and the United States. As such it is but an extension of NAFTA-and CAFTA-like agreements that have far less to do with the free movement of goods and services than they do with government coordination and management of international trade."

    Congressman Paul went on to say the SPP is "an unholy alliance of foreign consortiums and officials from several governments."

    It is important to note that administrators of NAFTA and CAFTA are major participants in SPP working groups. Thus the connection to these trade agreements is obvious and substantial.

    According to Article 5.11, under the NAFTA agreement, participating nations must reform their laws to NAFTA regulations.

    The United States Supreme Court has held that the US government cannot hide behind a claim of federalism to avoid its "international obligations."

    NAFTA, then, appears to be the governing entity for the SPP. That means NAFTA regulations (and ultimately SPP regulations) will supersede U.S. laws. NAFTA courts (and ultimately SPP courts) will overrule U.S. courts. And NAFTA policy (and ultimately SPP policy) will override U.S. labor, energy, environmental, health and economic policy.

    The Security and Prosperity Partnership is basically NAFTA on steroids.
    But how will the Administration move forward to fully implement the SPP without Congressional oversight?

    Answer: Fast Track.

    Renewed again in 2002, President Bush has been given by Congress the power to freely negotiate treaties and trade agreements with foreign nations.

    According to the lobbying group, Public Citizen, the bottom line of Fast Track is that "the White House signs and enters into trade deals before Congress ever votes on them. Fast Track also sets the parameters for congressional debate on any trade measure the President submits, requiring a vote within a certain time with no amendments and only 20 hours of debate."

    Mexican economist Miguel Picard wrote in an article published in the foreign press detailing the "deep integration" planned for North America. He said there will be no single treaty and nothing will be submitted to legislatures of the three countries. Instead, he says, the plan for a "merged future" will be implemented through the signing of regulations not subject to citizen review.

    Picard concluded by saying the schedule calls for beginning with a customs union, then a common market, then a monetary and economic union, and finally the adoption of a single currency.

    Who benefits from the creation of such a union? Multinational corporations.

    They are the driving force behind its creation. They seek one currency, one set of rules, one controlling entity -- to enable them to move goods and services effortlessly across the border.

    Above all, they do not want the public involved in the process.
    At a September meeting in Banff, Canada, top officials from all three nations met to outline policies within topics such as "A Vision for North America," and "Demographic and Social Dimensions of North American Integration."

    Top US officials, including former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills were in attendance. No media was present. No details of these top level discussions were released.

    However, the Toronto Star, on September 20th, reported, "The public has been kept in the dark while business elite have played a lead role in designing the blueprint for this more integrated North America."

    One participant at the Banff meeting didn't like what he was witnessing. Mel Hurtig, a noted Canadian author said, "We're talking about such an important thing, we're talking about the integration of Canada into the United States. For them to hold this meeting in secret and to make every effort to avoid anybody learning about it, right away you've got to be hugely concerned."

    The SPP is not about free trade. Its use of public/private partnerships creates an elite of certain, chosen global corporations which basically become part of government at the expense of their competition and our national independence.

    One more major example of how this works is the planned NAFTA Super Highway or, as it is officially called, the Trans Texas Corridor.

    This massive highway would be ten lanes wide, with rail lines, utility corridors for natural gas and oil and power lines running down the middle.
    It is designed for containers loaded in foreign lands, such as Asia, to arrive in Mexican ports, there to be loaded in trucks and shipped up the NAFTA corridor through the U.S. and into Canada.

    As global corporations are now reaping the benefits of using cheap labor in foreign lands such as China, South Korea and Indonesia, now they want to use the NAFTA Super Corridor to reduce the transportation costs as well.

    These corporations certainly care little about national sovereignty or security.

    The borders would be little more than speed bumps. Truck would not be stopped and inspected. Instead, they would be simply scanned by high-tech gamma ray screening in drive-by inspections.

    Nor do they care about private property ownership in their drive for cost cutting.

    In Texas alone, some 584,000 acres of private land is scheduled to be taken by eminent domain for the highway. Texas Department of Transportation has the authority to use the "Quick Take" provision, which will allow them to give notice to property owners that they must leave their land in just 90 days.

    Even if the landowner disagrees on the compensation -- and appeals the decision, they still must be off the land in 91 days.

    As part of the Corridor's public/private partnership, the Texas state government is keeping up its end of the deal by stonewalling every effort to obtain information as to whose property is affected. They have operated virtually in secret.

    When news has leaked out about the NAFTA Highway, Texas officials deny it and simply say it is just improving its state highway system.
    The Trans Texas NAFTA Corridor is not, however, an improvement project for I-35, as the state claims.

    The NAFTA corridor will be a completely separate highway -- a toll road run by a foreign corporation. The state of Texas has signed a 50 year lease with a Spanish company named Cintra. The company will build the highway, run it and collect the tolls.

    That lease contains a "no compete" clause meaning that I-35 can not be expanded nor can any other non-tolled competitive highway be improved.
    Above all, as goods are shipped into Mexican ports, use of American ports on our East and West coasts will be drastically reduced, costing Longshoreman jobs.

    These facts are causing great concern among U.S. labor unions. The corridor will allow free access to the U.S. for Mexican trucks, which means the containers can be moved through the U.S. by Mexican nationals. In addition, the flood of Mexican trucks will not be required to meet U.S. standards for safety.

    These are just a very few of the details concerning the SPP. We believe it is the beginning of the creation of a North American Union much on the lines of the European Union.

    The game plan is very much the same. The excuse for the EU was trade. But today, according to the former president of Germany, 84% of that nation's laws now come from the European Union.

    It begins in secrecy and slowly builds incrementally. But step by step a structure is put into place run by communitarian law and regional governing councils of appointed, well connected, yet unknown and unreachable officials hiding behind public/private partnerships, not answerable or responsive to citizens.

    This is why we fear the creation of a North American Union.

    The United States is the most unique nation on earth. We are the only nation which was created to protect our natural rights.

    The greatness of the American system arises from the fundamental principle that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.

    That means that public policy must be enacted only by elected representatives of the people. This principle ensures that the people can remove and replace policy makers who make policy with which the people disagree.

    To harmonize this land with nations which do not share our values and governing principles can only result in a lessoning of our liberty and our quality of life.

    To do it in secret, refusing to allow us to engage in debate before such massive changes take place is nothing short of treason.

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