Mexicans?....in Berekely?....Mooooooo

[MiniSimp]

Old story, but I just heard about it....input please.

Bush Opens Our Border To Mexican Trucks 
 
by Phyllis Schlafly March 14, 2007

Our federal and state highways and bridges are among America's great assets; they enable us to drive freely and safely all over our country, and they belong to all of us, paid for by our taxes. But they are expensive assets; they require maintenance, repair, and expansion due to rising population and traffic.
Anyone who does much driving on our highways in ordinary sedans knows how crowded with big trucks our highways already are. So we're not happy that President Bush's latest concession to Mexico is to allow Mexican trucks for the first time to have open access to all our highways, roads and bridges.

It is painful for me to note that the Bush Administration is less protective of U.S. interests than the late, unlamented Clinton Administration. To his credit, Clinton kept Mexican trucks off our highways except for a 25-mile commercial zone immediately north of the border.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters went to El Paso to make the announcement that for the first time, starting in April, 100 Mexican trucking companies will be allowed to make deliveries anywhere in the United States, and she put no limit on the number of trucks the 100 companies can operate. This is a major step toward Bush's vision of a North American community.

To find out why the Bush Administration ignores the comfort and safety of ordinary American drivers like me, just follow the money. Big corporations are eager to have their made-in-Mexico-by-cheap-labor products delivered in the United States by Mexican drivers, who are paid 33 to 40 percent less than U.S. truckers.

George W. Bush will never face the voters again, but other Republicans will pay the price for his coziness toward Mexico and his elitist disregard for American workers. Even the Wall Street Journal, an enthusiastic supporter of the movement of goods, services and people, legal or illegal, across our southern border, admits that rising public opinion against the importation of cheap labor "helped propel Democrats to take back Congress in November."

The jobs issue will be even bigger in 2008, and the cost to Republicans even more damaging.

The problem is not only the increased wear and tear on our highways that U.S. taxpayers will subsidize, and not even the crowding of the roads that will make driving less pleasant for us all, but it's our worry about safety. That concern is real, even if you don't buy Teamsters President Jim Hoffa's statement that "They are playing a game of Russian roulette on American's highways."

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff assures us he is "committed to retaining a high level of security and safety standards under this program." But we are entitled to disbelieve his promise; Michael Chertoff is impudently repudiating Congress's Secure Fence Act and President Bush's much photographed pre-election signing of the Act.

Del Rio Mayor Efrain Valdez boasted on Feb. 22 that "Secretary Chertoff stated publicly after the meeting [with Texas border mayors] that Texas doesn't need a fence."

Maybe Secretary Chertoff will give us "virtual" safety standards like the "virtual fence" he sometimes talks about. At the present time, only about two percent of trucks coming across the border are inspected, so the drug dealers just consider it a cost of doing business that a few of their illegal loads will be caught.

U.S. truck drivers must meet strict requirements that include enforcement of hours, regular physicals, age limits, and drug and alcohol tests. We have no way of telling how many hours Mexican truck drivers have been on the road before they reach our border inspectors.

Mexico has no limits on how many hours a driver can drive a truck, and no credible drug testing of drivers. The Mexican trucking industry, with few exceptions, has never successfully been monitored, much less supervised.

National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman doubts that we have the personnel to take on the additional work of sending inspectors to Mexico. She says we already lack enough inspectors to conduct safety reviews of at-risk domestic carriers.

Over the last several years, there have been many fatal accidents caused by cars and trucks driven by Mexicans, legal and illegal. The most tragic and costly truck accident in Midwest history, resulting in the incineration of Rev. Scott Willis's six children in 1994, was caused by a Mexican truck driver's inability to comprehend warnings in the English language.

Secretary Peters claims that the Mexican drivers will be able to understand English, but we are entitled to doubt Bush's enforcement of the English-language regulation. Mexican drivers unfamiliar with our roads and signage, plus language incompatibility, are a danger to all driving Americans.

[84rocktoy]

No Input Here

[AR80Toy]

The good ol' US of A  isn't like it use to be and we can thank our wonderful president and all who voted his Rich *** in !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lady Di]

The good ol' US of A  isn't like it use to be and we can thank our wonderful president and all who voted his Rich *** in !!!!!!!!!!!!!

If the dem's had offered a viable alternative he wouldn't be in office.
But that is neither here nor there at this point. I believe you can thank NAFTA for this mess.

I listen to the XM trucking station, XM 141 - The Open Road, quite a lot. You really get a different insight. They have been talking about this quite a lot and they are not amused.

[jimbo74]

if the people in florida knew how to vote bush wouldnt be in office but that is neither here no there....


bush is letting these deathtraps into our country just as he is letting lots of soldiers die outside our country, bush just wants to kill all the americans

[Lady Di]

if the people in florida knew how to vote bush wouldnt be in office but that is neither here no there....


bush is letting these deathtraps into our country just as he is letting lots of soldiers die outside our country, bush just wants to kill all the americans

that is about the most idiotic comment I have ever heard/seen on this board Especially since the dems are not only agreeing that the latest surge is working, but in their campaigns they are promoting how they will bolster the troops and continue the fight, even taking it into other countries.

Now the illegals invasion is another story entirely.

[MiniSimp]

Um....this wasn't really about Bush, but about the illegals driving on our roads without drivers licences/insurance/safety checks and taking truckers jobs instead of dropping their load at the border like they usually do and having our guys take it the rest of the way.

[Lady Di]

SUPPOSEDLY they are SUPPOSED to go through the same safety checks and abide by the same regulations at the American truckers... but we all know how that will go.

[Hottrod81]

This story really has nothing to do with Bush at all.  NAFTA is the reason for this mess.

[Hottrod81]

To say that Bush wants to kill all Americans is ridiculous.  Do I agree with everything he has done.  No.  But I do love his stern approach.  Whether we like it or not, the U.S. security changed after 9/11.  Bush took the fight to them instead of letting them take the fight to us.  We have not has another attack on U.S. since, so something must be going correctly.

[abnormaltoy]

bush is letting these deathtraps into our country just as he is letting lots of soldiers die outside our country, bush just wants to kill all the americans

I am astounded. I thought Kanye West made the most moronic comment I have heard. If things had gone the other way...and it was Gore that won that election, I can guarantee you'd be singing a different tune. We would be part of the caliphate right now and if people like you don't wake up...it may still happen. There are 300,000 muslims in this country that support, or at least understand the reasons behind, suicide bombings.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-eteraz/us-muslims-and-suicide-bo_b_49286.html

I have friends, fine young people, willing to put their lives on hold to go fight these animals in their backyard so that we don't have to fight them here. And what do they hear from home? They hear a bunch of tofu eating weenies calling them (our nations military) terrorists, Nazis and murderers. IMHO...history will view this as a much more dangerous time and a much more important fight than the one we had with the real Nazis. One thing you people never think about...in any purge, any cultural revolution...the first to get slaughtered are the left...the appeasers.

[abnormaltoy]

Um....this wasn't really about Bush, but about the illegals driving on our roads without drivers licences/insurance/safety checks and taking truckers jobs instead of dropping their load at the border like they usually do and having our guys take it the rest of the way.

I agree. Fair trade isn't fair unless it is equal for both traders. We've had the trucks from Mexico in our area for some time. As with "immigration reform" I don't trust our government to watch them close enough.

[abnormaltoy]

To say that Bush wants to kill all Americans is ridiculous.  Do I agree with everything he has done.  No.  But I do love his stern approach.  Whether we like it or not, the U.S. security changed after 9/11.  Bush took the fight to them instead of letting them take the fight to us.  We have not has another attack on U.S. since, so something must be going correctly.

x2 

[Rocksurfer]

I think that not only should the drivers from Mexico be required to obtain a federally issued license they should also be required to remain at a federally operated truckstop for 12 hrs. before they can proceed into the country and then they must keep a logbook just like the U.S. truckers. Not only will this be done for the safety on the road but in those 12 hrs. boarder patrol can cruise the lot with drug and cadaver dogs to get the drugs and illegals stashed inside. Plus it will slow down the influx enough so that some companies can still consider using U.S. companies and transfer loads at the border.

[abnormaltoy]

I think that not only should the drivers from Mexico be required to obtain a federally issued license they should also be required to remain at a federally operated truckstop for 12 hrs. before they can proceed into the country and then they must keep a logbook just like the U.S. truckers. Not only will this be done for the safety on the road but in those 12 hrs. boarder patrol can cruise the lot with drug and cadaver dogs to get the drugs and illegals stashed inside.

I have no quarrel with the people of Mexico, but I hate their government. After the comments Calderon made this week, I am more convinced that Mexico will not do anything to stop the drug smuggling or human trafficking.

[Rocksurfer]

I have no quarrel with the people of Mexico, but I hate their government. After the comments Calderon made this week, I am more convinced that Mexico will not do anything to stop the drug smuggling or human trafficking.

Why would he care about the drugs leaving his country? Now that said he does nothing to stop it from entering through his southern boarder on its way here either. The people crossing over probably doesn't bother him much either since in the end it usually means that some of the money travels back to Mexico for the family left behind. Now if the shoe were on the other foot and people from here were going there for jobs he'd have a wall up so fast and on top of that they'd be shooting people that tried, that's the one thing I'd give him though, they are technically invading the U.S. not in a violent since but they are for all intensive purposes invaders, and they are trying to take over.

[abnormaltoy]

Why would he care about the drugs leaving his country? Now that said he does nothing to stop it from entering through his southern boarder on its way here either. The people crossing over probably doesn't bother him much either since in the end it usually means that some of the money travels back to Mexico for the family left behind. Now if the shoe were on the other foot and people from here were going there for jobs he'd have a wall up so fast and on top of that they'd be shooting people that tried, that's the one thing I'd give him though, they are technically invading the U.S. not in a violent since but they are for all intensive purposes invaders, and they are trying to take over.

The main problem, as I see it, is the corrupt Mexican government. Mexico isn't a poor country, it has the 12th largest economy in the world. The problem is their system is set up to only benefit the well off and connected people. In America, if you come up with a good idea, or provide a needed service, you can prosper. In Mexico you can bust your hump from the day you're born until the day you die and you'll still be a peon. If the bleeding hearts and the open border socialists would concentrate on the real problem, an economic revolution in Mexico, everyone would be better off.

[Lady Di]

    did I tell you how much I love you guys?

[alwayzbroken]

Someone needs this shirt

[Lady Di]

Someone needs this shirt

  that is AWESOME!

[Shamb]

I didn't read everyone's responce to this but it made me laugh..

whoopty-doo.... illegal's have already infested the United States why not give them an open invitation to the country?

[abnormaltoy]

I didn't read everyone's responce to this but it made me laugh..

whoopty-doo.... illegal's have already infested the United States why not give them an open invitation to the country?

Legality, principle, sovereignty, cost and most importantly...security.

This post didn't start out about illegal entrants...but, Billions of our tax dollars go t support the citizens of a foreign country, costing each us us money. We have enough problems with how our tax dollars are spent "legally" without supporting them.
I hope you weren't serious in your assertion that [since they're here, let them stay]...these people are criminals...right? Why not let all criminals off the hook since they're already committing crimes.

[BLACKDOG]

The good ol' US of A  isn't like it use to be

You're right, and that ain't a good thing in my opinion.    What happened to the days when the majority of the US actually had the courage to stand up for what they believe in? When hard work was something to enjoy, because it meant you accomplished something, rather than to be avoided, so that we can rip off our fellow countrymen?  When welfare was something to be ashamed of, not something to shoot for.  When the law actually protected the rights and privledges this country was founded on, and protected the citzens that believed in those rights, instead of the criminals that try to take them away?

I'm not happy about Mexican trucks being able to enter the US.  I've been on Mexico's roads, I've seen their trucks, and I've seen how they drive.  It ain't pretty.

[abnormaltoy]

You're right, and that ain't a good thing in my opinion.    What happened to the days when the majority of the US actually had the courage to stand up for what they believe in? When hard work was something to enjoy, because it meant you accomplished something, rather than to be avoided, so that we can rip off our fellow countrymen?  When welfare was something to be ashamed of, not something to shoot for.  When the law actually protected the rights and privledges this country was founded on, and protected the citzens that believed in those rights, instead of the criminals that try to take them away?

I'm not happy about Mexican trucks being able to enter the US.  I've been on Mexico's roads, I've seen their trucks, and I've seen how they drive.  It ain't pretty.

Well said!

Listen to Merle Haggard's "Are the Good Times Really Over" sometime.

[BLACKDOG]

Well said!

Listen to Merle Haggard's "Are the Good Times Really Over" sometime.

love it!!  Its on my computer

[Duffil]

 Welcome To Rome, ladies and gentlemen...

[Trunkz]

nero

Welcome To Rome, ladies and gentlemen...

nero just asked for some roslin for his bow!

[Shamb]

Billions of our tax dollars go to support the citizens of a foreign country, costing each us us money. We have enough problems with how our tax dollars are spent "legally" without supporting them.

Agree'd, just adding more sh*t to the pot....

I've come to the realization that the world as we know it is going to hell in a hand basket. Is there something that can be done about it?  sure... will something be done about it?   my opinion?  probably not..

It seems to me that the overwhelming majority doesn't give a rats ass. That's why things like this happen, no excuses.. just plain and simple.

[abnormaltoy]

Agree'd, just adding more sh*t to the pot....

I've come to the realization that the world as we know it is going to hell in a hand basket. Is there something that can be done about it?  sure... will something be done about it?   my opinion?  probably not..

It seems to me that the overwhelming majority doesn't give a rats ass. That's why things like this happen, no excuses.. just plain and simple.

Well bubba, if you give up...they've won. Just 'cause we're in deep doodoo right now doesn't mean we can't put the genie back in the bottle and get things straight. If I didn't have hope...I'd just whack myself (not a sophomoric sexual reference). Every civilization that has come before has, over time, failed. If all the people who know something is wrong get off their asses we can change things. It's long past time for the "silent majority" to start making some noise.

[Shamb]

I complete agree with you abnormaltoy but in all honest, although I am out spoken at times... I personally don't know enough about the subject to really base a direction that I can stick with. Am I using this as a scapegoat?   nahhh.. I'd like to think not, I read as much as I can and absorb as much info as possible but I suppose i'm the guy that waits for a tiny bit of effort from others to stand up and say "YEA! thats right! Power to the People!"   hah...  I'm not the instigator more or less the support.

Someone with a REAL voice needs to stand up, that's really what I do not understand. There has to be SOMEONE with a big enough voice to speak out on everyone's behalf, if the majority feels the same way obviously this person will get praise by all and that would be the start of something good....



right?