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| Home Front Economy | ||
| Mexican truck stampede to hit U.S.! | ||
| 2007-04-12 | ||
| And the GOP wonders why it lost last November Despite congressional opposition, the Bush administration is fully committed to beginning within weeks a pilot test that will allow Mexican trucks to operate freely across the U.S. A spokesman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Ian Grossman, told WND the agency plans to grant the first authority for a Mexican trucking company to operate its long-haul rigs throughout the U.S. as early as the end of this month. WND previously reported an amendment introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., into the Fiscal Year 2007 Supplemental Appropriations Bill is designed to block the Department of Transportation's pilot test until the Mexican government authorizes U.S. trucking companies to operate in Mexico.
The Mexican trucking company can begin operating trucks in the U.S. immediately, once the FMCSA grants the authority, Grossman told WND. Grossman explained granting authority to the 100 Mexican trucking companies specified under the DOT pilot test may take between four to six months to complete. "The department is committed to moving forward with this program," he said, "and will continue to work with members of Congress to address their concerns." Reaction from the Teamsters Union was immediate and sharp. "The Department of Transportation can't enforce truck safety in the United States, let alone at the southern border," spokeswoman Leslie Miller told WND. "The Bush administration continues to show a reckless disregard for the will of Congress and the American people who oppose this illegal pilot project." Rod Nofzinger, spokesman for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, was equally critical. "Unfortunately, the administration is bound and determined to move forward with their Mexican trucking program despite the serious concerns that have been raised by the American public, Mexico-domiciled trucking companies and lawmakers on Capital Hill, both Republicans and Democrats alike," Nofzinger told WND. "I have little doubt that they want to beat Congress to the finish line on this," Nofzinger continued. "They know that once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's awfully hard to get it back in. Once Mexican trucks start rolling throughout the U.S., it will be very difficult for Congress and the American people to turn them back, regardless of the safety and security risks that they'll be carrying with them."
Responding to the congressional concerns, Grossman said Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta had certified in 2002 that DOT met each of the 22 safety requirements Congress in the Fiscal Year 2002 DOT Appropriations Bill demanded be met before allowing trucks from Mexico to drive beyond U.S. commercial zones along the border. Kasper disagreed, insisting Mineta's certification was not enough. "We need public disclosure of the safety requirements and public debate, including a DOT filing in the Federal Register before we approve this test," Kasper told WND. "While the NAFTA Trucking Safety Act restates the safety conditions included in the FY2002 appropriations measure," Kasper continued, "the legislation goes further by requiring the implementation of English proficiency standards and data base accessibility for law enforcement officials to verify a driver's identification and criminal history." Hunter's NAFTA Trucking Safety Act has been referred to several House committees, including House Transportation and Infrastructure; Homeland Security; Judiciary; and Ways and Means. According to Kasper, the NAFTA Trucking Safety Act has collected 18 co-sponsors. Asked to comment on the Feinstein amendment or Hunter's NAFTA Trucking Safety Act, Grossman told WND the FMCSA "was engaging in no speculation on the course of possible congressional legislation" regarding the Mexican truck pilot test. Looks like at least a few libs are starting to get it as well. They have to choose between the union vote and the illegal alien/razista solidarity vote. Hmmm, decisions, decisions. Not the first time I'm glad I'm not a lib. "What's good fer bidness is good fer 'Merka." We have to get away from this idea that "free-market fundamentalism" is synonymous with "conservative" and that profits for business supercede every other consideration. Mexican trucks turn our highways into slaughterhouses and drive our owner-opeators into bankruptcy? Hey, good for business. Cheap illegal labor destroys our working class and feeds crime. Hey, good for business. Yahoo rats out dissidents to the Red Chinese? Hey, good for business. Dubya and Condi soft-soap the Saudi Arabian terror cult? Hey, good for business. If this keeps up we won't have a country. Is that good for business? | ||
| Posted by:Atomic Conspiracy |
| #15 "They don't like illegals because the illegals drive down wages and take away jobs from legal citizens." Exactly right, which is why economic arguments about suppressing inflation are besides the point. Tide is turning, folks-immigation is affecting everyman's pocketbook. America hasn't had a really pissed off populace for a while; this one is simmering in a pressure cooker. |
| Posted by: Jules 2007-04-12 22:02 |
| #14 I've got insomnia so I listen to talk radio at night. There is a talk radio program out of Cincinnati that runs from midnight to 5am. The program is geared towards over the road truckers. Big time. I've been listening to the program for a couple of years. War and bloodshed is coming to this country. I'm just not sure if it will be muslim or illegal immigrant blood shed first. Or both at the same time. Truckers by and large are a rather patriotic bunch. They hate the muzzies because they don't like the notion of sharia. They don't like illegals because the illegals drive down wages and take away jobs from legal citizens. Civil war is coming to the USA. But the 'insurgents' in this war won't be treated with respect the MSM gives to the muslim insurgents in Iraq. |
| Posted by: Mark Z 2007-04-12 21:35 |
| #13 I thought we had been. For a long time now.... |
| Posted by: Pappy 2007-04-12 20:55 |
| #12 Since this will affect all of us, shouldn't the Commander and Jerk have put it on the ballot to determine if Americans would be willing to share our highways with foreigners in multi-ton vehicles speeding along unable to read the traffic signs ? No mo Bushes ! Let 'er rip buddy! Let's talk Crop Circles! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-04-12 19:03 |
| #11 Yeah, remembering these are the jobs Americans won't do. I'm sick of seeing the re-emergence of sweat shops all over America with this cheap labor. Our borders are so open it's driving me nuts. I'd like to think Procopius2k is right but don't see it being enforced; Further, the torte and litigation system will bite hard when because of prior offenses the company's assets are seized as soon as they cross a state border. After visiting this trucking industry issue, I'd like to see maybe some urine tox screens run randomly at our truck stops. Scary to learn how many drivers are high on drugs, I can only think this will get worse. I also learned that they won't need a passport, while we need a passport to go to Mexico. Bottom line, I feel these Mexican drivers may be exploited to carry dangerous loads, illegals, drugs and WMD. |
| Posted by: Jan 2007-04-12 18:58 |
| #10 Uh, aren't we at war? Shouldn't we be tightening our borders instead of loosening them? I know this is a BGO (Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious), but now is not the time to roll over and play dead about national security. All one really needs to consider is how even Bush adamantly refuses to recognize that America is, indeed, at war. I dread to think what sort of domestic terrorist atrocity will be required for Americans to finally accept that our nation must be placed on a wartime footing. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-12 16:04 |
| #9 any bets on how soon after this happens that Mexican trucks will suffer 'breakdowns' and other 'mechanical failures' at truck stops across the counrty? lot of sharp objects on the tarmac around the greasy spoons, y'know..... |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-04-12 14:42 |
| #8 Since this will affect all of us, shouldn't the Commander and Jerk have put it on the ballot to determine if Americans would be willing to share our highways with foreigners in multi-ton vehicles speeding along unable to read the traffic signs ? No mo Bushes ! |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-04-12 13:25 |
| #7 Because only the best Mexican carriers will have the extended licenses All American carriers will have F35 Lightning IIs |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-04-12 09:39 |
| #6 This was in NAFTA from the beginning. It's been delayed and obstructed for a long period of time in which effort could have been used by all parties to get the operation up 'to standards'. Instead its been one political interest group against another playing games in the system to hold off competition. While I'm concerned about Mexican trucks becoming Mad Max's on the interstate, the illegals, sober and DUI, already here are doing just fine killing thousands of Americans and everyone with power is doing nothing about it. On the other hand Mexican trucking companies are in the business to make money. They don't make money losing their trucks and goods by just sending them on one way Baghdad runs. Further, the torte and litigation system will bite hard when because of prior offenses the company's assets are seized as soon as they cross a state border. There already are existing mechanisms in place if [and it is a big if] the existing laws and regulations are enforced. There's more than a taint of fear mongering being pushed by the unions. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-04-12 09:05 |
| #5 Yep, this and the whole SPP thing really, bugs me. |
| Posted by: bombay 2007-04-12 08:59 |
| #4 Disgusted with "W" on this issue long ago myself. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-04-12 08:41 |
| #3 ...The trouble is, I can see what's coming already. How long will it be before a Mexican truck (for whatever reason) wipes out a car and family, and the records show the last maintenance it had was never? And does so with illegals hiding in the back? It's gonna happen, folks. I have become utterly and completely disgusted with the Bush Administration over the last few days. This is just one more brick in the wall. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2007-04-12 08:36 |
| #2 Atomic Conspiracy - good comments. I love the phrase, "free-market fundamentalism" and all that it implies. America was founded on the ideal of providing for a common good for "we the people" by a government of "we the people". Just because the economic policies of communism, socialism, fascism or Islamism do not provide for a common good as well as the economic policy of capitalism, that does not mean that America was ever about a God given right to trod upon your fellow man in the pursuit of making a buck. And contrary to what many seem to believe, Adam Smith was NOT a founding father. |
| Posted by: Angaiger Tojo1904 2007-04-12 07:37 |
| #1 Because only the best Mexican carriers will have the extended licenses and because of the economics, the Mexican trucks operating in the US will, on the average be safer than the average american operated truck. However the Mexican carriers are generally not union and even where they are the drivers get a lower wage than their American counterparts (which by the way will suppress inflation). |
| Posted by: mhw 2007-04-12 07:17 |