The NAFTA Superhighway doesn't exist
By Steve Benen Monday Aug 13, 2007 8:19amHuman Events, a ridiculously-conservative political magazine, recently reported, “Quietly but systematically, the Bush Administration is advancing the plan to build a huge NAFTA Super Highway, four football-fields-wide, through the heart of the U.S."
It’s hard to understand exactly what the right is arguing here, but apparently the idea is that the free-trading Bush administration wants to sell out U.S. interests and let Mexicans move products and people through the American Heartland, while bypassing Teamsters on the coasts. Or something. It’s hard to keep up with conservative conspiracy theories.
Yesterday, Christopher Hayes at The Nation tackled the subject, debunked the myths, and connected the bizarre ideas to domestic fears over globalization.
Through towns large and small it will run, plowing under family farms, subdevelopments, acres of wilderness. Equipped with high-tech electronic customs monitors, freight from China, offloaded into nonunionized Mexican ports, will travel north, crossing the border with nary a speed bump, bound for Kansas City, where the cheap goods manufactured in booming Far East factories will embark on the final leg of their journey into the nation’s Wal-Marts. […]
Grassroots movement exposes elite conspiracy and forces politicians to respond: It would be a heartening story but for one small detail.
There’s no such thing as a proposed NAFTA Superhighway.
Well, sure, if you’re going to let facts get in the way of perfectly good demagoguery, the existence of the highway project might matter.
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haha. The idea of that highway is laughable.
[Deleted. Lou Dobbs? C'mon. Nutcase conspiracy theory]
WHAT IF THAT HIGHWAY IS UNDERGROUND? THEY'VE BEEN TAKING TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS SINCE 78
THEY DID BUILD A TUNNEL FROM ENGLAND TO FRANCE RIGHT? THEY'LL NEED SOME TYPE OF ESCAPE ROUTE
BUT WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE LEPROUS MEXICANS LOU DOBBS WARNED US ABOUT?? JUST IMAGINE THEM MOVING AT 100 MPH NORTH!1!! EVEN WORSE... 60 KPH!!! FRENCH METRIC SYSTEM!
Right wingers can't even create a credible conspiracy theory. The Bush regime has already allowed a flood of cheap Chinese crap through Mexico, US and Canada to destroy the American economy. Why would he have to build a super high way to dp something he's already accomplished?
Besides, anytime you see the words "super" and "bush" in the same article, you know it's a hoax.
Texas governor Rick Perry is one of the leading proponents of this project.He is determined to have project in Tejas.This is not a joke he really is trying to push this through before anyone wakes up and sees his insanity.
FEAR! HATE! FEAR! DIFFERENCES! FEAR! TERROR! FEAR! DEATH!
WHY WON'T YOU VOTE FOR US ANY MORE?!?
This "story" comes from the idea floated by the current governor of Texas a couple of years ago to build a 32 lane "super-highway" with high speed cargo trains in the median to run through Texas only. The governor was approached by a corporate entity that wanted to build and own it so as they could charge tolls. The plan never got serious consideration in the Texas legislature, which is a good thing. The enviromental impact alone would be a disaster.
[Deleted. NAU conspiracy theory]
Colbert & the NAFTA Secret Highway
http://colbertondemand.com/videos/Spur_of_The_Moment/NAFTA_Secret_Highway
Maybe the highway is a metaphor for how our lives will change if nothing is done to curb illegal immigration from Mexico.
THERE IS A THING CALLED NAFTA WHICH STARTED BEFORE DADDY BUSH WAS THE LAME DUCK PRESIDENT. NAFTA WAS CREATED AND WORKED ON EVEN IN THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION - WITH CLINTONS APPROVAL. TODAY, BILL CLINTON SAYS NAFTA WAS A MISTAKE.
SUPER HIGHWAY THROUGH THE HEARTLAND? I THOUGHT WE ALREADY HAD THAT AND ILLEGALS ARE FLOCKING TO THIS COUNTRY EVERYDAY VIA THE SUPER HIGHWAY. SOME ARE HARDWORKING AND WOULD MAKE GOOD CITIZENS. OTHERS ARE KNUCKLEHEADS WITH CRIME AND CHAOS ON THEIR MIND. THANK YOU GW. WE NOW OWE TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO CHINA - (AND THEY LOVE TO FLOOD THIS MARKET WITH THEIR POISONS) - AND HAVE THE CRIMINAL ELEMENT TO CONTEND WITH. AND WE ALSO HAVE THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO CONTEND WITH. THIS COUNTRY IS SPIRALING OUT OF CONTROL. WHERE IS "SUPERMAN" WHEN WE NEED HIM?
The whole superhighway and north american union/Amero BS was started and still pushed today by Jerome Corsi.
"Who is Jerome Corsi, co-author of Swift Boat Vets attack book?"
http://mediamatters.org/items/200408060010
And they're gonna use pregnant, brown skinned illegal aliens to build it. (Right after they drop their illegitimate babies on this side of the border.)
Don't fall for Corsi's north american union bs. The man was completely discredited long before he dreamt up this BS.
Oh, well if ONE GUY says "There’s no such thing", then it must be true, right? All he has to say is "There’s no such thing" and that's all the fact you need to believe it doesn't exist?
What the heck happened to this site?
What's is it with all the ALL CAPS POSTS this morning?
Please children, let's all use our inside voices.
Well, there are these things called FACTS...
"Jane, you ignorant slut ..."
http://www.nascocorridor.com/pages/federal/federal.htm
For over ten years, NASCO has been developing a strong coalition of cities, counties, states, Canadian provinces, and private sector companies to lobby for federal funding and promote a "SuperCorridor" to address the transportation, trade and security needs of the three NAFTA nations.
We have assisted in the lobbying effort to bring hundreds of millions of dollars to the NASCO I-35 Corridor, resulting in High Priority Corridor status for I-35 in 1995 under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). In addition, we successfully assisted in lobbying for the creation of two new categories under the Transportation Act of the 21st Century (TEA-21) – the National Corridor Planning & Development Program and the Coordinated Border Infrastructure Program.
NASCO also successfully lobbied to take the Highway Trust fund "off-budget" which resulted in increased transportation formula funding for NASCO's corridor states.
NASCO has received $2.5 million in Congressional funding from the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) for the development of a technology and tracking project. The project will have a team approach, using members of NASCO as the primary participants in the project, to the extent possible. NASCO believes the deployment of a modern information system will reduce the cost, improve the efficiency, reduce trade-related congestion, and enhance security of cross-border and corridor information, trade and traffic.
The NASCO "SuperCorridor Caucus" was formed on Capitol Hill to promote corridor development and to help secure NASCO legislative initiatives in both the authorization and appropriation processes. We continue to be recognized as the strongest International Trade Corridor Coalition on Capitol Hill, and we are the only Corridor Coalition with true international representation from the three NAFTA nations.
The right-wing backlash to the idea of a highway from Mexico City, through the USA, to Calgary is very similar to the right-wing backlash to George H.W. Bush's declaration of a 'New World Order.' These are the ultra-right, anti-UN, militia people similar to Tim McVeigh and William Pierce (author of The Turner Diaries).
However, there is a proposed super-wide highway for Texas, to allow truckers to transverse the state in a day. But that is NOT the NAFTA highway. It's called the trans-Texas corridor. More fast food and 80MPH driving for everyone, plus new rail lines.
http://www.keeptexasmoving.com/
And if there was ever NAFTA highway, it would not be unprotected or have open boarders. So the right-wing fears of thousands of Mexicans being bused into the USA daily is completely unfounded.
I hate it that it's difficult to discern the truth anymore.
But I suppose that's the point, as we helplessly watch all this drama unfold.
Of course you say it doesn'r exist. You're one of them now, aren't you?
Security and Prosperity Partnership Of North America (AKA the mythological North American Union)
Myths vs Facts
Fact: 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. ...
Myth: The U.S. Government, working though the SPP, has a secret plan to build a "NAFTA Super Highway."
Fact: The U.S. government is not planning a NAFTA Super Highway. The U.S. government does not have the authority to designate any highway as a NAFTA Super Highway, nor has it sought such authority, nor is it planning to seek such authority. There are private and state level interests planning highway projects which they themselves describe as "NAFTA Corridors," but these are not Federally-driven initiatives, and they are not a part of the SPP.
Myth: The U.S. Government, through the Department of Transportation, is funding secretive highway projects to become part of a “NAFTA Super Highway”.
Fact: Many States in the American Midwest are proposing or undertaking highway projects to improve or build roads as Federal-aid and State or private sector revenue becomes available. All projects involving Federal-aid funds or approvals are subject to normal Federal-aid requirements, such as review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), including public involvement. This public involvement, the common thread among all these activities, makes them anything but “secret.” In addition, Congress directs Department of Transportation funding for specific highway projects.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will continue to cooperate with the State transportation departments as they build and upgrade highways to meet the needs of the 21st century. Rather than evidence of a secret plan to create a NAFTA Super Highway that would undermine our national sovereignty, the FHWA’s efforts are a routine part of cooperation with all the State transportation departments to improve the Nation’s highways.
http://www.spp.gov/myths_vs_facts.asp
"There’s no such thing as a proposed NAFTA Superhighway."
Yeah - right, its actually called the NASCO Corridor
http://www.nascocorridor.com/
NASCO is real. Not going to deny that there is a desire for a wide highway that goes from Mexico's factories, through the middle of the USA, to the oil fields of Canada.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_SuperCorridor_Coalition
It's strange that the first half of this article is spent debunking the supposed myth of a NAFTA superhighway, then goes into great detail to explain that one really is being proposed. Here is the website:
http://ttc.keeptexasmoving.org/
and the wiki entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Texas_Corridor
So don't laugh it off. If you live in Texas, then for all intents and purposes there still is a proposed NAFTA superhighway.
Of all the conspiracy theories out there, the NAFTA superhighway is one of my personal favorites.
Is this superhighway the Road Cormac MacCarthy's character wanders with his son in the post-nuclear hell of "The Road"?
Zenrage @ 28:
Oh, but you haven't read this yet: http://www.senate.gov/~foreign/testimony/2005/PastorTestimony050609.pdf
the myth v fact page on spp.gov is a load of disinformation. But don't take it from me. Trace the government sources like the one I just linked. Figure it out for yourself. Or don't. Less flesh to compete with in the free world, I say.
So the headline of the C&R post screams "The NAFTA Superhighway doesn’t exist" then the article tells us exactely how such a superhigway could be built as per the Texas example.
Just becuse there is no official plan for a "NAFTA Super Highway" doesn't lead me to believe that something like it is not a concern.
Perhaps if it weren't for some of the speculation such a plan would be underway right now!
This article was very informative, however the tone it set in the opening paragraphs, that of sinister fear mongering paranoid conspiracy debunking, was really undermined by the Texas example. Yes the author and Colbert have both de-bunked the "NAFTA Super Highway" theory, but what of the underlying issues? Multinational corporate take over, government handouts to big business, lack of citizen control, these are real problems and there are people with dollar and ideological interests who would like to see national sovereignty broken and corporate rule instated.
Don't be so quick to jump on this issue as whacko just because conservatives are concerned on this issue.
LOL we should get that anyway... nah i'd get shot for saying that
dugg
There is a guy out on a book tour right now. I can't remember the name, but he says its the I-69 highway project. I hear it talked about in Indiana. Its a real project but I don't know if its related to this. I just thought I would toss it in.
Stupid name for a road, but I will buy the T-shirt.
justabill @ 14:
Right wingers believe the strangest things and fall for the funniest hoaxes.
I wish more commenters here understood better that corporate globalists pulling weight behind the scenes really don't give a rat's @$$ about American sovereignty.
The NAFTA Superhighway isn't about neoconservatism, it isn't about Democratic vs. Republican, it's about consolidation of power by people who already have far too much.
We've already seen that these people really don't think much of our U.S. Constitution, or of really any law in the land.
All of us on the left who've been harping on Bush for the last 7 yrs. really ought to be playing closer attention to what Benen calls "conspiracy theories" re: NAFTA.
Remember, the powers that be who see themselves as above our own gov't absolutely love it when left and right squabble irrationally. To them, it's just like watching a cockfight.
[Deleted. Debunked Amero conspiracy theory]
As Dhalgren and the Nation article points out, the mega-four football wide highway with a railyard in the middle is the Trans-Texas Corridor that was proposed and is in the planning stages of being built. Right-winged conspiracy theorists took this and extended it to NASCO, which has little to do with the TTC, except for the fact that both projects intend to increase NAFTA trade.
There has been a bit of highway proposed under NAFTA. It's between the Canadian Atlantic provinces, through Maine, and then back into Canada. It was meant to help everyone bypass quebec to avoid the constant problems travelers and cargo haulers have passing through that corridor of highway in southern que.
Personally I'm hoping they go through with it someday soon. It would help a LOT of people here. And have the added bonus of pissing off the quebecenese.
oops... NASCO
through the American Heartland, while bypassing Teamsters on the coasts
Since when are conservatives so concerned about Teamsters, or any unionists?
The fact that this is so confusing and not clear should concern everyone.
Safe to say there are market forces to move lots of "stuff" to the eagerly awaiting sheeple throughout the US.
Wait. Didn't HilClinton once proclaim that she was/is a victim of a "vast right-wing conspiracy" against her? And, hasn't she become a U.S. Senator and [supposed] front-runner for the U.S. presidency?
I guess her being a "conspiracy theorist" didn't hurt her too badly, did it? So, why are so many others dismissed so easily when they entertain thoughts of a "conspiracy" of one sort or another?
Think about it: Proseucutors imprison countless people everyday for being a "conspirator" in a crime. Why, then, is it so implausible that actual "conspiracies" do really exist, especially those espoused by your "political enemies?"
lol@ justabill
You are trusting a .gov website?
Yeah, and Iraq had WMDs... LOL!
To be honest, I'm shocked we haven't yet seen the collapse of the 35W bridge worked into this conspiracy theory. Surely some of the
retardsthinkers at Human Events saw how the Illuminati or whatever they're calling them these days knocked down that span to make way for a new Mexican invasion force...MargeAggedon @ 38:
I'm also for doing anything to piss off the Quebeçious. ;)
Dhalgren @ 21:
Why can't you drop labels and name calling and just accept that Americans are waking up to an internal threat to our national sovereignty and don't want any part of it? I don't fit any of those definitions and I've known the FACTS about this movement by the think tanks for over a year. Start out reading "Rebuilding America's Defenses" by PNAC. Or don't.
Sinchy @ 31:
Sinchy,
You are amazing. You just wrecked all their shit! :) Excellent.
They look like us, they sound like us. There is only one way to tell them apart from us.
THEY CAN'T DRINK KOOL-AID!
Something in the Kool-aid is poisonous to their kind.
Spread the word . . . Don't trust anyone who doesn't drink the Kool-aid!
I'm not worried about our sovereignty, but I think Canada & Mexico should be about theirs. Does anyone doubt that the U.S. would steal their resources?
With our dependence on China right now, that NASCO idea wouldn't be too bad in case the "big one" happens in So. Cal, that could plug up the system/economy for years. Too bad they would use it also to bust the longshoreman and teamsters unions down.
Fuck it, back to everything made in the US I say.
Oh, okay. They are protesting in Texas for nothing.
Lou Dobbs reports this nothing all the time.
The three con leaders are meeting about nothing.
The gop are outaged over nothing.
Uh huh.
Geez.
This particular right wing conspiracy theory always gets me. For one, those same conspiracy theorists also tend to support the Bush regime, who apparently are also part of this "diabolical scheme." That makes absolutely no sense to me. Next, if this is such a hush, hush secret plan then why does everyone know about it? I guess the "evildoers" are not to good at keeping secrets. :lol:
I mean, if this so called superhighway is built wouldn't it stand to reason that those same conspiracy theorists would be the first ones out there trying to disable that superhighway or line it with IEDs and such?
There is background planning and 4 lane highway construction in Nebraska, North and South Dakota, including the new bridge at Yankton South Dakota for the Mexico to Canada highway. The construction is being sold to the citizens as the NAFTA highway. Part of the sales pitch for this is: this will bypass major American cities and speed the goods and unite our three great countries. It was recently announced, Elk Point South Dakota is one of the finalists for the huge new oil refinery for the Canadian oil.
notreallyabadguy @ 33:
this road only will go from evansville ind to indianopolis indiana and in no way can be concidered a super highway
rain @ 13:
Reagan negotiated Nafta,fine tuned by Bush(1),and signed by Clinton....the question is....Why is Bush2 so willing to back Cafta...
Blue Buddha @ 45:
It's a hobby of mine :D
Seriously though... when you start your own language police to be sure that everyone in your domain is behaving, there's something seriously wrong. Not to mention that they don't speak french. They speak fringlish. Ask a Parisian to translate for a quebecenese and they'd laugh at you.
As if secrets don't exist, and the people find out later.
Know how Disney bought up all that land in FL?
You folks should google superslab, it is a super highway rail right of way 25 miles east of the front range of Colorado. The people are trying to buy the ranches now, can condemnation be far behind? Haliburton was involved early but I think they have dropped out.
Joe O. @ 53:
You're just making stuff up now ... you sounded more convincing when you were grabbing your propaganda out of your ass.
It's the old "say it enough times and ppl will believe it's the truth." Don't be a tool. We aren't stupid.
right is left, war is peace, yada-yada ... you and your doublespeak can't pass the mustard here.
The mainsteam media (CBS, NBC, CNBC, etc.) has reporting on the progress of not only the NAFTA Superhighway but also the North American Union (NAU) for well over a year now.
Even Lou Dobs of "MoneyLine" has been slandered and slammed for his critique of the NAFTA-Highway and the NAU.
I find it ridiculous that anyone could claim the Highway does not exist. And I find it even more ridiculous that its supposed to be the conservatives who are screaming conspiracy theory.
What´s up with that?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_JhocIEmto
the North American Union is coming.
[Deleted. Lot's of words, still a conspiracy theory]
TechnoHippie @ 60:
Umm yea, I'm making stuff up. That whole conspiracy theory is made up. Tell me, how do they plan to protect that superhighway running hundreds of miles? Where are they going to get the troops? Oh yea, thats right they are all deployed!
Sorry, but if you think it "wacko" to believe that American corporate interests would love to be able to offload chinese goods in mexican ports to avoid unionized port workers in the US, then label me "wacko". Strip away some of the crazy details, like black helicopters and football field wide roads, and you have a perfectly legitimate political concern. every once in a while, the far far right gets a few things right.
I posted on this in a previous thread. As mentioned above, there is the Trans-Texas Corridor project. Of course that doesn't at all resemble a NAFTA Superhighway. Also NASCO was mentioned. Once again, nothing absolutely nothing to do with the NAFTA Superhighway. The fascist SPP project was also mentioned. Just invent a new acronym, it is stilled spelled shit--globalized that is.
The left should be on the forefront of opposition to this corporate multi-national oligarchy project.
I gave my links previously.
Eric @ 65:
Now that I seems more realistic but at the same time, there would be so many against that plan (and many would go to violent means to prevent it) that the corporate interests would almost certainly have thought of a security plan to protect it. If not, then there could be many wrecked trucks and holes throughout that highway spanning hundreds of miles from Mexico to Canada.
WatchfulEyE @ 61:
My point exactly. It's a cheap trick to shake the uncertain off the fence and get them back to the work of submitting to more security in exchange for their freedom. Ah, and don't forget the Amero with legislation already signed into law to replace the u.s. dollar with a continental currency by January 2010.
You know, I can't stand Jerome Corsi but he seems to be the loudest opponent of this coup. Many others with more credibility have said some things but hardly anyone is fighting it. It just seems too incredible to believe, doesn't it? Well, if Texas is so great, why did Haliburton move to Dubai and why are the neo-cons setting up the region for them?
Well, at least this explains the SCOTUS decision to strengthen the hands of corporations in questions of Eminent Domain.
Jerome Corsi has the connies peeing their pants over the "superhighway" These connies love distractions so they don't have to talk about health care costs, Iraq casualties and the subprime crisis
Stupid friggn' reich-wingers....they should READ the very links they are linking to:
NASCO is not building or encouraging the creation of ‘a NAFTA Superhighway'.
Living in Austin, I can drive out about an hour west and see the signs protesting the TTC (trans-texas corridor). The farmers and people living out there are currently in a battle over eminent domain rights. The facts is it's being built.
Do you really think that a four football field wide super highway will simply stop at the Rio Grande river to the south, and will not link up with anything across the Red River to the north?
TechnoHippie @ 30:
Oh. I'm just so scared! I'm so paranoid now! Help me! Help me! the bad man is saying I wont be able to compete economically. I guess I'll just give up all my liberal idealism and go conservative to fulfill irrational economic goals I never needed. Woe is me!!
pffft.
Joe O. @ 64:
They already told you at spp.gov ... they will protect the continental border ... non-commercial vehicles are not allowed to use the corridor. When you have an inland port as they have planned, you only need to guard one entry point per nation. The rest of the "wall" around North America will be more to keep you in than anyone out. Eventually the corridor will extend through the Panama Canal and all the way south to Peru. Don't believe me? Ask the Peruvians. I don't think they're right-wing conservatives ... they just don't want to be rubbed out by the Gringos.
We already HAVE a NAFTA superhighway system.
It's called THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM. They built it 40-50 years ago. The CENTERPIECE of this evil Evil EVIL NAFTA highway?
Interstate 35. It runs from Texas to Minnesota. It's been there for decades.
Sometimes the reichwing nuts get so paranoid, they go off the deep end.
That said, I would NOT put it past the Bush Junta or the Clinton Reich to invade Canada if they start getting all prissy about Alberta...
Mister Blicktor
Didn't this used to be a left-wing conspiracy theory?
Dr. Matt @ 71:
Which has been proven to be disinformation.
Next?
China has bought a port in Mexico for non union cheap labor to transfer their crap into the US. Open borders and a highway is their agenda. It is a corporate utopia agenda.
The gop are outraged and have dampened this corporate agenda with their hatred of illegal immigrants.
Zenrage @ 73:
LOLOLOLOL
What a maroon!
Why do you want to disrupt this thread?
Librarian @ 76:
Wow ... finally, someone with a memory!
It's only theory if you can't prove it.
TechnoHippie @ 77:
ROFL!!
Next
TechnoHippie @ 79:
His paranoia is outstanding.
TechnoHippie @ 74:
Interesting, I hope they bring some friends because they might have a full scale rebellion on their hands especially in the United States! Hope its worth the costs boys!
Karl Bauer @ 35:
Good point......What's that old adage? Oh yeah, 'Divide and Conquer'.
Midwest Product @ 44:
Alex Jones actually dropped that little gem quietly a week ago on his radio show; while I generally respect his opinion for at least being fact based, that definetly took the idea too far. Our infrastructure is crumbling because we aren't raising our citizens to be vigillant or even intelligent enough to catch these things when they are warned about...
The Highway is as real as you or me...whether Trans-Texas Corridor, NAFTA Superhighway, or the 78 Westbound, there are people who want it to happen, for ill or good, for profit or pain, and in a country which is bought and sold everyday, that is a simple thing to make happen...
See what that old bag Phallus Shaftley has to say about it.
(wash up after leaving ;) )
Bush Opens Our Border To Mexican Trucks
After seeing who opposes this mainly, it's the insurance industry (for good reason)
That's why it will have to be a closed road with only commercial vehicles allowed, to keep the public traffic separated from it so the Mexican drivers can free range.
getalife @ 78:
The GOP are PRETENDING to be outraged. They're diluting the message. They play on the same team as any other party politician but if you knew that you wouldn't bother to vote and we'd have anarchy. One can only hope.
[if i use the generic "you" alot from this point on, don't take it personally, getalife ... my aim is broad]
I started noticing this mix-around of terminology a couple of years ago and it irks me to death that people are throwing out labels ass-backwards. Just because Dr. Ron Paul, a libertarian in republican skin, calls the .gov out on these issues doesn't mean he really wants to stop it. Two Democratic presidential candidates are equally aware: Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel. But don't elect THEM! They aren't "pretty" enough or "rich" enough to get elected. Ya gotta be picked which is why all Gore didn't declare candidacy when the people of this country petitioned him. He said he wouldn't run unless he was asked. He was asked, just not by the right people, those who choose our next president, the neo-con think tanks and members of the Bohemian Club. None of this is theory and it isn't a secret. All you have to do is look and see for yourself. Not just on the internet, that can be subverted, as we've seen here tonight. Confront the candidates. Ask the hard questions and when they blow you off, press them. And when they attack your credibility with kool-aid and tin-foil-hat remarks, remember that their M.O. is to first ridicule and marginalize their opponents. If that doesn't shut you up or humiliate you beyond belief, they'll demonize you and expose whatever blackmail they have on you. If you're still dangerous at that point, you might just disappear off the face of the earth or come down with some rare, six-month-course, terminal cancer. Or you commit suicide.
The senate still keeps passing these effing bills and then pretend they had a gun to their head and had no choice when all along you can see a deal's been struck. Karl Rove resigns and the Dems get a recess-appointment free vacation. It's a god-damn con game. When you lose confidence in the system, you'll quit playing.
But then again, "You can't cheat an honest man." -- The Flim-Flam Man
The funniest aspect of this whole story is that anti-Catholic bigot Jerome Corsi Swiftboated John Kerry to ruin his presidential campaign, effectively aiding Bush.
Well, Jerome Corsi is the idiot who also created this "superhighway" conspiracy.
So in effect, Corsi helped the guy who is "secretly creating the North American Union" win the presidency.
Joe O. @ 83:
Without our National Guard in country to back up unarmed citizens, there will be no mosh. Perpetual war is one way to keep us defenseless. I'd start looking for a clan and a cave until they're through eating each other. This doesn't have anything to do with us, the people. It's a family squabble. That includes the co-dependence of George W. Bush and Osama Bin Laden. Who would either one them be if Bandar and Poppy weren't best friends forever? How would they define themselves?
The NAFTA Superhighway is a plot by
ISLAMOFASCISTS FROM THE OUTER BLOGOSPHERE!
They're coming here to steal our apple pies. And cowbell. They want more cowbell.
This NASCO corridor plan exists. It is amazing to see the ignorance and lack of
research that is present in some of these comments.
No wonder we're in the situation we're in.
Politic's, defensiveness and ignorance above all...
Forget about openly looking at the problem, researching it, reaching honest answers.
Look at the meeting on Ottawa on Aug. 21st between Bush, Calderone and whoever it is from Canada.
It's ALL about the S.P.P. Set to take place with police surrounding it in a remote area to protect the
meeting from the prying eyes of all of us.
Stupidity and denial are what these plans are counting on. Nice going.
READ the Nation article. He says there's no such thing as the NAFTA Superhighway, and then goes on to expose the many different schemes afoot to enact such a proposition, starting in Texas. The theory as presented by Corsi may not be exact, but there are definitely forces working toward such an item geared toward trade and economic reasons.
I am not concerned about immigration myself, but the control of corporations over our public lands and facilities does concern me.
[Deleted. Stefan, start your own blog and set your own commenting policies-Sitemonitor]
[Deleted. Off topic]
[Deleted. Off topic]
myiq2xu @ 90:
Best Post of The Day. :)
TechnoHippie @ 95:
It's all connected. But hey, no harm, no foul.
Delete this: I love being censored. It just proves my point.
[Try staying on topic. Your whining proves our point -- Sitemonitor]
If they do build it it will be for the tanks to roll in and stifle dissent
This is a compilation of whats happening, its real, people in Texas are fighting against it now.....http://youtube.com/watch?v=kXevDajb2lo
SPP.gov is the official cover site......check it out too.
TechnoHippie @ 95:
Why wouldn't I believe you ?
I had a brake job done at Sears in '02, they installed the wrong sized rear brake drum pistons, my wife bumped the back of another car because she couldn't stop and that woman sued us for a sprained ankle she incurred. I took the van to a Chrysler garage before I took it back to Sears and he deemed the car undriveable but yet it was still my wifes fault in the insurance companys eyes.
5 years later and the case still isn't resolved.
All I wanted was our deductible back...shit, you don't have to tell me
Why is the Australian company awarded the I-35 contract buying up all the local newspapers which oppose the plan?
http://corridornews.blogspot.com/2007/01/macquarie-snaps-up-community_24...
Can't have local criticism of what's going on picked up in the national media, now, can we? That might lead to an informed electorate. Don't forget how hard BushCo has been pushing to allow unsafe Mexican trucks with speed-freak drivers free access to points (aka "inland ports") North.
http://freightteamsters.blogspot.com/2007/07/opposition-to-mexican-truck...
http://www.teamster.org/resources/members/TeamsterMagazine/06August/naft...
http://www.teamster.org/05news/nr_050126_1.htm
Move along, nothing to see here... all just a conspiracy theory.
TechnoHippie @ 98:
TechnoHippie @ 36:
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2007/08/06/01676.html
I'm really curious, as a Canadian, what part we get to play in this conspiracy. The Nafta superhighway will, after all, connect Canada the U.S. and Mexico. I can see where the right wingers would be going ballistic if they thought , as some have proposed, this is all about a euro style political union that will dilute republican power down to nothingness but what makes anyone think we, or the Mexicans would want to join the party? There is no lunacy like daylight lunacy.
Stefan @ 93:
I just chuckled when I saw my comments deleted. This conversation is happening all over the internet from conspiracy blogs to MSNBC to the mainstream Canadian newspapers without censorship. Unless one has thoroughly read the S.P.P., CFR, and PNAC documentation in their own words and penned by their own hand, it's all just spooky campfire stories to most people.
I've done my damage here ... time to move to another venue :)
TechnoHippie @ 106:
What "damage"? If by "damage" you mean demonstrating your paranoia, well, congrats. Mission Accomplished.
How can SPP be a benign thing, when in reality it usurps the duties of Congress with a functionary appointed by the Executive Branch, particularly one who has a history of writing articles in "Foreign Affairs" about how national sovereignty is an obsolete concept?
http://www.iwdn.net/showthread.php?p=50461#post50461
http://www.iwdn.net/showthread.php?p=50510#post50510
http://www.iwdn.net/showthread.php?p=50511#post50511
http://www.iwdn.net/showthread.php?p=50591#post50591
Just some of my thoughts on the subject. Agree with me, or disagree with me, but do some research first -- and by research, I certainly don't mean BushCo "myth / fact sheets" which is just code for disinformation propaganda. I mean research about how the U.S. Army will be helping Canadian authorities impose a 25-km exclusion zone around the upcoming SPP meeting in Canada...
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php?story=20070711121332722
If SPP is so benign, then why must it be shrouded in such unprecedented secrecy? Since when does the U.S. Army conduct security operations in Canada for summit meetings? Move along, nothing to see here... all just a conspiracy theory. Crazy right-wingers. ;)
[...] The NAFTA Superhighway doesn’t exist [...]
BDM @ 62:
Sorry bout all them words.
Emperor Joseph II: My dear young man, don't take it too hard. Your work is ingenious. It's quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that's all. Just cut a few and it will be perfect.
Mozart: Which few did you have in mind, Majesty?
Wasn't this from an Onion article back in '02?
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/27842
Wouldn't be the first time that somebody took the Onion, either.
Wow. The tinfoil hat brigade is out in force today. Who's watching Area 54?
My, but the Rusty Shackleford crowd is busy these days, what with exposing things that thousands of people saw as hoaxes and bleating over nonexistant superhighways, not to mention their usual fusillade of OMG NEW WORLD ORDER CONSPIRACY CULT SYMBOLS ON OUR MONEY THEY'RE STEALING OUR THOUGHTS THEY FAKED THE MOON LANDINGS garbage they usually throw.
Liberals should stop attacking conservatives over the Mexican issue. It's a non-starter. What all this boils down to is that it's not plausible to have a global economy unless governments all agree to regulations on labor, safety, and a host of other issues. Without that, globalization is just another excuse for big business to exploit dispossessed, desperate third-world people and funnel toxic goods to the first-world consumers. Ultimately, this sort of empire building leads to world-wide depression.
But, if you'd rather just sit around and support they status quo by slinging arrows at Republicans, then I guess this is a good thread.
I suspect the SSP is less a threat to the U.S. than it is to the sovereignty of Canada.
http://www.thestar.com/article/234049
myiq2xu @ 113:
That's Area 51. Area 54 is a New York disco where Mick Jagger dressed up like a girl and snorted coke. Wait. That's Studio 54. Nevermind.
We shouldn't be mocking and forcing reality checks, we should be encouraging this and the like. This is one of those things that keeps factions of right wingers at each others throats and safely in check, instead of united and causing trouble. We should actually have PAC's with the express purpose of pushing this kind of shit. "Citizens for National Purity and Soveirgnty" or the like.
V V
Let's see... NAFTA highway is not real but, TTC is, Mexican super port is, Mexican super-trans-corridor is, and Norm Mineta says a NAFTA super highway would be great! C'mon people. Does it take that much of a stretch to see where this would eventually lead? Just because Corsi has led the discussion, it should be dismissed? I don't know about y'all but, even if the NAFTA highway isn't in the works, does it really matter? And, do you not think it will be in the future? If Texas does it, Kansas will want to do it too. So will every other state in the Union. Privatization of our interstate system is alreaday happening. And, if you don't think the CFR and others are working behind the scenes to create a North American Union, think again. Rockefeller has written extensively about their visions of the NWO and says they'll stop at nothing to achieve it, the American People be damned! See, we're just too ignorant to understand why it's all in our best interests! While the NAFTA highway may not be real just now, don't think for a second there aren't folks out there who are thinking, 'Man! That's a great idea!'. The TTC will be the model. More will come. Call me a conspiracy nut but, go read some David Rockefeller first and THEN you can call me a nut!
I'm thinking a lot of the posters didn't read the second half of the article at the Nation. I wonder if the poster of the piece here bothered to read the whole thing either?
Like a lot of legends, the NAFTA superhighway is based in reality. One could even argue that the NAFTA superhighway is less a case of conspiracy theory and more the case of some few overstating and mis-labelling very real project.
The very real, proposed trans-Texas corridor would:
A. Run from the Mexican border
B. Be a private toll road owned by foreign companies
C. Run 4 football fields wide at places
D. Include Rail, petro pipelines, and electric transmission
E. Eminent Domain Half a million acres of privately owned Texas countryside, then effectively give this land to a private enterprise
F. Seem to be Strongly supported by the Bush administration
Progressives and conservatives in Texas have united to stop this damn thing.
NAFTA Superhighway = Not True
Trans Texas Corridor = Very, Very True, nearly as bad
steve @ 121:
I live in Michigan and I can tell you it's already happening everyday. I-69 runs through Michigan and ends at Port Huron and the Blue Water Bridge to Canada and there is nothing but Canadian trucks on that highway. They're all coming from Mexico and going to Canada. According to NAFTA Mexican trucks are already running in the US and will soon have rights to cover the entire US, while paying Mexican wages of $5.00 per day, not even enough to buy lunch at McDonalds. I am retired now after 32 years in the trucking industry and the last company I worked for was doing exactly that, even had a recruiting office in El Paso Tx. and only hired Mexican drivers. Everyday I watched them come in, usually 4-5 people in the same truck. If you doubt my word take a look around you on the major interstates that link or lead to ports of entry and check the licience plates on the trucks. they will be Canadian. It's happening, believe me. just read the licence plates it's there for you to see.
TechnoHippie @ 20:
Behold the last sentence of these paragraphs from the very site that you cited. Apparently you haven't read your own information:
SuperCorridor & NAFTA Highway Defined
SuperCorridor - not "Super-sized". As defined in Webster's dictionary, "Super" means "more inclusive than a specialized category". NASCO uses the term "SuperCorridor" to demonstrate we are more than just a highway coalition. NASCO works to develop key relationships along the EXISTING corridors we represent to maximize economic development opportunities along the NASCO Corridor, as well as coordinate the development of technology integration projects, inland ports, environmental initiatives, university research, and the sharing of "best practices". NASCO is particularly focused on coordinating the efforts of local, state and federal agencies and the private sector to integrate and secure a multimodal transportation system along the existing "NASCO Corridor."
"NAFTA Superhighway" - As of late, there has been much media attention given to the "new, proposed NAFTA Superhighway". NASCO and the cities, counties, states and provinces along our existing Interstate Highways 35/29/94 (the NASCO Corridor) have been referring to I-35 as the 'NAFTA Superhighway' for many years, as I-35 already carries a substantial amount of international trade with Mexico, the United States and Canada. There are no plans to build a new NAFTA Superhighway - it exists today as I-35.
Good points, 119.
The NAFTA Superhighway does exist.
Construction started in the 1950s.
It's called the Interstate Highway System.
It's the reason why people in Montana and Maine can buy fresh grapefruit in the middle of winter.
It's the means by which hundreds of auto plants on either side of the US-Canadian border have shipped parts to each other since 1965.
It's one of the most important generators of jobs, wealth and tax revenue in the world.
Curse you, Dwight Eisenhower!!
Four football fields wide? That would be like 1200 feet wide, wouldn't it?
myiq2xu @ 113:
Elvis, Janis, and Jim.
Doesn't "pro-globalist" basically equate as "anti-union"? Dennis Kucinich is anti-NAFTA. Why is anti-NAFTA posed here as Republican?
Yawn @ this. Its a shame because C&L spends every day fighting the crooks in government. Yet they turn around and give them aid and pleasure with an absurd statement that the highway doesn't even exist.
I've never understood why over-the-top liberals want to leave the borders wide open, and let anyone stroll in unannounced.. but hey, maybe i'm just old fashioned and prefer people to come here legally.
This waterfall is approximately 1200 feet wide.
http://www.deq.idaho.gov/inl_oversight/monitoring/printable_images/Shosh...
Hey site monitor: #123 just posted the exact same thing I did. Are you going to delete his comment for having "too many words?"
[I don't know what YOU posted, but apparently, if you are snitching someone off in order to get a post taken down that says the same thing you say you said-you can't have been all that interested in getting the message out. Grow up, big daddy tattletale-Sitemonitor]
FattKidd @ 120:
You're leaving something out, there. Any 'North American Union' will require the consent and cooperation of the other parts of North America. Like Mexico and Canada.
I don't know about Mexico, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that Canadians would NEVER allow a currency union or a political union with the US.
We run surpluses and are rapidly paying down our national debt, you run massive deficits and debts at all levels of government. The Canadian dollar is one of the best-performing currencies in the world, the US dollar is one of the worst. The Canadian economy has been growing faster than the US for many years. We have an excellent, efficient public health care system, the US has a vast wasteful private insurance bureaucracy and 50 million people with no insurance.
Your constitutional freedoms are declining, ours are relatively secure. You have 250 million guns . . . I could go on. You get the picture. You need to get out of your America-centric box, and look at your country from the perspective of your 2nd biggest trading partner (Canada). We like America, but we are already integrated closely enough with you. We will stay Canadians, with the picture of the Queen, and not George Washington, on our dollars, thank you very much.
Well, heres Canada:
http://oldfraser.lexi.net/publications/critical_issues/1999/amero/sectio...
ouch
N American Union Highway has Texas Candidates up in arms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlumHzseiYw
Added: October 23, 2006
From: infowars
The North American Union NAFTA Super-Highway, which is taking form first through the Trans-Texas Corridor, is a massive land-grab, with plans to seize over 1 million acres in Texas alone through eminent domaign.
Real? All I know is what my lying eyes tell me ---- I saw a sign on a Texas Highway that announced that this highway was a part of the future I-69 Canada to Mexico highway. Having lived at the "end" of I-69 our local paper kept us informed of the proposed super highway from Port Huron to Mexico. It is real -- I've not heard of the several football fields wide road ---
If we're going to trade with other countries, it only makes sense to start with our closest neighbors.
While people get really upset about Mexicans coming here and stealing our jobs, nobody seems to worry about the Canadians.
Employers want the cheapest labor they can get, especially in industries that rely mostly on unskilled or semi-skilled workers. They will automate, send the jobs to where labor is cheap or import the cheap labor to do the jobs. Employers get an extra bonus if they can send the jobs somewhere that has little or no safety and/or environmental regulations.
The more successful labor is at forcing employers to pay higher wages and benefits, to make working conditions safer, the more incentive the employer has to seek alternatives.
That is why trade agreements that make it easy and profitable to send our jobs to Mexico or China are so disasterous to labor, but so attractive to corporate executives and directors.
But it's also a short-sighted plan, because if nobody here has a job, who is going to buy all those cheap imports?
Also consider this: As long as we have higher wages and lower unemployment than Mexico, workers there will be drawn here. The bigger the imbalance in wages, the stronger the attraction.
No wall will stop a tsunami. Anyone who is really worried about Mexican immigrants (legal or illegal) should be in favor of increasing the standard of living there. Believe it or not, most Mexicans would rather stay in Mexico if they could make enough money to support themselves and their families. They come here in desperation.
Ever notice that the GOP is anti-immigrant but it's also the party of big business? We make it illegal to hire undocumented aliens but rarely punish the employers who hire them. Because those employers are big GOP money donors.
Last point - If Lou Dobbs got his wish and tommorrow morning every illegal immigrant in the country was magically sent back to wherever they had come from, by noon we would be sending buses to the border to bring them back.
Dan @ 134:
This article is 8 years old. I came out of the Fraser Institute, the only Canadian version of the many right wing think tanks you have in the US, and less influential than any of them.
The economist it quotes, Herb Grubel, has since retired and was out on the right fringe of Canadian politics. He proves my point about the lack of support in Canada for currency union with the US.
Well,
Google Scholar Search reveals that the Fraser Institute's work is cited more often in peer reviewed journals than the work of any other public policy Institute in Canada.
This is a perfect example of the need for accountability in reporting the news! When a court says it is ok for Fox news to tell the public lies; we must stand up and let it be known that it is not ok!
LOL, yeah, those whacky cons with their "9/11 was an inside job" theories....oh, wait. Nevermind.
Well, there is something else afoot. I saw it with my own eyes from across the river. A real estate developer showed it to me. If you jump in a plane and fly to Bullhead AZ (does it have an airport?) then rent a car and drive north about five miles, you can see it yourself, along the banks of the river that comes down from the Hoover Dam. You will see a Walmart depot the size of about five football fields, and perhaps four stories high.
Surrounding it are mega levels of train car containers. The kind you dump on trucks or train cars. There is also the beginning of a train track going NE from the spot, which the developer said culminated in a "hub" in Kansas. I dont know if the train track is entirely built or not.
Now . . . what's going on? Apparently, Walmart didn't like the stevedore fees in Long Beach. The majority of Chinese goods land in Long Beach, and Walmart was finding the dock union prices prohibitive. So, as we speak, a dedicated covered customs highway is being built from Long Beach CA to Bullhead AZ, so that arriving goods will go through customs in AZ, not CA. The developer said US Customs was building alongiside the Walmart facility.
According to the developer, when the containers are off-loaded at Long Beach, they immediately go onto special trucks, obviating the need for dock storage. These trucks will travel to AZ via this closed highway for customs clearance. I was told it would be "closed" via special netting on top in addition to having no off-ramps or access. It's pretty much a flat run from Long Beach to Loughlin NV/Bullhead AZ.
http://www.mohavedevelopment.org/programs.htm
I have a comment for you guys. It's amazing how easily herded people can be.
Alot of you cats on the left sound as ignorant as freepers.
If you have people on the right, saying that supposed right politicians ie. Bush, Perry, and the newly thugged into office Mexican President are creating NAFTA superhighway, which is well documented and is happening as we speak, where are the laughs?
If you read the article, you will see the substantiated evidence, but you're are told not to connect the dots and use your common sense.
I'm surprised at how easily the two sides are played.
Stop being dem/rep and start being Americans.
The Global Corporations are carving this world up, along with nation states, and creating a global world where all you will be is a landless, microchipped serf.
hareli @ 143:
Many containers are inspected, sealed and tagged at the factories in China by US Customs officials. Upon arriving here, the only thing customs agents do is check to make sure the seals are intact.
BTW - It would be simpler and cheaper to build a railway instead of a highway. Oh wait, there already is a railway line connecting those two points.
Republicans have taken over the left in this country, and this sort of doublespeak is their SOP - for example, the Democrats in Congress who constantly whine about Bush, but then go right along with virtually everything the guy wants.
They engage in this tactic because it works. They know if you lead people in a certain direction, and then change direction, most people won't notice the change because all their brain remembers is the first thing they heard. The Clintons of course are the masters at this sort of thing. They go to some town hall meeting and and tell people how we need universal healthcare, and then proceed to tell them why it's politically impossible. All most people remember is the first part, and they come away thinking that Hillary will bring us universal healthcare, which of course she won't.
It's all about psychological diversion, and you can bet that people who are dismissing the idea of a NAFTA Superhighway are in reality the ones most in favor of such a thing.
myiq2xu @ 145:
I have no clue. I am strictly reporting what I heard as I stood there looking at the monstrosity. I was told that as the containers are hauled off the ships, they will be loaded onto these 'customs' trucks instead of being lowered onto 'US Soil'. They cannot offload onto railroad cars because the railroad cannot, or does not, go up to the edge of the dock. The trucks do. Apparently, it's a matter of touching US soil. If the containers touch US soil in Long Beach -- land on the dock -- then get loaded onto railroad cars, as they do now, they are subject to Long Beach dock fees. And that's what Walmart wants to avoid or eliminate.
hareli @ 147:
Go to the BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) website. They have rail ports at LA, Long Beach, Redwood City, Stockton, Oakland, And San Diego. They transport thousands of containers every day that were directly loaded from the ship onto railcars.
One line runs through my town. I've sat waiting for the train to pass, watching car after car of double-stacked containers pass by.
Each train can transport numerous containers with only 3-4 employees and way less fuel costs. It's safer too. Trucks get in wrecks, breakdown or get hijacked. Trains rarely do.
myiq2xu,
I have no quarrel with what you are saying. But those railroad cars are on 'US Soil'.
The AZ deal is that the trucks will not be deemed to have arrived on US Soil until they reach AZ. So AZ fees apply. That's how it was explained to me.
Well.........
Their conspiracy theories aren't that farfetched. I think this NAFTA superhighway is something around the lines of this.
I'm a democrat thats been working in Texas for a long time, and one campaign I was happy to work on was Hank Gilbert for TX AG Commissioner. The AG Commissioner in Texas has quite a bit of power, they control the federal lands, the dept of numbers/weights, and they control how the gov't buys land, and what land they buy. ( they also sit on the redistricting committee, I think )
TX has been buying up land near 35 ( could they just widen 35, no, they building a new highway next to it, stupid republicans )- and the contractor has been a Mexican company allied w/ the Perry Administration.
Now the plans beyond TX I'm not sure, but it was a big campaign issue, and it definitely exists--- I think the conspiracy theory of the NAFT superhighway therefore does have a shred of credibility, even though the idea is propagated on RW websites.
Here's the Canadian view of it. PRO. You can download and read PDF page-#s 33-35:
http://www.ceocouncil.ca/en/about/A_Canadian_Agenda_for_Progress_and_Pro...
Here's a Canadian objection to it. CON. It's a long (54 min) Google Video by Connie Fogal, head of the Canadian Action Party, founded in 1997 by Paul Hellyer, the former Minister of Defense for Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1355300745194023737
In my view, the problem has been exacerbated by Lou Dobbs' producers who do not do adequate research, and report breathlessly about 'facts' they have not fully investigated. They, essentially, broadcast an opinion calculated for emotive response. Their immigration POV is nothing more than a regurgitation of that nutbar John Tanton, the one-man anti-immigration band who couldn't get any traction until 9/11. Read about Tanton here.
Hayes wrote:
"Since it's the only Mexican port deep enough to handle Super Panamax container ships from China--the most efficient means of shipping products across the Pacific--it's an attractive alternative to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which are unionized and increasingly congested. (More than 80 percent of Asian imports come in through these two ports.)"
He's not accurate. Long Beach can certainly handle them, one of the few:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3759/is_200505/ai_n14799472/pg_4
http://www.er-ship.com/main/ers/en/unternehmen/1434.jsp
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