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Obama reverses opposition to Mexican trucks

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
WND PREMEDITATED MERGER
Obama reverses opposition to Mexican trucks
White House reacts to diplomatic pressure with vow to retain program
Posted: March 12, 2009
11:30 pm Eastern

By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2009 WorldNetDaily


One day after signing the $410 billion omnibus funding bill into law, along with provisions ending the Department of Transportation's Mexican truck demonstration project, the Obama administration has announced intentions to restart the program as soon as possible.

Debbie Mesloh, a spokeswoman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, told the Associated Press Obama has asked the office to work with Congress, the DOT, the State Department and Mexican officials to come up with legislation to create "a new trucking project that will meet the legitimate concerns" of Congress and the U.S. under the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

The Obama administration's determination to see Mexican long-haul rigs roll throughout the U.S. is a setback for labor unions, including the Teamsters, who supported Obama in the 2008 presidential election, in part on his promise to renegotiate NAFTA to preserve U.S. jobs.

The sharp policy reversal will also be a blow to many Democrats in Congress, including Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., who fought hard for the past two years to stop the project out of concerns that Mexican trucks do not conform with U.S. safety regulations.

After Tuesday's vote in the Senate to pass the funding bill with language ending the truck project, the Mexican government put immediate pressure on the Obama administration to reinstate approval for Mexican trucks to operate throughout the U.S.

"Mexico still believes that the United States' noncompliance on this issue, more than 14 years overdue, is a violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement," Mexican Embassy spokesman Ricardo Alday told the AP.

(Story continues below)




Alday insisted Mexico is willing to work with Congress and the U.S. "in finding a solution that honors its international obligation."

The Mexican truck issue became rancorous over the past two years as Bush administration Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters fought off repeated efforts by Congress to confine Mexican trucks to a narrow 20-mile-wide commercial area north of the southern border.

WND reported that after the truck project began, an examination of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration database revealed hundreds of safety violations by Mexican long-haul rigs on U.S. roads.

The contention of opponents has been that Mexican trucks and truck drivers do not reliably meet U.S. standards.

As WND reported, in a contentious Senate hearing last March, Dorgan got Peters to admit that Mexican drivers were being designated at the border as "proficient in English" even though they could explain U.S. traffic signs only in Spanish.

In the tense hearing, Dorgan accused Peters of being "arrogant" and in reckless disregard of a congressional vote to stop the truck project by taking funds away.

As WND reported, opposition in the House was led by DeFazio, who in September 2007 accused the Bush administration of having a "stealth plan" to allow Mexican long-haul rigs on U.S. roads.

"This administration [of President George W. Bush] is hell-bent on opening our borders," DeFazio then said, "but has failed to require that Mexican drivers and trucks meet the same safety and security standards as U.S. drivers and trucks."

Previously, Peters had argued the wording of the Dorgan amendment did not prohibit the Transportation Department from stopping a Mexican truck project already under way, even if the measure prohibited DOT from starting any new project.

Despite strong congressional opposition, the Department of Transportation under President Bush had announced it planned in its final months to extend the truck project for another two years – an attempt to force the incoming Obama administration to comply.

Obama backtracking on NAFTA promises?

The administration's determination to open the U.S. to Mexican trucks raises questions about whether Obama intends to fulfill campaign promises to renegotiate NAFTA to get provisions more favorable to American workers and jobs.

During the presidential campaign, top Obama economic adviser Austan Goolsbee, an economics professor at the University of Chicago business school, stirred controversy after reporters learned he traveled to Canada to reassure Canadians that Obama's harsh words about NAFTA were just campaign rhetoric.

In the Ohio and Pennsylvania Democratic Party primaries, Obama pledged to renegotiate NAFTA as part of his appeal to workers in the states that have lost manufacturing jobs under the free trade agreements negotiated by Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush.

Now, Goolsbee has joined the Obama administration, having taken a leave of absence from the University of Chicago after Obama appointed him chief economist and staff director of the newly created Presidential Economic Recovery Advisory Board, chaired by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volker.

Obama also appointed Goolsbee to the Council of Economic Advisors, or CEA, which is charged with assisting in the development of White House economic policy.

In his first trip to a foreign nation, Obama traveled to Canada, where he used a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to backtrack on his promise to renegotiate NAFTA.

The London Guardian reported Obama's comments in Canada "muddied his position" on NAFTA.

Obama responded to a question at the joint press conference with Harper saying, "Now is a time where we have to be very careful about any signs of protectionism."

Translated, this meant that any renegotiation of NAFTA by the Obama administration might involve fine-tuning some of the side agreements, not renegotiating NAFTA itself in any fundamental way.

Then there was the issue of the "Buy American" provision inserted into the administration's $787 billion economic stimulus plan.

Canada was concerned that the provision could hurt Canadian steel exports to the U.S., and the EU complained the provision was antithetical to the spirit of the Transatlantic Economic Council, which President Bush signed with the EU last April.

The Obama administration did not object when language was added to the economic stimulus bill to specify that the "Buy American" provision would be interpreted as buying American products if it was consistent with U.S. international trade obligations. That meant any free trade agreement would override the obligation.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91549
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
What's up with the big announcements to the media one day, and the quiet reversals the next?

Is this guy having a hard time making a decision?, must be trying to keep everybody happy.
 

TSR

Well-known member
hypocritexposer said:
WND PREMEDITATED MERGER
Obama reverses opposition to Mexican trucks
White House reacts to diplomatic pressure with vow to retain program
Posted: March 12, 2009
11:30 pm Eastern

By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2009 WorldNetDaily


One day after signing the $410 billion omnibus funding bill into law, along with provisions ending the Department of Transportation's Mexican truck demonstration project, the Obama administration has announced intentions to restart the program as soon as possible.

Debbie Mesloh, a spokeswoman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, told the Associated Press Obama has asked the office to work with Congress, the DOT, the State Department and Mexican officials to come up with legislation to create "a new trucking project that will meet the legitimate concerns" of Congress and the U.S. under the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

The Obama administration's determination to see Mexican long-haul rigs roll throughout the U.S. is a setback for labor unions, including the Teamsters, who supported Obama in the 2008 presidential election, in part on his promise to renegotiate NAFTA to preserve U.S. jobs.

The sharp policy reversal will also be a blow to many Democrats in Congress, including Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., who fought hard for the past two years to stop the project out of concerns that Mexican trucks do not conform with U.S. safety regulations.

After Tuesday's vote in the Senate to pass the funding bill with language ending the truck project, the Mexican government put immediate pressure on the Obama administration to reinstate approval for Mexican trucks to operate throughout the U.S.

"Mexico still believes that the United States' noncompliance on this issue, more than 14 years overdue, is a violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement," Mexican Embassy spokesman Ricardo Alday told the AP.

(Story continues below)




Alday insisted Mexico is willing to work with Congress and the U.S. "in finding a solution that honors its international obligation."

The Mexican truck issue became rancorous over the past two years as Bush administration Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters fought off repeated efforts by Congress to confine Mexican trucks to a narrow 20-mile-wide commercial area north of the southern border.

WND reported that after the truck project began, an examination of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration database revealed hundreds of safety violations by Mexican long-haul rigs on U.S. roads.

The contention of opponents has been that Mexican trucks and truck drivers do not reliably meet U.S. standards.

As WND reported, in a contentious Senate hearing last March, Dorgan got Peters to admit that Mexican drivers were being designated at the border as "proficient in English" even though they could explain U.S. traffic signs only in Spanish.

In the tense hearing, Dorgan accused Peters of being "arrogant" and in reckless disregard of a congressional vote to stop the truck project by taking funds away.

As WND reported, opposition in the House was led by DeFazio, who in September 2007 accused the Bush administration of having a "stealth plan" to allow Mexican long-haul rigs on U.S. roads.

"This administration [of President George W. Bush] is hell-bent on opening our borders," DeFazio then said, "but has failed to require that Mexican drivers and trucks meet the same safety and security standards as U.S. drivers and trucks."

Previously, Peters had argued the wording of the Dorgan amendment did not prohibit the Transportation Department from stopping a Mexican truck project already under way, even if the measure prohibited DOT from starting any new project.

Despite strong congressional opposition, the Department of Transportation under President Bush had announced it planned in its final months to extend the truck project for another two years – an attempt to force the incoming Obama administration to comply.

Obama backtracking on NAFTA promises?

The administration's determination to open the U.S. to Mexican trucks raises questions about whether Obama intends to fulfill campaign promises to renegotiate NAFTA to get provisions more favorable to American workers and jobs.

During the presidential campaign, top Obama economic adviser Austan Goolsbee, an economics professor at the University of Chicago business school, stirred controversy after reporters learned he traveled to Canada to reassure Canadians that Obama's harsh words about NAFTA were just campaign rhetoric.

In the Ohio and Pennsylvania Democratic Party primaries, Obama pledged to renegotiate NAFTA as part of his appeal to workers in the states that have lost manufacturing jobs under the free trade agreements negotiated by Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush.

Now, Goolsbee has joined the Obama administration, having taken a leave of absence from the University of Chicago after Obama appointed him chief economist and staff director of the newly created Presidential Economic Recovery Advisory Board, chaired by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volker.

Obama also appointed Goolsbee to the Council of Economic Advisors, or CEA, which is charged with assisting in the development of White House economic policy.

In his first trip to a foreign nation, Obama traveled to Canada, where he used a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to backtrack on his promise to renegotiate NAFTA.

The London Guardian reported Obama's comments in Canada "muddied his position" on NAFTA.

Obama responded to a question at the joint press conference with Harper saying, "Now is a time where we have to be very careful about any signs of protectionism."

Translated, this meant that any renegotiation of NAFTA by the Obama administration might involve fine-tuning some of the side agreements, not renegotiating NAFTA itself in any fundamental way.

Then there was the issue of the "Buy American" provision inserted into the administration's $787 billion economic stimulus plan.

Canada was concerned that the provision could hurt Canadian steel exports to the U.S., and the EU complained the provision was antithetical to the spirit of the Transatlantic Economic Council, which President Bush signed with the EU last April.

The Obama administration did not object when language was added to the economic stimulus bill to specify that the "Buy American" provision would be interpreted as buying American products if it was consistent with U.S. international trade obligations. That meant any free trade agreement would override the obligation.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91549

On issues such as this, the Congress, hopefully Republicans and Dems alike can let Obama know that their is another government body out there that has to be responsive to their constituents. I mean Geez his name isn't Obama Bush is it? :?
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
OT, it's OK not to back Obama on every little thing that he does and it's OK to not blame Bush and/or Reagan. You can go ahead and be honest and lay into Obama for being wrong on this issue.
 

Mike

Well-known member
"Crawfishing" (or swimming backwards) at it's finest. :wink:

I'll bet OT's response will be full of lies..................... :lol:

IF he responds at all...................................... :roll:
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Looks to me like they are doing exactly what GW refused to do- put some stringent regulation and enforcement in the rule- rather than the sham GW was trying to push off....

A spokeswoman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Debbie Mesloh, said Obama has told the office to work with Congress, the Transportation and State departments and Mexican officials to come up with legislation to create "a new trucking project that will meet the legitimate concerns" of Congress and U.S. commitments under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

WND reported that after the truck project began, an examination of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration database revealed hundreds of safety violations by Mexican long-haul rigs on U.S. roads.

The contention of opponents has been that Mexican trucks and truck drivers do not reliably meet U.S. standards.

As WND reported, in a contentious Senate hearing last March, Dorgan got Peters to admit that Mexican drivers were being designated at the border as "proficient in English" even though they could explain U.S. traffic signs only in Spanish.
 

Mike

Well-known member
Bush thought, and I concur, that treating Mexican trucks any differently from Canadian trucks was discriminatory and would cause a breach of NAFTA.

To keep Mexican and Canadian trucks out of the U.S. when our trucks can travel their highways if they meet inspection and regs, is wrong.

Zer0 is in bed with the Unions. He'll do whatever it takes to pay them back for his election. Plain & simple.
 

Larrry

Well-known member
Reminds me of the guy that ran a junkyard. He decided he had all the junk cars that had been stripped of their good parts. His idea was he was gonna advertise them for sale running or not people wouldn't care. He just had to paint em black and they would be happy.
 

Mike

Well-known member
Associated Press | Feb. 22, 2007

US inspectors to examine trucks on Mexican soil

By MARK STEVENSON Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY - U.S. safety inspectors will be allowed to inspect trucks on Mexican soil before they enter the United States under a program announced on Thursday that officials said will remove the last barrier to the long-delayed opening of U.S. highways to Mexican truckers.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters and her Mexican counterpart, Luis Tellez, announced the plan during a visit to a trucking firm in the northern city of Monterrey.

"This is a historic agreement to ensure the safety of these vehicles ... and their drivers as well," Peters said, adding "this is the first time U.S. inspectors have come into Mexico to perform these onsite safety audits."

The plan will allow U.S. transportation inspectors to check not only the safety and condition of the Mexican rigs, but also check the licenses, insurance and driving records of the Mexican drivers.

Peters refused to say exactly when Mexican trucks will be allowed to carry freight throughout the United States - they are currently limited to a narrow strip along the border - but predicted that it would happen "soon."

For such a trade opening with such a long history of delays, however, that prediction might prove optimistic.

"The Bush Administration and Mexican authorities now maintain that they have fulfilled every one of these safety requirements. That remains to be seen," U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash) said in a press statement.

Murray, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, said she will hold a hearing on March 8 "to investigate whether the administration has fulfilled both the spirit and the letter of the law."

"International trade is a critical engine of our nations economy," Murray said, "but safety must not be the victim when it comes to expanding trade with our partners."

U.S. trucking companies, unions and environmental groups have long opposed the opening, arguing that Mexico’s loosely regulated trucking industry uses rigs that are older and poorly maintained, the result of that country’s less stringent environmental and safety standards. They argue the opening would cost Americans thousands of jobs, pollute the air, damage highways and threaten safety.

Mexican trucking firms - especially the more modern, long-haul companies - argue they meet all standards.

Peterson said the U.S. inspectors will evaluate truck maintenance and driver testing for compliance with U.S. requirements.

"The inspection teams also will check that drivers have a valid commercial driver’s license, have a current medical certificate, and can comply with U.S. hours-of-service rules," her office said in a press statement. "Trucks lacking required documentation will be subject to a "hood to tail-lamps," inspection by the teams."

Thursday’s agreement could mark and end to a seven-year-old trade disagreement; under the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, Mexico and the United States were supposed to have allowed full access for each other’s trucks by 2000.

Mexico has claimed the United States is reneging on its obligations under NAFTA, and in February 2001 an international arbitration panel agreed. President George W. Bush said in 2001 said he would allow the trucks in, and a June 2004 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court seemed to remove the last legal barrier.

Despite that, procedural issues like the topic of inspections had delayed the opening.



source: Houston Chronicle
 

Big Muddy rancher

Well-known member
I would like to see where Bush was giving Mexican truckers diplomatic immunity as OT seemed to think was going to happen. I have seen US trucks turned back at the border for safety violations and I know Canadian trucks have to meet US standards. Even the ones from individual states that have strange laws about configuration and axle placing. Nothing to do with safety.
 

TSR

Well-known member
Mike said:
Bush thought, and I concur, that treating Mexican trucks any differently from Canadian trucks was discriminatory and would cause a breach of NAFTA.

To keep Mexican and Canadian trucks out of the U.S. when our trucks can travel their highways if they meet inspection and regs, is wrong.

Zer0 is in bed with the Unions. He'll do whatever it takes to pay them back for his election. Plain & simple.

Otimer could be right. The key being can their trucks/drivers pass our safety standards? IMO Canadian and USA trucks/drivers would have less trouble than Mexican trucks/drivers but I could be wrong. I am basing my opinion based on what has been posted here. It seemed as Bush wanted them crossing our border no matter the condition, he and the pres. of Mexico were tight.
 

TexasBred

Well-known member
Don't know about the drivers but have seen some of the rigs and they look as good as most we have up here. The same for the hundreds of mexican buses that zip up and down I-35. Very sharp looking. I'm sure the Texas DPS will have a field day tho. :wink:

Wonder how Mexican authorities communicate with the american truck drivers that go into Mexico? Most of them are hardly fluent in English let alone spanish.
 
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