[XBob]

195 - free traders hate these questions:

"The question is: How do we lower the standard of living in our country (everything from job saftey to building codes and zoning laws) enough to make us again competitive with the third world? Or, perhaps, do we want to?"

They think they are exempt.

[Cold Heat]

Well, It is a dilemma, as they say.

All this cheap stuff has helped to keep inflation at bay, yet wages have remained somewhat stagnant until recently.

It is good for the poor south that is getting some plant relocations for the lower cost of living and wage scale.($6 per hour here)

The end game is that we own Mexico in 30 years or so. They will keep the name, but the oil and assets will be at our disposal. (That is what NAFTA is, if it works?)

It will be interesting, but we will remain on top if we can get our education system and regulatory system under control. The liberals want to teach arts and crafts and regulate chewing gum.

Ya might want to learn a bit of spanish though...........:-)Habla-espanole?