Posted on 08/22/2007 7:13:57 AM PDT by ckilmer
Bush denies superstate rumours
August 22, 2007
By Jon Ward - MONTEBELLO, Quebec — President Bush and the leaders of Canada and Mexico yesterday ridiculed the notion that their countries are conspiring to create a regional supergovernment similar to the European Union.
"I'm amused by the difference between what actually takes place in the meetings and by what some are trying to say takes place," said Mr. Bush, responding to concerns raised by conservative and liberal groups and some U.S. lawmakers.
"It's quite comical actually, to realize the difference between reality and what some people on TV are talking about."
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper joked that a superhighway rumored to be in the works linking the three countries could also be "interplanetary."
The two leaders and Mexican President Felipe Calderon spoke at a press conference here in a countryside resort, halfway between Ottawa and Montreal, to cap two days of meetings.
Mr. Bush said it is important for the U.S. to work with Canada and Mexico on facilitating trade while securing their borders, under the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), a series of negotiations started in 2005.
Mr. Bush said the charges of a plot to form a North American Union were "political scare tactics."
"You lay out a conspiracy and then force some people to try to prove it doesn't exist. That's just the way some people operate," Mr. Bush said.
Mr. Harper said the trade talks were far more mundane than many realize, citing a morning meeting with business leaders at which one CEO complained that "the rules for jelly bean contents are different in Canada and the United States."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Seriously, though. Conspiracy nonsense like this keeps us folks who want to close the borders from being taken seriously. No one listens to people they’ve already labeled as “kooks.”
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you need to read FR regularly. there’s a pretty steady flow of documentation on government nau/spp efforts. the whole business accelerated two years ago.
suggest any further reading on this topic?
There is price for being polite for too long. Witness the poor embarrassed Episcopalians.
I get the "incrementalism" argument, and I understand it . . . I also feel that, as far as arguments go, it's a cop-out. Used properly by some, and lazily by most.
I read FR regularly, and there's plenty on the SPP. The NAU stuff is usually just the same thing posted over and over again.
Bush is right here; some of you people need to get a grip.
We aren’t out to get you....
or are we? Muahhaaaaaa!
Psychos.
You’re definitely the sort of “listener” politicians love. In the very statement you quote, Bush opposes amnesty offered by Kerry to those who’d been in the US for many years, then in 2006 and 2007 supported bills that would have granted amnesty to 12,000,000 plus who’d (in the 2007 bill) only since 12/31/2006.
They love people like you.
Please show evidence that sending money will produce jobs and economic stability in Mexico. For that matter, please show evidence that sending money to any third-world country has produced jobs and economic stability.
Building a fence will produce tangible results.
Too many people would rather attack the symptoms of the problem than the problem itself.
Yes, the symptom is people leaving a country. The problem is the country is corrupt and sending more money to a corrupt regime only produces more corruption, not less. Please show evidence to the contrary.
I do not support Jimmy Carter. This program was started in 1978. Mexico is way down the list of countries we have this agreement with. Why you single out Mexico is curious. Because they were recently added? Or because they are Mexicans?
Now I know you don't have a clue. Carter had nothing to do with any of these agreements. These all were put into place during the Bush administration. The George W. Bush administration. Not the Jimmy Carter administration. Not the Ronald Reagan adminstration. Not the George HW Bush administraton, nor even the Clinton administration. The George W. Bush administration, as in, the current administration.
The Partnership for Prosperity agreement was signed on September 6, 2001.
The New Alliance Task Force was created in 2003.
I single out Mexico because Mexico is the only country named in the Partnership for Prosperity agreement (with Mexico) and the New Alliance Task Force was formed by the FDIC, the Mexican Consulate General and a coalition of 65 orgainizations including banks, mortgage industry representatives, community organizations, federal bank oversight agencies, and other government agencies.
It’s a freaking customs agreement. Get over yourself.
Again, you prove yourself to be clueless about any of this.
God help you people.
Yes, God help us that we have people as clueless as you voting.
Officials warned NAFTA trucks threatened bridgeThe article itself (maybe not the headline) is written by WND's premier NAU conspiracy freak. Note the rhetorical shell-game that follows.
I get the “incrementalism” argument, and I understand it . . . I also feel that, as far as arguments go, it’s a cop-out. Used properly by some, and lazily by most.
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Laziness has no a part of this argument. There is a willful effort by members of the US government to imitate the successful model used by the EU to grow its bureaucracy.
Go to the nearest library and they should have shelves and shelves of paperbacks published quarterly by the CFR going back years and years with all their policy papers. (Many of which are adopted almost immediately by our gov’t since the same CFR people are the appointees who head the Executive agencies and set gov’t policy; others have to wait until a change of Administration and new appointments.) You can get the most recent quarterly release at any of the big book stores. There’s even a supermarket near me that has a decent book and magazine selection that sells them. I have no idea if they put them on the web, as I’ve never looked.
| U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Postal Square Building 2 Massachusetts Ave., NE Washington, DC 20212-0001 |
Phone: (202) 691-5200 |
When did those 3 million jobs move south of the border? Maybe you're confused? Maybe it was before NAFTA?
I specifically remember hearing that debate, and hearing Bush say he'd offer "temporary worker cards" to those here illegally, AND, an eventual "path TO citizenship", not "automatic citizenship". That's how Bush parsed the meaning of "amnesty" THEN, and that's how he tried to in 2007.
There wasn't any surprise for me. Maybe for you, or others, who didn't LISTEN to his words CAREFULLY, but not for me.
Look, is Bush the best President since Reagan, or ever? No, of course not. Do I LIKE that he tried to push amnesty on the American public? No, of course not, and I am glad that what I BELIEVED would happen (the backlash from both political spectra) DID happen. The point is, Bush is many things (even a few bad things) but he's no liar.
The same logic you are using could be used to "prove" Bush "lied" about the reasons for War in Iraq. If you already believe that, then this conversation is over. Point being, one can ascribe negative intentions to virtually anything if one's mind is already made up. Personally, I see no reason to believe Bush is a liar, mainly because I don't already have my mind made up that he is!
Yes, it is lazy to argue “incrementalism” while ignoring whether an agreement to address, for example, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy between the three nations is a bad or good thing.
It’s a shame what’s happened to WND. They had some good articles on Kerry and HIS lying background back in 2003 and ‘04. It’s a shame it’s become the garbage bin of conspiracy theories these days.
Do you support the Partnership for Prosperity agreement (with Mexico)?
Yes
Targeting the Unbanked Latino Immigrant Population
Several other key barriers contribute to the high number of unbanked immigrants, primarily a limited ability to understand and speak English and cultural distrust of financial institutions. These barriers create real challenges. However, in Chicago and other parts of the Midwest, organizations are bringing unbanked Latino immigrants into the financial mainstream with the right mix of innovative products, financial education programs, effective outreach programs, and a strong commitment from banks to serve this market, all of which are being facilitated by the development and activities of a few organizations, including the New Alliance Task Force (NATF).
| New Alliance Task Force |
|
The NATF was launched in May 2003 by the Consulate General of Mexico in Chicago and the Chicago Office of the FDIC's Community Affairs Program in support of the U.S.-Mexico Partnership for Prosperity. The NATF is a broad-based coalition of 62 members, including the Mexican Consulate, 34 banks, community-based organizations, federal bank regulatory agencies, government agencies, and representatives from the secondary market and private mortgage insurance (PMI) companies. The majority of the participating financial institutions are community banks in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. The coalition's programs and initiatives address the critical need among Mexican immigrants, both established and recently arrived, to successfully develop asset-building strategies to improve their quality of life in the United States. This goal is critical as Latinos continue to have lower homeownership rates and less access to mainstream financial services and credit instruments.
In addition to promoting general educational opportunities for immigrants, NATF members sponsor financial education programs and are developing financial products that include remittance features and mortgage products that help immigrants overcome barriers to homeownership.
The NATF's Financial Education Working Group educates immigrants on the benefits and importance of holding accounts, the credit process, and mainstream banking as an alternative to the "fringe" banking system. Ten thousand immigrants have participated in financial education classes and workshops using the FDIC's Money Smart, a Spanish-language adult financial education curriculum, and similar financial education programs in the Chicago area. A number of delivery channels exist, including financial institutions, churches, housing organizations, job training centers, and community colleges. In addition to these programs, the Mexican Consulate of Chicago, in collaboration with local banks, launched a financial education program in Spanish in January 2004. Several institutions donated simulated ATMs to train immigrants on banking technologies.
The NATF Bank Products and Services Working Group encourages banks and thrifts to develop financial service products with remittance features as a strategy to reach the unbanked immigrant community. In recent years, banks in the Midwest have begun to realize the significant dollar amounts generated by remittance transfers and have taken steps to break down some of the barriers preventing immigrants' access to the banking system. Community banks in Chicago and Milwaukee, for example, have taken the lead in offering international remittance services. Second Federal Savings and First Bank of the Americas were the first community banks in the country to accept the Mexican Matricula Consular card and develop remittance products through dual ATM cards. Soon afterward, Mitchell Bank and North Shore Bank in Milwaukee followed suit. These institutions are aware that many immigrants, regardless of their current immigration status, will eventually settle in this country. This offers an opportunity for banks to cross-sell other products and offer a wider range of financial services.
Fifteen of the 34 NATF banks are now offering products with remittance services that allow immigrants to open bank accounts, avoid high-cost wire services, and incur lower remittance costs for sending money back home. Dual ATM cards or stored-value cards offer the lowest transfer cost: 1.5 percent of the amount sent.29 In the past two years, 50,000 new accounts totaling $100 million (with an average account balance of $2,000) have been opened at NATF banks in the Midwest. Many of these accounts were opened using the banks' remittance services. Other NATF banks, including South Central Bank and Lakeside Bank, are using the Federal Reserve System's recently unveiled FedAutomated Clearing House International Mexico Service as a cost-effective alternative to expensive wire transfers.
Do you support the New Alliance Task Force?
Yes
Do you support the Social Security Totalization Ageement with Mexico?
No
Why not? You support giving other US money to Mexican illegal aliens, why not US Social Security, too?
Do you support the Bilateral Strategic Plan agreement?
Yes
You don't even know what it is or when it was signed.
When China becomes Panama's best friend and Iran becomes Venezuela's buddy, we have bigger problems than pipe dreams about a super highway.
So, you're worried about what might be instead of what actually is happening?
“When did those 3 million jobs move south of the border? Maybe you’re confused? Maybe it was before NAFTA?”
No maybe about it. You’re definitely confused. Showing a table representing total manufacturing activity or earnings in the US illustrates absolutely nothing about how many new jobs were added or old jobs lost, or whether any lost jobs went to Mexico or Mars.
The article itself (maybe not the headline) is written by WND’s premier NAU conspiracy freak. Note the rhetorical shell-game that follows.
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Of course what the mexican don’t like is that their narco trafficers buying high caliber guns in the USA and easily bring them back over the border. Mexican federales are out gunned.
The flow of drugs over the border is not slowed by current US efforts. The thought of Mexican trucks getting access to all of the USA causes major league freak out on the part of anyone familiar with the border.
It comes and goes in phases. WND is simply hawking Corsi’s latest book, and God bless ‘em for trying. I found the headline funny because I visualized a bunch of Mexican trucks with guns threatening an inanimate object.
My table represents more than the table you showed.
So how do you explain 3 million jobs moving to Mexico and more than 3 million being created in the next 7 years? Maybe Ross was wrong about the sucking sound?
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