Posted on 12/02/2007 1:00:24 AM PST by elhombrelibre
The GOP presidential candidate says U.S. sovereignty is at risk. Highway and trade officials and transportation consultants say there are no plans for such a project.
WASHINGTON -- The man from Arlington, Texas, could barely contain his smirk as he looked into a computer video camera to pose a question of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Well-said. I am tired of big government Republicans. I am also tired of their apologists and Tokyo Roses, trying to wear down our resistance.
Here’s the problem with that- the corridor includes these “inland ports” with special border rules. Kansas City, for example.
This is a statement quoted in a Human Events article from 6-26-06: “The Kansas City Area Development Council has directly confirmed that the Kansas City SmartPort intends to build a Mexican customs facility to facilitate out-going traffic headed to Mexico….The Kansas City SmartPort brochure could not be more explicit: ‘Kansas City offers the opportunity for sealed cargo containers to travel to Mexican port cities with virtually no border delays. It will streamline shipments from Asia.’”
They’ve since changed the propaganda on their site: http://www.nascocorridor.com/naipn/pages/kc_projects.html
I’m currently looking for the exact legislation that addresses this. So far, I’ve found nothing.
By the way, here’s a good search- yields all kinds of stuff: http://www.google.com/search?as_q=border&hl=en&num=10&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&cr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nascocorridor.com&as_rights=&safe=images
I think you are closer than you know. The Free Trade/ Globalism/RINO Republicans teamed up with the Liberal Dems during this bipartisan crap, throwing away the Conservatives and large groups of the Democrat base as well (see esp. Union ranks, Blacks). It is a coup of sorts, I think... Globalists are the new Socialists... in business suits. Your "rat in elephant clothing" if there ever was one.
There has never been a fence before right? So what is the problem now. JOBS! Wage differential. Massive wage differential between Mexico and the US.
We are suffering from our own prosperity. Guess what the solution is to suffering from prosperity? Well the greedy free-traders want to knock us down to 2nd world status so we won’t have that problem anymore.
Traitors.
And you don’t think the mere fact that the US is the ONLY place in the world where the richest country in the world jams up against the 3rd world is pretty dramatic all by itself?
Given that fact, without any government encouragement at all we would still be deluged by a mass migration from the poorer parts of this hemisphere to us. sorry, but our sovereignty demands we control our border. Period.
Hunter, Tancredo and Paul recognize this, and Thompson may announce his opinion soon. I won’t support him though, until he does.
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You sure are upbeat, wish I could be like that.
Look at the structure, the manipulation... Have you noticed that the "golden child" shift has nearly perfectly gone from the least conservative incrementally toward the right... Each consecutively becoming the foil to keep the interest off the true conservative...
hehe Thompson’s campaign called me the other night. I gave the poor girl an earful on this issue, and she actually agreed with me.
Haven’t heard a clear statement from Fred yet, though. See my post 88- that’s the acid test for me at this stage.
Yup- in fact, did you notice that CNN edited out the gay military guy and Hunter’s awesome response? If you watch the archived debate, IT AIN’T THERE.
Let me ask you this- if Ron Paul’s scope of power was limited ONLY to domestic policy, would you support him? I think I would.
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Paul voted against every Free Trade Agreement that went through Congress.
Paul pounds the drum of free-trade like a good anarcho-Libertarian would.
Ron Paul contradicts himself.
“Managed Trade” IS NOT AN EXCUSE! It doesn’t matter if its managed trade, or random, the overall average lowering in the tariffs is the goal of the anarcho-Libertarian.
The Corridor will include tollways for 12 passenger vehicles lanes, 4 truck lanes, 2 passenger train tracks, 2 commuters train tracks, 2 freight train tracks, underground lines for water, natural gas, petroleum, telecommunication, fiberoptics and overhead high-voltage electric transmission lines and electrical transmission towers.
Plans also include gas stations, garages, restaurants, hotels, stores, billboards, warehouses, freight interchange, intermodal transfer areas, passenger train stations, bus stations, parking facilities, dispatch control centers, maintenance facilities, pipeline pumping stations, and of course, toll booths. The Trans Texas Corridor is the largest engineering project ever proposed for Texas. This statewide network of corridors will measure a quarter mile wide and cost over $180 Billion dollars.
Gov. Rick Perry has had secret negations with a company from Spain, Cintra, to hold a 70 year concession for a portion of the Corridor. Perry and Cintra/Zachery withheld the agreement from the public, claiming it included proprietary information, even though taxpayer dollars to the tune of $3.5 million is going to Cintra’s partner, Zachry, for planning.
Attorney General Greg Abbott rendered an opinion in June, 2005 that states the documents are public record, after the Houston Chronicle and other newspapers around Texas were refused when they asked to see the deal.
Cintra/Zachry and TxDOT filed a lawsuit against the AG in July, 2005 to keep the secret a secret.
The state will take 1/2 million acres, including the richest farm land in Texas called “The Blacklands”.
In addition to TxDOT, private-sector analysis will identify other corridors for immediate development and future investment as revenue is needed. The typical corridor section will require 146 acres of right of way per mile. The total anticipated right of way for the 4,000 miles of corridor is 584,000 acres.
The TxDOT plan states that they need to move quickly in developing the corridor segments that will generate the highest toll revenues that will enable the expansion of the corridor into every section of the state, except in urban areas, where the traffic congestion occurs.
“Once the Governor decided that this is where we needed to head, he wanted to remove it from the political flow of the state, he wanted it to become policy as opposed to politics, and that was one of the reasons he asked us to move so fast, and we’ve done an admirable job....” - Texas Transportation Commissioner Ric Williamson, appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to govern TxDOT
"There is no such superhighway like the one he's talking about," said Ian Grossman, a spokesman with the Federal Highway Administration. "It doesn't exist, in plans or anywhere else."So the road from Mexico to Canada is "one big paranoid fantasy" but the road from Mexico to Oklahoma is "moving forward"."It's complete fiction," said Tiffany Melvin, executive director of NASCO, a consortium of transportation agencies and business interests caught in the cross hairs of anti-highway activists. "This is the work of fringe groups that have wrapped a couple of separate projects together into one big paranoid fantasy."
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In Texas, Benton added, legislators voted to withhold funding from the project linking Mexico to Oklahoma, known as the Trans-Texas Corridor, despite Gov. Rick Perry's support. But with much of the $1-billion project expected to be defrayed by private developers, the effort is moving forward, said Coby Chase of the Texas Department of Transportation.
Frankly, I don't see a whole hell of a lot of difference between the two roads. They both circumvent the US-Mexico border.
What this whole thing says to me is that our government is lying through its teeth on this issue.
I am a consistent Ron Paul basher here in FR and I often refer to him as L Ron Paul and a jew-hater and an enemy of Israel and a friend of the Jihadists. I still believe all those things. But on the subject of NAFTA and cross-border superhighways, the anti-semite from Texas happens to be correct.
Lucky thing WalterSkinner is around... it can't disappear now... :D
The current fight should be against letting a million Mexican truckers into the US.
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That’s a canard and a lie! It’s only a few hundred thousand, tops.
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There are 10 million registered heavy trucks in the United States.
If Business realize they can make a bigger profit off cheap Mexican labor, they will pour dollars into Mexico, probably bringing the Mexican fleet up to 2 million in less then 5 years.
Bad idea for Texas. Here’s why:
An easy target for terrorists. A 200-foot Utility Zone for large underground water lines, natural gas and petroleum pipelines, telecommunication cables, fiberoptics and overhead high-voltage electric transmission lines all in a quarter mile wide package will be an incredibly easy target for terrorists.
Turns private land into State land. The Trans Texas Corridor project authorizes the Commission to take private land away from its current owner in record time - to lease it for any commercial, industrial or agricultural purpose. More than one-half million acres will become government property used for the State to collect revenue and go in direct competition with private business. HB 2702 does not protect Texans, since Perry’s Corridor will be exempt.
Designed to generate revenue first and provide transportation second. The Corridor plan is designed to provide transportation funds, more than transportation. Accordingly it’s not important where the Corridor is built, or how many family farms get taken, as long as it generates revenue.
Negative economic impact for Texas cities and towns. Taking business away from hundreds of Texas communities by limiting traveler access and providing, in its place, State contract concessions that will include gas, food, hotels, stores and more. The approximately 580,000 acres consumed by the Corridor will become State land taken off county and school district tax rolls. Local taxpayers will absorb the difference. Every mile of Corridor will take approximately 146 acres of land off the tax rolls.
Potential for tremendous liabilities created by Comprehensive Development Agreements. The Corridor plan is based on design-build-operate-maintain contracts called Comprehensive Development Agreements (CDA). While new to Texas, these CDAs have been used in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, China, Malaysia, and Hungry. These contracts often include equity guarantees, debt guarantees, exchange rate guarantees, subordinated loans, shadow toll payments, and minimum revenue guarantees. Most troubling is a class of support called “revenue enhancements” that may limit competition and allow the development of ancillary facilities.
Doesn’t solve the real problem. The singular focus of the Corridor plan is to build corridors that connect regions of the state intentionally bypassing urban centers. Those metropolitan areas are left to deal with their own traffic and mobility problems, including access to the Corridor. Since our large cities are the traffic generators the Corridor will offer little if any relief.
Private Interests v. Public Interests. Private investment and partnership sounds like a good idea until you realize that ‘their’ goal is strictly profit driven (not transportation). Private investment will involve bonds and bondholders who naturally want to protect their money and will insist on terms and conditions that can be contrary to the public good.
Dividing the State. Nearly one-quarter mile wide corridors will cut Texas up into pieces like the Great Wall of China, making it more difficult to get from one place to another. Many landowners will find that they have the choice of keeping land they can no longer access or sell it to the state.
Passenger rail. It hasn’t worked anywhere in the world except in dense urban districts - That ain’t Texas!
Air pollution. A don’t fix it, just move it approach. This plan doesn’t reduce pollution, it simply pushes vehicle pollution away from the large urban district into rural Texas. What’s more, it generates more air pollution and wastes gas/money since vehicles moving between large cities will travel further with their engines running longer than taking a direct route.
I guess I need to look closer at that. Not that I’m supporting him anyway, but I never noticed the contradiction.
LOL! Well, coming out like that did, it ain't no faint praise! (and I agree)
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So does everybody who has taken the time to do a little homework.
No doubt! Of course, the average citizen won’t ever know...they’re afraid of Hunter, regardless of what his polling shows.
Visit www.corridorwatch.org for more information.
Joke all you like, but the TTC is being built and the plans are underway to continue on into Oklahoma now.
My parent’s land near I-35 in southern OK has already been surveyed.
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