Free Republic

Hasta la vista, baby -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is so confident of his re-election that he's already planning to make a run for the border Wednesday. Not for a vacation, mind you, but to promote California tourism and the state's newest export: environmental technology. What the governor hopes he isn't talking about during his three-day trip to Mexico is the always-prickly issue of border protection and illegal immigration -- something that has his supporters back home hotly divided. Instead, trip organizers say Arnold, who has already pitched California in Japan and China, will fly to Mexico City for a long-promised...

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to make a trade mission to Mexico from Aug. 20-22, his press secretary said Tuesday. Schwarzenegger plans to meet with departing Mexican President Vicente Fox in Mexico City. He will also spend time in the economic and intellectual center of Monterrey, about 150 miles from the border with Texas. "We have a robust relationship with Mexico," said Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson. "We share bonds of culture, family and commerce. And the governor has enjoyed previous trips he has taken to Mexico." Thompson said one of the governor's many goals during the trip would be...

California's foreign trade offices--taxpayer-funded enterprises disbanded three years ago amid scandal and budget woes--are staging a comeback despite lingering questions about their usefulness. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and some legislators are once again trumpeting the value of trade promotion for the sixth-largest economy in the world. In recent months, the governor has established an undersecretary for international trade, while lawmakers have proposed resurrecting outposts in Seoul, South Korea, and Johannesburg, South Africa. In coming weeks, the Legislature is expected to take up bills that call for developing a comprehensive trade strategy and moving the state back into the business of operating...

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver today welcomed Mexico President Vicente Fox and his wife, Marta Sahagún de Fox, to California. The President's visit to the Golden State is the last leg of a three-state visit to the United States. The Governor and President met in private for ten minutes in the Governor's office and a larger meeting was held immediately afterward that included advisors to both the Governor and President. The leaders discussed a variety of issues, including ways to increase the already robust business between California and its largest export trading partner. California exported $17.7 billion...

Speaking to the California Legislature, Mexican President Vicente Fox on Thursday applauded passage of a sweeping immigration reform bill by the U.S. Senate and said his country is willing to share in border control. "Mexico wants to be part of the solution, not part of the problem," Fox said in a 20-minute speech to a joint session of the state Senate and Assembly, marking his first official visit to California's Capitol in five years. "We are your partners in security against terrorism," Fox said. "We are your allies in the war on drugs and crime. We are your partners in...

Creating overseas offices supposedly devoted to improving California's international trade was a popular political exercise in the 1980s and 1990s. There was no objective rationale for the program, nor any rhyme nor reason to where the offices were located. Governors and legislators acted on political whim, driven more by local factors or Capitol politics than a hard-nosed investment-vs.-return equation. Finally, the entire program collapsed of its own absurd weight. Journalistic investigations and official audits established that the trade offices were less than useless, with their directors - political appointees all - spending most of their time dreaming up phantom accomplishments....