Big Box Retailers Fight Cargo Screening; White House Opposes Bill

[seafan]

Big Box Retailers Fight Cargo Screening; White House Opposes Bill

January 12, 2007

Rhonda Schwartz Reports:

Washington DC lobbying groups representing Walmart and other big retail chains, blanketed capital hill with letters this week in a futile last ditch attempt to stop passage of a House bill calling for 100% screening of air and sea cargo which they said would "impose costly mandates on American business."

"They say the price is too high, for them. But the price the passengers on that plane will pay is their lives, because that's the way al-Qaeda could place a bomb on a plane." said Representative Ed Markey (D)sponsor of the amendment which was passed by the new Democratic majority in Congress this week including one third of the Republic members.

But while the business interests lost this round, it appears the Bush White house will join the lobbyists in a fight to prevent the bill from moving forward in the Senate.

The White House issued a detailed statement opposing the bill’s requirement for 100% scanning of air and sea cargo, saying "such a requirement is neither executable nor feasible."

.....

[billybob537]

1. Oh I cry for walmart

NAAAAHHH Just shitting ya

[underpants]

2. So it is like that for real huh? Too pricey to save lives huh?

Surreal

[Doremus]

3. What price life?

They'll get no sympathy from me when they place their profit margins above human life.


As an aside, I wonder how other countries handle this. I find it hard to believe that scanning all baggage/cargo is a novel idea.

[brentspeak]

4. No, it's not "too costly for American business"; only "too costly" for the Mall-Wart-type stores

[Eugene]

5. As usual, the occasional terror incident is an acceptable risk

especially when security cuts into profit margins.

[DBoon]

16. After all, think of all the Chinese-made American flags

that Walmart will be able to sell after the next attack

[truthisfreedom]

6. We need to be doing 100% radiation screening. That's our biggest worry, anyway.

High-sensitivity geiger counters should be carried by ALL workers on the docks in our port cities.

Here's an example, very high-tech... only $239.

http://safetyproducts-store.stores.yahoo.net/raditechii.html

[Eurobabe]

7. Good it's time to make that junk from China more costly n/t

[Parche]

8. boxes

So what is this so called "War on Terra" thing then??

If he is not going to 'walk the walk' then Bush should shut up about how he is the
'War' President and doing everything in his power to 'protect' us.

[pfitz59]

9. Like this cargo?

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/01/14/chinese.smugglers/#1

Two Chinese nationals indicted for smuggling immigrants in a cargo container

Three stowaways found dead in Seattle
In the past two-and-a-half weeks, 136 Chinese on eight ships have been seized at ports in California, Washington state and Vancouver, British Columbia.

[A Simple Game]

10. You mean that American products might become cost effective?

[madrchsod]

12. it takes 6-8 weeks to get here.

the company i worked for had 10,000 parts that were bad so we had to fix them because the last shipment of bad parts were out to sea. if the parts were made in the usa they could have corrected the problem immediately.the company also is having big time problems with a supplier from india...the parts are the cheapest in south east asia and they are out of specs and some of the workers are breaking in rashes.....

[madrchsod]

11. it take anywhere from 6-8 weeks to get products

from asia to the usa. it`s so god dam easy to put "bio weapons" in a cargo container.we have no control over what and where any of this shit can be placed and shipped.

[tabasco]

13. Now we see how much Bush cares about security.

Not at all. They would hand over the ports to al qaeda if they could make a buck on it.

[leesa]

19. He's trying. UAE is one of the primary funders of the alleged 9-11 group.

[brentspeak]

14. "such a requirement is neither executable nor feasible..."

Isn't it reassuring to know we have a President who folds up like a cheap umbrella on matters of national security simply because he and his business buddies can't personally conceive how to best implement a cargo screening program? "It can't be done! Nope, it's impossible. It's neither executable nor feasible. We'll just have to take our chances."

Bush is the "Can't Do" Kid.

[n2doc]

22. Stupid and Lazy

W has never had an origonal thought in his life, and I am sure he can't possibly concieve of a way to do this if his biz buddies tell him they "can't". A real leader would have told them- "You have to do this, and you will do this in 6 months or less." There would have been no wiggle room, and it would have gotten done.

[MGKrebs]

26. But a 700 mile wall is.

Idiots.

[Earth_First]

15. So much for the 9/11 commission report...

All dog and pony show or serious inquiry into the security of the United States?

[williesgirl]

17. Typical Repuke way - corp profit beats US security and not even embarrased

recommended

[Irreverend IX]

18. It doesn't matter how much high-tech crap they put in airport security...

As long as cargo sails through unscreened, the door is wide open for anyone who wants to smuggle a WMD into the country. For terrorists, building a nuclear device is the hard part; getting it into the US would be a piece of cake. Those containers could be stuffed with Al Qaeda nukes and no one would know.

[MasonJar]

20. Way to go, Markey. I love the dems being in power.

[aggiesal]

21. But, I thought we are at WAR!

"I'm a war president. Huh, Huh, Huh"

[alfredo]

23. These big retailers may not want more scrutiny of cargo

because they are smuggling items in they don't want the government to find. How much heroin can one put in a container?

[babylonsister]

24. Bottom line, does this admin want to protect us or not? They're the

ones who instilled terror in everyone, now they aren't in favor of measures to insure our safety?

[BluePatriot]

25. Wah. They just want to get around duties

b/c then they could no longer get away with misclassifying all of their Chinese crap...the horror! Obeying the law!

Stuff it, Wal-Mart.

[High Plains]

27. Sorry, gotta disagree on this one.

Looks like one of those efforts to attain perfect security. Just how many times have we been attacked from shipping containers, anyway? If enacted, this bill would create an army of security bureaucrats to look at containers of cheap crap until infinity, cost us billions, and gain us nothing except a little false security.

God, I get sick of security, security, security. Instead of trying to create the perfect Fortress America, maybe we should try enacting policies that don't make a significant portion of the world want to hate us.

[Heywood J]

29. Yeah, but there's those years of intervening distrust

and malice. I mean, I'd like it if the US didn't piss the world off, but even if the neo-cons were to drop tomorrow, there would still be enmity for at least one generation. In the meantime, there are plenty of pissed-off people, families and countrymen of people who were Abu-Ghraibed or Guantanamoed, etc. Bush and his crew have fucked things on that front for at least a decade or two.


Cargo screening should have happened when people first started bombing planes. It's not like it'll mean more security that you as a flier will have to go through. Those containers can always be screened ahead of time and moved into secured areas before shipping. Plus, who knows what they'll find in those shipping containers big-box stores are bringing in.

[susanna]

32. Agreed to an extent.

In the meantime, check the shipments. Just saying.

[knitter4democracy]

28. So, the Republicans aren't about safety?

I am shocked.

:sarcasm:

It should've been done years ago. It's worth the cost.

[CHIMO]

30. Hey, It's Only Money

Ottawa aims to speed cargo crossings

OTTAWA — The Harper government will unveil measures to speed up the movement of cargo between the United States and Canada today -- using "e-manifests" -- as part of more than $400-million in new border security measures being announced in Windsor, Ont.

This electronic manifest system is an extension of the existing Advance Commercial Information program where shippers provide the Canadian Border Services Agency early notification of cargo contents so authorities can detect so-called high-risk shipments.

Public Security Minister Stockwell Day will make the announcement today, drawing on funds already set aside in the budget.

Ottawa is expected to allocate nearly $400-million over five years to boosting this advance processing system for shipments into Canada. It's intended to help cargo shippers provide manifest information more efficiently, in order to keep traffic moving quickly across the border.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070112.wxrborder12/BNStory/Business/home

[susanna]

31. OMG. Seriously?

That's freaking amazing. Our national defense sucks, but "buy up, 'mericans! You can get it CHEAP."