CANAMEX HIGHWAY - What am I missing

[LEW]

What is going on DU? I don't remember reading about this before on DU and have been here for several years. Wow, I thought I was fairly up to date, but I am just now hearing about this highway and plan. Hmmm not sure what I think yet but it surely answers many questions I've had conerning immigration.


http://www.canamex.org/index.htm

[Warpy]

1. It's a corporate, right wing wet dream

It's a multilane commercial highway several football fields wide that would split this country in two, basically, carrying commercial traffic from Mexico up through Texas and the lower midwest before splitting into into slightly smaller but equally restricted branches going east and west and up into Canada. It supposes that all freight will travel by tandem truck forever.

That they'd do better to have an adequate rail system along this route escapes them, as right wingers are viscerally and idiotically opposed to railroads, the cheapest way to move freight.

Right wingers are nuts.

[Dunvegan]

4. Absolutly correct, Warpy...why not (if this is going to happen) by rail?

Makes no sense to go by half-measures, considering the state of global warming, and not just flat out build a railway from the get-go.

Short-sightedness and self-enrichment, thy name is Republican.

[TexasProgresive]

17. The Texas portion is designed with RR tracks in the median. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

2. It's a way to import goods while bypassing longshoreman territory

It's simple.

Take all of those cheap goods from China to a cheap mexican port, then hire cheap mexican drivers to haul the goods north over the border.

It's an astounding orgy of cheapness.

[OzarkDem]

25. And pollution

All those diesel trucks generate a great deal more pollution than a container ship.

That said, there have been rail lines operating in Mexican/Canadian corridors for decades. I'm not sure why railroads would be in favor, unless its a way to circumvent their unions also.

[Dunvegan]

3. The highway is officially called NASCO...

...for North American SuperCorridor.

Website found here: http://www.nascocorridor.com

Try searching for posts under "NASCO"...I know of at least one or two DU threads about this:

[whistle]

9. Based on the map it looks like high speed rail will be part of...

...the system. They could also build 50 nuclear power plants with large water desalinization capacities throughout Mexico and completely turn that country green as well as supply the U.S. Southwest with badly needed fresh water. Canada could tap into it's polar glacier ice melt, redirecting that fresh water down to the prairies and the U.S. could become a single city-state from coast to coast and border to border. It can be called New USA with a combined language mix made up of English, Spanish and French called Engsprench.

[earthside]

10. Now look at this ...

From the Kansas City SmartPort:

For those who live in Kansas City, the idea of receiving containers nonstop from the Far East by way of Mexico may sound unlikely, but later this month that seemingly far-fetched notion will become a reality.

Thanks to the evolving trade corridor between Lazaro Cardenas in the State of Michoacan, Mexico and Kansas City, Missouri, USA, cities and towns from the Mexican coast through the middle of America will soon benefit from greater participation in Asian-North American trade.

Then look at this from the LA Times:

Ford Motor Co., which is planning to cut jobs and close factories in the U.S., said Friday that it would upgrade and expand three Mexican plants over the next several years.

Auto assembly plants in Cuautitlan and Hermosillo and an engine plant in Chihuahua will get the investment, Ford said on its website, without giving any estimates of cost or specific timing. The automaker said it had not decided where to locate a new, low-cost North American auto plant.

Investing in Mexico may rankle union members in the U.S. Ford, based in Dearborn, Mich., plans to cut 30,000 jobs in its home market and close 14 North American factories by 2012 as it loses U.S. market share. The United Auto Workers union represents only U.S. workers.

Connect the dots. The transnational corporations, the Bushites and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will use NASCO and the Kansas City SmartPort to import cheap products and cheap labor, and export good jobs.

Amnesty and "guest worker" programs are the dream of Bush and the transnational corporations. They are eager to turn the U.S. into a low wage nation.

This is why we must stop the flow of illegal immigrants into our country and it is why we should be against the Kennedy-McCain so-called immigration reform bill.

[unlawflcombatnt]

23. I completely agree

This is just another way to bypass American workers in the production process. It'll drive American wages down even further. Coupled with the illegal immigrant amnesty plan proposed by the Senate, American workers will see their real incomes decline even further.

We should definitely oppose the Kennedy-McCain amnesty bill, supported by Bush and every Right-Wing Corporatist organization in the country, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Wall Street Journal.

There is no labor shortage in the United States, and there is no "need" for more workers to fill certain jobs. What there is a "need" for, however, is more employers who are willing to pay enough to hire American workers.

unlawflcombatnt

EconomicPopulistCommentary

EconomicPatriotForum

___________
The economy needs balance between the "means of production" & "means of consumption."

[madrchsod]

5. if someone can come up with at least a trillion dollars

the plan could work.

[acmejack]

7. A Spanish Corporation is building it in Texas!

snip>
A private consortium led by the Spanish firm Cintra has been selected to build the first segment, a 316-mile, $7.2 billion toll road that would roughly parallel Interstate 35 from Dallas to San Antonio. The precise path has not been determined but initial plans put it 30-50 miles east of I-35.
snip>
Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of the plan: Private contractors would bankroll and build the highways, then charge tolls for up to 50 years. The contractors would rent the right of way from the state. Highways traditionally have been financed by federal and state governments.

This way of paying for roads is the wave of the future, says Tim Lomax, a research engineer at the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University who studies national traffic congestion and commuting.

Mary Peters, head of the Federal Highway Administration, says a $284 billion transportation bill pending in Congress gives state and local governments more flexibility to use toll roads. "Giving drivers a choice between sitting in congestion or spending about what it takes for a good cup of coffee helps people who need a quick route to work, their errands or a child's ballgame, and it helps free up traffic for everyone else regardless of which lanes they choose," she says.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-03-06-texas-highway_x.htm

[jobycom]

6. It's also an attempt to save the Interstates from truck congestion

The truck traffic up I-35 is becoming frightening. They are building bypasses around Austin to divert the traffic, but even so, the stretch through Texas is becoming worse. Predictions are that the Interstate will be so clogged in a decade that you won't be able to drive through Texas on the Interstate. This will make travel much more dangerous, and will increase costs and especially pollution as several hundred miles of Interstate highway is clogged with 18 wheelers traveling about 30 MPH the whole way, thus belching smoke for a lot longer. The pollution in central and lower Texas is already becoming critical.

Not saying this is the best way to handle it--I haven't really looked into it much at all. But it does have support from people who are trying to do more than funnel cheap goods from Mexico. As someone pointed out, a railway would be better for that.

[mike_c]

13. yep-- a real freight rail system for long distance shipping...

...would relieve a lot of that truck congestion, and move goods much more efficiently. It's criminally wasteful to strap individual engines onto every single load of goods being moved interstate distances.

[elehhhhna]

8. toll authorities are also an excellent opportunity for theft.

[grasswire]

11. and money laundering (eom)

[donsu]

12. and get this: the neo cons will protect and close Mex. southern border

Howard, Fox and the neo con bushmilhouse gang had a meeting about all of this.

Canadian, american, Mexican people were not consulted or informed. many or most citizens of the 3 countries don't even know about it.

america is dead

I'm wondering if Fox has already sold the Mex. ports to Dubai or some other foreign nation/company without the Mex. people knowing about it.

Canadians seem silent.

[bananas]

21. Which border?

The southern border of Mexico?
Or the southern border of the U.S.?

[donsu]

22. Mexico's southern border

nt

[Mabus]

14. Welcome to my world

We've been talking about this for years locally. We live near the I-35/I-70 junction, i.e. the crossroads. I tlaked to a HTNB rep about an EIS a couple of years ago and she mentioned 8 lanes of I-35 (currently 4 - 2 northbound, 2 southbound, they want 4 north and 4 south) from Emporia to KC to help facilitate truck traffic.

Google NAFTA superhighway and prepare to be shocked.

[LEW]

15. I did google this

and was shocked. That's why I posted this, because I couldn't believe we at DU were not talking about it and forcing more conversations from our "leaders" :sarcasm:

[Mabus]

16. If it isn't happening in the beltway they could care less

Whenever we've talked about it locally we've been accused of everything from racism to hysteria. A copy of research was donated to the KU libraries (http://ead.diglib.ku.edu/xml/ksrl.kc.fdcccc.html) and it added up to six boxes. Here's a link to what remains of our coalition http://www.ixks.com/~dougnamy/

[Donna Zen]

18. The biggest union buster ever!

Hmmm? Now when did planning for the NAFTA super highway begin?

[ComerPerro]

19. "Global competativeness"

Which, to me, seems to suggest:

We are global. If you want to keep your job, you need to be competative.

Someone, somewhere in the world, will do your job for $.05 an hour. So, if you want to be competitive, you need to be willing to do it for less

[salin]

20. Don't tell Mitch the Blade, or the Indiana GOP

they think that completing I69 (and making it a toll road) between Evansvill Indiana and Indianapolis - will make IT the "NAFTA Highway". They have been trying to get it passed for years - and finally found their vehicle (leasing the Indiana Tollroad to a foreign consurtium for 70 years (or was it 99)) and using THAT money to fund the building of I69.

It would be something if they finally got their way on this road... only to have a "if you build it, still no one will come" end to the greedy GOP hoosier story.

[OzarkDem]

24. Someone has been posting about it

rather frequently. Its certainly worth discussing.

[newspeak]

26. I don't consider myself an isolationist

I'm for fair trade, not free trade. NAFTA-GATT as written takes more power away from the American people, putting it in the hands of multi-national corporations. These corporations can poison your water, your air, and when you cry for being poisoned, they go to the government under the trade treaty sue, win and our hard earned money is paid back to them for poisoning us. With WTO and NAFTA-GATT, the people more and more lose their voice---this highway will not pull other countries up, it is meant to pull us down, so the multi-nationals with the blessings of corrupt politicians can steal even more of the commons, leaving us in the dust. The US will truly be another third world banana republic and kleptocracy will rule!!!! Welcome to the New World Order--same as the Old World Order (robber barons).

[Greyhound]

29. It's even worse than that. NAFTA, GATT, and the whole alphabet

soup of "new World Order" organizations, all subordinate national governments and interests to corporations. Yes that's right, the treaties are superior to the sovereign rights of the signing nations.

Just in case you didn't know that.

[DoYouEverWonder]

27. Tell me how many wetlands and sensitive ecosystems

are they going to destroy in order to build their wetdream?

They tried to do this in FL too, from Jacksonville to Tampa. When the main project didn't fly because everyone had fits about the wetland destruction it would cause they shifted gears. Then when no one was looking they went to the counties and have been expanding the existing roadways into one big system.

[Bridget Burke]

30. Texas environmentalists AND conservatives oppose the plan.

Governor (Good Hair) Perry has been pushing the Trans Texas Corridor, our own part of the plan. Lots of Texans aren't happy about the projected massive use of Eminent Domain. Chris Bell, Kinky Friedman & Carol Strayhorn have all come out against it. From Chris Bell's site:

www.chrisbell.com/insights/toll_road_boondoggle

A Spanish company will build it & "own" it as a toll road--although some of the route has been/will be built with our taxes. And bad results are expected for communities & the environment--although there aren't many wetlands in central Texas.

[Greyhound]

28. It's such a brilliant idea, on so many levels.

An un-inspected fast lane from the totally loyal countries to the south, that bypasses all those lazy fucking unions at the ports. Imagine a 400 yard wide strip of freeway chock-full of Mexican and Chinese trucks with no pesky emissions or safety equipment, driven by unqualified contractors hired by the lowest bidder, just like the 110 in Long Beach/LA, where every day is like winning the lottery!

Edited to add: :sarcasm: