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House Bans ‘Driving While Mexican’
CATO@LIBERTY ^ | March 4, 2009 | Daniel Griswold

Posted on 03/04/2009 4:15:06 PM PST by fight_truth_decay

Buried in the $410 billion catch-all appropriations bill now before the U.S. Senate is a provision that would end a program that has allowed Mexican truck drivers to deliver goods to destinations inside the United States.

A provision in the original North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994 was supposed to allow U.S. and Mexican trucking companies to deliver goods in each other’s country. But opposition from the Teamsters union and old-fashioned prejudice against Mexicans has derailed implementation of the provision.

Under current restrictions, goods coming into the United States from Mexico by truck must be unloaded inside the “commercial zone” within 20 miles or so of either side of the border and transferred to U.S.-owned trucks for final delivery. U.S. goods going to Mexico face the same inefficient and unnecessary restrictions.

The Bush administration established a pilot program that allows certain Mexican trucking companies that meet U.S. safety and other standards to deliver goods directly to U.S. destinations, while the Mexican government has agreed to allow reciprocal access to its market. But the Democratic Congress and the new Democratic president have vowed to finally kill the program, and the provision inside the appropriations bill will probably deliver the final blow.

As I argued in an article in 2007, the Mexican trucks that have been allowed to operate in the United States under the pilot program have actually had a better safety record than U.S. trucks.

As I noted in the article, and it still applies today: “The real objection they have to Mexican trucks making deliveries to U.S. cities is not that they are unsafe, but that those trucks are driven by Mexicans. In the eyes of congressional leaders, ‘driving while Mexican’ remains an unacceptable public hazard.”


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aliens; mexico; nafta; trucking
U.S. goods going to Mexico face the same restrictions

Sounds more like a "safety issue for American truckers" delivering inside "Mexico-Afganistan".

1 posted on 03/04/2009 4:15:07 PM PST by fight_truth_decay
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To: fight_truth_decay

Though I never paticularly supported this program, pinching off trade seems like a good way to get us out of this economic morass.


2 posted on 03/04/2009 4:23:15 PM PST by Smogger (It's the WOT Stupid)
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To: fight_truth_decay

Sounds good to me.

It’s bad enough being on the highway with drunken illegal aliens.


3 posted on 03/04/2009 4:26:30 PM PST by KoRn
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To: KoRn

Whenever I hear of someone who has been killed in a truck accident, I pray to God that the trucker is American so that the victim is magically brought back to life.


4 posted on 03/04/2009 4:37:05 PM PST by 1rudeboy
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To: fight_truth_decay
[overcoming] opposition from the Teamsters

The Party of the Workin' Man...until a more important interest group comes along.

5 posted on 03/04/2009 4:42:38 PM PST by denydenydeny ("I'm sure this goes against everything youÂ’ve been taught, but right and wrong do exist"-Dr House)
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To: fight_truth_decay

That’s a pretty deceitful headline.


6 posted on 03/04/2009 4:45:04 PM PST by x
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To: fight_truth_decay

“I was...born in East L.A.,
“Born in East L.A....”

7 posted on 03/04/2009 4:52:55 PM PST by RichInOC (No! BAD Rich! (What'd I say?))
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To: fight_truth_decay

What about "driving while stupid?"

8 posted on 03/04/2009 4:54:25 PM PST by Guns
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To: fight_truth_decay

Well, this is one (and only one so far) that this ignorant administration might be doing right.


9 posted on 03/04/2009 5:00:06 PM PST by YellowRoseofTx (Evil is not the opposite of God; it's the absence of God)
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To: Smogger; All
Background: SPECIAL REPORT: Cross-border trucking program funding in jeopardy
10 posted on 03/04/2009 5:41:38 PM PST by fight_truth_decay
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To: fight_truth_decay
Oh great. I love how our highways get littered with dangerous debris from these characters.

Flat tires from nails, falling lumber, crop crates,...

I'm assuming the 18-wheelers from Mexico have their act together better than the 50 million illegals already here?

11 posted on 03/04/2009 6:08:24 PM PST by GVnana
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To: fight_truth_decay

/mark for tonight.

Thanks.


12 posted on 03/04/2009 6:38:01 PM PST by happinesswithoutpeace (You are receiving this broadcast as a dream)
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To: 1rudeboy
"I pray to God that the trucker is American so that the victim is magically brought back to life."

How could that be possible? Are motorists that are killed by American truck drivers immortal? :p

13 posted on 03/04/2009 6:57:19 PM PST by KoRn
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To: fight_truth_decay
While I do not favor unions as a general rule as a citizen I can live with this change. If nothing else it will improve safety at least a little. And anything that keeps unnecessary Mexican citizens illegal or not out of the US can't be all bad.
14 posted on 03/04/2009 7:01:37 PM PST by Ron H. (I believe in and practice the 4 Gs : God, gold, guns and a garden)
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To: fight_truth_decay

Drat. I was hoping from the headline that a little traffic relief would be created on the 5 freeway in SoCal.


15 posted on 03/04/2009 7:56:39 PM PST by Fast Moving Angel (There are no points for second place.)
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To: YellowRoseofTx
Well, this is one (and only one so far) that this ignorant administration might be doing right.

Obama seems to be tossing a doggie treat to Teamsters here, but I suspect he will more than make up for it on other issues like amnesty.

16 posted on 03/05/2009 5:50:35 AM PST by ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas (I want to "Buy American" but the only things for sale made in the USA are politicians)
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas
Obama seems to be tossing a doggie treat to Teamsters here, but I suspect he will more than make up for it on other issues like amnesty.

I have no doubt

17 posted on 03/05/2009 5:53:09 AM PST by YellowRoseofTx (Evil is not the opposite of God; it's the absence of God)
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To: fight_truth_decay; 1_Inch_Group; 2sheep; 2Trievers; 3AngelaD; 3pools; 3rdcanyon; 4Freedom; ...

Ping!


18 posted on 03/05/2009 11:16:57 AM PST by HiJinx (~ Support Our Troops ~ www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil ~)
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To: x

Yeah but that’s the tactic employed by those who can’t get support for what they want any other way.


19 posted on 03/05/2009 12:31:06 PM PST by cripplecreek (The poor bastards have us surrounded.)
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