http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/spp/ en-us Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:00:16 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407241/posts How Barack Obama and Ben Bernanke are destroying the dollar — and perhaps ushering in the amero First under the Bush Administration and even more so under President Obama, the federal government has been seizing power and spending money as it hasn’t done since World War II. But as bold as the Executive Branch has been during this financial crisis, the innovations of Fed chairman Ben Bernanke have been literally unprecedented. Indeed, it is entirely plausible that before Obama leaves office, Americans will be using a new currency. Bush and Obama have engaged in record peacetime deficit spending; so too... The American Conservative http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407241/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:00:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372837/posts Laredo Community College got a visit from a Mexican congressman today who talked about Mexico’s stance on the United States immigration reform. Congressman Jose Medina says the immigration crisis is a human problem that begs a human solution and that the U.S., Mexico and other nations should work together to become one America on one continent. Medina also stated his own views on immigration reform. "I think legalization is the solution for people asking for permission to work legally in this country." Medina was elected as a member in Mexico’s lower house of congress in 2000. KGNS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372837/posts#comment Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:38:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2367020/posts DALLAS — Canada’s trade minister said Monday that some progress is being made on a nagging trade issue with the United States, while U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said a tangled dispute with Mexico over cross-border trucking and California Christmas trees might resolve itself next year. Welcoming Cabinet-level Mexican and Canadian trade officials to the city where he served as mayor, Kirk said language that removed funding for the Mexican truck program has been restored in next year’s budget bill. "We won’t be handcuffed by prohibitory language," he said. When the border was closed to 500 U.S.-certified trucks in a... Star-Telegram http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2367020/posts#comment Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:40:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2362517/posts MEXICO CITY — The United States should reinstate a Clinton-era ban on assault weapons to prevent such guns from reaching Mexican drug cartels, former officials from both countries said in a report released Tuesday. The group, which includes two former U.S. ambassadors to Mexico, also said the U.S. should do more to stop the smuggling of firearms and ammunition into Mexico by stepping up investigations of gun dealers and more strictly regulating gun shows. The Binational Task Force on the United States-Mexico Border listed the assault weapons ban as a step the U.S. should take immediately to improve security in... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2362517/posts#comment Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:37:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2318738/posts President Obama went to Guadalajara, Mexico, in August as part of his promise to "rejoin the world community" and become a "citizen of the world." He participated in a conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. These cozy meetings of the so-called three amigos used to be labeled the Security and Prosperity Partnership. The three North American heads of state met in Waco in 2005, in Cancun in 2006, in Quebec in 2007 and in New Orleans in 2008. After conservatives exposed the mischievous goals, the amigos accepted the Hudson Institute's helpful suggestion to change... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2318738/posts#comment Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:19:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2312370/posts The leaders of the NAFTA nations -- President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Felipe Calderon -- will hardly be meeting as "Three Amigos" at their summit in Guadalajara tomorrow and Monday. Canada and Mexico have been particularly rattled not merely by the U. S. financial crisis but by the policies hatched to deal with it. Their economies were already being damaged by the United States' obsessive, if understandable, concerns with border security. Now even further damage is threatened by perverse climate-change and energy policies. The range of NAFTA concerns was expressed in a statement yesterday from the... Financial Post (Toronto) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2312370/posts#comment Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:09:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2312809/posts As a result of NAFTA, North America is already a well-integrated energy market with Canada and Mexico among the U.S.’s top energy trading partners.  Through the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), the North American Energy Working Group has further integrated a continental energy strategy.  Other initiatives are also pushing towards a single North American energy policy. The Western Governors’ Association annual conference was held in Park City, Utah on June 14-16, 2009. The meetings were attended by three Canadian western premiers.  Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall spearheaded plans to develop a cross-border Western Energy Corridor.  Both... Borderfire Report http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2312809/posts#comment Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:03:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2311726/posts With President Obama expected tomorrow for the North American Leaders' Summit in Guadalajara, Mexico, a coalition of American legislators and activists took a message to the Mexican media, denouncing economic partnerships that would undermine national sovereignty and blasting Obama's failure to keep his promises on transparency and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Howard Phillips, chairman of The Conservative Caucus and head of the Coalition to Block the North American Union, spoke to Mexican print, television and radio media about the summit, which was known in previous years as the North American Security and Prosperity Partnership, or... WorldNetDaily.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2311726/posts#comment Sun, 9 Aug 2009 03:06:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2310907/posts — President Barack Obama meets this weekend with leaders of Mexico and Canada at a time when drug-related violence, swine flu and the economic crisis are slipping across North America's borders like never before. Obama, along with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, are expected to work on trade and immigration, drug trafficking and security, and clean energy during their first summit Sunday and Monday in ....Guadalajara. "The bottom line is that what affects our bordering neighbors has the potential to affect us all, so we want to be certain that we have the tightest and... LA Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2310907/posts#comment Fri, 7 Aug 2009 22:05:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2310890/posts MEXICO CITY – President Barack Obama meets this weekend with leaders of Mexico and Canada at a time when drug-related violence, swine flu and the economic crisis are slipping across North America's borders like never before. Obama, along with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, are expected to work on trade and immigration, drug trafficking and security, and clean energy .. ... The summit — a part of the three nations' Security and Prosperity Partnership — was established five years ago by leaders who are no longer in office, .. The agenda is largely set by... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2310890/posts#comment Fri, 7 Aug 2009 21:44:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2309748/posts A senior Mexican official spoke with reporters today, in advance of the North American Leaders summit this weekend. The official, speaking on background, explain that this summit is basically laying the ground work for future endeavors, and advised not expect to see any obvious deliverables – that developing the relationship is essentially the goal. “No two countries are more important to each other’s security, prosperity, and well being than these two countries – simply by virtue of having a 2,000 mile border,” the official said. President Obama will meet with President Filipe Calderon and Prime Minister Harper – in bi-lats... ABC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2309748/posts#comment Thu, 6 Aug 2009 17:19:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2293373/posts Ottawa, — Beginning 12:01 a.m. EDT on July 14, 2009, Mexican nationals will require a visa to travel to Canada, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today. For the first 48 hours, Mexican citizens may apply for entry on arrival in Canada. After 11:59 p.m. EDT July 15, 2009, a visa will be required. Refugee claims from Mexico have almost tripled since 2005, making it the number one source country for claims. In 2008, more than 9,400 claims filed in Canada came from Mexican nationals, representing 25 per cent of all claims received. Of the Mexican claims reviewed... Citizenship and Immigration Canada http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2293373/posts#comment Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:25:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2216898/posts Former Mexican President Vicente Fox was in San Antonio Friday, delivering a wide-ranging address about U.S.-Mexico relations that touched on trade, the drug war, comprehensive immigration reform and the United States' “mammoth” financial crisis that has spread worldwide. Fox also delivered a message of hope — hope that someday Canada, the United States and Mexico, indeed the rest of Latin America, would function like the European Union. “It's an extremely successful model,” said Fox, whose wife, Marta Sahagún, accompanied him. “My vision is to speed up the process of further integration.” Fox was in town to address the Congressional Hispanic... San Antonio Express-News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2216898/posts#comment Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:59:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2191414/posts Sheriff: Region needs crime lab, resources Local law enforcement needs a regional crime lab and more resources, Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar told U.S. Sen. John Cornyn during a closed-door briefing Saturday. "We're kind of running behind in DNA and ballistics tests because we're on a waiting list and at the mercy of other crime labs in the area," Cuellar said. "We have to go to San Antonio, where we have a six- to eight-month waiting period." With a regional crime lab serving Webb, Zapata and Jim Hogg counties, the District Attorney's Office could prosecute cases in a more timely... LAREDO MORNING TIMES http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2191414/posts#comment Sun, 22 Feb 2009 18:03:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2184767/posts ANDERSON — Civil unrest escalated Thursday while protesters stood outside the Anderson construction site of a city fire station and said the workers on the project were not documented as legal United States residents. Anderson Independent Mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2184767/posts#comment Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:26:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2182886/posts Being taught about famous people and events in Wisconsin history in Spanish is not how some Waunakee parents want their fourth-graders learning social studies at school. "We as parents have been in such an uproar over this," said Keith Wilke about the district’s elementary language program in which students learn Spanish by having the language integrated into social studies lessons for 30 minutes three days a week in first through fourth grades. "They’re force-fed Spanish." This is the third year for the program, which has added one grade a year since 2006 and is designed to continue until fifth grade.... Wisconsin State Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2182886/posts#comment Wed, 11 Feb 2009 03:09:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2178202/posts South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford tells Newsmax that the economic stimulus plan now before Congress is more pork than stimulus and a “huge mistake.” Sanford, who is chairman of the Republican Governors Association, also warned that dealing with the nation’s crushing debt will be “painful” — and said Republicans who voted against the stimulus package in the House should be “proud.” NewsMax http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2178202/posts#comment Wed, 4 Feb 2009 16:48:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2173530/posts “World, hold on. Instead of messing with our future, open up inside.” --Bob Sinclair Thomas Jefferson once said “when you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” As the global financial system pushes on a string, investors are desperately trying to hold tight. The New World Order is upon us, full of hope, promise and a fair amount of fear. In our recent discussion regarding the direction of our country, we noted the risks of catering to conventional wisdom and the implications for the U.S. dollar. The Minyanville mantra is to provide financial... Minyanville http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2173530/posts#comment Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:41:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2170934/posts Indiscriminate kidnappings. Nearly daily beheadings. Gangs that mock and kill government agents. This isn't Iraq or Pakistan. It's Mexico, which the U.S. government and a growing number of experts say is becoming one of the world's biggest security risks. The prospect that America's southern neighbor could melt into lawlessness provides an unexpected challenge to President Obama's government. In its latest report anticipating possible global security risks, the U.S. Joint Forces Command lumps Mexico and Pakistan together as being at risk of a "rapid and sudden collapse." "The Mexican possibility may seem less likely, but the government, its politicians, police and... Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2170934/posts#comment Sat, 24 Jan 2009 17:07:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2169278/posts The incident came as 16 other people were also killed in Mexico's northern state of Chihuahua in attacks the authorities believe are linked to the country's drug wars. "Hitmen cut off commander Martin Castro's head and left it in an ice cooler in front of the local police station," said a statement issued by the state justice authorities. His head was left in the town Praxedis with a message from the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel. The police commander was abducted on Saturday, along with five other police officers and a civilian, only five days after starting his job. Six bodies... The Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2169278/posts#comment Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:50:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2169834/posts MEXICO CITY - Mexico's Bimbo said on Thursday it had closed the $2.38 billion acquisition of the U.S. breadmaking unit of Canada's George Weston Ltd (WN.TO). The deal, announced early in December, will extend Bimbo's (BIMBOA.MX) U.S. presence coast to coast with one of the biggest acquisitions in its history. Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2169834/posts#comment Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:36:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2166703/posts Hundreds wait for hours to buy S.F. ID card Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, January 16, 2009 Hundreds of people stood in line for hours at San Francisco City Hall on Thursday to be among the first in the nation to receive municipal identification cards regardless of their immigration status. The cards, also available in New Haven, Conn., and being considered in other cities, have sparked fury among advocates of stricter immigration laws. They argue cities have no business declaring people residents if they are not in the country legally. But San Francisco officials and recipients of the cards... SF Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2166703/posts#comment Sun, 18 Jan 2009 02:50:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2165925/posts Left-of-center nonprofits are getting the bailout they wanted from the U.S. government, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. The news comes a month after Independent Sector president Diana Aviv demanded it. Our lawmakers are intent on pissing away billions of dollars on utterly useless giveaways to their supporters in the liberal nonprofit establishment. The money will have virtually no positive impact on the economy, except perhaps that it might bolster employment at nonprofit groups. One of the more egregious line items is the $1 billion allocation for community development block grants (CDBG). These are slush funds that liberal groups like La... Capital Research Center http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2165925/posts#comment Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:39:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2165627/posts The United States will need $1.6 trillion to repair damage to its infrastructure from a massive influx of immigrants, a new report reveals. In his report titled, "The Twin Crises: Immigration and Infrastructure," prominent researcher Edwin S. Rubenstein examines 15 categories of infrastructure: airports, border security, bridges, dams and levees, electricity (the power grids), hazardous waste removal , hospitals, mass transit, parks and recreation facilities, ports and navigable waterways, public schools, railroads, roads and highways, solid waste and trash, and water and sewer systems. Rubenstein, a financial analyst and former contributing editor of Forbes and economics editor of National Review,... WorldNetDaily.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2165627/posts#comment Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:08:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2161269/posts WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama will meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Monday. Obama transition officials said the visit was in keeping with the tradition of U.S. presidents meeting with their Mexican counterpart soon after winning election. AP via Google http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2161269/posts#comment Fri, 9 Jan 2009 00:23:46 GMT