Free Republic

Rick Perry may just be the guy. The country's longest tenured governor, from its second-largest state, is generating a lot of buzz in conservative circles as he contemplates entering the wide open Republican presidential primary. There are plenty of reasons that Perry is an attractive option: he is a no-nonsense decision-maker with solid conservative credentials. A man who not only speaks about family values, but lives them, Perry's power to persuade voters to see things his way is proven -- battle-tested in a state known for independent-minded citizens. But what serious political analysts on both sides of the aisle will...

A retreat from the Texas Department of Transportation's plan to build a new multi-lane toll road through East Texas is a clear victory for Angelina County and Diboll, local officials said last week. "I'm glad they went back to the original plan," Diboll Mayor Bill Brown said. Instead of a new Trans-Texas Corridor toll road paralleling U.S. 59, Tx- DOT now plans to widen 59 with a new bypass around Diboll and Lufkin. The planned 59 bypass, needed to avoid the signalized intersections in Diboll and Lufkin, provides in the original plan four exits for Diboll. That will be good...

DALLAS — Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson has died of an apparent heart attack, officials said Sunday. He was 55. Williamson, a former Texas House member, died at his home in Weatherford on Saturday, Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Chris Lippincott said.

The GOP presidential candidate says U.S. sovereignty is at risk. Highway and trade officials and transportation consultants say there are no plans for such a project. WASHINGTON -- The man from Arlington, Texas, could barely contain his smirk as he looked into a computer video camera to pose a question of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.

The Interstate 69 corridor is one of six highways selected for a new federal program to develop multi-state corridors to help reduce congestion, according to Texas transportation officials. Interstate 69 from Texas to Michigan, and Interstate 10 from California through Texas to Florida, were among the highways selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of its "Corridors of the Future" program.It is aimed at developing innovative national and regional approaches to reduce congestion and improve efficiency of freight delivery, according to Marcus Sandifer, spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation's Atlanta District. Eight states, including Texas, will divide...

The proposed I-69 project could be considered for "fast-track" development by the federal officials, stated Texas Department of Transportation officials this week. Dubbed the "Nafta highway," I-69 has been proposed as a transportation corridor running from the Texas border through Michigan and into Canada. The highway could eventually replace parts of U.S. 59 running through Texas. This summer, the U.S. Department of Transportation will be looking at a group of proposed, large-scale interstate highways for consideration as part of the Corridors of the Future program. Should I-69 be chosen as one of the Corridors, it would then receive "aggressive" support...

Readers of the AIM Report are accustomed to learning of huge distortions or omissions by the media. This time, the under-reported story deals with the possible end of America, as we know it. Major players are secretive and are trying to keep the media out of the loop. But that does not let the mainstream media off the hook. There is enough stonewalling, secrecy and there are plenty of telltale signs, so that any assignment editor whose curiosity is not aroused is probably in the wrong business. But in terms of the national media, only Lou Dobbs of CNN has...

A MASSIVE road four football fields wide and running from Mexico to Canada through the heartland of the United States is being proposed amid controversy over security and the damage to the environment. The "nation's most modern roadway", proposed between Laredo in Texas and Duluth, Minnesota, along Interstate 35, would allow the US to bypass the west coast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to import goods from China and the Far East into the heart of middle America via Mexico, saving both cost and time. However, critics argue that the ten-lane road would lay a swathe of concrete...

The state legislature convenes for its 80th session in January. With more than 80,000 people driving on I-35 from Dallas to San Antonio on any given day, state officials said something must be done. TxDot officials said the Trans Texas Corridor is in the environmental testing stage, which will last another two years. TxDot spokesman Ken Roberts said, "What this is is a 10 mile wide study area we're looking at from a standpoint where to best locate a 1200 foot corridor for the Trans-Texas 35." Anything along the path, up to several hundred thousand acres, and as many as...

We Americans are a suspicious lot. Gas prices go down and a good many of us assume there's a conspiracy that starts and ends in the White House. Take the results of a recent Gallup poll. Forty-two percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement that the Bush administration "deliberately manipulated the price of gasoline so that it would decrease before this fall's elections." It's a good yarn, but I can't ignore the fact that nearly two-thirds of those who said they suspected President Bush of pulling a fast one heading into the Nov. 7 elections are registered Democrats. Plus,...

Border security doesn't seem to matter to politicians, there is a move afoot to create a North American Union where the United States, Canada and Mexico would essentially be one market with a single currency -- the "Amero," a top Texas Eagle Forum official said Tuesday. Eagle Forum President Cathie Adams spoke to some 54 people at the Petroleum Club. Formed by Phyllis Schlafly in 1972, the St. Louis, Mo., and Washington, D.C.-based Eagle Forum is pro-family, pro-life group. She said those attending should keep their eye on the 2008 presidential race, ask their state representatives and senators to support...

Perhaps the most important story of the 21th century is happening away from the public eye. The first-step plan implementation is the Trans-Texas Corridor(TTC), a super highway slated to begin construction in 2007. On September 30, in a kickoff protest across 70-77 counties, many Texans will step into the sunlight, make their way to their county seats and lay a "cupful of soil" from their land on the courthouse steps. "Hands Across the Corridor" is their cry. (indytexans.org) Also, Waller County citizens will caravan to the home of the cannon symbol in Gonzales, TX, long known as the "Lexington" of...

Have you heard the one about the U.S. government and transportation agencies secretly trying to lay the groundwork for a "NAFTA Superhighway," and a North American Union with no borders between Canada, the United States and Mexico and one currency for everyone? You may have heard that an organization called NASCO -- North America's SuperCorridor Coalition -- has allegedly been working secretly to construct a "NAFTA Superhighway" from Mexico through the United States to Canada, erase our borders and freely allow illegal immigrants and terrorists into our country. Plus, the group is allegedly working to get a Mexican customs facility...

As the former executive director of North America’s Super Corridor Coalition (NASCO), I want to provide a much more accurate description of Interstate 35 and North America’s Super Corridor Coalition (NASCO) compared to statements made during a recent congressional campaign news conference. (“Proposed NAFTA superhighway a threat to Kansans …,” Journal-World, Aug. 12) First, there is no NASCO plan to build a “10-lane superhighway” through Kansas or the rest of the Midwest. There is no “conspiracy” to grab Kansans’ property to provide the right of way for such a project. NASCO is a small, non-profit 501(c) (6) organization with members...

Pat Hensen spent a good part of his 35-year career with the Soil Conservation Service (now Natural Resource Conservation Service) helping Texas Blacklands farmers improve their land. And he’s invested considerable time, effort and money the last 20 years doing the same on his own or leased acreage. And it may all end up under yards of concrete and asphalt if the Trans Texas Corridor passes muster and follows the latest proposed route. “My farm would be in the middle of it,” Hensen says from his Bell County living room where he and wife Loretta participate in a grassroots campaign...

The magicians are busy keeping American eyes focused on sleight-of-hand tricks. Much in the media makes little sense. Divisive political games hold center stage which have nothing to do with the good of our country. The mainstream media is ignoring the biggest story of all, besides Islamic Terrorism. The Selling of America. Where is our outrage? Anger at our elite leaders? Where is Congress? Why are they not investigating the ongoing potential and future merger with Mexico and Canada? The secretive Security and Prosperity Partnership with Canada and Mexico is moving right along. The first stage, a 10-lane super highway...

Another NAFTA Super-Highway is moving state-by-state from the planning stage to the funding and construction process. As listed on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration’s website, the “I-69 Corridor” is planned to connect Mexico and Canada through Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. Still, skeptics -- even congressmen and senators in the nine states where the I-69 corridor will be built -- continue to charge that any idea that NAFTA Super-Highways are being built are nothing more than “internet conspiracy theories.” Even NASCO (North America’s SuperCorridor Coalition, Inc.) continues to be in denial, refusing...

Canadian, U.S., and Mexican elites, including CEOS and politicians, have a plan to create common North American policies and further integrate our economies. This plan goes by various names and euphemisms, such as "deep integration", "NAFTA-plus", "harmonization", the "Big Idea", the "Grand Bargain", and the "North American Security and Prosperity Initiative". Regardless of which name your prefer, the end goal of all of these plans is to create a new political and economic entity named the North American Union (NAU) that would supercede the existing countries. Theoretically, it would be similar to and competetive with the European Union (EU). The...

Multiple superhighway plans, illegal immigration could destroy Republic Multiple NAFTA-related superhighways could slice the United States into economic and social regions, facilitate crime including drug trafficking and illegal immigration and shift huge amounts of money to the rich, critics of the paving plans have told WorldNetDaily. One leader even likens the prospects to "slavery" for the American people, because of the loss of control they would experience. "I don't have time to mince words about this. This is subjugation," William Gheen, a spokesman for Americans for Legal Immigration, told WND Wednesday. "What I'm trying to communicate is this: if you're...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has led a pep rally for a $7 billion highway project that will loop around the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, but is being opposed by landowners who will see their private property taken by the state. A report on KWTX said the tollway to be built by the Spanish-based Cinta-Zachry consortium is part of an "ambitious" $184 billion plan for a network of superhighway transportation corridors around the state. Those, in turn, are expected to be part of the nationwide network of NATFA superhighways that are planned to run from Mexico to Canada, dividing the United...