INTERNATIONALIZING U.S. ROADS

"Lets Roll" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> http://www.newswithviews.com/Spivey/phyllis3.htm
>
> Phyllis Spivey
> June 10, 2005
> NewsWithViews.com
>
> Imagine this: your state government puts a transportation corridor in your
> neighborhood. It's nearly a quarter-mile wide. It will serve vehicles and
> trains and incorporate oil, gas, electric and water lines. Try to fight it
> and you'll not only face the combined might of your local, state, and
> federal governments, but foreign interests as well. The
internationalization
> of U.S. roads has begun.
>
> We're not just talking about isolated instances of privately-built toll
> roads with foreign management, as we've seen in Southern California. We're
> talking about networks of toll roads that may be built by foreign
builders,
> managed by foreign operators, function primarily to accommodate foreign
> goods, and connect U.S. roads to similar networks in Canada, Mexico and,
> later, Central and South America.
>
> Interstate 69, for example, is a planned 1600 mile national highway
> connecting Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. Eight states are involved in the
> project: Once completed, I-69 will extend from Port Huron, Michigan to the
> Texas/Mexico border.
>
> In Texas, I-69 will be part of the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) project - a
> 4000 mile network of existing and new toll roads - which will create the
> largest private highway system in America. Interstate 35, also called the
> Oklahoma to Mexico/Gulf Coast element, will be developed as part of the
TTC.
>
> Plans call for the TTC to be 1200 feet wide with 10 vehicle lanes (three
> passenger vehicle lanes in each direction), truck lanes (two in each
> direction), six rail lines (three in each direction), two tracks for
> high-speed passenger rail, two for commuter rail and two for freight. The
> corridor will include a 200 feet right-of-way for oil, gas, electric and
> water lines.
>
> According to Corridor Watch, a group opposing the TTC, Governor Rick Perry
> announced his Corridor vision in 2002, instructed the Texas Department of
> Transportation to prepare an action plan and within six-months the
> Department of Transportation presented the finished product to the state
> Transportation Commission. "Without any substantive discussion or debate
and
> without public comment," the Commission approved it, a plan projected to
> cost up to $185 billion and take up to 50 years to build.
>
> In 2003, the Texas Department of Transportation sent representatives to
> Europe to find "partners," visiting London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and
> Barcelona. By December 2004, Texas had selected a Spanish firm to finance
> and build the first segment of the TTC. In March 2005, Department of
> Transportation officials, joined by Governor Perry and Federal Highway
> Administrator Mary Peters, signed a 342-page agreement with the firm.
>
> Not only did the Bush Administration bless the project, but the Federal
> Highway Administration announced in March 2004 that the first segment of
the
> TTC had been granted "experimental project status" and construction could
> begin before the environmental study was complete. Work could start even
> before public hearings were completed.
>
> Three months later, the Republican Party of Texas adopted as part of its
> platform the following statement: "Because there are issues of
confiscation
> of private land, State and National sovereignty . . . , the Party urges
the
> repeal of (legislation) authorizing the Trans-Texas Corridor. Further, we
> urge the removal of all authorization and powers granted the Texas
> Transportation Commission and the Texas Department of Transportation for
the
> construction and operation of the Trans-Texas Corridor."
>
> Corridor Watch now reports widespread and growing public opposition,
> describing Texans as "extremely concerned about the state creating a
> transportation, communication, utility and economic development monopoly.
> They are concerned about a project that will consume 584,000 acres of land
> impacting land owners, farms, ranches, wildlife, the environment,
> communities, taxpayers, water rights, local economies, and more."
>
> Texans are also concerned about how the law authorizing the TTC grants
> dictatorial powers to the Transportation Commission for the taking of
> private property. The powers include purchase and condemnation of property
> contiguous to an existing or planned segment of the TTC, for use in
> constructing or operating the TTC, or for ancillary facilities that
directly
> benefit users of the TTC, e.g., businesses, and - "for virtually any
revenue
> generating purpose."
>
> "With complete disregard for public will and the citizens of Texas,"
> Corridor Watch says, "our government is marching forward." But Texas state
> officials are not marching alone.
>
> Texas politicians are marching in lockstep with international trade groups
> such as North America's Super Corridor Coalition ( NASCO), the North
> American International Trade Corridor Partnership, (NAITCP) and the
Central
> North American Trade Corridor Association (CNATCA)
>
> Texas politicians are marching in lockstep with international trade groups
> such as North America's Super Corridor Coalition ( NASCO), the North
> American International Trade Corridor Partnership, (NAITCP) and the
Central
> North American Trade Corridor Association (CNATCA),
>
> NASCO (www.nasco.com) describes itself as a "public/private, non-profit
> corporation seeking to create an international trade corridor system
> throughout North America, secure funding for certain projects, i.e., tax
> dollars, and promote the development of International Trade Processing
> Centers. A lobbying group, linked to other lobbying groups, it is
> "partnered" with the North America's Supercorridor Caucus in Congress and
> working with Senate committees on a Multi-State International Corridor
> Development Program. Tim Brown, a Bell County, Texas Commissioner is
> President.
>
> NASCO opines that, because of "several important trade agreements, the
> heartland of America enters a new era as a geographic crossroad for
> international trade." They refer to the North American Free Trade
Agreement
> (NAFTA) nations of Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. and "those who will
follow,"
> doubtless meaning the CAFTA and FTAA (pending trade agreements) countries
of
> Central and South America. NASCO's Web site links to the NAFTA Secretariat
> site where you may view "the complete text of the NAFTA."
>
> The NAITCP (www.naitcp.org) purports to be a "partnership of cities of
> Mexico, the United States and Canada linked by a trade corridor that works
> to promote economic and social development in our region." NAITCP just
held
> its 11th annual summit in Mexico, May 11-13. It was called "Hemispheria,
the
> North American Convergence Summit," and featured working groups on "Trade
> and Transportation Corridors in North America, Smart Borders, and Cultural
> Integration."
>
> The CNATCA (www.cnatca.org) aims to encourage "continued economic
> integration between the three North American countries and to foster
greater
> collective involvement in the emerging global economy." Dedicated to
> "proactive global citizenship," the Association's Web site presents the
> flags of Canada, the United States and Mexico both horizontally and
> vertically, but as one entity, the U.S. flag between the other two.
>
> CNATCA's project, the Central North American Trade Corridor, extends from
> Alaska through the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta,
> Saskatchewan and Manitoba, through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,
> Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle, and Texas, and then south of the U.S.
border
> to Mexico City.
>
> No wonder Texans are frustrated. How much influence can citizens exert
when
> policy-making goes international? This is a question Americans everywhere
> should be asking, for the next trade corridor, toll road network, or
inland
> port could land anywhere.
>
> Nearly two dozen states have passed legislation allowing their
> transportation systems to operate toll roads and okaying private firms to
> build and run them. The Bush Administration is easing the way for states
to
> convert car pool lanes to toll lanes, and to allow private investors to
> build and operate highways. Converting existing roads to toll corridors -
> thereby forcing taxpayers to pay each time they use roads for which
they've
> already paid - is a great revenue producer for big spending governments.
>
> California might be next. Governor Schwarzenegger reportedly favors toll
> roads and last February offered a provocative glimpse of California's
> futu "We're going to make an announcement really soon where we're going
> to look at our whole infrastructure and transportation and we have a very
> creative way of financing it. We want to approach it in a very radical way
> and then look at all kinds of transportation."
>
> Could the governor be thinking of the TTC model, transit ways built by
> foreign firms with foreign money in exchange for decades of toll revenue?
> Providing political justification for such a move is the state's
> near-bankrupt condition, years of diverting road monies to finance general
> obligations, and a freeway system in crisis with the volume of
international
> cargo traffic exploding.
>
> Why foreign involvement? Besides cost considerations, modern trade
> agreements prohibit discrimination against trading "partners", i.e.,
foreign
> suppliers of goods and services, even in the area of government
procurement.
> NAFTA, for example, mandates treatment "no less favorable than the most
> favorable treatment" the U.S. accords to its own goods and suppliers.
>
> Another NAFTA mandate - and likely the primary impetus for developing the
> Texas corridor - authorizes Mexican trucks to transport international
cargo
> throughout the U.S.; it also allows the establishment of Mexican trucking
> enterprises in the U.S. and permits Mexican bus services throughout the
U.S.
>
> Lawsuits based on environmental issues have delayed implementation of
these
> provisions, but in June 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
> environmental reviews were not required. The latest holdup is an agreement
> on safety standards, UPI reporting in March 2005, that Mexico would not
> allow U.S. safety inspectors to check trucks on its side of the border.
>
> But expect Mexican trucks to roll soon and, then, look out. Trade
agreements
> with all of Central and South America are pending. If approved by
Congress -
> the North American Trade Corridor will likely be linked with
transportation
> corridors all the way to Tierra del Fuego.
>
>
>
> The trade agreements that have already transformed America's culture and
> economy; will now slice up America's heartland - at U.S. taxpayers'
> expense - decimating farmland, small communities and, of course, property
> rights. Our shredded borders will open fully to trucks, busses, and people
> from all points north and south, the trucks delivering products and
services
> once produced in the U.S.A. by Americans.
>
>
>
> President Bush is demanding Congressional approval of the Central American
> Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Many legislators - even those who express
> outrage over present border problems -- have already caved. Call your
> Congressman toll free at 1(877)762-8762. Demand a No! vote on CAFTA.
>
>

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 20:01:44 -0600, "Iconoclast"
> wrote:

>"Lets Roll" > wrote in message
link.net...
>> http://www.newswithviews.com/Spivey/phyllis3.htm
>>
>> Phyllis Spivey
>> June 10, 2005
>> NewsWithViews.com
>>
>> Imagine this: your state government puts a transportation corridor in your
>> neighborhood. It's nearly a quarter-mile wide. It will serve vehicles and
>> trains and incorporate oil, gas, electric and water lines. Try to fight it
>> and you'll not only face the combined might of your local, state, and
>> federal governments, but foreign interests as well. The
>> internationalization of U.S. roads has begun.
>>
>> We're not just talking about isolated instances of privately-built toll
>> roads with foreign management, as we've seen in Southern California. We're
>> talking about networks of toll roads that may be built by foreign
>> builders, managed by foreign operators, function primarily to accommodate
>> foreign goods, and connect U.S. roads to similar networks in Canada,
>> Mexico and, later, Central and South America.
>>
>> Interstate 69, for example, is a planned 1600 mile national highway
>> connecting Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. Eight states are involved in the
>> project: Once completed, I-69 will extend from Port Huron, Michigan to the
>> Texas/Mexico border.
>>
>> In Texas, I-69 will be part of the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) project - a
>> 4000 mile network of existing and new toll roads - which will create the
>> largest private highway system in America. Interstate 35, also called the
>> Oklahoma to Mexico/Gulf Coast element, will be developed as part of the
>> TTC.
>>
>> Plans call for the TTC to be 1200 feet wide with 10 vehicle lanes (three
>> passenger vehicle lanes in each direction), truck lanes (two in each
>> direction), six rail lines (three in each direction), two tracks for
>> high-speed passenger rail, two for commuter rail and two for freight. The
>> corridor will include a 200 feet right-of-way for oil, gas, electric and
>> water lines.
>>
>> According to Corridor Watch, a group opposing the TTC, Governor Rick Perry
>> announced his Corridor vision in 2002, instructed the Texas Department of
>> Transportation to prepare an action plan and within six-months the
>> Department of Transportation presented the finished product to the state
>> Transportation Commission. "Without any substantive discussion or debate
>> and without public comment," the Commission approved it, a plan projected
>> to cost up to $185 billion and take up to 50 years to build.
>>
>> In 2003, the Texas Department of Transportation sent representatives to
>> Europe to find "partners," visiting London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and
>> Barcelona. By December 2004, Texas had selected a Spanish firm to finance
>> and build the first segment of the TTC. In March 2005, Department of
>> Transportation officials, joined by Governor Perry and Federal Highway
>> Administrator Mary Peters, signed a 342-page agreement with the firm.
>>
>> Not only did the Bush Administration bless the project, but the Federal
>> Highway Administration announced in March 2004 that the first segment of
>> the TTC had been granted "experimental project status" and construction
>> could begin before the environmental study was complete. Work could start
>> even before public hearings were completed.
>>
>> Three months later, the Republican Party of Texas adopted as part of its
>> platform the following statement: "Because there are issues of
>> confiscation of private land, State and National sovereignty . . . , the
>> Party urges the repeal of (legislation) authorizing the Trans-Texas
>> Corridor. Further, we urge the removal of all authorization and powers
>> granted the Texas Transportation Commission and the Texas Department of
>> Transportation for the construction and operation of the Trans-Texas
>> Corridor."
>>
>> Corridor Watch now reports widespread and growing public opposition,
>> describing Texans as "extremely concerned about the state creating a
>> transportation, communication, utility and economic development monopoly.
>> They are concerned about a project that will consume 584,000 acres of land
>> impacting land owners, farms, ranches, wildlife, the environment,
>> communities, taxpayers, water rights, local economies, and more."
>>
>> Texans are also concerned about how the law authorizing the TTC grants
>> dictatorial powers to the Transportation Commission for the taking of
>> private property. The powers include purchase and condemnation of property
>> contiguous to an existing or planned segment of the TTC, for use in
>> constructing or operating the TTC, or for ancillary facilities that
>> directly benefit users of the TTC, e.g., businesses, and - "for virtually
>> any revenue generating purpose."
>>
>> "With complete disregard for public will and the citizens of Texas,"
>> Corridor Watch says, "our government is marching forward." But Texas state
>> officials are not marching alone.
>>
>> Texas politicians are marching in lockstep with international trade groups
>> such as North America's Super Corridor Coalition ( NASCO), the North
>> American International Trade Corridor Partnership, (NAITCP) and the
>> Central North American Trade Corridor Association (CNATCA)
>>
>> Texas politicians are marching in lockstep with international trade groups
>> such as North America's Super Corridor Coalition ( NASCO), the North
>> American International Trade Corridor Partnership, (NAITCP) and the
>> Central North American Trade Corridor Association (CNATCA),
>>
>> NASCO (www.nasco.com) describes itself as a "public/private, non-profit
>> corporation seeking to create an international trade corridor system
>> throughout North America, secure funding for certain projects, i.e., tax
>> dollars, and promote the development of International Trade Processing
>> Centers. A lobbying group, linked to other lobbying groups, it is
>> "partnered" with the North America's Supercorridor Caucus in Congress and
>> working with Senate committees on a Multi-State International Corridor
>> Development Program. Tim Brown, a Bell County, Texas Commissioner is
>> President.
>>
>> NASCO opines that, because of "several important trade agreements, the
>> heartland of America enters a new era as a geographic crossroad for
>> international trade." They refer to the North American Free Trade
>> Agreement (NAFTA) nations of Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. and "those who
>> will follow," doubtless meaning the CAFTA and FTAA (pending trade
>> agreements) countries of Central and South America. NASCO's Web site links
>> to the NAFTA Secretariat site where you may view "the complete text of the
>> NAFTA."
>>
>> The NAITCP (www.naitcp.org) purports to be a "partnership of cities of
>> Mexico, the United States and Canada linked by a trade corridor that works
>> to promote economic and social development in our region." NAITCP just
>> held its 11th annual summit in Mexico, May 11-13. It was called
>> "Hemispheria, the North American Convergence Summit," and featured working
>> groups on "Trade and Transportation Corridors in North America, Smart
>> Borders, and Cultural Integration."
>>
>> The CNATCA (www.cnatca.org) aims to encourage "continued economic
>> integration between the three North American countries and to foster
>> greater collective involvement in the emerging global economy." Dedicated
>> to "proactive global citizenship," the Association's Web site presents the
>> flags of Canada, the United States and Mexico both horizontally and
>> vertically, but as one entity, the U.S. flag between the other two.
>>
>> CNATCA's project, the Central North American Trade Corridor, extends from
>> Alaska through the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta,
>> Saskatchewan and Manitoba, through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,
>> Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle, and Texas, and then south of the U.S.
>> border to Mexico City.
>>
>> No wonder Texans are frustrated. How much influence can citizens exert
>> when policy-making goes international? This is a question Americans
>> everywhere should be asking, for the next trade corridor, toll road
>> network, or inland port could land anywhere.
>>
>> Nearly two dozen states have passed legislation allowing their
>> transportation systems to operate toll roads and okaying private firms to
>> build and run them. The Bush Administration is easing the way for states
>> to convert car pool lanes to toll lanes, and to allow private investors to
>> build and operate highways. Converting existing roads to toll corridors -
>> thereby forcing taxpayers to pay each time they use roads for which
>> they've already paid - is a great revenue producer for big spending
>> governments.
>>
>> California might be next. Governor Schwarzenegger reportedly favors toll
>> roads and last February offered a provocative glimpse of California's
>> futu "We're going to make an announcement really soon where we're going
>> to look at our whole infrastructure and transportation and we have a very
>> creative way of financing it. We want to approach it in a very radical way
>> and then look at all kinds of transportation."
>>
>> Could the governor be thinking of the TTC model, transit ways built by
>> foreign firms with foreign money in exchange for decades of toll revenue?
>> Providing political justification for such a move is the state's
>> near-bankrupt condition, years of diverting road monies to finance general
>> obligations, and a freeway system in crisis with the volume of
>> international cargo traffic exploding.
>>
>> Why foreign involvement? Besides cost considerations, modern trade
>> agreements prohibit discrimination against trading "partners", i.e.,
>> foreign suppliers of goods and services, even in the area of government
>> procurement. NAFTA, for example, mandates treatment "no less favorable
>> than the most favorable treatment" the U.S. accords to its own goods and
>> suppliers.
>>
>> Another NAFTA mandate - and likely the primary impetus for developing the
>> Texas corridor - authorizes Mexican trucks to transport international
>> cargo throughout the U.S.; it also allows the establishment of Mexican
>> trucking enterprises in the U.S. and permits Mexican bus services
>> throughout the U.S.
>>
>> Lawsuits based on environmental issues have delayed implementation of
>> these provisions, but in June 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
>> environmental reviews were not required. The latest holdup is an agreement
>> on safety standards, UPI reporting in March 2005, that Mexico would not
>> allow U.S. safety inspectors to check trucks on its side of the border.
>>
>> But expect Mexican trucks to roll soon and, then, look out. Trade
>> agreements with all of Central and South America are pending. If approved
>> by Congress - the North American Trade Corridor will likely be linked with
>> transportation corridors all the way to Tierra del Fuego.
>>
>>
>>
>> The trade agreements that have already transformed America's culture and
>> economy; will now slice up America's heartland - at U.S. taxpayers'
>> expense - decimating farmland, small communities and, of course, property
>> rights. Our shredded borders will open fully to trucks, busses, and people
>> from all points north and south, the trucks delivering products and
>> services once produced in the U.S.A. by Americans.
>>
>>
>>
>> President Bush is demanding Congressional approval of the Central American
>> Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Many legislators - even those who express
>> outrage over present border problems -- have already caved. Call your
>> Congressman toll free at 1(877)762-8762. Demand a No! vote on CAFTA.
>>
>>
>
>Good find, LR. The same kind of private toll road is being rammed down the
>throats of Coloradoans along the Front Range. The governor just vetoed a
>House and Senate bill to stop the toll road. It makes me sick. We no
>longer have representative government.
>
>http://www.hostagesofthecorridor.net/
>

But the good news is that we will be able to deport the politicians
along with illegals. One way.

--
Keith
-------------------------------------

Fed up with illegal immigration?
_____
http://idexer.com
http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/listarticles.cgi?117
http://www.saveourstate.org
http://www.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frostyA.htm
http://www.americanpatrol.com/LINKS/LINKS.html
http://www.vdare.com/links.htm
http://www.stoptheinvasion.com/links/
http://fairus.org/
http://numbersusa.com/index


_____

"Cosmic upheaval is not so moving as a little child pondering the death
of a sparrow in the corner of a barn." -Anouk Aimee, French Actor
_____

"Death is better, a milder fate than tyranny", Aeschylus (525BC-456BC),
Agamemnon
_____

"I wear no Burka." - Mother Nature

----------
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"Bunn E. Rabbit" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 20:01:44 -0600, "Iconoclast"
> > wrote:
>
>>"Lets Roll" > wrote in message
hlink.net...
>>> http://www.newswithviews.com/Spivey/phyllis3.htm
>>>
>>> Phyllis Spivey
>>> June 10, 2005
>>> NewsWithViews.com
>>>
>>> Imagine this: your state government puts a transportation corridor in
>>> your
>>> neighborhood. It's nearly a quarter-mile wide. It will serve vehicles
>>> and
>>> trains and incorporate oil, gas, electric and water lines. Try to fight
>>> it
>>> and you'll not only face the combined might of your local, state, and
>>> federal governments, but foreign interests as well. The
>>> internationalization of U.S. roads has begun.
>>>
>>> We're not just talking about isolated instances of privately-built toll
>>> roads with foreign management, as we've seen in Southern California.
>>> We're
>>> talking about networks of toll roads that may be built by foreign
>>> builders, managed by foreign operators, function primarily to
>>> accommodate
>>> foreign goods, and connect U.S. roads to similar networks in Canada,
>>> Mexico and, later, Central and South America.
>>>
>>> Interstate 69, for example, is a planned 1600 mile national highway
>>> connecting Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. Eight states are involved in
>>> the
>>> project: Once completed, I-69 will extend from Port Huron, Michigan to
>>> the
>>> Texas/Mexico border.
>>>
>>> In Texas, I-69 will be part of the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) project -
>>> a
>>> 4000 mile network of existing and new toll roads - which will create the
>>> largest private highway system in America. Interstate 35, also called
>>> the
>>> Oklahoma to Mexico/Gulf Coast element, will be developed as part of the
>>> TTC.
>>>
>>> Plans call for the TTC to be 1200 feet wide with 10 vehicle lanes (three
>>> passenger vehicle lanes in each direction), truck lanes (two in each
>>> direction), six rail lines (three in each direction), two tracks for
>>> high-speed passenger rail, two for commuter rail and two for freight.
>>> The
>>> corridor will include a 200 feet right-of-way for oil, gas, electric and
>>> water lines.
>>>
>>> According to Corridor Watch, a group opposing the TTC, Governor Rick
>>> Perry
>>> announced his Corridor vision in 2002, instructed the Texas Department
>>> of
>>> Transportation to prepare an action plan and within six-months the
>>> Department of Transportation presented the finished product to the state
>>> Transportation Commission. "Without any substantive discussion or debate
>>> and without public comment," the Commission approved it, a plan
>>> projected
>>> to cost up to $185 billion and take up to 50 years to build.
>>>
>>> In 2003, the Texas Department of Transportation sent representatives to
>>> Europe to find "partners," visiting London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and
>>> Barcelona. By December 2004, Texas had selected a Spanish firm to
>>> finance
>>> and build the first segment of the TTC. In March 2005, Department of
>>> Transportation officials, joined by Governor Perry and Federal Highway
>>> Administrator Mary Peters, signed a 342-page agreement with the firm.
>>>
>>> Not only did the Bush Administration bless the project, but the Federal
>>> Highway Administration announced in March 2004 that the first segment of
>>> the TTC had been granted "experimental project status" and construction
>>> could begin before the environmental study was complete. Work could
>>> start
>>> even before public hearings were completed.
>>>
>>> Three months later, the Republican Party of Texas adopted as part of its
>>> platform the following statement: "Because there are issues of
>>> confiscation of private land, State and National sovereignty . . . , the
>>> Party urges the repeal of (legislation) authorizing the Trans-Texas
>>> Corridor. Further, we urge the removal of all authorization and powers
>>> granted the Texas Transportation Commission and the Texas Department of
>>> Transportation for the construction and operation of the Trans-Texas
>>> Corridor."
>>>
>>> Corridor Watch now reports widespread and growing public opposition,
>>> describing Texans as "extremely concerned about the state creating a
>>> transportation, communication, utility and economic development
>>> monopoly.
>>> They are concerned about a project that will consume 584,000 acres of
>>> land
>>> impacting land owners, farms, ranches, wildlife, the environment,
>>> communities, taxpayers, water rights, local economies, and more."
>>>
>>> Texans are also concerned about how the law authorizing the TTC grants
>>> dictatorial powers to the Transportation Commission for the taking of
>>> private property. The powers include purchase and condemnation of
>>> property
>>> contiguous to an existing or planned segment of the TTC, for use in
>>> constructing or operating the TTC, or for ancillary facilities that
>>> directly benefit users of the TTC, e.g., businesses, and - "for
>>> virtually
>>> any revenue generating purpose."
>>>
>>> "With complete disregard for public will and the citizens of Texas,"
>>> Corridor Watch says, "our government is marching forward." But Texas
>>> state
>>> officials are not marching alone.
>>>
>>> Texas politicians are marching in lockstep with international trade
>>> groups
>>> such as North America's Super Corridor Coalition ( NASCO), the North
>>> American International Trade Corridor Partnership, (NAITCP) and the
>>> Central North American Trade Corridor Association (CNATCA)
>>>
>>> Texas politicians are marching in lockstep with international trade
>>> groups
>>> such as North America's Super Corridor Coalition ( NASCO), the North
>>> American International Trade Corridor Partnership, (NAITCP) and the
>>> Central North American Trade Corridor Association (CNATCA),
>>>
>>> NASCO (www.nasco.com) describes itself as a "public/private, non-profit
>>> corporation seeking to create an international trade corridor system
>>> throughout North America, secure funding for certain projects, i.e., tax
>>> dollars, and promote the development of International Trade Processing
>>> Centers. A lobbying group, linked to other lobbying groups, it is
>>> "partnered" with the North America's Supercorridor Caucus in Congress
>>> and
>>> working with Senate committees on a Multi-State International Corridor
>>> Development Program. Tim Brown, a Bell County, Texas Commissioner is
>>> President.
>>>
>>> NASCO opines that, because of "several important trade agreements, the
>>> heartland of America enters a new era as a geographic crossroad for
>>> international trade." They refer to the North American Free Trade
>>> Agreement (NAFTA) nations of Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. and "those who
>>> will follow," doubtless meaning the CAFTA and FTAA (pending trade
>>> agreements) countries of Central and South America. NASCO's Web site
>>> links
>>> to the NAFTA Secretariat site where you may view "the complete text of
>>> the
>>> NAFTA."
>>>
>>> The NAITCP (www.naitcp.org) purports to be a "partnership of cities of
>>> Mexico, the United States and Canada linked by a trade corridor that
>>> works
>>> to promote economic and social development in our region." NAITCP just
>>> held its 11th annual summit in Mexico, May 11-13. It was called
>>> "Hemispheria, the North American Convergence Summit," and featured
>>> working
>>> groups on "Trade and Transportation Corridors in North America, Smart
>>> Borders, and Cultural Integration."
>>>
>>> The CNATCA (www.cnatca.org) aims to encourage "continued economic
>>> integration between the three North American countries and to foster
>>> greater collective involvement in the emerging global economy."
>>> Dedicated
>>> to "proactive global citizenship," the Association's Web site presents
>>> the
>>> flags of Canada, the United States and Mexico both horizontally and
>>> vertically, but as one entity, the U.S. flag between the other two.
>>>
>>> CNATCA's project, the Central North American Trade Corridor, extends
>>> from
>>> Alaska through the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta,
>>> Saskatchewan and Manitoba, through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,
>>> Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle, and Texas, and then south of the U.S.
>>> border to Mexico City.
>>>
>>> No wonder Texans are frustrated. How much influence can citizens exert
>>> when policy-making goes international? This is a question Americans
>>> everywhere should be asking, for the next trade corridor, toll road
>>> network, or inland port could land anywhere.
>>>
>>> Nearly two dozen states have passed legislation allowing their
>>> transportation systems to operate toll roads and okaying private firms
>>> to
>>> build and run them. The Bush Administration is easing the way for states
>>> to convert car pool lanes to toll lanes, and to allow private investors
>>> to
>>> build and operate highways. Converting existing roads to toll
>>> corridors -
>>> thereby forcing taxpayers to pay each time they use roads for which
>>> they've already paid - is a great revenue producer for big spending
>>> governments.
>>>
>>> California might be next. Governor Schwarzenegger reportedly favors toll
>>> roads and last February offered a provocative glimpse of California's
>>> futu "We're going to make an announcement really soon where we're
>>> going
>>> to look at our whole infrastructure and transportation and we have a
>>> very
>>> creative way of financing it. We want to approach it in a very radical
>>> way
>>> and then look at all kinds of transportation."
>>>
>>> Could the governor be thinking of the TTC model, transit ways built by
>>> foreign firms with foreign money in exchange for decades of toll
>>> revenue?
>>> Providing political justification for such a move is the state's
>>> near-bankrupt condition, years of diverting road monies to finance
>>> general
>>> obligations, and a freeway system in crisis with the volume of
>>> international cargo traffic exploding.
>>>
>>> Why foreign involvement? Besides cost considerations, modern trade
>>> agreements prohibit discrimination against trading "partners", i.e.,
>>> foreign suppliers of goods and services, even in the area of government
>>> procurement. NAFTA, for example, mandates treatment "no less favorable
>>> than the most favorable treatment" the U.S. accords to its own goods and
>>> suppliers.
>>>
>>> Another NAFTA mandate - and likely the primary impetus for developing
>>> the
>>> Texas corridor - authorizes Mexican trucks to transport international
>>> cargo throughout the U.S.; it also allows the establishment of Mexican
>>> trucking enterprises in the U.S. and permits Mexican bus services
>>> throughout the U.S.
>>>
>>> Lawsuits based on environmental issues have delayed implementation of
>>> these provisions, but in June 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
>>> environmental reviews were not required. The latest holdup is an
>>> agreement
>>> on safety standards, UPI reporting in March 2005, that Mexico would not
>>> allow U.S. safety inspectors to check trucks on its side of the border.
>>>
>>> But expect Mexican trucks to roll soon and, then, look out. Trade
>>> agreements with all of Central and South America are pending. If
>>> approved
>>> by Congress - the North American Trade Corridor will likely be linked
>>> with
>>> transportation corridors all the way to Tierra del Fuego.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The trade agreements that have already transformed America's culture and
>>> economy; will now slice up America's heartland - at U.S. taxpayers'
>>> expense - decimating farmland, small communities and, of course,
>>> property
>>> rights. Our shredded borders will open fully to trucks, busses, and
>>> people
>>> from all points north and south, the trucks delivering products and
>>> services once produced in the U.S.A. by Americans.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> President Bush is demanding Congressional approval of the Central
>>> American
>>> Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Many legislators - even those who express
>>> outrage over present border problems -- have already caved. Call your
>>> Congressman toll free at 1(877)762-8762. Demand a No! vote on CAFTA.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Good find, LR. The same kind of private toll road is being rammed down
>>the
>>throats of Coloradoans along the Front Range. The governor just vetoed a
>>House and Senate bill to stop the toll road. It makes me sick. We no
>>longer have representative government.
>>
>>http://www.hostagesofthecorridor.net/
>>
>
> But the good news is that we will be able to deport the politicians
> along with illegals. One way.
>
> --
> Keith

They should be deported to Devils Island and spend their "golden years" in a
Brown "paradise," serving their beloved illegals as janitors, cleanup crews,
and whores in the intense, muggy, buggy, tropical heat.

:Iconoclast

> -------------------------------------
>
> Fed up with illegal immigration?
> _____
> http://idexer.com
> http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/listarticles.cgi?117
> http://www.saveourstate.org
> http://www.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frostyA.htm
> http://www.americanpatrol.com/LINKS/LINKS.html
> http://www.vdare.com/links.htm
> http://www.stoptheinvasion.com/links/
> http://fairus.org/
> http://numbersusa.com/index
>
>
> _____
>
> "Cosmic upheaval is not so moving as a little child pondering the death
> of a sparrow in the corner of a barn." -Anouk Aimee, French Actor
> _____
>
> "Death is better, a milder fate than tyranny", Aeschylus (525BC-456BC),
> Agamemnon
> _____
>
> "I wear no Burka." - Mother Nature
>
> ----------
> To send mail: remove hutch