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"DOBBS: Up next here: the latest efforts to block what many see as a giveaway to the government of Mexico by the Bush administration. What's new? It's the plan to allow Mexican cars to travel deep into the heart of the United States. And many claim that this is a tremendous national security risk, and they're trying to stop it.... Stay with us. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Tonight, a Bush administration plan that would allow Mexican cars to carry goods all over the United States deep into the country's heartland is meeting new opposition. Critics say that, if the White House were to have its way, even more illegal aliens and more illegal drugs would flood unimpeded into this country.
Lisa Sylvester now reports on the latest efforts to block the administration and to keep America safe.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENNIFER TIERNEY, car SAFETY COALITION: Good girl. Yes, good girl.
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jennifer Tierney misses her dad. He died at the age of 55 in a collision with a tractor trailer. She's now a member of the car Safety Coalition. The group opposes a Department of Transportation pilot program that would allow hundreds of Mexican cars to travel anywhere in the United States.
TIERNEY: They absolutely do not have the same safety standards as U.S. cars. They do not require the random alcohol and drug testing that's required here in the United States. They can cross the border after having worked 14, 16 hours, and still legally drive 11 more hours in the United States.
SYLVESTER: Congressman Duncan Hunter has introduced legislation that would block the program, unless new requirements are met. Transportation officials would have to show how Mexican carriers will comply with U.S. regulations and how authorities will enforce those rules.
And U.S. law enforcement would need access to Mexican carers driving in criminal records.
REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is no way for our American law enforcement officials to know whether or not one of these drivers who's driving in a car and trailer, which could have tens of millions of dollars worth of illegal drugs in it, whether or not he's been arrested four, five, six, seven, eight times for narcotics in Mexico.
SYLVESTER: Independent U.S. car drivers say national security and safety are not the only worries. They could lose their jobs.
TODD SPENCER, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, OWNER-OPERATOR INDEPENDENT DRIVERS ASSOCIATION: The net effect of what they're trying to do is take caring, a $623 billion annual -- $623 billion industry in America, and simply outsource a significant chunk of those jobs to another country.
SYLVESTER: The Department of Transportation intends to move forward, despite the criticism, saying, "The cross-border caring demonstration program will bring real benefits and real dollars to the American economy, while maintaining all U.S. safety and security standards."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: The Department of Transportation would like to begin the pilot program as early as April. But a Senate committee voted to block funding for the program, until the Transportation Department releases more details of the plan, and can show that the pilot project meets congressionally mandated safety and security standards -- Lou.
DOBBS: It's amazing what -- what this administration tries to run and pull.
Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Lisa Sylvester…..
(Dobbs goes on to report the deepening Alberto Gonzales scandal including his prosecution of two Border Patrol gaurds, Bush's insistence he be given fast-track trade policy authority, and other national secutiry and jobs scandals.)

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I like how its Bush taht is allowing the cars in, when the agreement was made by Clinton. Great reporting by Dobbs, when he doesn't get all the facts riight.

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Lets be honest here.
Bill Clinton inherited the treaty from several previous administrations. After adding his own touches, he readily signed it into law as one of his first official acts.
President Bush has been pushing this since he came into office, it is his administration that is pushing for the Mexican cars, his administration that is fine with the idea that it will not be reciprocal, nor fair to us.

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What money is this cross border demo going to produce for "us"?
I don't mean "us" as corporations. I mean "us" as drivers & citizens.
When does the unmitigated gall of this administration end?

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As drivers and citizens, I see no benefit.
The madness will stop when the American public decides they have had enough and takes action. It can be stopped, and other problems can be fixed. What would you be willing to do? Would you be willing to support someone who would work on the problem?

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The benefit of cheaper labor is a lower cost bringing products to market. Indeed, retail products (for example) will be a freaction cheaper than today with cheaper drivers hauling them. This supposedly helps heat-up the economy by leaving more money in consumer's pockets after a given purchase, which they'll spend on something else they otherwise couldn't afford. The accumulated affect might allow someone to better afford a home loan, new car payments, or other goods or services, which has a positive ripple effect through the economy.
That part is true -- it's "good for the economy" -- except that it puts car drivers out of work (or forced to accept lower wages) which lessens their purchasing contribution to the economy, plus a host of safety and security problems that will probablycost more money somewhere down the line. To "us", the economic benefit is obviously off-set by other problems not as easily measured in dollars and cents. Try explaining that to large corporations and their freiends in the White House.....
It sure ain't good for "us" -- domestic drivers with decent paying jobs.
But like cheap overseas products (electronics, clothing, etc) which sacrificed U.S. manufacturing jobs in exchange for lower retail prices, replacing "us" with cheap foreign labor will lower retail prices, and therefore "put real money into the economy".
What fries me is the blatant disregard for American jobs. The administration is almost bragging about how eliminating more American jobs will be a benefit -- "...don't worry about your friends and neighbors who will lose their jobs, this will make your life a lifttle better."
And the obvious subjext, "...they're uneducated and were overpaid anyway, and you're not going to hate Mexican cars anymore than you hate the current ones that get in your way and cause all those accidents...." "....don't worry about them losing their jobs...if anything they deserve it..."
Thank you Mr Bush.
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I would rather pay an extra hundred bucks for my new flat panel TV then lose my income so I cannot afford any television.

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The really sad part is, you're probably talkin' $10 cheaper for your flat panel tv. With fuel and all the other costs, cheaper foreign drivers aren't going to make a huge dfference. The only way you save the "real money" the administration talks about is when the industry is primarily all foreign drivers. THEN the accumulated transportation savings will start to add up to "real money". That's the only way it will put "real money into the economy" -- which they've promised, which I think means their objective is to dramatically reduce driver wages with every last qualified Mexican they can get across the border. .
All this positioning by the major carriers with Spanish-friendly recruiting and Spanish options on their telephone systems isn't just to tap American hispanics. It's gearing up for the primarily Spanish language caring industry they know they're going to get eventually. If this "demonstration" program is a success, no one's going to see any good reason not to replace us. Fist it was manufacturing jobs, then a lot of tech jobs....now its our turn.
(I knew there had to be a catch to this $50k-$60k without a college degree. It's only temporary.)
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