Move to repeal NAFTA has a snowballs chance in hell of becoming law

On 03.09.10, In NAFTA, By PMC

NAFTAOne of the nation’s oldest and most corrupt labor unions is praising new, bipartisan legislation that would withdraw the United States from NAFTA, and vanquish one of the biggest enemies of American organized labor for more than 15 years.

A small but broad coalition of lawmakers from across the political spectrum came together last Thursday to sponsor a bill to repeal U.S. participation in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The trade agreement by the United States, Canada and Mexico, NAFTA eliminated tarrifs and other trade restrictions that had been in place. The deal was originally negotiated during the term of president George H.W. Bush. Bill Clinton later embraced it over the objections of many Democratic allies, including organized labor. Clinton, in fact, had to rely on Republican votes in Congress to pass the legislation that ratified the treaty.

Their legislation would repeal the approval of NAFTA and instructs the president to notify Canada and Mexico of the U.S. withdrawal from the treaty. It has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee for further consideration. The drive to repeal NAFTA outright also is a change in itself, where previously lawmakers had sought mostly just to reform the agreement.

One can just see the sleezy hand of James Hoffa behind this. If it passes, it has to go to the President for his signature. Fat chance and fat chance of anything before the mid terms.

MORE ON THE ISSUE

Should Democrats Stop Bashing NAFTA

We must repeal NAFTA

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Discussions to open border to Mexican trucks brings same old tired information from same tired sources.

On 02.19.10, In Cross Border Program, General, By PMC

Mexican Truck debate

The debate over Mexican trucks is back and becoming heated as the opponents resort to the same tired rhetoric that has been debunked time and again. This time, we believe the outcome will be different

The Obama administration has taken the first step toward renewing a pilot program that allows Mexican?truckers to operate within the U.S., as stipulated in the North American Free Trade Agreement, but still must work with Congress on fashioning a new program, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Tuesday.

U.S.Trade Representative Ron Kirk told a news conference in Mexico last week that the Obama administration had taken the first step in coming up with a new program when it convinced Congress not to prohibit a cross-border program in the 2010 omnibus spending bill.

With that being said, the mexenophobes are beginning to come out from under their rocks. Some, such as Teamster’s Jimmy Hoffa, using the same old tired and debunked rhetoric that he’s spewed for the past 18 years.

Others, such as OOIDA, seems to have largely abandoned the misinformation about the safety concerns and are now attacking the tariffs, and a report last year concerning the C-TPAT program.
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Hoffa rejects responsiblity for job losses over Mexican truck dispute

On 09.17.09, In Cross Border Program, NAFTA, By PMC

Teamsters President James Hoffa who seems to think that people still believe his lies about "unsafe Mexican trucks" despite overwhelming evidence to the contraryOn Tuesday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a report that looked at the effect of three trade actions/inactions by the Administration are having and will have on American workers.

One of the three actions concerned the failure to implement NAFTA trucking provisions, which have been challenged for more than 15 years. Of course, Teamsters President James Hoffa has to chime in with his usual irrelevant opinion.
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Teamster’s Prez Jimmy Hoffa responds to OIG Report with typical irrelevance

On 09.04.09, In FMCSA, By PMC
James Hoffa whose "hot air" is suspected of being a prime cause of the mythical global warming

James Hoffa whose "hot air" is suspected of being a prime cause of the mythical global warming

James Hoffa came out of hiding today to respond to the OIG Final Report on FMCSA compliance with Section 350 of the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2002 and as usual, his comments were totally irrelevant, and contrary to what the report suggests. This is the type of comments we’ve come to expect and ignore from Hoffa.

As expected, Hoffa’s initial response to the report was to declare that the “inspector general report shows once and for all that the border should remain closed to unsafe Mexican trucks.”

We don’t disagree with that sentiment. All unsafe trucks, Mexican, Canadian and American, should be banished from America’s highways.
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USA TODAY COUNTERPOINT – James P. Hoffa repeats the same tired propaganda.

On 04.01.09, In General, By PMC
James Hoffa - Oit of touch with reality

James Hoffa - Oit of touch with reality

In a counterpoint to the excellent opinion USA TODAY offered entitled Mexican truck ban hurts U.S. exporters, consumers, Teamster’s President and chief blow hard James P. Hoffa offered his same old, tired, debunked opinions

For those new to this site, I’m going to highlight the lies, exaggerations and totally untrue claims of Hoffa.

In his counterpoint titled Keep Mexican trucks out Hoffa claims,

NAFTA is a bad trade deal for many reasons. It cost millions of U.S. jobs and lowered wages for average Americans. It has also threatened to undermine highway safety.

The Teamsters Union is strongly against opening the Mexican border to unsafe trucks.

No one can dispute that Mexico is a more dangerous place to drive than the USA is. In fact, a Feb. 20 State Department travel alert warns U.S. citizens about driving in Mexico. It’s not just that drug violence cost 7,000 lives last year, or that according to a recent article in The Washington Times, Hezbollah is smuggling drugs and people here from Mexico. It’s that Mexican trucks and drivers aren’t required to meet the same safety standards as U.S. trucks and drivers.

Mexican trucks are older, dirtier and more dangerous than American trucks. American truck drivers are taken off the road if they commit a serious traffic violation in their personal vehicle. That’s not so in Mexico. Limits on the hours a driver can spend behind the wheel are ignored in Mexico.

American truck drivers are routinely tested for drugs and alcohol using labs that meet rigorous federal standards. Mexico still has no certified lab to test specimens, and the collection and custody procedures have been called into question by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s inspector general.

The Bush administration opened the border to unsafe Mexican trucks with a pilot program in 2007. A few of the safest trucks were handpicked to participate, and reportedly $500 million was spent on the program. Even then, U.S. officials couldn’t be sure when a participating Mexican truck entered the country or where it went. So few trucks participated that the inspector general reported that no conclusions could be made about their safety record.

Congress recently shut the border to Mexican trucks, and Mexico retaliated by raising some tariffs. But it’s nonsense to claim that the U.S. is being protectionist. When NAFTA was passed in 1994, the U.S. had a $1 billion trade surplus with Mexico. Last year, our trade deficit with Mexico was $64 billion.

In 2001, a tribunal ruled that NAFTA lets the U.S. enforce safety standards. When Mexico keeps its end of the bargain by raising safety standards, we can keep ours.

James P. Hoffa is general president and blow hard of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

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