Bush wins Mexican truck safety case

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: TheSnowman

Originally posted by: gsaldivar

Originally posted by: TheSnowman

Originally posted by: gsaldivar
I hate to break the news to you, but we are already breathing whatever air quality problems Mexico has.

that is as absurd as saying that your neigbor smokeing in your house is no more a problem than him smokeing in his own house.

There are walls between you and your neighbor.

sure, and those walls help just like the of distance between were trucks with poor emissions standards could drive and where they can drive now.

If the US would have honored the NAFTA provisions as they were, Mexican truck drivers would have had a "break-in" period where they would be monitored for safety/environmental impact, and limited to access within the four southern border states.

After our delaying of NAFTA implementation for 10+ years, now we are faced with the prospect of "opening the floodgates" all at once - giving full access to Mexican truck drivers, without the benefit of a phased safety/environmental study. 😛

 

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: Perknose
Edit: I searched long and hard for statistics about the percentage of union truck drivers left in the US. I have a couple of long time friends who long haul, and they have said that since deregulation, it is a damn cutthroat business. It is my impression that union drivers are no longer the majority of long haulers, but I cannot prove it by Google.

Also, gsaldivar, damn, you edited your first response to me, buried now deep in this thread, TWICE with additions which I only subsequently came upon. You're making an old man work too hard, son. 😀

😀

Admittedly, I didn't bother to look up the numbers of unionized vs. owner-operator truck drivers in the U.S. either. However, even if the number of unionized operators is no longer in the majority, I wouldn't concede that unionized labor isn't the primary reason why NAFTA isn't today fully implemented. 🙂

NAFTA passed only after a long political battle, ending in a suprisingly bipartisan vote (I don't have the figures at hand, but I could look them up if you want) which suggests that enough concessions were made on both sides to make the treaty palatable to even the labor-friendly Democrats. It is my belief that the Teamsters' current objections to NAFTA was part of a deal made between the administration and labor, allowing Clinton to pass/sign and take credit for the groundbreaking NAFTA treaty, without being saddled with the short-term job displacements during his administration. I can't conceive of another more fitting explanation of why the current objections to NAFTA are any more relevant than they were when NAFTA was passed back in 1993.

 

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: TheSnowman

Originally posted by: gsaldivar

Originally posted by: TheSnowman

Originally posted by: gsaldivar
I hate to break the news to you, but we are already breathing whatever air quality problems Mexico has.

that is as absurd as saying that your neigbor smokeing in your house is no more a problem than him smokeing in his own house.

There are walls between you and your neighbor.

sure, and those walls help just like the of distance between were trucks with poor emissions standards could drive and where they can drive now.

Time can easily overcome the buffer of distance, enabling pollution to easily travel hundreds/thousands of miles in a matter of days.

 

[Zebo]

Cheap labor Republicans at it again. Feel sorry for the trucker with a $4000 note every month to keep his safe truck on the road, attended extensive training for pennies, and already lives the in back woods to be able to support his family. Oh well there's always an MCSE "bootcamp" he can attend..wait those jobs are moving to india.

 

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Cheap labor Republicans at it again. Feel sorry for the trucker with a $4000 note every month to keep his safe truck on the road, attended extensive training for pennies, and already lives the in back woods to be able to support his family. Oh well there's always an MCSE "bootcamp" he can attend..wait those jobs are moving to india.

Is that blunt attempt what we can expect from other "conceptual guerillas"...?

The North American Free Trade Agreement, enacted almost eight years ago, was supposed to open the border to trucking. But the Clinton administration, under political pressure from the Teamsters union, which represents 120,000 drivers in the freight industry, refused to implement the trucking agreement, citing safety concerns.

In February of this year, a NAFTA arbitration panel ruled unanimously that the United States was in violation of its commitments, and the new Bush administration rightly agreed to open the border to Mexican trucks by the end of this year. But again under union pressure, the U.S. House voted 285-143 on June 26 to deny funds to the Transportation Department to implement the trucking agreement...

Mexican-owned vehicles on U.S. highways would be nothing new. Mexican trucks were allowed full access to U.S. roads up until the 1980s, when the U.S. market was closed in retaliation for Mexico?s ban on U.S.-owned trucks. Mexican-owned tour buses and trucks making deliveries to Canada are already allowed into the United States...

Concerns that Mexican trucks will swamp U.S. roadways are unfounded. Fewer than 20 Mexican trucking companies are considered ready to enter the U.S. market. This compares to tens of thousands of U.S. trucking companies and 1 million U.S.-owned commercial transport trucks already on the road. LINK

OK you liberals... what ever happened to "living up to our international committments", and "how will other countries treat us in the future" etc. etc....? Oh wait... I see. ***JOBS*** are at stake and are far are more important.... right??

 

[flyfish]

All I can say is...LET THE DRUGS FLOW !!!

:roll:

 

[Siddhartha]

GWB has given the Teamsters a good smack.

 

[rchiu]

Another typical Bush policy, good for big business with cheap transportation, bad for environment and average Joe American truck drivers.

What else is new.....

 

[0roo0roo]

grumble, even an suv isn't going to save you from a runaway big rig🙁

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: gsaldivar

Originally posted by: TheSnowman
sure, and those walls help just like the of distance between were trucks with poor emissions standards could drive and where they can drive now.

Time can easily overcome the buffer of distance, enabling pollution to easily travel hundreds/thousands of miles in a matter of days.

Wouldn't be pollution from American factories that moved to Mexico for cheap labor and lax environmental regulations, would it?

 

[kylebisme]

Originally posted by: gsaldivar

Time can easily overcome the buffer of distance, enabling pollution to easily travel hundreds/thousands of miles in a matter of days.

and i suppose you are going to argue that the pollution doesn't dissapate over that time and travel either eh? :roll:

 

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: TheSnowman

Originally posted by: gsaldivar

Time can easily overcome the buffer of distance, enabling pollution to easily travel hundreds/thousands of miles in a matter of days.

and i suppose you are going to argue that the pollution doesn't dissapate over that time and travel either eh? :roll:

Did I say that?

 

[piasabird]

I see no reason to trust any Mexican Trucks. I have talked to people who have traveled in Mexico and the Mexican Police are more corrupt than any organization you can possibly imagine. I think we should force them to purchase Trucks made to US Standards and have to have a proper US Truck Driving License to do business in the US just so they have to compete on the same level as anyone else. Why should standards for them be any different?

 

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: piasabird
we should force them to purchase Trucks made to US Standards

Do you know of any Mexican truck manufacturers?

What specific manufacturing deficiencies do these "unsafe" trucks have?

Mexican Police are more corrupt than any organization you can possibly imagine.

What do the police have to do with truck drivers?

 

[piasabird]

I thought the State had the right to make laws concering licensing. Did we change the US Constitution?

 

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: piasabird
I thought the State had the right to make laws concering licensing. Did we change the US Constitution?

No, we signed an international treaty in 1993 called NAFTA.

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: gsaldivar

Originally posted by: piasabird
I thought the State had the right to make laws concering licensing. Did we change the US Constitution?

No, we signed an international treaty in 1993 called NAFTA.

That treaty gives mexican truck drivers the ability to deliver mexican goods to factories or retail outlets in the US, they cannot do other shipping. With exposure to our legal atmosphere their insurance rates will go up and the states will likely impose air quality fines on trucks that don't meet US emisions standards at the port's of entry. The challenges have been about protecting jobs but the states will enact rules that will make it inconvient for the mexican truck drivers, in particular the trucks will not be exempt from state emission and safety standards.

 

[kylebisme]

Originally posted by: gsaldivar

Originally posted by: TheSnowman

Originally posted by: gsaldivar

Time can easily overcome the buffer of distance, enabling pollution to easily travel hundreds/thousands of miles in a matter of days.

and i suppose you are going to argue that the pollution doesn't dissapate over that time and travel either eh? :roll:

Did I say that?

ok so maybe you wont go so far as to say it, but you sure try like hell to ignore the fact when you argue for the trucks crossing the border.

 

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: TheSnowman

Originally posted by: gsaldivar

Originally posted by: TheSnowman

Originally posted by: gsaldivar

Time can easily overcome the buffer of distance, enabling pollution to easily travel hundreds/thousands of miles in a matter of days.

and i suppose you are going to argue that the pollution doesn't dissapate over that time and travel either eh? :roll:

Did I say that?

ok so maybe you wont go so far as to say it, but you sure try like hell to ignore the fact when you argue for the trucks crossing the border.

As a conservative, I never imagined the day would come when someone would accuse me of overstating the impact of air pollution. :beer:😛

 

[kylebisme]

well keep dreaming beucase i am accusing you of exactly the opposite. or better yet, wake up and pay attetion instead of just makeing smartass comments.

 

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: TheSnowman
well keep dreaming beucase i am accusing you of exactly the opposite. or better yet, wake up and pay attetion instead of just makeing smartass comments.

So someone who is "trying like hell to ignore" the dissipation of air pollution from Mexico to the U.S. isn't overstating the impact of air pollution??? 😕

 

[kylebisme]

you would need more than a one line attetnion span to understand.

 

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: TheSnowman
you would need more than a one line attetnion span to understand.

You need more than a one line attention span in order to make your point...... 😛

Number of sentences posted by TheSnowman in this entire thread (including the one quoted above): 7.

lol

 

[Red Dawn]

Good Grief, does that mean we will be seeing lowered Semis with Dingle Balls on our highways blasting out Mariachi Music?

 

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Good Grief, does that mean we will be seeing lowered Semis with Dingle Balls on our highways blasting out Mariachi Music?

😀