George W. Bush Drives 18 Wheeler: America Stays Home

http://www.waxingamerica.com/neocons/index.html

Which side are you on?

In this corner are environmentalists, led by the Sierra Club, organized labor led by the Teamsters Union, and traffic safety experts. In the other corner, George W. Bush and the shadow of Bill Clinton. Not hard to choose sides, not even knowing the issue.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration plans to open the nation's highways to Mexican trucks on September 1, 2007 for long hauls through America. These trucks are not inspected for safety or emission controls the way U.S. trucks are examined. The drivers are not required to meet any of the training or health standards such as the drug testing required of most U.S. licensed haulers.

What a slap in the face to American workers - opening the highways to dangerous trucks on Labor Day weekend, one of the busiest driving weekends of the year," said Jim Hoffa, general president of the Teamsters.

Conservative and moderate bloogers have it right:

I actually agree with the Teamsters and the Sierra Club (an uncomfortable feeling to be sure). As one who lived in San Diego County for nearly ten years, you should see some of the vehicles that cross the border.

This sad NAFTA legacy of the Clinton Administration poses unregulated problems that go beyond safety and pollution:

* Many of the truckers do not read English.

* Most trucks will not be inspected for smuggling or terrorist activities.

* also: Investigators noted problems with the database used to check Mexican drivers' records for traffic convictions in the United States — largely because Texas and New Mexico didn't properly report driver convictions to the federal 52nd State System that tracks Mexican drivers.

* Finally, Congress tried to slow this down last May with over four hundred members of the House of Representatives opposing this Bush proposal.

The matter is now in Federal Court, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where there is hope that the Bush Administration will be enjoined before Monday, Labor Day.

It is no longer safe to fly through Minneapolis without the threat of Republicans lurking in the bathrooms. Now it's Bush on the highways.