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SPP/ SECURITY & PROSPERITY PARTNERSHIP: One More In Long List Of Bush Euphemisms Aimed At Heart Of Middleclass Americans - RI10
SPP/ SECURITY &
PROSPERITY
PARTNERSHIP:
One More In Long
List Of Bush
Euphemisms Aimed
At Heart Of
Middleclass
Americans - RI10
LOU DOBBS TONIGHT
Hurricane Dean Heads For Mexico;
Democratic Voters Want Experience or Change?
Aired August 20, 2007 - 18:00 ET
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0708/20/ldt.01.html
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight: Hurricane Dean intensifies as it charges toward the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Will the hurricane hit this country? We will have complete coverage.
Also, federal agents deport a fugitive Mexican illegal alien who was given sanctuary in a church for a whole year. We will have a special report.
And President Bush holds a summit meeting with the leaders of Canada and Mexico. Critics say it's a new attempt to push forward with plans to create what amounts to a North American union.
All that, all the day's news, and much more, straight ahead.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT: news, debate, and opinion for Monday, August 20.
Live from New York, sitting in for Lou Dobbs, Lisa Sylvester.
SYLVESTER: Thanks.
Up next, two guests face off over the summit meetings held today in Canada -- a prelude to better cooperation or a loss of our sovereignty?
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SYLVESTER: The Security and Prosperity Partnership is one of the top issues at today's North American summit meeting in Quebec.
Joining me now, two people with very different views of the SPP.
Dr. John Fonte is an outspoken critic of the Partnership. He's a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.
And Dr. Robert Pastor is a leading supporter of closer ties among the U.S., Canada and Mexico. He's director of the Center for North American Studies at American University.
You know, many people have not -- have not even heard about the Security and Prosperity Partnership, but there is a lot of criticism out there. A lot of people believe that will mean a roll back of environmental and worker standards, and that we are just handing over our sovereignty for the rights of this North American Union.
John, I would like you to comment first on that.
What is your response?
JOHN FONTE, HUDSON INSTITUTE: Well, I think the SPP is very bad policy. I don't think a conspiracy is at work. But I think it definitely has long-range implications for sovereignty, particularly on border security and immigration policy. We're talking about -- one of the suggestions is to harmonize, to bring together a border security policy -- the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Well, these are these are policies that are determined by the Congress of the United States, the parliament of Mexico and by democratic bodies. So there's nothing wrong with cooperation.
I am all for cooperation between the three nations of North America.
But the SPP, as it's presented, is very ambivalent. It's very murky. And it's going to cause a lot of bad policy issues.
SYLVESTER: And Robert Pastor, you have often been referred to as the father of the North American Union. You are an ardent supporter of this.
Give us some of your reasons why.
Don't you see this as part of us -- the United States essentially -- and, for that matter, Mexico and Canada -- essentially giving up some of its sovereignty?
ROBERT PASTOR, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: No, quite the contrary. Sovereignty means the defense of nation. And greater cooperation with our neighbors means that our country will be defended better and will be both more secure and also more prosperous.
I think if you want to build a wall and to keep out our two most important trading partners, our two most important sources of energy, this will diminish the sovereignty of our countries. Cooperation is absolutely essential.
I never proposed a North American Union. I think that's completely impractical and impossible. I do, however, believe that much deeper cooperation among the three countries is absolutely essential.
SYLVESTER: You know, if you look at the heart of the criticism, a lot of it has to do with the transparency that people feel that these government leaders are not essentially sharing information with the public and they don't know much about it.
John, you, at a recent Hudson Institute event, you said that there was a democracy deficit in terms of the process.
What did you mean?
FONTE: Well, the SPP has not been authorized by the Congress. No funds have been appropriated. In fact, recently there was an amendment by Congressman Duncan Hunter and Marcy Kaptur that voted to actually prohibit federal funds being used to have negotiations and have discussions on the SPP. It passed about 360-60.
So there's a lot of opposition in Congress and there's a lot of worry about the fact that this has not been an open process.
SYLVESTER: Robert, how is it that you could possibly expect -- you talk about integration.
How is it that you could possibly expect these countries -- these three very different countries -- at least Canada and the United States on one hand, and Mexico on the other -- to fully integrate when you're talking about the great disparities, whether you're talking about education, talking about per capita income?
A lot of people said that it would be extremely difficult to integrate the economies of these three nations.
PASTOR: That's exactly what's just happened over the last 13 years. Trade among our three countries has tripled. Foreign direct investment has quintupled. Nearly 60 percent of the trade that our three countries have with the rest of the world is with each other. That's what you mean by economic integration.
Our firms are increasingly North American in scope. Our cars have parts made in all three countries. So there is a process underway and the people actually are behind the process.
The protesters represent a very small, very loud, but very unrepresentative sample of strong feelings among our three countries. You know, there are 500 million border crossings among our three countries each year. The principle destination for tourism is each other's countries. So a process of...
SYLVESTER: Well, Robert, time is running out...
PASTOR: ...economic...
SYLVESTER: I just want to -- I just want to ask you one thing, though.
When you talk about trade, I mean it's undeniable that since NAFTA, we have seen an enormous trade deficit.
How would you respond to that?
And, John, if you could weigh in really quickly, too, because we're running out of time here.
PASTOR: Well, the trade deficit is partly a product of exchange rates. And we have an $800 billion trade deficit with the world, a relatively small amount with our two neighbors.
The important thing in trade between our two neighbors is the degree to which our companies are -- and trade is occurring between...
FONTE: One problem, if I may here...
PASTOR: ...the (INAUDIBLE) between firms.
FONTE: One problem with the SPP is the suggestion of one border for North America. That's both in the SPP recommendations and in the broader discussion. We should really need -- a North American border in the beginning would be fine as long as you had an even stronger American/Mexican border and American/Canadian border.
But there is talk of one card where you could get a cheaper, easier border identification to get through. This would be an open invitation to fraud. So this is very bad policy.
There's also a discussion of labor mobility, which means essentially open borders within North America.
The Congress of the United States just essentially voted a few months ago, voted this down overwhelming defeating the Kennedy/Bush/McCain Bill, which would have called for that greatly expanded guest workers and amnesty.
SYLVESTER: All right, gentlemen, we are out of time.
So, John, it looks like you get the last word.
Robert Pastor, John Fonte, we appreciate both of you gentlemen for joining us.
PASTOR: Thank you, Lisa.
SYLVESTER: Thank you very much.
Still ahead, the results of tonight's poll and some more of your thoughts.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SYLVESTER: And now the results of tonight's poll -- 98 percent of you say the Security and Prosperity Partnership threatens our sovereignty.
More of your thoughts now.
Roger in Indiana: "The U.S. economy is great, with lots of exploitable, illegal labor, cheap foreign imports and trade agreements that allow businesses to outsource virtually their entire staff. Business is booming. For the American worker, well, he just hasn't adjusted to being poor and jobless yet."
Bobbi in Illinois writes: "Sure, the U.S. economy is fine, if you live in China." Spencer in Illinois says: "Thank you so much, Lou, for continuously talking about illegal aliens. We often hear of people being highly educated and it amazes me how many of these people do not know what illegal means."
Each of you whose e-mail is read here will receive a copy of Joseph Califano's book, "High Society".
Thanks for being with us tonight.
Please join us tomorrow.
"THE SITUATION ROOM" starts now, with Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
ONE MORE BUSH LIE – You should be used to them by now!
“Privatization is a good thing!” Bush lied to us about the Dubai Ports deal. The public found out and the deal fell through.
“We need ‘Free Trade’. Isolationism is bad for everybody.” CAFTA and AFTA got through Congress before even our legislators knew what was going on. The bills passed.
“Jobs Americans won’t do”! The Senate’s Comprehensive Immigration bill was reported by Lou Dobbs on a daily basis. The public found out and the deal fell through.
“We must have extraordinary powers to prevent another 9/11!” The Patriot Act I was not even read by our legislators before a vote was mandated by the Republican-led 109th Congress. The bill passed.
The Patriot Act II was obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and published before Bush could sneak it through his Republican 109th Congress. Most Americans are totally unfamiliar with that piece of legislation entitled, “Domestic Security Enhancement Act Of 2003 (Confidential – Not For Distribution)". The Congress and the MSM found out and the deal fell through. I still retain copies of that dastardly attempt to further cut off our Bill of Rights. The bill was stopped before it could be implemented.
There is a trend here. When the public finds out in time and reacts negatively, our legislators either find a way to kill Bush’s secret initiatives or vote them down. When the secret is kept, Bush is able to force it through before anybody can even read the bill, and the legislation passes.
They used to be able to deceive us with propaganda – “FTAs are good for America”. “Outsourcing is good for America”. Yes, they are good for corporate America but not for the middle class. Now we have Democracy Now!, Lou Dobbs and bloggers, who republish the Truth and analyze the Hypocrisies and Lies. They can no longer expect to get away with their Sophistry and Disinformation. They have to maintain Secrecy if they are to have any chance of passing legislation, which is deleterious to the American public, but “Good for Big Business”.
Conclusion: When the public is informed, we can win. When the public is uninformed, we lose. Tabacco publishes this blog to provide the transparency that Bush abhors. The Bush Regime is not stupid. They know that if they can keep it secret, their chances of success increase logarithmically. If their nefarious plans are exposed, and the public has a chance to react, their plans fail.
Tabacco intends to see that Bush NEVER SUCCEEDS AGAIN! And I intend to do it by informing the public. Secrecy has been their best weapon! Transparency is their enemy! We the People must unload that Gun every time Bush loads it! Experience has taught us that greedy capitalists will never give up trying; they will never stop. We must maintain constant vigil, and we must analyze every word, every action, and every initiative. Think of dealing with this President as doing the daily crossword puzzle or the daily Jumble. But we have an advantage: Bush has never told the whole truth. We only have to look for the lie in whatever he says – it will always be there.
Tabacco: I consider myself both a funnel and a filter. I funnel information, not readily available on the Mass Media, which is ignored and/or suppressed. I filter out the irrelevancies and trivialities to save both the time and effort of my Readers and bring consternation to the enemies of Truth & Fairness! When you read Tabacco, if you don’t learn something NEW, I’ve wasted your time.
In 1981's 'Body Heat', Kathleen Turner said, "Knowledge is power".
T.A.B.A.C.C.O. (Truth About Business And Congressional Crimes Organization) – Think Tank For Other 95% Of World
YOU HAVE TO BE TRULY KNOWLEDGEABLE B4 YOU WATCH TV NEWS - BECAUSE TV LIES
ALL THE TIME!