North American Union

[Soldier4Christ]

'North American Parliament' under way
Some hope exercise of U.S., Canadian, Mexican reps becomes reality

A group supporting North American integration is holding its fourth annual "North American Model Parliament" for 100 university students from the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The North American Forum on Integration, or NAFI, began is "Triumvirate" sessions Monday in Montreal's City Hall with a plan to conclude Friday.

According to the NAFI website, "Triumvirate 2008" brings together the students "to participate in an international negotiation exercise in which they will simulate a parliamentary meeting between North American political actors."

Participants are assigned to play one of three roles: a legislator, representing a country other than their own; a journalist; or a lobbyist.

Four themes were selected as subjects of the mock parliament's debate: Fostering Renewable Electricity Markets (in English); Countering North American corporate outsourcing (in French); Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (in English); and NAFTA's Chapter 11 on investments (in English).

A major goal of the model parliament, according to the NAFI Triumvirate website, is to "develop the participants' sense of belonging to North America."

WND contacted the NAFI office in Montreal requesting comment but received no reply.

As WND previously reported, Raymond Chretien, the president of the Triumvirate and the former Canadian ambassador to both Mexico and the U.S., was quoted as claiming the exercise was intended to be more than academic.

"The creation of a North American parliament, such as the one being simulated by these young people, should be considered," Chretien told WND.

Among the NAFI board of directors are Robert A. Pastor, Ph.D., former director of the Center for North American Studies at American University; and M. Stephen Blank, Ph.D., director of the North American Center for Transborder Studies at Arizona State University.

Pastor has written extensively on his proposal for the creation of a "North American Community," while denying he has intended to form a North American Union modeled after the European Union."

In January, Pastor resigned his position at American University's Office of International Affairs amid a reorganization. Pastor announced he was taking a one-year sabbatical in which he planned to work as co-director of The Elders, a group of 13 world figures, including Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan and Jimmy Carter.

As WND previously reported, Pastor's 2001 book, "Toward a North American Community," presents an argument that North American integration should advance through the development of a "North American consciousness" by creating various institutions which include a North American customs union and a North American Development Fund for the economic development of Mexico.

Pastor also was vice chairman of the May 2005 Council on Foreign Relations task force report, "Building a North American Community," that presents itself as a blueprint for using bureaucratic action though trilateral "working groups" constituted within the executive branches of the U.S, Mexico and Canada to advance the North American integration agenda.

Stephen Blank is the driving force behind the North America Works conference.

North America Works II, held in Kansas City, Mo., Dec. 1-2, 2006, was organized by the David Rockefeller-created Council of the Americas to discuss "North American Competitiveness and the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP)."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50618">Critics contend the working groups are pursuing a stealth process to transform the SPP into a North American regional governmental structure.

WND reported last year's Triumvirate 2007 was held in Washington, D.C.

The Triumvirate 2006 North American Model Parliament was held in the Mexican Senate, and Triumvirate 2005, the first model parliament, took place in Ottawa, Canada.

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative emerged from the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which requires all travelers to present a passport or other equivalent documents denoting identity and citizenship when entering the U.S. from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean.

NAFTA Chapter 11 establishes an international tribunal to resolve disputes in which NAFTA investors claim national, state or local laws in the U.S., Canada or Mexico adversely impact NAFTA investments.

NAFTA Chapter 11 tribunals are empowered under NAFTA to overturn U.S. federal, state or local laws or ordinances that are judged to have harmed the interests of investors under NAFTA.

A Canadian government website lists Chapter 11 arbitrations involving Canadian companies and investors.

The U.S. State Department website lists on a sidebar all current NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitrations.

[nChrist]

It's interesting how politicians deny doing something IN NAME ONLY. They seem to think that we're stupid enough to accept it if they JUST CALL IT A DIFFERENT NAME!

There's a LITTLE PROBLEM right now in that what they're doing is ILLEGAL, UNCONSTITUTIONAL, AND A CRIME! Each individual State has Sovereignty RIGHTS that ONLY THE PEOPLE CONTROL! This would be like any other RIGHT that can ONLY BE REMOVED BY A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE! Any other attempt without DUE PROCESS by the people would be and IS A CRIMINAL ACT!

[Soldier4Christ]

Texas Corridor detour:
Officials nix land grab
Toll plan tossed: 'Any area that is not along
an existing highway will not be considered'

Opponents of a plan to build a Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) road and rail system from Mexico to Oklahoma received welcome news this week, as Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) officials announced their strategy would no longer include building new highway routes southwest of Houston, a plan that would have annexed huge tracts of private land.

The $184 billion TTC project originally called for a 4,000-mile network of transportation corridors, 1,200 feet wide, to be built across Texas. The plan would have taken about a half million agricultural acres out of private hands, leading to a maelstrom of objections from Texas landowners.

But now TxDOT executive Director Amadeo Saenz says plans have changed. In a conference call with reporters he said TxDOT "had narrowed the study area for TTC I-69" and that the department "is going to be considering only existing highway" routes, and "any area that is not along an existing highway will not be considered."

"This is great news for landowners," said John Means, president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. "TSCRA appreciates the agency's decision to not build the toll roads through rural lands that would threaten the private property rights of many of our members."

The TxDOT website states that "the preliminary basis for this decision centers on the review of nearly 28,000 public comments made" on the issue. Saenz added that 47 town hall meetings with Texas residents had further influenced the decision.

Brehham, Tex., State Rep. Lois W. Kolkhorst, who joined in the battle to protect rural lands from the project, told The Huntsville Item, "The real heroes who deserve the credit here are the constituents. I want to thank the thousands of people who joined me in fighting the I-69 TTC for the past 5 years, writing letters, calling and attending meetings to make their voices heard."

Though opponents of the TTC celebrate victory in this battle, they have been quick to point out that the war is not over.

"This is good news about a retreat from the corridor," Kolkhorst said, "but the controversy over how we pay for our roads will continue. We need to stay strong against the forces out there who want to sell off our highway infrastructure to foreign sources."

"This is a great first step," said Kenneth Dierschke, president of the Texas Farm Bureau. "But we must continue to hold TxDOT's feet to the fire during the next legislative session to ensure they keep these promises."

David Stall of the anti-TTC group CorridorWatch is also wary of crying victory too soon. Speaking of TxDOT, Stall told a Houston Community Newspaper, "They've never taken the public's input into consideration before."

Part of the concern is that the announcement to limit the TTC's scope only included project proposals south and west of Houston. The announcement did not mention plans for the northern I-35 corridor.

"We want (Saenz) to send the same letter to the Federal Highway Administration for TTC I-35 that he sent about I-69," Stall said. "There was as much public input about I-35 as there was about 69."

Stall also worries that TxDOT was motivated largely by "financial ability and political expediency," warning, "As soon as it becomes fiscally viable, it will come back."

For now, landowners in southwestern Texas are breathing a sigh of relief and preparing for future battles if necessary.

Last year Amy Klein, a member of CorridorWatch, quoted Stall in the Gainesville Daily Register with words that are just as meaningful now to the group as they were then. "You eat an elephant one bite at a time," she quoted. Then she added, "I think we're slowly devouring this elephant."

[nChrist]

Last year Amy Klein, a member of CorridorWatch, quoted Stall in the Gainesville Daily Register with words that are just as meaningful now to the group as they were then. "You eat an elephant one bite at a time," she quoted. Then she added, "I think we're slowly devouring this elephant."

I think this pink elephant needs to be taken back to Mexico City and let them eat it. If we want the elephant - we'll vote for it. Otherwise - THE ANSWER IS NO!

[Soldier4Christ]

Father of North American Community concedes dream 'is dead'
Says critics have blocked alignment of U.S., Mexico and Canada

The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America is dead, says Robert A. Pastor, the American University professor who for more than a decade has been a major proponent of building a North American Community.

"The new president will probably discard the SPP," Pastor wrote in an article titled "The Future of North America," published in the current July/August issue of the Council on Foreign Relations magazine Foreign Affairs.

The SPP, which critics contend is a step toward a North American Union, is an agreement to increase cooperation on security and economic issues signed by the leaders of the U.S., Mexico and Canada in 2005. Despite having no authorization from Congress, the Bush administration launched extensive working-group activity to implement the agreement. The working groups – ranging from e-commerce, to aviation policy, to borders and immigration – have counterparts in Mexico and Canada.

"The April summit meeting was probably the last hurrah for the SPP," Pastor wrote, referring to the fourth annual SPP meeting held in April in New Orleans.

Pastor attributes the failure of SPP to its largely bureaucratic nature and the decision policy makers made to keep SPP largely below the radar of public opinion.

"The strategy of acting on technical issues in an incremental, bureaucratic way and keeping the issues away from public view has generated more suspicion than accomplishments," Pastor admitted.

Pastor blames critics for the failure of the SPP, charging it has come under attack from both ends of the political spectrum.

"From the right have come attacks based on cultural anxieties of being overrun by Mexican immigrants and fears that cooperation with Canada and Mexico could lead down a slippery slope toward a North American Union," he wrote. "From the left came attacks based on economic fears of jobs lost due to unfair trading practices."

"These two sets of fears came together in a perfect storm that was pushed forward by a surplus of hot air from talk-show hosts on radio and television," he continued. "In the face of this criticism, the Bush administration was silent, and the Democratic candidates competed for votes in the rust-belt states, where unions and many working people have come to see NAFTA and globalization much as (commentator Lou) Dobbs does."

Pastor denied he had ever urged the creation of a North American Union.

"Dobbs, among others, viewed a report by a 2005 Council on Foreign Relations task force (which I chaired), 'Building a North American Community,' as the manifesto of a conspiracy to subvert American sovereignty," he asserted. "Dobbs claimed that the CFR study proposed a North American Union, although it did not."

Pastor has argued consistently for a "North American Community," as suggested by the title of his 2001 book entitled "Toward a North American Community."

In a commentary authored for WND, Pastor stressed, "I do not propose a North American Union; I propose a North American Community."

Pastor argued the two were different in that North American Community would involve "three sovereign governments that seek to strengthen bonds of cooperation."

Noting that the European Community was a transitional state between the European Common Market and the European Union, Pastor conceded to WND that, "I don't think a political union of North America is an inherently bad idea, nor do I think it is a good idea for right now."

Despite the SPP setback, Pastor remains determined to advise a different approach to his continued goal of integrating the U.S., Mexico and Canada into a North American Community.

"The three heads of state must also commit to building a new consciousness, a new way of thinking about one's neighbors and about the continental agenda," he said. "Americans, Canadians and Mexicans can be nationals and North Americans at the same time."

To correct the defects of the SPP bureaucratic closed-door process, Pastor's CFR article recommended creating new North American institutions, including a North American Investment Fund of at least $20 billion a year "to connect central and southern Mexico to the United States with roads, ports, and communications."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, dropped his support for Senate bill 3622 in the 109th Congress when WND reported the North American Investment Fund proposed by the legislation would enact a key proposal Pastor has frequently made for advancing his North American Community agenda.

In his CFR article, Pastor also called for the continuation of annual North American heads-of-state summits and the appointment in the next administration of a national adviser for North American affairs, who would chair a cabinet-level committee to formulate a comprehensive plan for North America.

Pastor also encouraged creating a dozen university centers for North American studies "to educate a new generation of students to think North American."

WND reported on the fourth annual North American Model Parliament held this year in Montreal, Canada, for 100 university students from the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The North American Model Parliament is sponsored by the North American Forum on Integration, on which Pastor serves as a board member.

[Soldier4Christ]

I don't agree with his assessment on this. I don't think it is dead but rather it will take on a different direction in an attempt to keep it out of the publics sight.

[nChrist]

I don't agree with his assessment on this. I don't think it is dead but rather it will take on a different direction in an attempt to keep it out of the publics sight.

Hello Pastor Roger,

I agree with you completely. The POWER and MONEY that BE are too bone-headed to let go. Criminal charges of TREASON might slow things down considerably, and I honestly think this is what needs to happen. We have never authorized any system that resembles a dictatorship. All we allow is public servants, and that won't change. Any person or group of persons who think that they are above our laws and Constitutions need to be serving lengthy prison terms. People like this would actually be the most DANGEROUS TYPE OF CRIMINAL because they would be betraying an entire population and putting the population at risk WITH ACTS THEY WERE NEVER AUTHORIZED TO DO!

[Soldier4Christ]

Bush team extends Mexican truck test
Waits until congressional opponents out of town to make announcement

A demonstration project allowing Mexican truck companies and their drivers to run on U.S roadways has been extended for two years by officials at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on the first day opponents in Congress were out of Washington for their August break.

"I am pleased with the success of our demonstration project, but the participation has been limited by the uncertainty of the project's longevity. A number of potential companies have been unwilling to invest the time and resources necessary to participate due to uncertainties concerning the project's longevity," FMCSA chief John Hill said in his announcement today which extended the pilot project for two more years.

"When the cat's away, the mice will play," said a statement from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. "The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration curiously chose the first day Congress is out of session for one month to announce a two-year extension of the unpopular cross-border trucking program."

The organization said it was not surprised and maintains the continuance of the program is in defiance of congressional directives "as well as existing laws and regulations."

"The administration has shown time and again that when it comes to this program they are willing to run roughshod over Congress and the American public," said Todd Spencer, OOIDA executive vice president. "Announcing this on the first day of the recess is unfortunately par for the course with them. Sorry for the cliché, but it's 'Bush league' tactics."

Norita Taylor, a spokeswoman for the truckers' group, said Congress previously forbade funding for such programs but used the word "establish" in its directive. Federal administration officials noted the ban did not apply to the trucking program since it already had been "established."

The truckers organization also has a lawsuit pending in federal court over the implementation of the program.

"OOIDA agrees with Congress, which has voted more than once to end the program, in its contention that the pilot program as conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) does not comply with U.S. laws and regulations with regard to safety and security," the organization said.

"DOT has consistently bent over backwards to force this program on the public. They seem oblivious to the inherent safety and security risks of what they are trying to do,” Spencer said.

The trade association has more than 161,000 members in the U.S. and Canada and represents the interests of small-business trucking professionals and professional truck drivers. It's leaders believe the decision to allow Mexican trucking companies and truck drivers on U.S. roads will not help.

Federal Department of Transportation officials, however, were enthused over the extension.

"We intend this extension to reassure trucking companies that they will have sufficient time to realize a return on their investment, and we anticipate additional participation with this extra time. The extension will ensure that the demonstration project can be reviewed and evaluated on the basis of a more comprehensive body of data," said Hill.

He said, "To date, the project has shown that U.S. and Mexican carriers can engage in cross-border trucking operations in compliance with applicable laws and with no compromise to public safety or security. In fact, Mexican trucks and drivers have established compliance rates equal or better to those of U.S. trucks and drivers."

Federal officials said there currently are 27 Mexican trucking companies running 107 trucks into the U.S. They have made nearly 10,000 trips across the border. Only 10 U.S. companies are making similar trips into Mexico.

WND previously reported Transportation Secretary Mary Peters admitted under questioning from Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., that Mexican drivers involved in the program were being designated as "proficient in English" even though they could explain U.S. traffic signs only in Spanish.

The designation was made despite a brochure on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's website instructing Mexican truck drivers, "Did you know … You MUST be able to read and speak English to drive trucks in the United States."

Dorgan asked, "Does the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration test for English proficiency at the border include questions about U.S. highway signs?"

"Yes," DOT Inspector General Calvin Scovel replied. "The FMCSA English proficiency test at the border did not originally include U.S. highway signs, but now it does."

"Do you show a driver an octagonal 'STOP' sign at the border and qualify him if he explains the sign means 'ALTO'?" an incredulous Dorgan pressed.

"Alto" is the Spanish word for "Stop."

"Yes," Scovel answered reluctantly. "If the stop sign is identified as 'alto,' the driver is considered English proficient."

Dorgan also has accused Peters of defying Congress by parsing words to continue to allow Mexican trucks into the U.S. under the demonstration project, despite the clear intent of Congress to take away funds to bring the program to a halt.

[Barbara]

...And SPP is alive and well!

Rumors of it's death have been greatly exagerrated!!!

Our 'politicians' prove more and more everyday that this IS their agenda - to create a N. American Union and ignore the people of the US. My husband read on WND that for a small donation they will send faxes in your name to flood the politicians offices. We're joining up! We're disgusted by these people that seem to feel they're above the law and we're all just fools.

[Soldier4Christ]

I saw that on the faxes. I have a fax setup through my printer/scanner and unlimited long distance so I fax my own instead as well as use email and phone calls.

[Shammu]

Border patrol agent held at gunpoint
Jerry Seper

A U.S. Border Patrol agent was held at gunpoint Sunday night by members of the Mexican military who had crossed the border into Arizona, but the soldiers returned to Mexico without incident when backup agents responded to assist.

Agents assigned to the Border Patrol station at Ajo, Ariz., said the Mexican soldiers crossed the international border in an isolated area about 100 miles southwest of Tucson and pointed rifles at the agent, who was not identified.

It was unclear what the soldiers were doing in the United States, but U.S. law enforcement authorities have long said that current and former Mexican military personnel have been hired to protect drug and migrant smugglers.

"Unfortunately, this sort of behavior by Mexican military personnel has been going on for years," union Local 2544 of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) said on its Web page. "They are never held accountable, and the United States government will undoubtedly brush this off as another case of 'Oh well, they didn't know they were in the United States.'

"It is fortunate that this incident didn't end in a very ugly gunfight," said the local's posting.

The NBPC represents all nonsupervisory personnel among the agency's 16,000 agents.

Border Patrol spokesman Michael Friel did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

State Department spokeswoman Nicole Thompson said Tuesday that the department had no information on the incident, and referred further questions to the Border Patrol. "It is not an incident that we are aware of," she said.

Ricardo Alday, spokesman at the Mexican Embassy in Washington, said Tuesday that Mexico and the United States are engaged in "an all-out struggle to deter criminal organizations from operating on both sides of our common border."

"Law enforcement operations have led, from time to time, to innocent incursions by both U.S. and Mexican law enforcement personnel and military units into the territory of both nations, and in particular along non-demarcated areas of our border," he said.

"We always try to solve these incidents in a cooperative fashion, and as acknowledged by the Border Patrol, this was the case in the episode at Ajo," he said.

Since 1996, there have been more than 200 confirmed incursions by the Mexican military into the United States.

Local 2544, the largest in the NBPC, is headed by veteran Border Patrol agent Edward "Bud" Tuffly II. He noted on the Web page that the local's leadership would "withhold further comment on this incident until we see how our leaders handle it."

"We don't have much confidence in most of them," the local's posting said.

Sunday night's incident bears similarities to other incursions by armed men in Mexican military gear in recent years:

cThe incident occurred in the same area where heavily armed Mexican soldiers riding in a Humvee shot at a Border Patrol agent in 2002. A .50-caliber bullet ripped through the agent's rear window as he sped away.

Mexican officials denied at the time that the shooters were Mexican soldiers, saying they were criminals using military uniforms. It is a position they steadfastly have maintained.

But the agent who reported encountering the gunfire was certain he saw soldiers, said Mr. Tuffly. He said at the time that the agent was able to identify their attire "down to a T, and it matched exactly what they [Mexican soldiers] wear."

That purported incursion began after a Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation police ranger reported being chased by men in a Humvee.

cA year ago, U.S. law enforcement authorities were confronted by gunfire from automatic weapons as they chased and caught a drug-smuggling suspect in Texas trying to flee back into Mexico, the Hudspeth County (Texas) Sheriff's Office said.

No one was hurt in that incident, and the gunmen were not identified, although the area has been the scene of similar incidents over several months, including a confrontation in January 2007, when heavily armed men in Mexican military uniforms fired on Texas officers with a .50-caliber machine gun mounted on a camouflaged Humvee.

The men were identified at the time by Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West as "soldiers."

In that incident, Hudspeth County deputies pursued three sport utility vehicles back to Mexico after spotting them driving north from the Rio Grande. The pursuit ended on the U.S. side of the border when the deputies encountered 10 heavily armed men in what they described as battle-dress uniforms.

At that time, deputies found 1,400 pounds of marijuana in one of the vehicles abandoned after it blew a tire early in the pursuit. Another made it into Mexico and a third got stuck in the Rio Grande and was burned by the "soldiers" after it was unloaded.

cIn November 2007, the Border Patrol chased a dump truck full of marijuana in the same area when it also got stuck in the river while trying to return to Mexico. While agents sought to unload 3 tons of marijuana, the driver - who had fled - returned with a heavily armed group of men wearing Mexican military uniforms and carrying military-style weapons.

The soldiers backed the agents away and bulldozed the truck back into Mexico.

"Nothing was ever done," Local 2544 said. "Nobody was ever held accountable. Particularly galling is the fact that the Mexican military often pulls these stunts in Humvees donated to them by the American taxpayers. We note that Border Patrol agents have historically driven worn-out, junk vehicles."

A coalition of Texas border sheriffs has demanded that the U.S. and Mexican governments investigate incursions into the United States by heavily armed drug escorts dressed in Mexican military uniforms "before someone gets killed."

Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. of Zapata County, Texas, who founded the coalition, said a growing number of suspected incursions and violence aimed at the area's law enforcement officers is making the border "a pretty dangerous place."

Sheriff Gonzalez said three of his deputies in 2006 spotted 25 men dressed in military uniforms in the U.S. during a late-night patrol. He said the men marched two abreast and carried duffel bags and automatic weapons, and that his "outmanned and outgunned deputies" were forced to retreat.

"The only thing you can do in that kind of situation is seek cover," Sheriff Gonzalez said. "I'm not going to lose someone in an unfair fight."

The State Department on Tuesday also confirmed a separate case in which two California police officers were arrested at the border Friday on charges of attempting to smuggle guns, ammunition and training materials into Mexico.

A Mexican court is expected to decide Wednesday whether the two Monterey County officers will remain in jail or be released on bail.

The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana said Mexico holds the largest population of U.S. prisoners outside the United States.

Border patrol agent held at gunpoint

[Shammu]

North American Union supporter top Obama economic adviser
Socialist activist Bonier reportedly being considered for Labor secretary
Posted: November 28, 2008
1:35 am Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

President-elect Barack Obama recently appointed to his economic transition team a known socialist activist who has previously urged the creation of a North American Parliamentary Union, a governing body to consist of Mexico, Canada and the U.S.

Former Rep. David Bonior, reportedly being considered for the Labor secretary position in the incoming Obama administration, has a longstanding close relationship with the Democratic Socialists of America, an organization dedicated to transforming America into a socialist society.

There is evidence indicating Bonior is a member in good standing of the DSA.

Earlier this month, the Detroit chapter of the DSA honored Bonior and his wife Judy at its annual dinner. Bonior has been honored at several DSA functions the past six years, including in 2003, where he was the keynote speaker at the U.S. socialist organization's national convention in Detroit.

At the 2003 convention, Bonior laid out his plan for a North American Parliamentary Union, according to a DSA transcript of the event.

Bonior was a longtime critic the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, a trilateral trade bloc created by the U.S., Canadian and Mexican governments. But he argued that as long as NAFTA was in affect, a joint parliament should be formed to oversee the agreement.

"How do we democratize this globalization argument (NAFTA)?" Bonior stated at the DSA convention. "One of the ideas we came up with was forming a North American Parliamentary Union. A North America Parliament, with Mexico, Canada and the United States, with people – probably first appointed, but eventually elected like they are in the European Parliament – so we can begin to raise these issues of human rights, civil rights and labor rights and immigration, which never get talked about here.

The proposed North American Parliamentary Union would be a democratic structure to enfranchise all citizens – farmers, laborers, small business, environmentalists, consumer advocates and others – in the NAFTA countries, as well as, hopefully, Central America," he said.

Bonior added: "I think the chances of this happening in the short run are not very good, but in the long run ... we have a chance of forming a North American parliament, and with that, I think, the dialogue on these issues that we all struggle with and are frustrated with will have a place in which they can surface and hopefully we can move forward."

Bonior has other ties to the DSA. The socialist group reportedly campaigned for him in 2002, after he left Congress and ran unsuccessfully for governor of Michigan.

The New Zeal blog discovered a 2002 DSA newsletter that reports the organization's work "focused on Rep. David Bonior's gubernatorial campaign."

"The local endorsed Rep. Bonior almost eighteen months ago. DSA helped with the early fundraising for his campaign, collecting signatures for his nominating petitions, distributing literature at Detroit churches, and walking door to door in Macomb County on his behalf on the weekend before the primary," stated the DSA newsletter.

There is some evidence indicating Bonior may have been a member of the DSA. In 2006, the socialist group formed a political action committee to which only DSA members in good standing are allowed to contribute, according to FEC guidelines. The DSA states the committee, which seeks to support federal political candidates supported by the socialist group, is careful about who contributes to the fund.

"Because the law is so specific, all contributions are carefully screened to make sure that they are from (DSA) members," states a 2006 DSA newsletter.

New Zeal found that on June 19, 2006, Bonior contributed $1,000 to the DSA's committee.

Obama appointee was a 'Saddam Hussein Baghdad boy'

First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, Bonior served from 1991 to 2002 as Democratic whip, the second-ranking Democrat position in the House. He was known as a supporter of labor unions, later chairing the board of the pro-union American Rights at Work, whose board members include the American Union Movement AFL-CIO's president, John Sweeney, who is a DSA member.

Bonior is a champion of the Employee Free Choice Act. The measure seeks to make the creation of unions more lenient than current requirements, such as lowering the percentage of employees that must join. It would require an employer to begin bargaining with a new union 10 days after the union is certified as the exclusive bargaining representative. If the union and employer cannot agree upon the terms of a bargaining contract within 90 days, either party can request federal mediation, which could lead to binding arbitration.

The former congressman previously was the center of controversy when in 2002 he visited Iraq, according to some reports at the behest of Saddam Hussein. In late September of that year, Bonior traveled to Iraq along with fellow congressmen Jim McDermott and Mike Thompson.

Prior to the trip, the three politicians issued a joint press release, posted on each of their congressional websites, explaining their visit was aimed at "gaining insight into the humanitarian challenges another war on Iraq would have on innocent Iraqis and the dangerous implications of a unilateral, preemptive strike on U.S. national security."

After the trio's trip generated criticism, with one magazine, the Weekly Standard, coining them the "Baghdad Democrats," and "Baghdad boys", Bonior claimed to the U.S. media the visit was about ensuring freedom of access to Hussein's suspected weapons facilities.

"We wanted to impress upon the Iraqi government and the people of Iraq how important it was for them to allow unconditional, unfettered, unrestricted access to the inspectors," Bonior said.

But Bonior and the other congressmen didn't seem bothered when, during their trip, the Iraqi state-run media painted their visit as a show of support for Hussein's regime.

The Iraq Daily, published by Hussein's Ministry of Information, reportedly printed daily updates of the trip, including in English. One September 30 report stated, "the members of the U.S. Congress delegation have underlined that this visit aims to get acquainted with the truth of Iraq's people sufferings due to ongoing embargo which caused shortage in food and medicine for all Iraqi people."

That report was carried alongside another article boasting of Hussein's support for Palestinian terror organizations.

The Weekly Standard highlighted how, upon touching down in Iraq on September 27, Iraqi Satellite Channel Television reported the congressional visit would be brought to Iraqi hospitals "to see the suffering caused by the unjust embargo and the shortage of medicines and medical supplies. Congressman Jim McDermott told reporters upon arrival at Saddam International Airport that the delegation members reject the policy of aggression dominating the U.S. administration."

In 2002, WND reported former FBI officials charges that Bonier, while in Congress, had hampered efforts to investigate terrorist suspects in Detroit.

[Soldier4Christ]

Economic crisis stalls NAFTA superhighway
Good news for those opposing Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America

Amid an economic storm, there is good news for opponents of North American integration under the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, or SPP, Jerome Corsi's Red Alert reports.

As the U.S. and global economy slows, the volume of freight being moved internationally over "intermodal" ship-train-truck connections is also slowing. This is reducing the immediate pressure to reconfigure the U.S. transportations system into a global network for moving containers.

"Still, the pressure to reconfigure the U.S. into NAFTA Superhighway container-moving structures should be expected to resume, perhaps even as a stimulus to jump start now lagging global 'free trade,'" Corsi writes.

Freight traffic on U.S. railroads in December appears to be dropping almost as low as the record 10 percent plunge that occurred in November. Intermodal container volume is also down nearly 10 percent from last year, reflecting the overall decline in global trade.

While the U.S. railroad industry appears to have enough capital to weather even a strong recession, Corsi notes, its trucking industry is entering 2009 in a weakened state. It was plagued by high gas prices in the early part of 2008, only to experience a significant dip in truck freight demand beginning in September, even as gas prices eased.

"Even Texas' Gov. Rick Perry is receiving increased opposition over the Trans-Texas Corridor," he writes. "The TTC-35 project to build a new four-football-fields wide truck/train/automobile/pipeline toll road parallel to Interstate 35 is facing mounting opposition."

WND has reported that in 2007, Perry vetoed multiple pieces of legislation passed by the Texas legislature to block TTC projects, including one bill that would have placed a two-year moratorium on TTC-35 construction.

Now Red Alert's author, whose books "The Obama Nation" and "Unfit for Command" have topped the New York Times best-sellers list, reports a growing number of Texas legislators are pushing for a TTC suspension

Red Alert's Jerome Corsi received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in political science in 1972. For nearly 25 years beginning in 1981, he worked with banks throughout the United States and around the world to develop financial services marketing companies to assist banks in establishing broker/dealers and insurance subsidiaries to provide financial planning products and services to their retail customers. In this career, Corsi developed three different third-party financial services marketing firms that reached gross sales levels of $1 billion in annuities and equal volume in mutual funds. In 1999, he began developing Internet-based financial marketing firms, also adapted to work in conjunction with banks.

In his 25-year financial services career, Corsi has been a noted financial services speaker and writer, publishing three books and numerous articles in professional financial services journals and magazines.

[Soldier4Christ]

Sudden death for NAFTA highway plan
'To be clear, the Trans-Texas Corridor as it is known, no longer exists'

Tens of thousands of opponents to a NAFTA highway project that would have crossed Texas with a corridor the width of four football fields have been given good news by the state: the Trans-Texas Corridor plan is being dropped.

Official word came from Amadeo Saenz Jr., the chief of the Texas Department of Transportation, during the state's annual transportation forum in Austin this week.

"The Trans-Texas Corridor, as a single-project concept, is not the choice of Texans, so we decided to put the name to rest," he said, according to the Houston Chronicle. "To be clear, the Trans-Texas Corridor as it is known, no longer exists.

"Texans have spoken, and we've been listening," Saenz said in a statement released by the department. "Citizens across the state have had good ideas about how Texas roads can better serve Texas communities."

He said work will continue on highway projects, but there will be changes.

"I believe this transformed vision for the TTC and other major corridor development goes a long way toward addressing the concerns we've heard over the past several years," his statement said.

Saenz said the department would be working on the Innovative Connectivity in Texas/Vision 2009 program. The project transforms the original TTC vision, making changes in corridor width, transportation mode, use of existing facilities, timeline and other issues, he said.

The original vision for the TTC, according to the statement, was outlined in Crossroads of the Americas: Trans-Texas Corridor Plan. It called for a corridor of up to 1,200 feet in width that would allow rails highways, special lanes for freight trucks as well as utilities.

But WND reported extensively on opposition to the plan, which was quickly labeled a NAFTA highway that would provide transportation routes for mass quantities of Chinese goods imported into Mexico, then hauled throughout the United States and Canada.

Texas officials said after the concept was introduced in 2002 communities along the proposed transportation corridors raised numerous objections and concerns.

"TxDOT agrees with many of the recommendations of the I-35 and I-69 Corridor Advisory Committees, citizen advisory groups created to participate in planning transportation projects along the two TTC project corridors already under way," the Texas agency statement said.

"Major corridor projects will now be comprised of several small segments closer to 600 feet wide and will no longer be called the Trans-Texas Corridor. Instead, the department will use the highway numbers originally associated with each segment, such as I-69, SH 130 and Loop 9."

The agency also said whether any projects will include rail or other services remains to be determined.

"I'm pleased with the level of public involvement called for in this document," Saenz said. "I'm hopeful that, working together, we'll develop a corridor that serves both the economic interests of the state and the needs of each individual community."

The $184 billion TTC project originally called for a 4,000-mile network of transportation corridors, 1,200 feet wide, to be built across Texas. The plan would have taken about a half million agricultural acres out of private hands, leading to a maelstrom of objections from Texas landowners.

WND reported earlier when state officials admitted they were dropping specific segments of the project.

Saenz said then the department would consider "only existing highway" routes for the project's expansions.

The TxDOT website said then "the preliminary basis for this decision centers on the review of nearly 28,000 public comments made" on the issue.

Saenz's latest announcement earned approval from several watchdog groups, including David Stall of the citizen's group Corridor Watch.

"We're real pleased that a project once described as unstoppable has now screeched to a halt," he told the Houston newspaper.

On a comment forum at the newspaper, one participant withheld nothing.

"YES!" the commenter wrote. "We do have a voice."

Added another, "This debacle was going to have a highway running from the Mexican coast, where goods were to be unloaded from ships, straight to Kansas City where the first inspections of the goods would take place. … I'm serious, that was the plan and the public outcry shut it down. But rest assured, it will be revived under the 'Innovative Connectivity Plan.'…

WND senior investigative reporter Jerome Corsi previously documented signs of the project's demise in his Red Alert report.

He reported as the U.S. and global economies slow, the volume of freight being moved via intermodal ship-train-truck connections also was slowing.

The slowdown reduced the pressure to reconfigure U.S. transportation systems through projects like the TCC into an integrated infrastructure to serve the needs of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.

"Still, the pressure to reconfigure the U.S. into NAFTA Superhighway container-moving structures should be expected to resume, perhaps even as a stimulus to jump start now lagging global 'free trade,'" Corsi wrote.

[nChrist]

WOW!

Regardless of what they call it, it's hard to believe that any part of this is still going further. It's insane when so many are losing jobs. CHAOS was needed to keep any part of it alive, and there was more than adequate CHAOS. In fact, CHAOS has served many evil purposes extremely well. If there's enough noise, the rascals can do all kinds of mischief in the background, and that's what we have. Any semblance of this insane plan needs to be buried forever, but that wouldn't fit the overall agenda - WOULD IT?