Saturday, January 05, 2008

What would happen if you ignored the law?

I've taken a lot of flak from right wing "law and order" types, who, especially when they talk about illegal immigration, always come back to "the law is the law and they broke it."

Well, last year, congress voted to cut off funding for a pilot program that allows Mexican trucks drive deep into the US, a provision of NAFTA. Bush signed the bill cutting off funding for the controversial program, making it the law of the land. The program, administered by the Bush administration's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, part of the Department of Transporation, has not been cut. In fact, the FMCSA

...quietly acknowledged last week that the program is still under way, adding that it has issued permits to 11 Mexican companies with a total of 56 trucks.


Senator Byron Dorgan (D, ND), in a letter to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, called for an immediate end to the program. Well, that ought to stop it, eh? After all, when the branch of government that is supposed to enforce the laws is actually breaking the law, what's a lonely executive brancher to do? Go to court? The Teamsters union is suing. But, how much will the anti-union CEOs make in the mean time by using cheaper Mexican labor as truckers in this country?

What do you GOP voters think about an administration that just ignores laws it doesn't like. Bush signed this law. Why not just veto it? This pattern of ignoring the law looks like a full assault on the constitution, the opposite of what Bush and Cheney swore in their oaths of office.

This is, of course, another example of what David Addington, Cheney's Chief of Staff,
told us was going to happen.

"We're going to push and push and push until some larger force makes us stop."


There is only one larger force that will stop these people. Impeachment.

1 comment:

Teamsters said...

First of all, it is great to see that this article is getting as much attention in the Blogosphere as it is ... the information is important to bring to the public that might be missing it in the mainstream media, so I commend you for getting this out there.

Second: This is a big/huge issue. The DOT, under Peters, basically told Senator Dorgan and the American people to go to Hell, she will do what she wants. Nice!

The inspector general of the Department of Transportation issued a report stating that, among other things, these trucks are not up to American standards, and the drivers are not held to the same level of accountability as American drivers. This is a totally unfair situation, in other words, and it is not safe.

If a driver from the Mexican pilot program runs you and your family over, all that will happen (aside from potentially killing you), is the driver will get slapped with a fine and sent home to Mexico to think it all over. If the same issue was to occur with an American driver behind the wheel, that driver would be facing vehicular manslaughter ... not good at all.

Continue to get this out there and help the Teamsters spread the word about another move by the current administration that blatantly breaks a federal law.

-Richard
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