Wednesday, May 23, 2007
AMERICAN: Kleptocracy (part 1)
Is the Bush administration planning a North American Union? The Vice President of International Affairs for American University, Robert Pastor, rejects accusations he is a leading advocate for a North American Union.
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DOBBS: In the hundreds of pages of legislation in the Senate's grand compromise, one section addresses Mexico domestic policy, calling for strengthening, economic and social standards in Mexico, with the help of the U.S. government, and, of course, taxpayers as a way to curtail illegal immigration.
Christine Romans reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's called Section 413, proposed American law dealing exclusively with the domestic policy of Mexico. The theory, that helping Mexico will reduce illegal immigration.
Section 413 promises U.S. help in getting financial services to Mexico's poor and under-served populations, expanding effort to reduce the transaction costs of remittance flows, helping the Mexican government to strengthen education and job training, and increasing health care access for the poor in Mexico. And it encourages Mexico to create incentives for Mexicans to return home.
Critic says this should already be the job of the Mexican government. GEORGE GRAYSON, COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY: They spend frightfully small amounts on health care, on education, on job training. And now I think they want to pull the wool over the Americans' eyes and have American taxpayers foot the bill for responsibilities that the Mexican elite should be assuming.
ROMANS: Furthermore, Section 413 asks the U.S. Congress to ramp up the six-year-old bilateral Partnership for Prosperity and highlights the broader North American Security and Prosperity Partnership. "The U.S. and Mexico should accelerate he implementation of the Partnership for Prosperity to help generate economic growth and improve the standard of living in Mexico, which will lead to reduced migration."
TOM FITTON, JUDICIAL WATCH: They are being asked to give a rubberstamp to the Security Prosperity Partnership, the Partnership on Prosperity, and the discussions with Mexico and Canada that talk about economic, energy, transportation, health services and insurance integration.
ROMANS: Section 413 also calls for a U.S.-Mexican partnership to examine "uncompensated and burdensome health care costs incurred by the United States due to legal and illegal immigration."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: What this means is a coordinated effort to help Mexico improve prenatal, trauma and emergency care in border areas, and a partnership between the two countries to find ways to ensure temporary workers and return injured workers to Mexico for long-term treatment -- Lou.
DOBBS: The more we look at this, the more idiotic. What in the world are these elitists -- what are they thinking about? It's incomprehensible.
ROMANS: This particular Section 413 has a lot of different things in there, from health care, to the SPP, to this bilateral agreement that's already six years old between the United States and Mexico, to lowering remittance costs so that people in the United States can send money back to Mexico more cheaply. In theory, to invest it in the Mexican economy.
DOBBS: We have -- forgive me, Christine, but we have truly entered a bizarre place, where the president of the United States, President George W. Bush, is representing the interests of Mexican citizens in this country, and Congress, our Senate, is attempting to impose a law that is appropriately the purview of the Mexican legislature.
Could it get more -- any more upside down? I don't even want to think about the possibility if the answer were yes.
ROMANS: Well, Lou, there are so many more pages to go through. That was just two pages of 380, right there.
DOBBS: Well, we've got a long few weeks ahead of us, so there will be plenty for you to go through.
Christine, thanks.
Christine Romans.
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