HOFFA: MEXICAN TRUCKS DISASTER FOR U.S. HIGHWAYS

And if the immigration hordes aren't enough to register on your outrage scale, try wrapping your brain around this latest Bush plan for kissing up to Mexico to benefit his business buddies.

The Teamsters Union said today it has been told by officials in the Transportation Department's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that the first Mexican trucks could come across the border as soon as Saturday unless Congress gets involved. Tell Congress to block the Mexican trucks.

The union said Thursday it would ask a federal appeals courts to block the Bush administration's plan to begin allowing Mexican trucks to carry cargo anywhere in the United States. Teamsters leaders said they planned to seek an emergency injunction Wednesday from the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

"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 Teamsters President Jim Hoffa. Joining the Teamsters in seeking the emergency stay were the Sierra Club and Public Citizen.

"Before providing unconditional access throughout the country to tens of thousands of big rigs we know little to nothing about, we must insure they meet safety and environmental standards," Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope said.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in a statement, said it was working closely with the department's inspector general "as his office completes an additional assessment of the program and we prepare a detailed response to that report."

The Bush administration said last week it would start the cross-border program once the Transportation Department's inspector general certifies safety and inspection plans.

Leslie Miller, a Teamsters spokeswoman, said attorneys for the federal truck safety agency advised the union's lawyers that they expect to get that certification on Friday. She said the Teamsters also were told by the agency attorneys that limited authority for trucks to begin crossing the border will be approved Saturday. Supporters of the plan say letting more Mexican trucks on U.S. highways will save American consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. Labor and driver-owner groups have been fighting the measure—part of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement—since it was first proposed, saying the program will erode highway safety and eliminate U.S. jobs.

A one-year demonstration project would allow 100 Mexican motor carriers full access to U.S. roads. It can begin as soon as the inspector general certifies that safety and inspection plans and facilities are sufficient to ensure the Mexican trucks are as safe as U.S. trucks.

My opinion is that if Mexico wants to become part of the United States republic, it should apply to become number fifty-one. Then American laws and standards should apply across the board, and perhaps this land grab would work in both directions in a more appropriate way than it does now. Of course this is a silly suggestion, but we all but have those conditions in play now, with open borders and undocumented foreign commerce operating on our highways.