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Running Roughshod over U.S. Laws: under NAFTA and the SPP, the rule of law--including our U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights--is being replaced with arbitrary rule by unaccountable elitists.(SPECIAL REPORT: RULE OF LAW)
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ITEM: "NAFTA court is law of the 3 lands." So proclaimed the headline in the Sacramento Bee on April 18, 2004. The article, taken from the New York Times, reports on a NAFTA tribunal overriding the Massachusetts Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
ITEM: "State Laws Take Back Seat to Trade." That was the headline of a Los Angeles Times story for December 5, 2004 on how rulings by courts created under NAFTA and the World Trade Organization are striking down state laws.
ITEM: "Mexican Trucks Begin Deliveries Beyond U.S. Border." The September 9, 2007 Bloomberg.com story reported on the controversial move by the Bush administration to advance NAFTA objectives by opening the United States to long-haul Mexican trucking companies, in violation of state safety, labor, and environmental laws.
The rule of law, the great principle underlying our constitutional system of government, is under attack as never before. Two of the prominent threats to the rule of law in America are the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the 2005 Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). President Bush is an ardent champion of the former and a coauthor of the latter.
Nevertheless, the president regularly invokes the "rule of law" in his speeches and press conferences. As he did, for instance, at the January 2004 Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico. Standing next to his host, Mexico's then-President Vicente Fox, Mr. Bush said of the illegal-immigration controversy: "We are a country of law. Rule of law is important in America."
This is perversely ironic, in that NAFTA and the SPP are daggers aimed at the very heart of the rule of law. However, before examining these threats, it might serve to examine briefly just what that three-word phrase, "rule of law," so reverenced in American heritage, actually means.
- NAFTA: it's not just about trade! The North American Free Trade Agreement was...
- Magazine article from: The New American Benoit, Gary October 15, 2007 700+ words
...pushed for congressional approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, he argued that the pact...his administration is working to build NAFTA into a North American Union. NAFTA was supposed to create jobs and prosperity...
- Multinational enterprise strategy and the NAFTA trade and environment...
- Magazine article from: Journal of World Business Rugman, Alan M. Kirton, John December 22, 1998 700+ words
...years after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect...operation of NAFTA's economic...strategies that North American business has...of the three North American governments...firms. The NAFTA institutions...
- Here's what NAFTA says. (North American Free Trade Agreement)(The Changing Face...
- Magazine article from: Industrial Distribution May 1, 1995 700+ words
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) contains provisions...resolution. Under NAFTA, by January...eliminated on North American industrial products...free under NAFTA must contain substantial North American content of parts...
- Knifing Nafta. (North American Free Trade Agreement) (The Public Policy)...
- Magazine article from: The American Spectator Breger, Marshall September 1, 1993 700+ words
...supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement...Panetta has declared NAFTA "dead--for...proposed a trinational North American Commission on Labor...At first, some NAFTA skeptics proposed...impose "pre-NAFTA tariffs" on environmentally...meanwhile, views a North ...
- NAFTA implementation puts U.S. exporters in enviable position. (North American...
- Magazine article from: Business America Mohn, Ingrid A. April 1, 1994 700+ words
...implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) began on...first month of NAFTA implementation...Together, our two North American trading partners...exports to our North American partners surpassed...Exporters View NAFTA Positively...
- Fact sheet: summary of principal provisions of NAFTA. (North American Free...
- Magazine article from: US Department of State Dispatch August 30, 1993 700+ words
Introduction The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will generate jobs...origin will ensure that NAFTA's tariff benefits accrue only to North American producers and will be easy to enforce. NAFTA will ensure uniformity...
- NAFTA. (North American Free Trade Agreement, effects on several companies)
- Magazine article from: Business America June 1, 1994 700+ words
...With the passage of the NAFTA, the market potential...raw materials. The North American Free Trade Agreement...products into Mexico. NAFTA means being able to...taking advantage of the North American Free Trade Agreement...their successful work on NAFTA. The Baltimore-based...
- Detroit 3 shun talk of NAFTA do-over.(News)(North American Free Trade Agreement)
- Magazine article from: Automotive News Stoffer, Harry March 3, 2008 700+ words
...renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement...They insist that NAFTA has strengthened...that reopening NAFTA "would be like...the engine of North American competitiveness...in attacking NAFTA. The North American pact is "a surrogate...
- NAFTA: the customer wins. (North American Free Trade Agreement)
- Magazine article from: Chemistry and Industry Gess, Larry September 7, 1992 700+ words
...consent for a proposed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) designed to expand...Trade flows between North American chemical producers...political ones, NAFTA will expand the...guiding trade in the North American region will provide...
- NAFTA: easing the boundaries between North American neighbors. (North American...
- Magazine article from: Business Credit Woodring, Dawn Ann October 1, 1992 700+ words
...the long-awaited North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) after two years...which began in 1990. NAFTA encompasses the FTA...the countries, a North American Trade Commission...and operation of NAFTA. Although an agreement...
Source: HighBeam Research, Running Roughshod over U.S. Laws: under NAFTA and the SPP, the rule...