http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.a ... E_ID=51750

Thursday, August 31, 2006



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Why the secrecy over superhighway?

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Posted: August 31, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern



By Joseph Farah



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© 2006




It's amazing to me that there are still people in denial about efforts to build what is called "the NAFTA superhighway."

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., dismissively ridiculed serious questions about the massive, multibillion trade routes designed to connect Mexico and Canada through highways in the U.S. His claim to fame is being chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, but professes ignorance of one of the largest public works projects in the history of the country taking place right in his own backyard, right under his nose.

As WND reported earlier this week, another member of Congress, Rep. Jim Oberstar, through an aide, claimed deceptively, "There are no earmarks for a superhighway like that."

And even activists working on behalf of the project are now dummying up, claiming the whole project is a myth.


A few days ago in this space, I noted an Aug. 18 letter to the editor of the Topeka Capital-Journal written by Ken Miller, whose claim to fame is being the former executive director of North America's Super Corridor Coalition.

In his letter, Miller of Lawrence, Kan., ridicules Democratic congressional candidate Nancy Boyda for raising the issue of the NAFTA Super Corridor along Route 35.

"As the former executive director of North America's Super Corridor Coalition, I had to laugh out loud at Nancy Boyda's apparent lack of knowledge about Interstate 35, NAFTA and transportation in general," he wrote. "There is no NASCO plan to build a '10-lane superhighway' through Kansas nor the rest of the Midwest. NASCO is a small, nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization with members in Mexico, Canada and the United States. Being so easily duped by Internet rumor should be cause for concern for voters in Kansas' 2nd Congressional District."

Miller went on to poke fun at WND for breaking the story.

But while Miller is downplaying the significance of NASCO and the NAFTA superhighway plans now, his official alumni biography at Indiana University tells a much different story.

Here's the way the journalism major who graduated in 1985 describes himself: "Ken Miller, BA'85, is executive director for North America's Superhighway Coalition Inc. in Kansas City, Mo. NASCO is a not-for-profit grass-roots lobbying group that promotes interstates 35, 29 and 94 as the premier routes for North American trade. Since 1999, the coalition has secured more than $20 million in federal funding to improve transportation infrastructure and technology along those highways. Miller also wrote a story titled 'North America's Superhighway,' published in Transportation and Distribution magazine in January 2001."

I issued a public challenge to Miller nearly a week ago to come clean – to stop intentionally deceiving the American public and his own neighbors about the real intent of the NAFTA superhighway, but, so far, he has kept a low profile.

Just for the record, I am copying this column to his public e-mail address as well as the previous one.

So here it is again: It's time to decide, Mr. Miller, which is it? You can't have it both ways – unless, of course, you cover your own tracks a little better.

Is the coalition you worked for just a pitiful little nonprofit? Or is it the group that has received tens of millions in federal funding to promote the NAFTA superhighway?

Just what is inaccurate about any of WND's reporting on the project?

Why not stop the name-calling and deal in the realm of facts?

Why are you and public officials who should know better claiming ignorance of a plan you are clearly supporting with my money?

Why not just have a free-and-open public debate about spending American taxpayer dollars on what many of us see as a scandalous boondoggle that chips away at U.S. sovereignty and our way of life?

Why is everyone involved in this plan running away from it?