NAFTA devalues workers
March 16, 2008

The president's open borders policy is a de facto merger with Mexico. Is it a quest for white sandy beaches or cheap labor? There is no public call for annexation, and conversely Congress has funded legislation to secure the border.

Despite a voter rebellion last summer that closed the capital switchboard opposing his guest worker/amnesty bill, Bush continues to unlawfully flood the country with low-wage workers, allowing an estimated 10,000 illegals to enter the country daily. Since 9/11, Americans citizens are screened, scanned and photographed, but the millions of foreigners who cross our borders illegally apparently pose no threat to Bush's homeland security. No one checks them for disease, weapons, bombs or drugs. Bush's open invitation to terrorists, coupled with his malicious intimidation and jailing of diligent border patrol guards, calls for impeachment hearings far surpassing Clinton's Oval Office escapades. The refusal by leaders of either party to hold Bush accountable indicates corruption at the highest levels.

Mexicans leave home because they can no longer make a living in their own country. The reduced standard of living in Mexico is the result of years of corruption. Elites, aided by government, have created an impoverished working class. NAFTA, an agreement passed by Congress, made that cheap labor available to American investors. NAFTA had no provisions for companies to meet our health and safety standards, allow workers to freely organize or expect a living wage. The peso was devalued by 50 percent, making the cost of labor even cheaper. In spite of outsourcing our jobs and flooding our stores with products made in Mexico, poverty in Mexico is increasing.

NAFTA has also resulted in major job losses in the U.S. Many of these were good paying jobs needed by low-skilled workers. Mexicans who cross the border are in direct competition with the poorest in this country. Flooding the market with cheap labor may be welcomed by unscrupulous employers, but it results in even lower wages for workers.

America abolished slavery long ago. Ethically, our standard of living should not depend on cheap products made by impoverished workers. We, the citizen owners of this republic, are not just "consumers." Our standard of living and our nation's wealth should come from our own efforts to produce and acquire capital that is shared at all levels of society.

Unfortunately, too many in Washington think their careers depend less on preserving United States sovereignty and more about benefiting the bottom lines of global corporations. Their rapid retirement is a goal of the Constitution Party.
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