The Plan That Never Was Has Now Been Canceled

The Plan That Never Was Has Now Been Canceled
By John F. McManus
Published: 2008-06-26 23:06
http://www.jbs.org/node/8529


ARTICLE SYNOPSIS:
They never intended to build a Trans-Texas Corridor/NAFTA Superhighway. Or so they continued to insist. But now, the Texas Department of Transportation has announced that the plan they never had will no longer be considered.

Follow this link to the original source: " 'A Major Victory for Texas,' Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk, June 23, 2008"

COMMENTARY:
On July 31, 2007, the New York Times published a small article claiming that fears about construction of a massive new highway system connecting Mexico to Canada were "urban legend." The article even included a photo of the planned route that would, in effect, bisect Texas. The photo was a conceptual drawing of where the road would be created, an artist's rendition put forth by the North American Super Corridor Coalition (NASCO). But even that wasn't enough for the Times as its article pointed out that candidates for the GOP nomination were being peppered with questions about it while campaigning in faraway New Hampshire and Iowa. The GOP stalwarts claimed no knowledge of such a plan.

Having set the tone a response should employ for any such question, the Times had provided an easy way for anyone to scoff at such "rumors." Denials that any such plan ever existed actually continue to this day. But the Texas Department of Transportation has just announced that a project paralleling I-69 (legitimately considered by opponents to be part of the NAFTA Superhighway System) will be built along existing highway facilities, not through any area that would necessitate massive land-grabbing.

So the plan that never existed has been canceled. How one does that is something only a government is likely to accomplish. In effect, TexDOT said, "It never was, but now it isn't." Amazing!

Texas Congressman Ron Paul noted that the project had been stopped cold by "nearly 28,000 public comments" sent to Texas officials, and attendance at 47 public hearings dealing with the proposed plan by "12,000 persons." He congratulated all for "how eloquently and respectfully they spoke and conducted themselves" while protesting a plan that would have cost many their livelihoods, homes, farms, and ranches. Many also feared a continuing erosion of national sovereignty, believing that the NAFTA Superhighway was intended to facilitate the creation of a North American Union entangling Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Paul noted, "Constant pressure is needed to keep government in check, and we succeeded this time." But he added that "this will not be the last time citizen effort and involvement will be required." And he warned, "If I had to guess, they will probably try to implement the NAFTA Superhighway again sometime in the future."

James Russell Lowell issued a similar warning many years ago when he wrote: "Not yet, O Freedom! Close thy lids in slumber, for thine enemy never sleeps."

John F. McManus
John F. McManus is President of The John Birch Society.