A Fiesta in Mexico

What do these three pictures have in common?

Well, we have Bush, Calderon, and Harper working on Super-NAFTA. (Don’t worry, folks. It’s nothing really. Just ask Media Matters, that bastion of liberal truth.)

Then we have the Made in Mexico emblem.

And finally, the Ford Fiesta.

Ford will begin producing the Fiesta in a plant in Cuautitlan, near Mexico City. (Gee they didn’t even pick a depressed area or a border town.)

Ford President Alan Mulally said: “Ford is absolutely committed to leveraging our global assets to accelerate the shift to more fuel-efficient small cars and powertrain technologies that people really want and value.”

In other words, Ford is committed to giving jobs to Mexican workers rather than American workers, even though these cars will be sold in the United States.

Don’t get me wrong; I think the UAW has gouged the car companies (and the American consumers) by making unreasonable demands for salaries and benefits. But I think we ought to be able to pay assembly workers a living wage AND build our own cars here if we work at it.

But Bush is still unable to make the connection between NAFTA and our own unemployment problem. America needs to BUILD things, not just flip burgers.

Joint Statement by President Bush, President Calderon, Prime Minister Harper
April 22, 2008
As continental neighbors and partners committed to democratic government, the rule of law and respect for individual rights and freedoms, Canada, Mexico and the United States have shared interests in keeping North America secure, prosperous, and competitive in today's global environment. We met in New Orleans to discuss how we might collaborate further to achieve these goals, as well as to discuss our hemispheric and global interests and concerns.
The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), based on the principle that security and prosperity depend on each other, is a useful mechanism that helps us to identify and pursue practical solutions to shared challenges in North America in a way that respects our individual and sovereign interests. We each remain open and accountable to our own people.
The SPP complements the success of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has helped to triple trade since 1993 among our three countries to a projected $1 trillion in 2008. NAFTA has offered our consumers a greater variety of better and less expensive goods and services, encouraged our businesses to increase investment throughout North America, and helped to create millions of new jobs in all three countries. NAFTA is key to maintaining North America's competitive edge in an increasingly complex, fast-paced and connected global marketplace.
(end of quote)

Full speed ahead, Washington.