November 15, 2007

A "Marshall Plan For Mexico"—Sending Welfare To A Crack House

By Brenda Walker

A really bad idea has been gaining currency among America’s political class: a "Marshall Plan for Mexico"—a massive transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to Mexico in the guise of foreign aid. A Google search shows more than 200,000 references. [VDARE.COM note: Even Steve Sailer suggested it back in 2001—but only if explicitly tied to Mexico reducing illegal emigration.]

Don't think that the scheme is just moldering on the back benches. Former Mexico Presidente Fox, on his book pander tour, suggested that exact policy just last week.

"Citing the evolution of the European Union from the U.S.-introduced Marshall Plan after World War II, Fox suggested a similar project in North America." [Mexican leader speaks to chamber, By Stepfanie Romine, Cincinnati Enquirer, November 8, 2007]

("North America" is Fox's favorite new term for uniting the continent in a way that pipelines massive funds to Mexico by ripping off the American taxpayer. Fox also removed any hope that this proposed North American Union was a delusion of loony right-wing conspiracy theorists by admitting to it openly on CNN's Larry King Show—including his desire that a continental currency replace the national currencies.)

And, incredibly, substantial foreign aid for Mexico is being prepared right now by the Democratic Congress, in concert with Mexichurian Candidate Dubya’s White House. They want to send over a billion dollars in military aid to fight the increasingly powerful drug cartels that run large areas of Mexico. (See Bush wants $1.4 billion for Mexico drug war, By Héctor Tobar, Los Angeles Times, October 23, 2007)

Council on Foreign Relations Mexico expert Shannon O’Neil admitted in a Nov. 6 CFR interview that the idea for the Merida Initiative (as the funding package is called at the globalist CFR) came from Mexico’s new Presidente, Felipe Calderon.

O’Neil further remarked that the proposal has been kept unusually secret, not going through the usual committee process, and guessed that  the State Department was busy "hammering out these negotiations" with the  Mexican Government, and "trying to deal with the sensitivities of Mexico. "

The Washington Post called the deal a "secretly negotiated aid package" [Document Details U.S. Aid Proposed For Mexico, By Manuel Roig-Franzia, October 27, 2007].

Nice that the Bush administration is more interested in begging Mexico to take our money than informing the American people how our funds are being spent!

Add this scheme to the growing list of Bush actions taken against Americans, for Mexicans.

Any aid to Mexico is lunacy for several reasons. We shouldn't be further indebting ourselves to one enemy (China) to give military equipment to another enemy (Mexico), which happens to be very corrupt as well as wealthy enough to finance its own internal police operations.

Remember the national debt? Our shared credit card recently clicked over another digit to hit 9 trillion dollars. But Washington keeps on spending money we don't have in ways that make bad problems worse.

And aiding the Mexican drug-corrupted military is idiocy on steroids. There have been 231 documented incursions from 1996 to 2006 by Mexican soldiers and police into American territory—often to escort drug shipments. The dangerous Zeta cartel enforcers were originally trained by US Special Forces to battle the drug gangs. Then the Zetas went over to the better-paying bad guys.

Why can't Washington stop making the same bonehead mistakes? Already overwhelmed U.S. border sheriffs will be even more outgunned if this aid gets into the wrong hands, as it likely will. A surveillance aircraft with a stealth cartel member on board could easily report US Border Patrol positions back to the home office.

The question is unavoidable: why not spend that money on our own border enforcement?

Isn't the best way to combat Mexican drug cartels to keep them out of America?

Sadly, this derangement is not a single instance of misplaced generosity, but has a history. In 2004 for example, the United States funneled nearly $72 million in foreign aid to Mexico.

And, contrary to popular opinion, Mexico is extremely wealthy right now—and not just in terms of potential. Mexico has many poor people, but overall it is rich. Its elites are fabulously wealthy and live lives of shameless opulence. Presidente Calderon could easily purchase any equipment he might want, just as the Saudi king buys fighter aircraft and other weapons.

Consider:

Get the picture? As a whole, Mexico is well off. Only people who are smoking Mexico's best-known product could think that country is fixable any time soon. So it’s time for America to quarantine Mexico and forget about marrying it. Forcing Mexico to solve its own problems would actually be a kindness of the tough-love variety.

Sending "foreign aid" of any amount or type to Mexico is the proverbial coal to Newcastle. If we want to waste money more productively, let's unload a couple tons of hundred-dollar bills in the middle of Rockefeller Plaza and set the pile on fire.

Washington is Uncle Sucker to continue to fall for the poor-mouthing lies coming from Mexico City.

Whether foreign aid to Mexico is a massive Marshall Plan or the medium-sized Merida Initiative, it amounts to sending welfare to a crack house. Not what we should be doing. At all.