Write to your senators and congressmen, tell them to stop endangering our health

[teufelhunden]

I don't know about you guys, but I think it's pretty stupid for us to keep the border with Mexico open after swine flu originated there, spread to the US from there, and after the Mexican government showed their incompetence with respect to public health to their delayed and lacking response to swine flu. So, I feel like it's time to get out the pitchforks and let them know what we think. I don't have a link to one of those fancy things that emails everybody at once, I guess you'll have to do it separately, but it's not too bad -- http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ has links to everybody's website where you can submit an email form.

Below is what I wrote which outlines my position (which I feel like isn't all t hat unreasonable...)

Senator --whomever--,

I am writing because I feel that the US Government is furthering the health risk to Americans by failing to close our southern border with Mexico in light of the current swine flu issue. I feel as though while taking such action will clearly not stop the spread of the virus, it may very well help to stop the spread of the virus from Mexico to the United States. Even if the United States was to get the virus under control, we run the continuous risk that the virus will migrate north again, creating new American "Patient Zeroes" - that is, the first person in America spreading the virus to a new and distinct tree of victims.

I further believe that we should begin screenings of any flights that originate in Mexico or stop in Mexico that terminate or stop in the United States.

Both of these measures are prudent to help preserve the health of the American people. I trust that you will perform your duty as an elected official sent to Washington by the people of --your state-- and take every step in protecting the health of --people from your state-- and Americans.

Thank you.

[teddybeer2005]

lol close the southern border... Do you know what comes across the southern border. most of it is not illegal mexicans legally.. Illegal mexicans come across not through the gates lol... Tons of import export is contributed it mexico, If you think our economy is bad now, we'd be DEVESTATED IF WE CLOSED THE BORDER, Most of it is trades importing and exporting goods, don't be stupid.. Another million american can lose jobs because a flu came in that hasn't killed a person in US.. If you going to right to congress right about something that is killing tons of US AMERICANS

[maniacmechanic]

lol close the southern border... Do you know what comes across the southern border. most of it is not illegal mexicans legally.. Illegal mexicans come across not through the gates lol... Tons of import export is contributed it mexico, If you think our economy is bad now, we'd be DEVESTATED IF WE CLOSED THE BORDER, Most of it is trades importing and exporting goods, don't be stupid.. Another million american can lose jobs because a flu came in that hasn't killed a person in US.. If you going to right to congress right about something that is killing tons of US AMERICANS

Exactly what do we trade with Mexico that will do what you say ? fruits & vegtables that could be grown in this country , jobs that were moved from Detroit after NAFTA for companys that are almost bankrupt , counterfeit viagra , come on tell me what Mexico has that we need so badly

[tribalman]

close the border? so, strand the legal, rightful, actual american citizens in mexico who would like to come home?
i thought i heard at least a few of the USA cases came from american citizens who were visiting mexico on spring break.

oh, as for the economy issue, grow a tree in your back yard. see how long it takes for it to come to fruition. years sometimes. so it's not possible. assuming that some of the fruit and vegetables eaten in america is grown here and some is grown abroad, if you were to cut out the imported items the demand for the food that is available would skyrocket, further ruining the economy. it takes time to be able to increase the production of food.

another example; imported material products. i'll go with clothing.
companies currently use other countries to produce a product, such as a t-shirt because it lowers their bottom line. (my point doesn't care about the human issues behind their lower wages, just stick with me here.). because these factories are not here, a company that is already strapped for cash has to build new factories. that is a huge investment. in order to pay for the new building, construction workers, and training the new employees they would have to close even more stores and lay off even more of their current workers. and it will once again take time for the factories to be built. hm.... sounds very good for the economy to me.

[Ruler_Mark]

Exactly what do we trade with Mexico that will do what you say ? fruits & vegtables that could be grown in this country , jobs that were moved from Detroit after NAFTA for companys that are almost bankrupt , counterfeit viagra , come on tell me what Mexico has that we need so badly

Hookers.

[Dend78]

Another million american can lose jobs because a flu came in that hasn't killed a person in US..

you missed that one

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090429/ap_on_he_me/med_swine_flu

[Lohman446]

lol close the southern border... Do you know what comes across the southern border. most of it is not illegal mexicans legally.. Illegal mexicans come across not through the gates lol... Tons of import export is contributed it mexico, If you think our economy is bad now, we'd be DEVESTATED IF WE CLOSED THE BORDER, Most of it is trades importing and exporting goods, don't be stupid.. Another million american can lose jobs because a flu came in that hasn't killed a person in US.. If you going to right to congress right about something that is killing tons of US AMERICANS

Really? Specifically what jobs would be lost in the US? Not just sound bytes, give us solid examples. What products, that EMPLOY LEGAL US CITIZENS do we export to Mexico that they could live without if we did not have a "free trade agreement". Are other countries really in a position to stop importing FOOD?

To the other side of the argument: How many manufacturing jobs that would employ US citizens if we did not have "free trade agreements" are currently employing third world labor in substandard conditions at substandard pay? And no, I am not talking substandard to the ridiculous wages made by some in America manufacturing, I am talking substandard to any reasonable "living wage". By employing those in other countries how much are we losing in taxes from American workers, and how much are we spending in retraining and supporting those that could do those jobs here?


Americans purchase more goods than other countries that we supposedly have these "fair trade agreements" with. We are the most desireable target for consumer goods in the world. Our government should concentrate on us making our own consumer goods and marketting to ourselves. Tariffs could be designed to be certain that other countries cannot undercut good American labor for goods sold into the American market by employing powerless citizens in substandard and unsafe conditions.

[AirAssault]

Close the border huh.... how about writing/calling and asking to prosecute those that said it was ok to torture people, and yes waterboarding is torture. That's why we prosecuted the japanese soldiers for doing it after ww2.

[tribalman]

tarriffs? really? we did that isolationist stuff before, it did not end well.
"4. American Economic Policy with Europe
As businesses began failing, the government created the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930 to help protect American companies. This charged a high tax for imports thereby leading to less trade between America and foreign countries along with some economic retaliation." from

http://americanhistory.about.com/od/greatdepression/tp/greatdepression.htm

pretty much the only thing that got us out of the great depression was joining the 2nd world war. creating massive amounts of weapons and ammunition and trading it to our allies. what were they giving us? not a whole lot because their lands were being ravaged by the war.


and also, why are we panicking? pandemic is defined as "an epidemic that is geographically widespread; occurring throughout a region or even throughout the world". ok, that defines itseflf with another version of itself. epidemic "An outbreak of a contagious disease that spreads rapidly and widely."

"Swine flu is suspected of killing more than 150 people in Mexico and sickening over 2,400 there." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090429/...wine_flu_world

these numbers just don't equal a "Pandemic". it's infected less than 1 hundredth of a hundredth of a percent of the world population.

*edit* hell, malaria has killed more people in one year compared to this. http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/impact/index.htm please. stop panicking .

[neppo1345]

ITT: We get the sniffles and act like it's full blown aids.

Regular flu has killed 13,000 since this January.

/oh no SARS

[Lohman446]

tarriffs? really? we did that isolationist stuff before, it did not end well.
"4. American Economic Policy with Europe
As businesses began failing, the government created the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930 to help protect American companies. This charged a high tax for imports thereby leading to less trade between America and foreign countries along with some economic retaliation." from

http://americanhistory.about.com/od/greatdepression/tp/greatdepression.htm

pretty much the only thing that got us out of the great depression was joining the 2nd world war. creating massive amounts of weapons and ammunition and trading it to our allies. what were they giving us? not a whole lot because their lands were being ravaged by the war.


.

I agree more than I disagree. The idea of using this to close the border is just an excuse by people who have had other reasons anyways. I would also agree that this "epidemic" is a statistical anomaly that is being overblown by the media.

Keep in mind though that my complaint is not the trade with most of Europe or even Japan where there workers enjoy at least a reasonable standard of living. My complaints are countries that have little to no safety standards in factories, employ child labor, or who use pay systems that leave the workers essentially slaved to the factory.

We cannot compete with our laws against the labor in countries that allow workers to work in flat out dangerous conditions for 80HRs a week to earn $2 or $3. More to the point these countries seldom represent good target markets for our goods that we do export as noone can afford to buy them anyways. Doing business with countries that allow these things is a slap in the face to our "global" view of human rights as well as ourselves.

I am still curious as to the millions of jobs that will be lost if the borders were controlled?

[SCpoloRicker]

Some truly leading edge intellectual thought experiments going on in this thread.

[tribalman]

*joke* *joke*
ricker, knowing you from your previous posts here on AO, i think you are waiting for the comments to just nuke mexico.
*end joke*

[maniacmechanic]

Some truly leading edge intellectual thought experiments going on in this thread.

& it will probley get closed soon

[WUNDERWAFFEN]

how about writing/calling and asking to prosecute those that said it was ok to torture people, and yes waterboarding is torture.

It is better than broadcasting beheadings or hanging mutilated corpses from bridges. jk. We already court-martial enough soldiers for following orders.