The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 6

THE TENNESSEAN Jutulty, 8pUmbr 21 1993 7ft NAFTA will cost U.S. sovereign ty and afety Patrick MMJ Buchanan NAFTA is in deep trouble. For, suddenly, both wings of our national establishment appear close to panic over the populist coalition that is shaping up to take down the Mickey Kantor-Carlos Salinas treaty. At the NAFTA show-and-tell in the Rose Garden, Jimmy Carter exploded in a rant about Ross Perot being a "demagogue preying on the fears and uncertainties of the American people." While Mr. Clinton seemed red-faced at his predecessor's nasti-ness, The New York Times and Washington Post rushed to congratulate Mr.

Carter on his candor. Name-calling is the order of the day. Earlier The Wall Street Journal showed its fright over NAF-TA's fate by splitting an editorial page between attacks on the Character of NAFTA critics, and a sudden new sycophancy toward Mr. Clinton. Reprinting a windy passage from Mr.

Clinton's NAFTA talk, the Journal declared it to be hailing its one-time boy for "eloquently and 'succinctly" framing the national debate. i The same page then carried a excerpt, from the closing arguments of the committee counsel, in the ethics probe of NAFTA opponent Sen. Donald Riegle. Now Sen. Riegle has much to allowed to fester on its "side of the common border." And the term is more than apposite considering the filth and garbage now washing up on the beaches of San Diego, from Tijuana.

But, rather than charge Mr. Gigot with lying or distortion, let us more charitably attribute the mistake to his sloppy reporting. As Murray Rothbard asks: "Why the Pro-NAFTA hysteria?" Why are so many journalists and journals suddenly incoherent with rage, if all we are talking about is a 15-year phaseout, of a 10 tariff, on a Mexican economy 3 that of the United States? Answer NAFTA is not about free trade. If it were, free traders like Mises Institute and Competitive Enterprise Institute would not be fighting it with all they have, conservative magazines like Human Events would not be shouldering arms, and Republicans who earlier supported NAFTA would not now be changing sides. What Henry Kissinger claimed is now self-evident: NAFTA is a giant "step toward the New World Order," the "architecture" of a new global system of which the internationalists have long dreamed.

The feline ferocity of the internationalists, left and right, is traceable to a fear that the coalition forming up to kill NAFTA is embued with a spirit of populism and nationalism that could derail, answer for in the Keating Five affair. But what does his role in it have to do with NAFTA? Hack work like this only demeans the Journal itself. If this is what the NAFTAites have to resort to, how persuasive can their case be? But the altarpiece of the ed page was a column by Paul Gigot accusing this writer of "demago-gery," hypocrisy, lying, a "web of distortion," "raw anti-Mexican bias" and calling Mexico a "pigpen." In Gigot's fevered prose I have taken over the "Fear Loathing branch of conservatism" which is "too crabbed and tribal" for the cosmopolitan conservatives who tap out editorials for the Journal. Now, if the personal insult is the last recourse of an exhausted mind, Mr. Gigot's little mind was all tuckered out before he hit the fourth graph.

Where to begin? First, this writer did not call Mexico a "pigpen," but used the term to describe the environmental mess the Salinas regime has come to the rescue of Bill Clinton and NAFTA, they cannot say they did not know. But if they oppose NAFTA, Republicans are being warned, the U.S. will falter and fall back, and wither on the vine outside the new dynamic world of our "global economy." Bullhockey. This is the counsel of fright and fear. If in 1776, thirteen tiny colonies could defy the British Empire and push off, alone, to seek their own destiny, what does this republic have to fear by declaring independence of this bureaucrats' vision of a New World Order? Time to start putting America first (Buchanan is a syndicated in weeks, the one-world dreams and schemes of decades.

That the conservative wing of the establishment has broken in panic, embraced Clinton, begun to vilify old allies, and joined Kantor and Co. to save NAFTA, is, in a way, welcome news. At last true clarity is restored to American politics. Now the people can begin to see how phony and fake are so many of these "battles" between the Liberal Establishment and its kennel-fed conservatives. But the shrillness of the name-callers cannot conceal the truth: NAFTA is about a New World Order; it is about freezing in the gains of Big Government; it is about a loss of American sover eignty.

It is about trading away our birthright of liberty for a mess of pottage. Sunday The New York Times confirmed that NAFTA will create a "powerful three-nation bureaucracy" on the environment With its size unlimited by treaty, it is empowered to investigate all cases of lax enforcement, "unless explicitly banned from doing so by two of the three countries' environmental ministers." "All types of environmental problems," says the Times, "are subject to fines and trade sanctions." This confirms what NAFTA negotiator Kantor has long claimed: Under NAFTA, there is no turning back for America "ever." If House Republicans Look at all health care options The day Arafat held his guns i "3eIi Ivins Art Buchwald teT ffl Help Dr. teVoPiciAHs of (tyon CAte fefottk I watched the Arafat-Rabin lovefest on the White House lawn with Jekel Hyde, the president of Guns Us, a weapons lobby dedicated to making sure that average American citizens, as well as members of street gangs, have access to handguns. As Arafat walked out of the White House with President Clinton, Hyde exclaimed, "Oh, my God, Arafat is not wearing his pistol!" "That's not anything to get excited about I've been to many peace signings where the participants left their guns at home," I said. "It doesn't look good for the gun lobby," Hyde muttered.

"There are billions of people watching all over the world. They are going to get the impression that we disarmed Arafat before we let him come out on the lawn." "That's ridiculous," I replied. "Everyone knows Americans can buy guns anywhere and at any time. I believe the message Arafat is sending is that he doesn't need a gun anymore to settle his troubles with Israel." "You had no inkling that Arafat would not come here fully armed?" "None. I've never seen him without his pistol.

To him it is an extra leg. Now, on the biggest day of his life, he is walking naked. I think I'll go home." "Please don't Hyde one unarmed PLO leader doesn't change our gun mentality. Maybe tonight after the ceremonies we'll take Arafat to the TV studio and let him stick up Larry King." DURING the 1980s, I used to urge my readers, and particularly political science students to whom I occasionally spoke, to study the savings-and-loan disaster because I thought its origins 'and consequences showed so about what we all need to about how this country is governed. Besides, everyone had a substantial stake in that 'charming episode: We were all in 'that pot for 5 grand each.

I have a new one I want to commend to all of you: the fight about health care insurance. You a stake in this one, too. This time it's your money and your life. Health care insurance has something else in common with the crisis: It's the kind of that television cannot cover There aren't any good as they say in TV, on this one. Television can give you a 'panel of talking heads, all of them disagreeing with one another, and it can give you heartbreaking stories about what lack of health care insurance means to individuals.

The first confuses you, and the second moves you to compassion but does nothing to help you choose among the options being offered. It's a fascinating political problem actually the Rubik's cube of politics. One of its unusual features is that organized special in-i terest groups you may ordinarily rely on to help you decide about complicated issues do not necessarily represent your interests here. You cannot just say, "I own a small business, so I'm going to let Hyde was not to be mollified. He turned to the man on the other side and asked, "What's wrong with making peace with one hand and holding a Saturday-night special in the other?" The person he spoke to answered, "I hear you.

I didn't realize when I came here that they would talk only about peace and skip the violence. I am not saying you should carry a handgun to shoot somebody. At the same time it doesn't hurt to clean out the barrel every once in a while by firing it" Hyde turned back to me. "Guns Us is up against the wall. So many citizens keep complaining about all the people being shot and asking that guns be registered.

It makes you sick. This is a perfect day and a perfect place for my people to lobby the Senate and House on the Brady Bill. Even if Arafat is no longer our role model as a gunslinger, his trigger finger will always be in the Handgun Hall of Fame." "Maybe he has an Israeli Uzi under his tunic," I said hopefully. Hyde said, "It would be a step in the right direction." (Buchwald Is a syndicated along with some good pro and con discussion. I suggest you read more than one of them.

H. Clinton's task force, the 400 people she picked who spent months working on this, have done a thorough job. I don't necessarily like their recommendations, which I think have been trimmed to counter the objections of special interests, but I sure can't fault them for not doing their homework. One thing you want to do is look at least a couple of alternatives. Rochester, N.Y., has an effective system that essentially functions like a giant HMO.

The state of Oregon developed a really promising system for cost containment which the Bush administration, in a more than usually stupid moment vetoed. And Canada has a classic single-payer system that leaves 97 of its citizens happy with their health care. (Molly Ivins is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.) They know that you are a player on this issue, even if you don't think so. They're spending a lot and I do mean a lot of money trying to influence you. You've already seen some of the insurance industry's ads on television telling you that this country has the greatest health care in the world, and that if ain't broke, don't fix it That's bull, and there's a lot more of it coming your way.

If I were you, I wouldn't ask your doctor about this issue. You can ask your doctor about your diet or your digestion, but health care reform is not something doctors, as a group, tend to be real reliable about And as for you doctors, you, too, could get hit by a bus tomorrow. So where to go for solid information? Most of the major newsmagazines Time, Newsweek and US. News and World Report have carried solid summaries of Hillary Clinton's proposals the National Federation of Independent Business speak for me on this one." You may have a small business, but you're also someone who could get hit by a bus tomorrow. You can't just say, "I'm a senior citizen, so I'm going to let the AARP make up my mind for me." The American Association of Retired Persons is not going to need a hip replacement any time soon.

The health care issue will also allow you to have an astounding glimpse of a phenomenon called "deep lobbying." Most people know that special interests exert their influence by a system of legalized bribery we call campaign contributions. So you may think that in political terms this whole deal comes down to some big-deal lobbyist saying to a member of Congress, "Vote with us or you'll never get another nickel." Nope, the lobbyists have gotten more sophisticated than that. By CARL JOHNSON THERE are diamonds in the future for Middle Tennessee commuters. KIVs mi ftDne mniove Diamond shanes mark thp snnt for energy, environmental savings These new diamond snapes will designate Tennessee's first HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes, opened this month on I-65 south of Nashville. HOV lanes are designed to ease future traffic congestion and improve air quality by encouraging more people to share rides to work.

This is an impor- here in Tennessee. And they are tangible evidence number of vehicles on our highways in the years ahead. This step is necessary for two reasons: to Since we also added another general purpose lane in each direction on this section of 1-65, we expect to see only modest increases in the number of carpools and vanpools at first But as this region grows and the other three lanes of the interstate become more crowded, motorists using the HOV lane will begin to see significantly shorter commute times. We believe that will cause more people to try ridesharing. Including HOV lanes in major highway projects reflects a change in federal transportation policy.

The idea is to move more people, not just more cars. We are also concerned about the quality of the air we breathe. Because the counties in this area do not currently meet federal air quality standards, we will be considering additional HOV lanes as part of other highway construction projects in the future. Building HOV lanes as part of our highway system is a new concept for us in Tennessee, but it is a way for government to stay ahead of the curve as we move into the 21st century. Look for the diamonds on 1-65 South.

They mark the road to the future. 4 (Johnson Is commissioner of th Tennessee Departrrjfnt df Transportation.) that we are building for the future. Commuters who use the interstate system in the Nashville area have asked why 1-65 was chosen for the first HOV lanes. The answer is simple. It was a matter of timing.

Just as the Tennessee Department of Transportation was planning to widen 1-65 South, a new federal law was enacted that required the state to take a look at alternatives such as HOV lanes to alleviate traffic congestion. By including HOV lanes on this segment of 1-65, we were able to attract more federal dollars than we would have gotten to widen the interstate without these lanes. We expect these lanes to be the prototype for a regional HOV system that will help reduce the deal with increasing traffic congestion, and to improve air quality. There's a growing recognition in this region that we cannot build ourselves out of current and projected traffic congestion. We simply do not have enough space or money to continue to expand our interstate system at a rate that will allow us to keep up with expected increases in traffic.

If we don't begin now to encourage ridesharing and more mass transit we are looking at doubling the time it takes us to commute to work by the year 2000 and doubling it again by 2015. When you think about that it just makes good sense to look for ways to encourage people to share rides. JOHNSON tant step in preparing for tne expected growth of this region. The concept is one that allows vehicles with at least two passengers to use the new HOV lanes on 1-65 between Armory Drive and Concord Road during peak traffic hours. These restrictions will be in effect for the Inside lane of the Interstate, the lane nearest the median, from 7-9 a.m.

inbound and 4-6 p.m. outbound on weekdays. Although HOV lanes have been used Successfully a number of years in other parts the country, the commuter lanes on 1-65 are a first for us.