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Coffee Shop
Wouldn't this be Great
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<blockquote data-quote="Oldtimer" data-source="post: 38790" data-attributes="member: 97"><p>For some areas of all three countries NAFTA may have done wonders- but for states like Montana, it has almost bankrupt us. Mainly because we have little industry and many of the same resources as western Canada- but because of the US's more strict enviromental, labor and safety regulations and Canadas deflated dollar we cannot compete. Since NAFTA we have lost our timber and mining industry, saw our producing oil and gas wells shut down and exploration halted (I had one section where the oil companies had kept a lease on it since the 1940's- with NAFTA passage they dropped it). What shopping and tourist industry we had coming from Canada ended as the value of their dollar fell- in fact many Montanans and tourists from neighboring states started travelling to Canada where the American dollar was worth $1.50.</p><p></p><p>Montana cattlemen who had put up for years with normal ranching problems- drought, flood, blizzards, enviromentalists, inflated land values, rising equipment, fuel, and fertilizer costs now saw another challenge. Unrestricted cattle and beef coming south from Canada to compete at the market- consumer demand and exports would rise, but live cattle prices stayed the same or fell. Sometimes these ranchers, as they were going broke, would watch 20-30 Trans X semis (Canadian beef shipper) go by and 10-20 bullhaulers go southbound in a day. The even more frustrating fact was knowing that the Canadian government was promoting the expansion of the Canadian herd at the expense of the US producer- but still would not allow Montana cattle (some running side by side with Canadian cattle) to freely go into Canada.</p><p></p><p>Everytime I think of NAFTA- I think of Bill Clinton and wish he would have spent more time playing with his dollies and less time pushing thru NAFTA.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Oldtimer, post: 38790, member: 97"] For some areas of all three countries NAFTA may have done wonders- but for states like Montana, it has almost bankrupt us. Mainly because we have little industry and many of the same resources as western Canada- but because of the US's more strict enviromental, labor and safety regulations and Canadas deflated dollar we cannot compete. Since NAFTA we have lost our timber and mining industry, saw our producing oil and gas wells shut down and exploration halted (I had one section where the oil companies had kept a lease on it since the 1940's- with NAFTA passage they dropped it). What shopping and tourist industry we had coming from Canada ended as the value of their dollar fell- in fact many Montanans and tourists from neighboring states started travelling to Canada where the American dollar was worth $1.50. Montana cattlemen who had put up for years with normal ranching problems- drought, flood, blizzards, enviromentalists, inflated land values, rising equipment, fuel, and fertilizer costs now saw another challenge. Unrestricted cattle and beef coming south from Canada to compete at the market- consumer demand and exports would rise, but live cattle prices stayed the same or fell. Sometimes these ranchers, as they were going broke, would watch 20-30 Trans X semis (Canadian beef shipper) go by and 10-20 bullhaulers go southbound in a day. The even more frustrating fact was knowing that the Canadian government was promoting the expansion of the Canadian herd at the expense of the US producer- but still would not allow Montana cattle (some running side by side with Canadian cattle) to freely go into Canada. Everytime I think of NAFTA- I think of Bill Clinton and wish he would have spent more time playing with his dollies and less time pushing thru NAFTA. [/QUOTE]
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