Re: [A-List] Tax cuts and Duct Tapes

["Henry C.K. Liu" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

No,  duct tapes are made in Mininsota by 3M, but bottled water is mostly
French, Evian, Perrier.
Some U.S. lawmakers want to ban French water, wine and move troops from
Germany
Wed Feb 12, 4:37 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Some members of Congress are suggesting the United States
impose trade sanctions on France and withdraw U.S. troops from Germany
to retaliate for opposition to U.S. policies on Iraq, the Washington
Post reported Wednesday.



House Speaker Dennis Hastert has told associates he would like to target
bottled French mineral water and wine, the paper said.

"France and Germany are losing credibility by the day and they are, I
think, losing status in the world," the Post quoted House Majority
Leader Tom DeLay as saying. "They are walking a fine line that is very
dangerous."

Hastert has instructed Republican colleagues to determine whether
Congress should pass laws that would new impose health standards on
bottles of Evian and other French waters, the paper said.

According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, a U.S. research firm
France is the leading exporter of water to the United States and sold 65
million gallons (147 million liters) in 2001.

The Post said the speaker also is exploring whether the United States
should require "bright orange warning labels" on French wines that are
clarified with bovine blood.

"People should know how the French make their wine, " the Post quoted
Hastert spokesman John Feehery as saying.

Two U.S. wine experts contacted by the newspaper, said a few French wine
growers used bovine blood as a clarifier before the process was banned
in the late 1990s after the "made cow disease" scare.

There is growing momentum in Congress to move many of the 71,455 U.S.
troops from Germany, the Post said.

Marine Gen. James Jones the U.S. commander in Europe, recently briefed
lawmakers on a plan to change the U.S. military presence in Europe by
moving troops out of Germany to make them less reliant on bases in
Germany and more flexible, the newspaper quoted White House and
congressional officials as saying.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter said French and
German attitudes toward U.S. policy in Iraq will make the modernization
plan easier to sell to lawmakers, the newspaper quoted him as saying.

A bipartisan group of senators announced plans Tuesday to introduce a
resolution thanking 18 European nations for standing with the United
States_ and against France and Germany.




bon moun wrote:

> > There goes the Bush tax cut, down the drain paying for useless duct
> > tapes and bottled water, much of which is imported from France.
> >
> > We have entered the final phase of irrational exuberance.  The economic
> > recovery is going to come from an oversupply of duct tape in every
> > household.  The war must start soon before the money back return date
> > for the duct tapes passes.
> >
> > Henry C.K. Liu
>
>
> Good one, Henry!  (Duct tape is made in France?)